"Duck”, Salim whispered, twitching his ear as he pointed to a stork that had apparently strayed into the forest and was illuminated by the few rays of sunlight. The glowing orb had barely been visible in the sky since the morning, always hiding behind impenetrable clouds, but now that the lynxes had finally spotted a prey animal, it seemed to be gracious to them. It bathed the white bird in a warm light so that it had to squint its dark eyes, making the lynxes almost invisible. It was just groping through the grass with its thin and much too huge legs, which was still shimmering from the damp dew.

Salim walked slowly and carefully, crouched deep in the undergrowth, and glanced briefly at Valja and Akuma, who followed his every step. The three of them came closer and closer to the animal until Salim signaled with his ears and tail that they would split up so as not to have to talk.

His kittens immediately did as he asked and Salim felt a little pride as Valja and Akuma lined up on the left and right and got into position. The lynxess got ready for a sprint in case the bird flew away, while Akuma fixed his eyes on the stork and stepped closer to it.

The animal was still oblivious to the approaching death, only turning its head bluntly in different directions to find its bearings. Storks were rarely found in the middle of the forest, and only in very exceptional cases, which is why Salim briefly wondered what it was doing here, but decided to guess that it had lost its way.

Then the lynx nodded briefly in Akuma's direction, who immediately assumed the stance they had gone over so many times before. He ducked down and quickly crept forward through the grass. Then he prepared to leap, pushed off and flew through the air towards the stork.

Salim wasn't sure whether his son had misjudged the flight, but the lynx extended its claws and landed with a triumphant screech on the back of the terrified bird.

However, when Akuma sank his sharp teeth into the flesh, he finally came to life. He flapped his wings frantically and let out a pitiful caw that could clearly only be interpreted as a cry for help and not a cry for battle. With Valja's approach, who also wanted a piece of the successful hunt and sank her teeth into the stork's long neck, his life was gone.

Now Salim trotted up and looked at the bird with a proud smile, which twitched briefly and then came to a complete standstill. Blood ran from the wound on its neck and the scratches on its rump, and a delicious scent wafted into the lynx's nose. What a feast. And the bird already seemed to be strong and well-fed.

"A perfect hunt”, he praised the two kittens, who were beaming all over their faces. "Sit down and enjoy the bird. You've really earned it." Valja and Akuma immediately dropped to the ground and tore the meat from the bones. Smacking their lips, they enjoyed their prey and Salim joined the two of them.

The bird's meat tasted delicious and it was really lucky that the stork had strayed into the area where they had intended to hunt. He sent a silent prayer of thanks to the heavens, but left most of the meat to his kittens. They needed it more and, more importantly, they had caught it. He would perhaps eat some more later.

"I love birds!", Valja announced. "Their feathers don't taste good, but the meat and warm blood is so delicious." She licked her muzzle dreamily before immediately turning her attention back to her food.

"But stork isn't the best”, Akuma disagreed, while Valja twitched her tail indifferently. "Blackbirds are much better. Even if I have to eat a lot of them to get my fill."

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Surprised, Valja turned to her brother and said, somewhat confused: "Blackbirds? Are you serious? They're so small and really useless. Big birds are the best!" But Akuma only disagreed, shaking his head, as he could hardly talk at the moment. After all, he was eating and his mouth was full.

It took time for Valja and Akuma to eat the whole bird. With a little help from Salim, of course, but he held back.

"Are you full?", he asked when only feathers and bones littered the ground, interspersed with small bloodstains that stained the green with brown and red and created a strange play of colors.

But the lynx did not look at the ground any longer, but quickly buried the stork's remains. Then he rose together with the kittens.

"Another trip to the stream?", he offered the two of them, and this was immediately followed by a vigorous nod of the head and excited cheering. They set off together.

Salim could already smell and hear the cool water when the river was still far ahead of them. He simply couldn't ignore this wonderful water, he loved watching the waves when they weren't touching his fur. The water of the stream flowed straight through his territory and he was really lucky to have a water source that even flowed into a lake. Although this attracted a lot of Baldskins quite often, it had never really bothered him before.

The three lynx trotted together through the forest, which was now slowly replacing the conifers with leafy branches. Dew still glistened on the blades of grass and leaves of the bushes and trickled down on the animals when they touched it, so that their fur was slightly wetted by the liquid. And the water from the stream, which was whirled up by the gentle wind and hit the lynxes like snow, didn't do much to dry their fur either.

"We're almost there!", Valja's excited voice rang out as she ran ahead again and again, only to drop back to the lynxes.

And then, at last, the surface of the shining water appeared before them. Salim licked the drops of water from his muzzle to fully absorb its scent. He smelled the forest and the rotten leaves, which mixed with the rippling stream in the air to create a special kind of scent spectacle. Nothing could describe this, perhaps a walk in the woods in the fall or a glorious rainy day in his den came close.

With a few quick paw steps, the three hurried to the shore. Salim had to admit that on a sunny day the water sparkled much prettier, almost like diamonds, but today it only shimmered darkly. But that didn't make him feel any worse. Some stones split the flow of the river, causing the water to screech and turn into white foam with joy at the change.

"How do you think this white stuff tastes on the waves?", Akuma wanted to know from Valja, who shrugged her shoulders helplessly and then looked up at Salim.

"Can we go in and try it?", she asked, putting on a look he knew only too well from her when she wanted something from him.

But Salim had to disappoint her and shook his head. "No. Maybe another time." Even if it didn't look like it, the river could be treacherous. In some places, slippery stones would appear out of the blue or the current would suddenly pick up where you had just felt safe.

Salim's brow furrowed briefly as he thought about how he had once waded into the stream himself, lost his footing and then resurfaced in the lake. Not a particularly pleasant experience, considering that he had only narrowly escaped death. As he had so many times, but he wanted to spare Valja and Akuma this painful and above all embarrassing experience.

Even when they both looked at him begging, he denied it. He would never let his kitten go into the stream.