AN: Another story.

Talons and Claws

Chapter 1

First Flight

The den was all that the young owl remembered. He knew everything about it, from the discarded pellets to the scratches on the walls that he would make when he was bored, which was everyday. He looked out of the hole of the tree, seeing his sister gliding around.

His sister, as is him, is a spotted owl. Her brown and white feathers had already grown and was now beautifully glowing as the moonlight hit his sisters body. She had dark eyes with blue on the outside forming a ring, and small, neat talons that she has threatened him with. Her beak was short and lightly pointed on the end. She turned the head, the way that owls do, and said, "If you're done being moonstruck, maybe you should look for Mom and Pa."

"I can't leave the nest, Nina," the young owl said as he shuffled his small talons in the sandy part of the tree.

"Humph. More like scared to live a little," His sister huffed as she landed down beside him.

"Mum said so. She would kill me if I left the nest, and what if I don't return," the young owl persisted as he fretted about what his parents would think.

"Mraak, stop being such a baby," Nina cooed as she stepped behind him.

Mraak wasn't a very big spotted owl. His feathers were more of a ruddy gray than the brown color that they should be. His eyes were a misty grey, trimmed with green and he could see better than his whole family. His feathers were almost full fledged, and his beak was long and pointed at the end.

"I just don't want to get into any trouble," Mraak whined as he looked across the star speckled sky.

"Trust me," His sister cooed as she smirked evilly.

She trusted her foot onto Mraaks back, pushing her little brother over the edge. Mraak felt the air as he let out a startled yelp. Kallian, the nestmaid snake, let out a hiss as she looked at Nina with blind eyes.

"Why did you do that," the snake hissed as she thought of striking Nina.

"I know that he will return, besides if he doesn't then there won't be many mouths to feed for the weakling just eats our supply," Nina scoffed as she lifted her wings. She peered over the edge, and was quite surprised by what she saw.

Mraak felt the wind ghost through his developing flight feathers as he fell. The overwhelming urge to flap immediately overcame him as he felt himself slow down. So, flapping his wings, he felt himself go up instead of down. A loud cry of joy sounded from his beak as he looked down at his sister.

Nina's eyes were large and wide as she dumbfoundingly watched Mraak actually fly before her even with his still developing flight feathers. She almost let out a frustrated sound as she did a hopping dance to have her plan foiled.

Mraak let out a laugh at his sister, he knew that she would try something sooner or later, so every morning he would hop on the branches and he even once tried flying before his dad awoke and brought him back to the nest to reprimand him for "falling" from the nest and being up past his bedtime.

The wind shifted suddenly, making Mraak let out a startled hoot as he was tugged towards the ground. He closed his eyes and fainted as his body hit something solid.

A small form crept along the white world. The feline turned its head slightly to the left, noticing small prints in the snow that only single one thing. Prey!

It turned slightly to the left, creeping along the small trail with small, delicate silver paws. Its slender form pressed closer to the ground as the ground yawned into a dip below the feline. The hollow place wasn't covered white like the rest of the world. A pink tree was in the middle with the mouse den right below its trunk.

To the far side of the hollow was a slope. It dipped right into a half concealed cave that yawned from the ground. The feline twitched her whiskers as she listened for the tell tale heart beats of a mouse. She sensed the right rhythm coming from inside the cave. Not noticing what was in front of her, the feline stepped forwards only to land chest first onto hard packed dirt.

Spitting with fury, the feline got onto her paws and narrowed her eyes at the small shivering form of Pouncekit. He squealed as his blue eyes met with the narrowed blue eyes of his older sister, Silverheart. "Why did you follow me out here," she hissed at her younger brother.

"I wanted to hunt with you sissy," Pouncekit squeaked as he crouched down. "You might also need protection from big scary badgers or sly skinny foxes."

Pouncekit bared his tiny white teeth. He swiped out at the air, imagining a fox right where he swiped. Done with that, he looked inquiringly up at his sister. Silverheart sighed.

"You know that kits aren't allowed out of the camp," she stated matter-of-factly as she closed her eyes. "But I guess that you can come along now since we are a ways away from camp."

She peeked down at Pouncekit with half closed eyes. The little kit let out a squeal of joy as he ran around his sister shouting, "Oh thanks, thanks, sissy! Yes thanks!"

"But if you get into trouble with Mom or Scatterstar, don't drag me into it. This is your fault and I am in enough trouble as it is, with being made a warrior early and all," Silverheart continued as she lifted her nose into the air.

Sniffing daintily, she scented the same mouse still in the cave. "Stay here," she whispered to Pouncekit as she crouched low to the ground so that her belly was brushing the dirt.

Stalking along the side of the hollow, Silverheart silently came closer to the cave. Bunching her hindquarters, she waited until the mouse had poked its whiskered face out of the cave before she pounced. The mouse let out a squeak as it felt Silverheart's claws dig into its small body. Suddenly a mass of white snow blew out of the cave, engulfing Silverheart in a whirlwind of wind and frozen water.

Silverheart let out a screech as she felt something big tumble into her. Her eyes widened when she felt the hard ground contact with her side, her ribs cracking as she heard the faint voice of Pouncekit in the distance as darkness closed in.

"Sissy! Where are you? Don't die on me, please!"

An: I should be updating Going Rogue and City of Shadows soon since school has ended for me. *Cheers. Well, this idea has been bugging me since school has ended so I just had to write it out.

~Darkie