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He found himself losing track with Etho. The white cat claimed he caught a scent of rabbit then disappeared, to chase the rabbit, of course, Bdubs snorted. He sniffed the air and the only thing greeted him was freezing snow flakes. Where’s the fur ball doing? He tried to find the other warrior by paw prints, but snow covered everything that could leave a trail.
Movement disturbed him, and he dropped into crouching despite himself. A magpie was looking for food on the clearing a fox length away. Bdubs crawling silently, unsheathed paws readied for hunting. A few steps closer and he can attack-
Crack torn through the air as a branch suddenly broke somewhere.
Mouse dung! The startled bird was stretching its wings to fly, and Bdubs tried leaping from his hidding place where he was slowed down as his short legs sank into the thick snow cover.
And a ball of snow- no, a cat- behind him, rushed out and leaped into the air. Before Bdubs realized, the attacker had already caught the flying prey and sank his teeth into the feathers, giving the poor bird a quick death.
Bdubs felt the end of fur stood. “ Etho! ”
“ Seems that some fur ball has just failed to catch a bird. ” Etho’s mewing was as quiet as the warrior himself. Bdubs caught amusement flashed in those eyes and his ears flattened as he became aware of what had startled his prey.
“ You tracked me! ” He lifted his head to glare at the taller tom, who was washing paws silently. “ It’s you who cracked the branch to scare that magpie! ”
“ And it’s also me who caught it- ” Etho paused and looked down at him. Bdubs hissed.
“ -even after it was startled. ” The white warrior added, whiskers twitching in amusement. “ A good hunter won’t let his prey escape in such a easy way, I suppose after all. ”
“ You- ” Bdubs spatted back, and a white tail flicked across his nose, stopping him from further protest. “ Keep quiet, will you, kittypet? Everyone in the forest can hear you. ”
“ Stop calling me kittypet! ”
Bdubs growled and knocked the other cat down into the snow, play fighting as if they were still childish kits, his anger wiped out by his friend’s laughter. Etho turned the table easily and rolled him over, a fore paw pinned him down. Bdubs didn’t waste more energy on fighting back, most of his strength had been taken by coldness anyway. His pelt is thicker than mine after all.
Bdubs stood up and shook snow off his brown pelt. Etho pressed against his side and gave him a lick in comfort. He purred at warmth of his friend.
“ Come on, let’s go back to our camp and then we can get you warm. ” His silver white friend offered, picking up the magpie. Bdubs followed and pushed himself through snow, his paws sank into which each step he made.
“ What about that rabbit you hunted? ”
“ Oh, you really think there was? Use your nose, kittypet. ”
“ I believed in you! ”