"Hide here." A golden she-cat meowed to her three kits. She lifted each kit and set it into a small hole in the tree. "Don't come out unless it's quiet, and even then be careful." The golden she-cat grabbed some ferns and stuck it in the hole, shielding the three kits.
"Momma!" one kit cried. The golden she-cat glanced back worriedly then went on ahead, she disappeared behind the bushes.
"Where did she go?" one of the kits asked. She was a small gray-black kit, she stared at her older brother.
"I don't know." He mumbled.
"I want momma." The other kit whimpered. The small tortoiseshell she-kit curled up and wept.
"Stop Fernkit." The gray-black she-cat meowed. Fernkit quieted down.
"Sorry, Smokekit, I'm just scared." The young kit apologized.
"Quiet down you two, I hear cats fighting." The oldest kit mewed. He used his paws to move some of the ferns and peeked out. The moonlight made his pale brown coat shimmer. Suddenly he heard a bark.
"What's that, Dustkit?" Smokekit asked.
"Remember when Nofoot told us when a 'dog' bit off his foot. It barked like crazy. I think that's a dog." The young kit recalled the time when the elder, Nofoot, told them the story on how he lost his foot.
The three kits sat their, listening to cats yowl and dogs bark. The sat there and waited for their mother to return, or at least for another warrior to come and get them. Slowly, Fernkit dozed off. Smokekit stayed awake with Dustkit just a little while longer until her eyelids got heavy. Then she dozed off as well.
Dustkit sat next to the ferns, staring out into the dark forest. The noise was dying down. The young kit was getting weary.
"Maybe a few minutes of sleep won't hurt." He settled down and fell asleep right away.
In the morning, Smokekit pressed her nose against Dustkit's shoulder. His green eyes flew open and he lifted himself quickly from the ground.
"What's going on?" he asked. "Is it morning already?"
"Yes." Smokekit nodded.
Fernkit was just waking up. "Where's momma?" she asked.
"I don't know." Dustkit mewed. He turned towards the patch of ferns. He poked his head out of the hole and looked out. He heard nothing, there was only silence. Smokekit began to push out the ferns.
"What're you doing? Momma said the ferns would shield us." Ferkit panicked.
"I'm going to see what's out there. Momma hasn't returned, there must be something wrong." Smokekit explained. She slowly slid down the tree and made her way into the bushes.
"Don't go there! What if there's still danger?" Dustkit squeaked as loud as he could but Smokekit didn't listen. Dustkit leaped down from the tree and followed Smokekit. Fernkit cried for her mother for a few moments then reluctantly followed her siblings.
Smokekit approached the clearing of Thunderclan camp. There were bodies of cats everywhere. She gasped. Dustkit did the same. Fernkit just curled up into a ball and began to whimper.
"Momma?" Smokekit called. There was no reply.
"Where did the rest of the clan go?" Dustkit asked Smokekit.
"I dunno." She replied. She looked around, she recognized these warriors.
Suddenly they heard Fernkit scream with fear. "Momma!" she yelled.
Smokekit and Dustkit quickly rushed over to where Fernkit was. They saw a small golden cat lying in a pool of blood. Smokekit stepped into the pool of blood, still fresh, and sat next to their mother's face.
"Wake up." She begged. There was no response, not even a twitch.
"This is blood. Remember that time you accidentally scratched me and red stuff came out? Momma said that was blood. It hurt." Dustkit mumbled.
"Wake up." Smokekit pressed her paw on her mother's cheek. No happened. "She's not waking up. She's so cold."
The confused kits sat next to their mother's cold lifeless body trying to warm her up, hoping she'd wake up. They didn't know what was going on, or where the clan was. They were abandoned…alone.
Lost.
Poor kits. Find out what happens to themin the next chapter.