{Kat's Point of View}

The golden-brown leaves crunched underneath our feet as Cloud and I trudged through the bare forest; our ragged clothes did nothing to keep us warm from the chill of approaching winter. Cloud's pet, Raven, was the only one who padded along without a care in the world; her thick black pelt kept her nice and toasty.

"Lucky mutt," I hissed under my breath as I shivered from another sharp gust of wind.

Ten minutes have since passed and Cloud and I still haven't managed to catch a whiff of prey.

"I'm g-gonna fly ahead, a-alright?" I said, my teeth chattering from the cold.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cloud give a faint nod as she plowed on, concentrated on the hunt.

You didn't need to tell me twice. I whipped out my snow-white wings and stretched them out. My wing muscles ached from the cold and I winced as I stretched them out more.

Beside of me, Alvie had followed suite. The nights we had trained together with The Voice had greatly improved our relationship and routine.

Finally, after feeling like I had stretched enough, I took a running start and leaped high into the sky; my wings flapping powerfully against the wind.

Time to warm up. I started to fly in mini-circles; heat quickly began to overtake the cold feeling and I felt reenergized.

I became giddy with glee and I picked up speed, doing backflips and front flips.

It wasn't until I felt a drop of snow on my shoulder did I realize how much time I had wasted. My stomach began to growl, only reminding me of how badly I had screwed up.

I was supposed to be hunting for my group, not doing air tricks.

The snow began to fall harder and my panic mode set in.

"Cloud!" I yelled frantically, turning this-way-and-that trying to locate my white-haired companion. That's when I realized, Cloud had white hair. It was snowing.

"Are you flocking kidding me?" I groaned to myself. I was never going to find her at this rate.

In response to my complaints, the snow fell even harder. The icy-cold wind blew harder than it ever had. My wings started to go numb and it became increasingly difficult to fly.

"Alvie, f-find C-Cloud," I hissed under my breath, my shivering becoming only more violent by the second. When I received no reply, I turned around and noticed my familiar feathered companion was no where to be seen.

"When I get my c-claws you, you're g-going to p-pay!" I growled as I erupted into yet another violent shake.

I didn't realize I hit the ground until a searing pain went up my leg. I tried to move but found the effort to be too great.

The rare plea for help never did leave my lips before the world became fuzzy. Then, everything went dark.

To be continued....

Scared about Kat? Find out what happens in Chapter 16 of Hybrids!