Content
“Ha! Got ya- huh?”
“Too slow, Pangur,” Evan teased.
The cat looked up from his empty paws and over at his adopted brother, who now stood behind him. He gave a playful yet competitive smirk, quickly turning to pounce once again. But all he caught was the sound of a crude raspberry and a giggle as the little mouse managed to evade him once more. Pangur turned again, slowly this time, and faced him. Evan stood in a ready stance, his little chest twitching with his rapid breaths.
“You’re really getting good at this,” Pangur said. Evan grew a triumphant grin.
“Soon you won’t even have to worry anymore, ‘cause I’ll be able to get away from any cat in the world!” he proclaimed.
Hardly a moment later and the little mouse’s world went dark, as something large and fluffy landed on top of him. He began squeaking frantically in alarm as he struggled to escape, but then he heard a voice.
“It’s not so easy to escape a cat when you don’t know she’s coming.” The darkness lifted to reveal their mother standing over Evan. Her words had sounded stern, but her playful smirk and prideful eyes showed otherwise. The little mouse took a moment to catch his breath; playful or not, her point was fully received.
“Nice one mom!” Pangur said, “So, how did it go out there?” Their mother sighed.
“Well enough, I suppose. I do miss our well-kept hunting grounds, but there do seem to be plenty of prey as long as you stay alert,” she replied. Pang frowned slightly, hearing the tiredness in his mother’s voice. Her hunts had been taking much longer than they used to; his too. The prey out here seemed far more scattered and cautious than back home.
“I think I’m going to take a nap, make sure to look after Evan,” she said.
“Oh- but, I’m getting hungry. I thought I was going to hunt when you came back,” Pangur replied. Their mother gave another tired sigh as she realized she would have to stay up to watch her vulnerable son.
“I… I could just go with Pang.” Evan suggested. The young cat’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah! Why not!? We’re not in the village anymore, he’s not any safer here than out with me!” Pangur reasoned. “Besides, he needs food too, and he’s way better at foraging than we are.”
Their mother’s practiced reaction was, of course, to shoot the idea down, but she stopped herself and thought for a moment. She looked the two of them over, overeager as always.
“Well, I suppose that’s true…” she said reluctantly. Now both boys’ eyes lit up in excitement. “Just remember what I told you about finding your way back. And stay together no matter what; if Evan’s on the ground foraging I expect you to be right there next to him, Pangur.”
“Don’t worry mom, I won’t let him out of my sight!” Pang replied. He felt Evan scurry up his leg and position himself at the base of his neck.
“Yay! I finally get to see my big brother hunt!” the little mouse exclaimed.
Their mother looked at them nervously one last time, before nodding to Pangur for him to leave. He nodded back, a determined look on his face, and then turned and darted off into the green.
…
“Found something yet?”
“Shhhh!” Pangur replied sternly, though his brother had hardly whispered. “If you don’t stop talking I’ll never find anything.”
“Right, sorry,” Evan whispered back. He settled back down into his brother’s fur to wait some more. The cat’s ears began to move again, swiveling from side to side, snapping from one direction to the next as he searched for the tiniest distant sounds. It had been cool to watch at first, but Evan had been watching for quite a while now. He was beginning to wonder if there even were any-
Pangur suddenly snapped his head to the left and froze. His ears twitched once, then twice, then he lowered his head to shoulder level and quietly began to walk.
That’s it! He’s found something! Evan thought excitedly. He knew he had better stay quiet now, or else they might lose it and have to start all over. He was practically holding his breath in anticipation. Past plants and over roots, Evan felt every step his brother took, but his paws never made a sound, and then suddenly they stopped dead.
Evan slowly peeked up to get a view over his brother’s head. It took him a moment, but then he saw it: a little grey spot out in the open green; a mouse. It seemed preoccupied, munching on something it had found along the forest floor.
Is that really… Evan started to think. He couldn’t see too well from that distance, but he thought he could make out the mouse’s little paws and muzzle as it ate, it’s big ears, it’s long tail. But that just looks like a normal mouse… just like me…
Pangur began to move, slowly at first, then picking up speed. Evan held the black fur tight, but found his eyes glued to the unsuspecting rodent. A second later and Pangur was in a full-on sprint, the remaining distance quickly closing. Evan watched the other mouse come into focus, he saw its whiskers, its nose, a flash of its eyes. Pangur leapt off the ground.
“Pang, stop!” Evan cried.
*SQUEAK* *SQUEAK* *SQUEAK*
“What is it?! What’s wrong?!” Pang asked worriedly. He felt Evan leave his back and rush onto the ground.
“That’s not a ‘prey’, it’s a mouse!” Evan yelled as he scurried over to his brother’s front paws. He skidded to a stop when he saw it. Pangur had the poor mouse skillfully pinned under one paw, flailing on its side as it continued to squeal in alarm.
“Really?!” the cat replied, hints of shock and guilt in his voice. He brought his head down to examine the creature more closely, but that only caused it to struggle harder and squeak louder. After a few moments of this, he let out a relieved sigh.
“Evan, what are you talking about? That’s not a normal mouse! You really scared me for a second.” Evan watched the struggling rodent for a moment longer, unable to look away.
“But- but it looks just like…” he began, but trailed off after a series of particularly loud squeaks.
“They look the same as Rodentia, don’t you remember from your lessons?” Pangur explained. “That’s why we had the hunting grounds back home where none of the mice would go, so they wouldn’t get mixed up with prey.” That is what he’d always been told, but Evan had never seen any of the “primitive” mice in person before.
“See, these ones can’t talk. They only squeak when you catch them,” Pangur insisted.
“Yeah, but… but I squeak when you and mom catch me, when we’re playing,” Evan replied. He wasn’t quite so confident about it now, but he didn’t sound totally convinced either.
“I know, but… just look at it… look at its eyes,” Pangur said. Somewhat reluctantly, Evan took a few steps forward and gave an even closer look. He did as his brother asked and looked the creature in the eyes. There was a long moment of silence.
“Evan… if… if you don’t like hunting, I can let this one go and take you back to mom. It’s okay, I can find more to eat later,” Pang offered in a concerned tone.
“No… you’re right,” Evan finally replied. The little prey mouse, Evan saw the fear in its eyes but… they were also shallow, almost empty. It did seem like a mouse, it looked like one and smelled like one but… it wasn’t like him, it was different… it was prey.
“I… I was just scared, that’s all,” Evan said, backing away from his brother’s catch, a hint of sad embarrassment in his voice.
“It’s alright,” Pang offered comfortingly, “I was like that too, when mom was teaching me to hunt… after she brought you home for the first time.” The two of them shared a small smile.
“So, um, do you mind if I eat now? I’m kinda hungry,” Pang asked, now taking his turn at sounding a bit embarrassed. Evan nodded meekly.
So Pangur turned his attention back to his catch. He looked down at it for a moment, and then suddenly shot his head groundward. Evan flinched as he felt a faint rush of air, and heard a muffled crunch. And when he opened his eyes again the squeaking had stopped, and the mouse hung limply with its head hidden between his brother’s nimble jaws. He watched as Pangur quickly and easily drew his prey into his maw, bit by bit, until only the end of the mouse’s tail was visible, then the cat took a quiet swallow, and the tail slowly slipped past his teeth. And just like that, it was done.
…
“Mom! We’re back!” Pangur called as they approached the small borough in the earth that they had begun to call home. Their mother’s head poked out a few moments later, and she walked out to greet them, taking a moment to stretch as she went.
“Good, I was starting to worry,” she said, though she actually sounded in better spirits than when they had left, thanks to that much needed rest. “You both okay? Did you find what you needed?”
“Yeah, we’re both fine,” Evan replied cheerily.
“And how was your first time hunting, Evan?” she asked.
“It was… actually pretty cool!”