Wolf turned back towards her littermates once the howling had ended. "Wolf, what was that?" Ash asked, his voice shaking. "You sounded like an actual wolf! Well, still like a cat, but like a wolf!"
"I did?" she asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.
"It was so cool!" Moon meowed, her eyes shining. Song, Dew, and Ash were keeping their distance from the gray and black she kit, still startled by what they had heard and seen.
"C'mon, we should go back to the cave," Ash mewed. Without waiting for a response, he turned and led the way back. The other kits followed him closely. They were silent as they trecked through the snow. Wolf's small paws were starting to get sore. Her thick and slick fur had turned white with the snow clinging to her pelt.
Ash crouched down close to the cave entrance. The other kits followed his lead and watched the two Cave Guards, Hiss and Water, waiting for them to switch. Wolf and Song crept forward, relying on the snow in their fur to not be noticed.
"Song! Wolf!" Moon hissed. She sighed, then followed the two other kits. The Cave Guards stood and disappeared inside the cave. The six kits took off in a sprint towards the entrance, quickly going into an unused crevice in the wall of the cave. The entrance was too small for full grown cats, but big enough for the kits. Inside, it was a little bigger than the nursery.
Wolf looked up at the round ceiling above her. It seemed to tower over her, even though she was only a few moons away from being a To-Be. With that thought in mind, she looked at Dew.
"You're becoming a To-Be in a moon, right?" she asked. Dew nodded.
"I'm hoping to be a Cave Guard," she meowed. The snow started to melt off of their fur, dampening their pelts and dropping onto the stone under their paws.
"So am I," Ash mewed, flicking his tail. "Moon is, as well."
"All three of you want to be Cave Guards?" Leopard asked. The littermates nodded. "I want to be a Cave Guard, too. Song and Wolf want to be Prey-Hunters."
Song looked at her own pelt. "I think that we can go back to the nursery now," she meowed. Ash looked at his silver fur and nodded in agreement.
"Let's go," he meowed. Song led the way out of the small cavern and into the nursery. Ice and Wind turned towards the kits.
"That game took a while, didn't it?" Ice asked, her eyes narrowed. Wolf nodded.
"Do you know how hard Dew is to find?" she asked her mother, her tail flicking.
Wind took a step towards her kits. "Your fur is wet!"
"We fell in the pond," Moon meowed.
"All of you?" Ice asked. The kits nodded. Wolf yawned, padding over to the nest she shared with Ice, Song, and Leopard. She curled up and closed her eyes, letting herself fall asleep.
