Chapter II
March 18, 2024 at 12:49 PM
Maple went off from the cave. A circlepawed ran on the stonepath, and the slim he-cat fluffed up its short fur in sudden fright.
“Hmm… The animals can kill us there”, — he thought.
“Big fierce birds, who fly over the stones, can kill a cat…” — he remembered the Blizzard’s words and went deep into the highrocks. He peed a message tag in front of entrance of the cave, so his wife wouldn’t be worry.
Maple went round one rock and was breahing hard to find at least one eagle. Suddeny he eard a scary shout, that he didn’t hear in his life.
That was the eagle from the Blizzard’s tales!
The slim dark-grey he-cat with blue eyes saw, how the eagle hunts. It flied to the left from the he-cat. Strong bird’s claws dug into mouse’s small body, but suddenly the eagle felt a weight on its back from nowhere. Maple jumped onto eagle’s back, but it was able to take off. Dark-grey he-cat clawed into the bird to keep from falling from the hieght.
Maple’s heart started to beat faster: he promised to hunt for Blizzard. Had he not risked his life, going into the high cliffs for that very bird, for nothing? But he wanted to see a flavour of its meat, not appearance.
He remembered the lessons from childhood, clawed right claws and scratced the light-brown bird’s neck. It cried, closed its eyes and died. The dark-grey cat was keeping wings of corpse, tilted the left wing and was keeping until he landed on a rock.
“I have to go long, — the he-cat with blue tin wagged his moving slim tail. — Perhaps, I will in the cave tinight. There’s a reason my ancestor was Eagle, or else I couln’t go there, — he started to reason, but briefly finished. — No! Don’t talk, it’s time to go!”
A river was nearby and could get drink everyone. The place was beautiful: there grew grass and flowers, there were animals here that he didn’t know and slept in their dens.
“The place is good, I want to explore… but I must go back to my wife, — he said. — The sun is going out of sight, but I’m not back to the cave yet.”
And yes, pretty soon it’s going to be deep night.
“The moon is going to light you the path of ten…” — he remembered the Eagle’s words. She was his ancestor.
Just last night the moon was full, that was happening second time! She said about moon that will be full ten nights! That was how the young he-cat guessed, paying attention to everything around him and discovering new.
Maple decided to hunt an another eagle, so he started to eat it.
Blizzard’s husband ate all meat, but bones and feathers he buried.
A “stonetree” was nearby. A big circlepawed stopped here. Pinkskineds went out from circlepawed’s mouth and put up signs, and the beautiful valley turned to a stone desert. A junction of banks was over the river.
“That will be called “bridge” — decided Maple.
Seeing that place is dying, he found an oat and ran very over the high rocks as fast as he could. Soon the blooming land hid behind the horison, nearby he heard eagle’s roar.
Then Maple put down the oat behind stones, memoed them and hid to hunt. The giant eagle flew to its prey, but he-cat went round in time and jumped o eagle’s back. It flew up, carring load, and it was flying to the place, where Maple wanted to come back. Not far from the cave the he-cat bit into eagle’s scruff of its neck, and his home was not far away. But the oat was very far, and Maple had to run after the healing herbs.
***
It wasn’t long before dawn, Maple moved eagle’s carcass so hard in up in the tonnel, that went to the cave. He went in the cave, saw his wife sleeping, put eagle’s body and ran out sa fast as he can. Maple ran out from the cave, turned to the highrocks and found the stones where he put the oat. Then, exerting last of his energy, he ran back as fast as he could. Maple ran into the place and fell asleep next to Blizzard.
