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Page Six
Yuzaak was buried the next morning by those closest to him: His sister, Kaymi, and Sokrin, his best friend. The other cats stood around the camp, in their mourning ritual.
Merra sat in the middle, Azenek on her right side, Ariya on her left. The medicine cat's head was bowed, her eyes closed. Losing cats was always hard for her, Azenek knew, but it was part of being a medicine cat. Ariya would cope.
Azenek was trying his hardest, not to let the death, get to him, but it was hard, even if he hadn't known Yuzaak that well.
As soon as the mourning ritual was over, the cats went back to what they were doing. Some were extremely sad, such as Kaymi, and Sokrin, who were looking worse than Azenek had ever seen them, despite Senni and Shira grooming them, and trying to comfort them.
Others were frustrated, as he watched Scaide vent her spleen on a fallen tree.
And some, he noticed with a pang of annoyance, weren't exactly bothered, as he watched Nekan approach the same tree, and instead of trying to shred it, carefully sharpened his claws. That fanatic cared for his teeth and claws the way a queen cared for her kittens.
Speaking of Kittens, Yuzaak's mother Cowa, surprisingly, was responding well to the other queen's comforts, though probably only because she knew she had to be strong for her unborn litter.
Merra sent out a hunting party, consisting of Nekan, Scaide and Shira. The little white warrior was overjoyed to accompany her two favorite cats in the clowder.
Barely ten minutes after they'd left, all three were racing back.
"Human!" gasped Scaide.
"The one that killed Yuzaak," added Nekan.
Merra wasted no time calling the clowder's attention. She described what had happened, and called out for suggestions on what to do.
"We could leave," suggested Ariya's soft voice. Is she crazy? We've lived here for generations! We can't leave! Azenek's protest went unvoiced.
Merra looked at her medicine cat. "That makes sense, Ariya," she told her. Then she turned to the rest of the clowder, most of whom had gasped at Ariya's suggestion.
"Despite what it seems, Ariya's suggestion might be the one we go with. We know this human hunts in the forest. Can you imagine what would happen if it stumbled into our camp?"
Now Azenek saw sense in the medicine cat. So did everyone else. queens pulled their kits towards them.
"Then it's settled," said Merra. Eat something, then we leave."
The cats dispersed, and padded towards the prey pile. Azenek didn't find it as hard to eat as he had been expecting. Others could barely gulp down their last meal in their birthplace, but he finished his with out much problem.
And they were off. Merra was in the lead, followed by Azenek, and Ariya. Ariya was closely followed by the Shira's friend Hana. The young warrior had volunteered to help the medicine cat carry her herbs and remedies.
A while later, a black and white head appeared at the top of a boulder, followed by others.
"Hello, Merra," Yurik drawled. "Lovely day to take your entire clowder for a stroll in my territory."
Azenek had encountered Yurik before, and he knew how this was going down. He tensed, ready to spring into battle, the moment his leader gave the command.
"Our territory has been invaded." Merra attempted. "We are leaving."
"Charming story," the other leader purred. "But it won't work." He turned to his warriors. "Attack!"
 Lupine Pyrefly · Sun Aug 21, 2005 @ 04:13pm · 1 Comments |
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