Toik's hunt

"Toik!" I hissed at my brother, trying to be as quiet as a Keasi can possibly be. Which, in my case, was pretty much silent. "I swear on my tail, if you manage to scare this one, I'll rip your ears off!"

We were stalking a Greanfeather sparrow - a bird with dark brown and even darker green feathers that was bigger than mother's head. Toik likes to call them fat, but they're made out of more feathers than meat. The sparrow was sitting on a tall tree, happily napping on its branches.

"I'm not gonna scare it off, calm down," he quietly mumbled back while sneaking to the base of the tree. I could already see this idea of his failing.

"And you say it like it was my fault that the previous two tries didn't work as planned."

I gave him a blank stare, clearly stating my thoughts on that. "Three. You screwed it up three times so far." If it wasn't for the fact that I was supposed to help him today, I would have had left his sorry tail sulking alone a long time ago. It was almost unbelievable with how many bad ideas he managed to come up with.

"That one doesn't count." He huffed and turned his ears back. "You should have warned me that there were two of them nearby."

I slowly breathed out, focusing on our surroundings instead of on how much I would have loved to run my claws through his fur. If we don't catch this one, I'll be leaving Toik in order to get my own meal for today. "I should have gone with Rei instead." I sighed, watching how Toik climbed up the tree.

He didn't answer, focusing on quietly climbing closer to the sparrow. Those birds are common here in the forest and I was quite skilled at finding them. Out of the four birds I had found for Toik so far, three of them were Greenfeather sparrows.

"You are putting up the wrong foot…" I shifted my tail so the fluffy end would rest on my nose, hiding the sight of yet another ungraceful fail of my dear brother. "By the stars I refuse to watch this…"

All I needed to hear was a loud yelp and a following crash to know what has happened. The startled sparrow flew off with several loud wingbeats, leaving us alone. Again.

"Toik, I love you. Forest knows I do, but stars above this is impossible." I didn't even want to look at his sprawled-out body under the tree.

"Well… That didn't go as planned." Toik murmured while shaking off his fur, checking it out for stray bark, twigs and leaves. His beige coat was mostly clean, but I still came down from my watching spot anyway.

"It never does, does it?" I snorted after I made my graceful leap down - a stark contrast against his fall. I swiftly made a circle around him, picking off the dirt and leaves that I saw sticking out of his otherwise clean fur.

When I made sure that he was indeed alright and clean, I darted closer to him and placed both of my hands on the side of his shoulder. Before he managed to react, I bit his ear and forcefully tugged on it while using my hand as leverage. I might be less than half of my brother's size, but I was fast.

"Ya! Sai! Damn it!" He yelped and tried to pry my jaws from his hear. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He leapt to his feet, desperately trying to shake me off. I was small enough to hold onto his back through.

"That's what you get for always being reckless and moving your legs faster than your brain!" I got out between my teeth, still holding onto his ear. Firm enough for it to hurt, but not enough to truly injure him.

"Mom said no biting!" He finally managed to jostle me enough for me to let go, quickly making some distance between us. When he was sure that I won't leap at him again, he sat down and started rubbing his ear with both hands.

"And mother also said that you have to listen to me in order to learn." I huffed, sitting down and lifting my front paws to my face.

All Keasi have a 'thumb' on their front paws. A fifth finger with a very flexible joint that allows us to better hold our prey, climb and clean ourselves more easily. It was a very neat bonus when one had feathers, like me.

I started to run my fingers through them, smoothing them back after the rough ride I had been given. Leave it to Toik to dirty my carefully cleaned coat. "You're on your own today. I haven't eaten yet and I don't plan on starving just because you are unable to catch a single bird."

"What?!" Toik paused in rubbing his ear, turning his wide eyes to me. "You can't do that!" He pouted as he got back to all fours. His form was lean and built for speed. His body was more similar to those feline beasts running at hight speeds after their prey in plains. There was an occasional yellow spark running through his coat and his irises were bright colour of amber with dark blue rings around them.

Toik's fur turned into long mane atop his neck and further down along his spine, gaining a lighter shade of yellow. There were two almost white horns on the top of his head, their ending not sharp but dull. He had the same, smaller pair at the back of his jaw. Those horns are another sign of Keasi – females have only the pair on their forehead, while males have one more pair at the back of their jaw.

"Don't even think of following me." I grumbled, still smoothing down my feathers. "Just catch a fish or something."

"Oh come on. Sai! We both know it doesn't take you that long to find another one. I promise I'll follow what you say to the last word! Please?" Toik pleaded, still trying to get a free meal out of me.

I stopped to look at him, thinking it over. I could only sigh in the end, shifting my tail in the direction we came from. "We passed by a muntjac trail. If you follow it long enough, you might find a small herd." I looked back into the treetops, straining my ears for the barest of sounds. "We both know that you are not suited for this type of hunt, nor will a single bird be enough for you. I'll teach you some other time."

It wasn't as if Toik was a bad hunter, it was just that he was not built for life in forest. Mother wants him to learn as many ways of hunting as he possibly can, but we all know that he will leave for the plains. He is still growing and needs much more meat than a single sparrow can provide.

"Two days?" He turned to leave, only turning his head to talk to me. He was still filled with barely contained energy despite all the things I had dragged him through today.

"We'll meet here in two days." I confirmed and turned to take my leave.

The older we were, the more time we started to spend alone. It was natural and it would only take one more year until we leave for good.

Toik plans to travel towards the far plains in south, a place where he will able to run freely. Rei will probably travel with Keira for a while, both of them heading to the Northern mountains. I might join with Juvia and go with her through the forest for a while before we too will separate.

I wonder where my path of life will take me.