Storm shifted slightly, trying not to disturb her littermates. Sand snored next to her, sprawled across what seemed like the entire nest, and Reed's long, pale silver-striped tail draped over Storm's almost identical blue-silver tabby fur. If she woke them up, it would be all over. Arching her back so that Reed's tail fell off of her, Storm slowly stood up and padded silently over Sand's paws.
As she crept toward the edge of the nest, Cloud snored loudly and rolled over. Storm froze, her paws a tail-length away from her brother, staying motionless until he rolled over again and went back to sleep, one of his white-and-gray legs straying into her path. Stepping over it lightly, Storm padded past Sky, who was pure white and was curled up in a tiny ball. Being the smallest of their littermates, this was important for protection.
Finally managing to scramble out of the nest unseen, Storm padded lightly over to the chair next to the window. Ever since Reed had fallen through the fence and Storm had seen the forest, she had been obsessed with the dark green trees. Leaping up onto the chair, she crawled uncomfortably onto the windowsill and sat down to stare at the forest.
Gazing into the dark mess, she didn't move until something startled her, and she almost fell off of the windowsill in surprise. Scrambling to get a good paw hold, Storm wondered what had startled her. For a moment she had thought… No, it couldn't be. There was no way a cat would be in the forest, especially at night. But it had been clear…
"Storm," a cat meowed quietly from behind her.
This time Storm really did fall off of the windowsill. Jumping and missing the ledge, she flailed in midair before landing on the wood floor with a loud thump.
"You almost made me hurt myself!" Storm hissed at Sand, who was staring icily at the window from the nest. Storm winced as she sprang to her paws, the fall had hurt.
"You were looking again," Sand meowed coolly. "You do it every night."
Storm gulped. "H-how did you know…? Will you tell Mama?"
"No."
"What?"
Storm hadn't expected this. Sand was always the mischievous kit, playing tricks. From putting a live mouse in the housefolk's bedding, to pushing Sky out of the nest, this was exactly the sort of thing Sand would do.
"Why not?" Storm whispered curiously.
"Because I want to go with you," Sand meowed. "I want to live in the forest." When Storm gaped at her older sister, the pale orange she-cat continued with a flick of her tail.
"It's boring here. All I want is to have some adventure, and it's obviously not going to happen here. You're the only one who can help me escape," Sand implored, staring intently into Storm's eyes.
"Al-alright," Storm stammered, not even thinking about what she was saying. "We can do it tomorrow."
Apparently satisfied, Sand nodded and lay her head back down on the blankets in the nest. After Storm was sure her sister was asleep, she padded over to her spot in the nest and curled up, falling asleep quickly.