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"Stars burn bright but the brighter they shine the faster they burn." ~LNF

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It was December when his parents abandoned him in the barren forest that was heavy with snow. A kit born with cloudy blue eyes, sightless but not deaf to the abandonment of his parents. He wailed when the quiet of the forest drowned him, the cold causing him to shiver and shy away in fear of the unknown, of the cold lifeless forest, but then there was warmth.

Fur brushed against his frail, shivering, form. The scent was that of his older sibling, a person who was always there to comfort and protect him, a person who cared more for him than their parents ever did. "Oli, it'll be okay. We'll live in the forest, even though it might be hard we'll be able to live happily." His older sibling said, their voice steady and calm. He nodded at the thought of a happy life with his older sibling, a life without abandonment. "Okay, but only if I'm with you Kate." Oli said happily.

Or at least that was what was supposed to happen.

The siblings lived in a hollow that the eldest had dug out on that frigid and cold night in December. Two months had passed and the forest began to thaw, the grass began to grow and the trees sprouted verdant leaves. The air warmed considerably and animals of all species returned in abundance. Kate knew that although their brother was still too young to catch his own prey, it wouldn't hurt for him to learn how to stalk and hunt early. Especially since he was blind and wouldn't be able to rely on the sense that most predators used primarily.

"Brother get up. It is time for you to learn how to hunt and stalk will start today." She said, nudging her brother awake. It took a few more nudges before Oli began to stir, his reddish-brown fur sticking up everywhere.

He yawned before perking his ears towards his sister. "You look like a hedgehog." She snickered and he pinned his ears back in embarrassment before licking his fur. "Why am I learning how to stalk and hunt now? I thought I was still too young to hunt my own prey." He asked, curiosity laced within his voice. "You are still too young to hunt your own prey but it won't hurt for you to learn how to stalk and hunt, let alone you aren't able to see, so we have to train your other senses." Kate responded and watched as her brother nodded in nervous understanding.

"Now come on, I know the perfect spot for you to train your other senses." She spoke, getting up from where she was sitting, and headed out of the hollow with her brother following after her.

They walked in silence and away from the hollow that was their home until they reached a natural clearing where the grass was long and wild. Blackberry bushes grew just on the outskirts of the clearing but they wouldn't begin to bear fruit until later that spring. The two siblings sat in front of each other. Kate neatly tucked her bushy yet slim tail around herself, whereas their brother let his small tail sit out behind his.

"I want you to take in a deep breath. Breathe within the forest and tell me what you can smell." She said, watching as her brother inhaled deeply and exhaled softly. "I smell blackberry bushes but they are not as sweet smelling as they are in late spring. I can smell the birds that are high in the trees and the squirrels that are just barely coming out of hibernation. I also smell wild mint and fennel growing just past the blackberry bushes." Oli said and Kate smiled even though her brother couldn't see her. "Very good. It's amazing that you can smell wild mint and fennel that are just past the blackberry bushes." She said and he smiled before asking, "You can't smell the mint or the fennel?" "Nope, the blackberry bushes just are too strong but this means that you have a more sensitive nose than I do." Kate responded before taking a deep breath. "Anyway, tell me what you hear." Kate instructed watching as her brother obliged, their ears perking up and swiveling around to get a better range of hearing. He did this for a minute before responding to his sibling's request, "I can hear the river that's just beyond the tree lines. It's moving swiftly but not quietly. I can hear the songs of many birds and the bickering of squirrels. There's also, in the distance, a deer running from what I don't know." Kate had no words, she stared in astonishment at her brother, his hearing was impressive and his sense of smell was impeccable. He'd make a great hunter in the coming year.

"Your hearing is astounding, I can only hear the birds and squirrels but you can hear for miles. Although you may not be able to see what you hunt, you can smell and hear them." Kate said smiling as she watched her brother look at her happily, his sightless blue eyes gleaming with happiness.

As the months passes, Kate trained her brother to use his hearing to hear the heartbeat of their prey, a tiny but rapid thud was a mouse, a large yet rapid was a rabbit, and a slow but small was a squirrel. She taught him the different scents of what berries were safe to eat and what water was safe to drink. They trained with one another for two years before the eKate declared their brother to be ready to begin learning the art of stalking.

"First you must lower your body. Crouch low but keep your belly and tail from touching the ground. Use your sense of smell and your whiskers to tell if there's any leaf litter or twigs in your path." She said watching as their sibling did as they were told, "Now I want you to hunt me. Trust your instincts." She said and before her brother could reply she took off running towards the crystal clear lake.

Oli hesitated as the feeling of being alone crept upon him but he shook it off and moved through the forest, following his sister's scent. His paws moved over leaf litter but kept snapping twigs that lay before him unnoticed. He winced everything he heard a snap but still continued onward until he reached the edge of the treeline that surrounded the pond. His sibling was there. He crouched low, kept his belly and tail off the ground, and slowly made his way toward his sibling.

As Oli moved slowly, Kate licked her fur until she heard a loud crack. She moved her head and saw her brother getting ready to pounce. Just as her brother launched himself, she moved and watched as her sibling landed in the water. She watched in amusement as she watched her brother swim to the edge of the pond, heaving himself up the shore before shaking. "That wasn't fair." He said and his sister laughed. "Last time I checked prey don't think it's fair for us to hunt them, but that is the circle of life. They eat the grass and we eat them. It's an instinct for them to run if they hear a twig snap." She said watching as their brother mumble something before nodding. "Well, it's a good thing that I can swim." He said and his sister smiled before saying, "If you couldn't then I would have saved you." Oli let out an amused huff before shaking once more.

"Anyway we'll try again later this evening but for now let's enjoy the sunshine, also you have the rest of this year to hunt me without me knowing that you are there." She said and her brother, although surprised by the task, nodded and laid himself next to his sibling. Bathing in the warm sunlight.

* * *

Oli moved fast through the light snow, winter had come yet again. He had attempted many a time to catch his sister by surprise. Sometimes he came close to being successful other times he would back out, knowing that he had already lost but he never gave up and each time he was unsuccessful the more he grew. He knew the unseen paths of the forest, he could detect prey that not even his sister could, and yet through all this he could never catch his sister off guard but that would all change today. His sibling was out hunting and he knew which path he needed to take to catch them.

The snow was beginning to fall as he took a path unbeknownst to his sister, he walked as quietly as he could, and although he couldn't see he weaved through trees and stepped over dried twigs and dead leaves he knew now that the trees were bare and that the sky was a grayish-blue. His sister had always taken the time to tell him what colors the sky was and what their home looked like. His sister had even told him what he looked like. His fur was a dark red, sleek and uncommon, with a black fluffy tail and although his eyes were sightless they were the clearest pale blue that she had ever seen.

For many months when he was younger he wondered what his sister truly looked like but he dwelled no longer on those thoughts as he got a whiff of his sister's scent and the scent of a rabbit. His mouth salivated but decided to continue onward. This time he had to catch his sister but there was more on the line than just failure.

He crouched low, his ear alert and his nose twitching. His whiskers vibrated in anticipation as he heard his sibling move. Kate was quiet as she stalked through the snow the rabbit had not noticed that she was there as it nibbled on a snowberry and then with a swift unwavering paw and rabbit still unaware she pounced and with a loud snap to its neck, she killed it. It was at the snap of the rabbit's neck that Oli made his move, he ran out of the trees and tackled his sister who had little clue that he was there. "Now that's a dirty trick." She said with laughter in her voice. He smiled, letting his sister go, and shook off the snow that clung to his pelt. "There are no dirty tricks when hunting down prey." He said smiling and without warning his sister tackled him to the ground and the two began to play fighting.

Once they were done they lay in the snow each huffing and puffing as snow continued to fall around them. Kate looked up at the sky and said, "We should probably head home." Oli nodded and stood up, shaking the snow from his fur as he waited for his sister to pick up her catch.

They returned home that night and shared the rabbit. It wasn't much but together they knew that their life couldn't go wrong. With one another they could do anything.