" Listen well my little ones, this will feed you for your whole life," the gray-and-white patched queen sounded almost sad. She didn't want her kits to go away, early, but she knew it must be done. Almondtime would get them all. If not then they would be lucky but… She dug her claws into the ground. She would give up her life to help them, no matter what. She had already lost Grassstem. The death of the brown kit pierced her heart like a thorn.
"Mama! Mama! Like this?"Everwind squealed. The excited orange-and-black tabby was in an excellent hunters crouch, keeping most of his weight on his back legs, and flattened to the ground, but his was waving in the air, rustling a few brambles.
"Very good, but keep your tail still and down..." Everwind, obeying his mother, smacked his tail to the ground, then let out a yelp of pain.
"Eek! Mama! I have a thorn in my tail!" Nevermoon started to pad towards him, but he rolled and spun around, not letting anyone help him. He raced outside and sat down and pulled the thorn out, his eyes widening as bright red blood gushed out." Ooh, Mama, look! Look! I'm bleeding. I'm going to die!!!" Suddenly Nevermoon heard something rustling in the undergrowth. It was a cat!
A tall handsome black tom strode noisily out of the bushes then sat down and stared at Everwind in dismay, "Nevermoon never gave you away I see," Everwind stared at the tom, his eyes wide. He raced over to Nevermoon. "Who's he?" he whimpered. "What does he want with me? How does he know your name?"
The tom glared at him fiercely.
"Almondtime, no" Nevermoon whispered, "It's too early, and I still have three moon cycles left."
"I don't care!" Almondtime snapped back. "It's for his own good - yours too, you know that."
"How,when he can't even hunt?" she hissed, "Treetone and him can hardly tell a pigeon from a crow."
Everwind clearly, not noticing the tension squealed,"Mama taught us to hunt!" and wiggled into an excellent hunter's crouch, this time with his tail down and still.
"See?" Almondtime mewed, satisfied. "He can hunt quite well. I see no harm to let him go now, before anything happens."
" Really? I can go into the forest alone now? Can we, Mama? Pleeeeeeease?" Everwind didn't seem to notice that he had just kicked himself out of his own home. Nevermoon glared at Everwind fiercely, trying to get him to shut up.
"He-he-he can't-he won't... he can't even defend himself yet! What if a fox or a badger comes or worse..." Nevermoon shuddered. "A wolf?"
"Huh, like they would attack them, they're smaller than rabbits,"argued Almondtime. Nevermoon snored. "You know as well as I do that predators go for kits, Almondtime. You're the worst excuse-maker ever." She meowed, rolling her eyes.
Everwind puffed up his chest.
"I'm big. See? See how big I am?" He slashed his claws through the air, then tripped clumsily. "I...er...I can fight too! I'm the most dangerous cat in the forest!"
"I see..." spoke Almondtime sweetly, "How about you go out into the forest and catch a really big pile of prey for us? We're awfully hungry and could definitely use your help. I can see you'll be a really great hunter one day."
"Okey-dokey! I am the best hunter in the world!" Everwind boasted.
"Me too! I want to hunt to!" squeaked Treetone.
Nevermoon glared at her kits, then at Almondtime.
"What have you done?" she wailed in dismay.
"I asked them to hunt," he unsheathed her calws. Then, thinking better of it. She calmly padded to a tree and let out her anger, scoring deep marks in the trunk.
Calmed, she asked him, "If they don't catch more than one piece of prey each, will you let me keep and train them until they are ready?"
Almondtime narrowed his eyes.
"Fine. But as soon as they can catch 2 or 3 pieces of prey each time they hunt, then off they go."
"Okay"
"Don't worry Nevermoon! We won't let you down! " Everwind called back.
"Don't forget to hunt in the grass so you can hide!"
Nevermoon stared at the spot where they had been a moment ago.
"Please." she whispered, "Don't catch more than 1 piece of prey. Please."
Almondtime sneered, "They aren't coming back, Nevermoon."
Nevermoon opened her mouth to try and detect where her kits are. Suddenly she stopped. A sour scent filled her mouth. Dread over came Nevermoon. She stared at Almondtime in disbelief.
"How could you?" she whispered.
"They were an accident, they aren't supposed to live, like you," hissed Almondtime, just as a flurry of barking and yowling started.
"An accident?" Nevermoon howled. "If they were an accident, then why did you let me have them? Why did you let us be oathed?" She started to run to her kits rescue, but Almondtime blocked the way.
"Why did you take the Oath? I thought you liked the kits."she wailed on, "They're innocent, they didn't know anything about you, you used to like them."
Almondtime gazed into her eyes. " I took the oath because I love you, but... the kits are innocent, but what will happen to them is not. Their lives will not be innocent. We should end their lives now or they'll regret ever being born."
"What will happen?" Nevermoon was terrified. Were her kits destined to be evil?
Almondtime stared at his paws. "You don't want to know."
Suddenly a long yowl rang out. "Treetone!" Nevermoon heard Everwind cry. "No!" Nevermoon howled, and made a dash for her kits. Suddenly she tripped over Almontime's tail. She gazed up at him, her eyes filled with distress. "What'll happen? Why do you want them do die?"
Almondtime's eyes clouded. "They'll suffer a long life of pain and misery… especially Everwind."
"How do you know? We have got to save them! They might die!"
"We are powerless to help them. We cannot change what is about to happen."
"Well, we have to give it a try. And if we're going to save them, we should save them from the foxes first!"
Almondtime shook his head. "They're my kits- I don't want them to suffer a life of pain."
"So you feed them to the foxes?" Nevermoon snapped. "Almondtime," her voice softened. "If you truly wish to protect them, maybe killing them early is not the right way to go. We'll figure something out, I promise." She pressed against him.
Almondtime shuffled his paws. "All-all right. I- fine. Ok. Let's try. But don't blame me when…" his voice trailed off, and his face hardened with determination. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go!"
Nevermoon and Almondtime sped off through the forest, united, for the first time, in moon cycles. They ran, and the stench of fox became stronger, until it almost overwhelmed them. Suddenly they froze. Nevermoon stared in terror as the two kits tried desperately to escape from the foxes. They charged at the surprised foxes, that were cruelly trying to kill their young. Nevermoon leaped onto one of the fox's back and pulled a huge clump of fur from his neck. Almondtime then leaped right onto the foxes back giving him a thorough scratching that made him run for the bushes.
"And never come back!" Almondtime yowled after them.
"Let's get back to the den." murmered Neverwind to her injured kits. "And don't EVER come out into the forest alone again." She shot a glance at Almondtime.
"Let me help them." A voice came from behind them. A light brown tabby with blue eyes walked out. "I know a lot about herbs.
Back in the cave the kits started asking questions.
"Who are you?" Asked Treetone.
"My name is Leafdew." she replied as she began chewing up marigold.
Nevermoon looked at her gratefully. "Thank you for helping us." She spotted Almondtime shifting besides her. "What's wrong?" she asked gently. Almondtime flicked his tail. "I'm worried about the kits. I'm worried that their lives will be doomed… forever." Nevermoon dug her claws into the ground. What if Almondtime was right? What if her kits were destined for evil? What will she do then? ??
The herb-giver sat in the moonlight, her blue eyes troubled. She had seen a falling star. Something was coming. It meant doom for sure. Something was out there. She gazed up at the stars sparkling brightly overhead. Her pelt was ruffled by a gust of wind that seemed to last forever. Forever wind. She thought. She felt a shiver down her spine. There was no moon tonight, and almond trees dappled the inky black sky. She sighed. It is time for Meadowband to face their toughest journey yet…