Note that I am COPPA'd so this might be late.
Prompt:
"Welcome to the world, young one."
A cool breeze ruffled young Buzzard's soft, cream fur as he had first seen the outside world, away from his mother and the rocky walls of the nursery. Thrushes, finches and robins' calls filled the air as Buzzard gently padded outside of the cave. The trees of the Rising Sun territory were quite large, swaying gently in the wind. The Rising Sun members congratulated him, and led him off to the kit den, with hopeful kits awaiting their bowls. His mother whispered, "Don't leave our territory. It's for your own good." She then promptly left for the gathering of the Rising Sun.
"If you leave our territory, the Leader will paint a sad face on your bowl!"
Buzzard laid down in his den, but then was quickly alerted by the calls of a nearby finch. He decided to track it and see where it was and what it was. He alertly scampered out of the den and stumbled onto the dirt, following the finch's calls as he went. He eventually tracked it and tried to climb the tree the sparrow was in, but he struggled immensely and fell to the ground. He tried repeatedly to get up there. He, again, failed miserably. His brittle bones aching, he jumped on the tree once more.
"Come on, honey. If you stay where you're supposed to be, you'll be fine."
His claws dug into the ancient bark and he pounced higher, struggling to cling on to the oak. He leaped onto a branch- which started creaking when he landed on it. Quickly, he pounced onto the top, which split into different limbs, where the finch remained.
It quickly flew away to a nearby tree, calling again as if to tease the cat.
Buzzard pounced to a tree, then pounced onto the tree the finch nested on. It, again, flew away to another tree, and called once more. Buzzard had none of this nonsense. With an unpredictable leap, he pinned the finch to the bark as it twitched in his grasp.
He had won the game of cat and mouse.
"Stupid finch!" he blurted. "You know we feed on things like you. Now, please, just listen to me." The finch, still in shock, wriggled in Buzzard's hands."I have come to warn you," he said. "The Rising Sun has planned to scavenge the trees in hope to find birds. I know, we have voles and mice too, but the new Leader prefers a finch or a robin. Please, warn all of your friends. It's for your own good."
His mother's words echoed in his head. 'Don't leave the Rising Sun territory. It's for your own good."
He had no way to get down. He was all alone, at night, in a tree, outside of Rising Sun territory.
He just had to warn them.
A buzzard circled the trees, and spotted a cream- colored appetizer. Luckily for the eagle, he was asleep. It swooped up Buzzard and flew to her nest at the ridges of a mountain, certainly out of Rising Sun territory. He was awakened by the sound of its young peeping. Buzzard soon saw that he was dinner. The chill of the high altitudes left him shuddering. Mama buzzard flew over to a rock, about to slice the cat in bite-size pieces.
He abruptly heard a finch's call. Turns out, the finch had followed the eagle to her nest. The call had distracted the buzzard, and left her confused. She spotted a fresh fox carcass and flew over to it, giving the two time to escape.
"Come on, honey. If you stay where you're supposed to be, you'll be fine."
The finch said he knew the way home, and that it was actually not that far away. He and Buzzard trekked back to Rising Sun territory.
A few months had passed since Buzzard's departure, and he was greeted by his livid mother. "You... I told you that if you leave the territory you'll get a sad face painted on your bowl! Now, look what you've done. Everyone will know you're a shame to the Colony. Oh, and, the ceremony's this evening. The leader will sure be disappointed! Go to your den right now, son of mine.
The sun, slowly fading into the evening, shined at Rock of Dawn. The entire Rising Sun colony gathered around it, and the Bowl Ceremony had begun. The Leader sat next to it, with paints and newly made bowls in hand.
'Holly of the Rising Sun?'
Buzzard carefully watched his sister's bowl painted with a smiling face, with eyes that seemed to be glistening. His sister had always had an excellent reputation, and definitely had been the leader's favorite. He watched many of his littermates' bowls get painted, each with a different design. Buzzard was happy for them, sure, but he was anxious about his bowl.
'Buzzard of the Rising Sun?'
Shivering, Buzzard stepped up to the leader. He dipped his feather in deep, black ink, and drew a sad face- with an inky black tear rolling down the sides. Buzzard knew he was a failure to everyone, and the leader promptly put it on his face. Buzzard slumped and everyone threw stones at him.
Suddenly, a flock of finches flew in, dropping Garin berries on Buzzard's bowl. Garin berries were berries native to the territory, and they were any cat's favorite. However, Garin berries, with their brown, semisolid skin can stain items easily.
That's exactly what happened to the bowl.
The bowl turned to a solid brown color, and the finch, whom Buzzard had saved from his colony, and whom saved him from a buzzard, carefully painted a finch's face on his bowl using the paints.
The crowd was shocked! The finch told the leader about their story, and the finches and the Rising Sun soon allied, and Buzzard was forgiven. Well, except for the fact that he had to clean the elder's den of ticks and help the mothers with their kits.
