xxxThey had been travelling for about a moon. Mocha's paws ached and her sides heaved with effort. "Dad, can we stop yet?" Whined her brother Birch, who looked especially tired. He was dragging his paws and she could see that his small legs were trembling. The ginger tom glanced around at the surroundings. They were right in the middle of a large moorland, swathes of heather and long grass dappled the seemingly endless slopes and hills. With one last look around, he let out a grumble before begrudgingly sitting down. "Alright, but the strongest have to go hunt." He shifted his gaze from her exhausted little brother to her and Meteor. "You two go out and hunt, yowl if you need anything." Meowed her father, before finally lying down next to birch, who let out a soft sigh of relief as he rested in the cool grass. With a nod, Mocha set off with Meteor, eventually splitting up.
Mocha slipped silently through the long grass, the following the warm scent of rabbit. As she came upon the creature, she crouched down, ready to pounce, only to have the flattened grass beneath her paws let out a quiet crunch! The rabbit's head shot up immediately and it scampered into the grass, the she-kit quickly following suit, only to hear a squeal quickly get cut off. She pushed through the long grass, her pelt prickling with unease. Blinking in confusion, she saw a grey tabby standing there,the rabbit clamped firmly in his jaws, his amber eyes scorching her curly pelt, which looked suspiciously like her own. He padded towards her, dropping the creature at her paws. "Was this yours?" Questioned the tom, his voice smooth and sweet as he spoke to the young she-kit. "Yeah, thank you for catching it." She murmured, bending down to pick it up, only to be stopped as the tom placed one paw on it. "So what are you doing out here, hunting such a large rabbit, do you have a family?" He questioned, eyeing her like a piece of prey being dangled just out of reach. She shifted her weight uneasily, but his cool voice seemed to draw her closer. She nodded quickly. "I gotta take it to them, we're really tired."The tom nodded. "Surely you don't live out here, rabbits are very hard to catch." Mocha nodded once more. "I don't like it, it's always either really hot because of the sun or really cold because of the rain. I mean, I got a rabbit before." The tom got a look of awe on his face. "Really? Gosh,I'm so terrible at it, you must be very swift." He cooed, voice warm like honey. Each time she looked at the tom, he felt oddly familiar, he looked very similar with his distinct curly pelt, not only that, he was a grey tabby, just like Tundra. He pulled his paw away and let her pick it up. "Well, I best be off." As he turned away, Mocha's head shot up. "Oh, I'm Mocha by the way, who are you?" The tom looked over his shoulder, his piercing amber eyes glinting. "My name is Spider." He rumbled, before turning away and padding through the long grass without a sound. She stood there for a second, half in confusion, half in shock, before picking up the rabbit and making her way back to her family.
xxxAs she approached, she noticed that Meteor had caught at least three mice and she'd place her large rabbit into the pile with them. "That's huge! How'd you catch it?" Questioned Birch, already starting to dig into it with Tundra."Oh, I didn't, some nice tom named Spider caught it for me after I lost it." Her father immediately jumped to his paws, the fur along his spine bristling, claws unsheathed, eyes wide. "Did you just say Spider? What did he look like?" He demanded, now only a whisker length away from Mocha's face. "I-I--Well I mean he was a grey tabby with am-" Immediately, he whipped around and started padding away. "We gotta keep moving." He snapped, not even waiting for the kits to come-to. Mocha had to trot to keep up with him, the others close behind. "He's a terrible, terrible cat and must not be trusted." He snarled.
