Chapter 1
"Hurry up!" Tarana called from ahead, "If we don´t hurry, there won´t be any of the good food left by the time we get back!"
"Well then, why don´t you carry this if you think you could go faster?" Feah replied, tripping over the bread crust she had found on the sidewalk.
"Because I´m already carrying the bedding." Tarana snorted. "Or would you prefer to sleep on stone?" Despite her rough tone, she had already stopped to wait for her friend, and bit the bread crust in half once Feah had caught up with her. Then she picked up the other half and carried it herself, while somehow still managing to carry the piece of cloth at the same time.
With that, both of them were occupied and conversation ceased until they reached the hole in the rotting old door that led into the abandoned house the Colony was using as their Base. There, they were met by one of the Guards.
"Hey Zabex! Good to see you. We brought back some bread. We were in a hurry and didn´t have any time to go hunting." Tarana said in a hurry, while Feah was standing next to her, trying to catch her breath after such a long run.
"Okay, that´s fine. I´ll take the bread to the storage, you guys go ahead and get to your Nest. They´ve already distributed the food, and if you don´t hurry, there might not be anything good left for you two." Zabex told them.
Tarana brushed past him into the Base. Feah managed to breath a thank you before following after Tarana.
When they got there, it turned out that they had been right to worry. There were only a few measly crumbs and a single meager beatle left. Obviously, Tarana took the beatle for herself, playfully explaining to Feah that it was her fault they were late in the first place. When Feah didn´t deny it, Tarana had a short and rare moment of guilt, and decided to leave at least a tiny piece for her. After that, they joined the others in the Nest, Tarana teasing the others by showing them the soft, comfortable piece of cloth she had found. The only ones who got excited over it where Avery and Tilia, the two youngest members who had only recently joined and didn´t know Tarana well enough yet to realize she wasn´t planning on sharing.
Just before they all went to sleep, Nana came over to Feah and Tarana, who where huddled together with their precious cloth, and told them to get up before dawn the next day, because there was something important she needed to tell them. She had already discussed it with the other members of the Nest while they were still out.
Feah woke up early the next day, remembering what Nana had told them the previous night and feeling a twinge of worry. What could be wrong with Nana? Would they have to look for a different Trainer? But who would want to take on two rats of their age? After all they were almost ready to become recognized Hunters already!
When Feah saw that Tarana was still happily snoring away, she gently nudged her to wake up. Tarana gave a little twitch of her hind paw, but otherwise there was no reaction. After a few more attempts, Feah nipped Tarana´s tail in frustration. That got her to wake up. The bad part was that everyone else woke up too, due to Tarana´s startled shriek. Feah waited for Nana´s irritated voice to tell them off, but it never came. Then she sniffed the air. She´s not here! Feah realized with a start.
"What´s wrong?" Tarana gumbled.
"Nana isn´t here..."
"What!" Tarana spat. "First she tells us to get up early and talk to her, and then she´s not even here!?"
They all fell silent as they heard paw steps coming towards them. Feah sniffed the air in an attempt to identify who it might be. There was the scent of several rats coming towards their Nest, but, while they all seemed familiar, she couldn´t remember who they belonged to. All except for one.
"Okay, see you then." Nana´s voice could clearly be heard throuhg the silince in the Nest. "What´s going on here?" She asked as she entered, looking rather confused. When nobody responded, Nana sniffed the air, but couldn´t detect anything that would have made her companions this tense. "What´s going on." She repeated, this time demanding an answer.
Hadara, the leader of the Nest, got up, walked over to Feah and Tarana, then forcefully pushed them out of their bed, in Nana´s direction.
"These two over here had to go and wake up the entire Nest. Now go and take care of your students." She told Nana. She no longer looked all that elegant and threatening with her fur sticking up in all directions, but not even Tarana had the courage to say so. Instead, they slunk out of the Nest, making themselves as small as possible. Then they waited while Nana and Hadara had a short conversation, but they didn´t dare eavesdrop when Hadara was in such a bad mood.
When they were done talking, Hadara went back into the Nest, while Nana turned around and looked at the two young rats. Then she told them to follow her and walked off without even looking back to see if they actually were.
Feah jumped forward to walk beside Tarana, who was keeping a small distance between Nana and herself so that they could talk without having her overhear every word they were saying.
"Why is she trying to be so mysterious?" Tarana grumbled.
Feah flinched at Tarana´s tone.
"Don´t say that. There might really be something wrong!" she squeaked. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she got. Who were those other rats that Nana had talked to? Could they have something to do with it? Feah stopped when she noticed Tarana looking at her with a strange expression in her eyes.
"What?" she asked.
"So that´s what´s bothering you." Tarana said. "Don´t worry. Do you really think Nana looks like she´s in trouble? I think she looks even happier than normal!"
Feah glanced ahead to look at Nana, then realized she wasn´t there anymore. She tensed when she saw a large, reeking, group of rats flowing into the room instead. Luckily they were still on the window sill, or they might even have been run over. But where is Nana? she asked herself. Then she spotted her coming out of one of the drawers where the food was kept, carrying two dead baby geckos in her mouth. Her eyes widened when she saw the mass of rats.
Feah got ready to jump down and join her, but a tough from Tarana stopped her in her tracks. She glanced over her shoulder at Tarana, and realized her friend was abnormally nervous. Tarana doesn´t get nervous! She´s always composed! This just isn´t right! Feah thought, now getting nervous too.
"They´re Warriors." Tarana whispered in a shaky voice.
Feah looked back at the mass of rats, there were about thirty, maybe even forty! She gulped when she realized her friend was right. Almost all of them had three horizontal scars running down their face, starting between the eyes and ending where the whiskers started. The mark of the Warrior!