"Mama, is this the world?!" Burntkit exclaimed in amazement, staring out across the river onto the setting sun that shined over the plains and streams. Thorn chuckled in amusement, the tiny white she-kit was currently sitting in-between her ears, staring out at the sunset before her.
"No, the world is much larger then this! This is simply the Soundless Forest…. Your home, Burntkit. The world is much larger!"
"Wow! Did you see all of the world, Mama?" Burntkit asked curiously, looking down into her adopted mother's crystalline blue eyes.
Thorn bit her lip lightly. She didn't want the ghosts of her past to resurface in Burntkit's future, so she smiled and whispered, almost in awe;
"I've only seen some of the world, Burntkit. I've seen some of the bad, and some of the good. In this world, without bad, we wouldn't know what good was. Without good, we wouldn't know what bad was. Do you understand?" Thorn explained in the simplest way she could find with words.
After giving her mother a thoughtful look and twitching her ears in the gentle summer's breeze, Burntkit finally nodded eagerly.
"Yup! But I 'wanna promise you something… Mama." Burntkit said in her best grown-up-serious voice she could muster.
Thorn's whiskers twitched with amusement, her eyes gleaming cheerfully.
"Ok, shoot."
"I promise you that I will see both the good and the bad of the world, and I'll try to fix the bad that way the good is more! Of course, I'll keep some bad, but I'll make sure that bad doesn't get out of paw and that nobody gets too badly hurt!" Burntkit purred in satisfaction, her whiskers twitching.
Thorn chuckled, drawing in a long breath. "I believe you, Burntkit. I believe that you'll fix this broken world."
Thorn could see Burntkit's white fur sparkle in the dim light that managed to breach the lush canopy of trees above the two she-cats heads. Looking up, Thorn gently lowered herself to the ground to allow Burntkit to wiggle off. The small kit sat at her adopted mother's paws and rubbed her head against Thorn's legs, enjoying the last of the warm breeze as the bitter chill of night set in.
"Come Burntkit, let's go back to Camp. Bard will be worried and wonder if I've taken you to see GhostClan!" Thorn mused teasingly. Burntkit happily stood up to follow Thorn, forcing her small legs to make long strides over so she could match Thorn's paw steps.
"Ok, Mama." Burntkit mewed obediently.