An icy breeze tickled Hazelkit's nose as she walked out of the warmness of the nursery and into the cold snow of leafbare. Hazelkit yelped as she sunk into the belly high snow. It was cold; much colder than she thought it would be. Hazelkit walked further into the snow, yelping when she would suddenly sink down.
"Cold, isn't it?" a meow sounded next to her and Hazelkit turned to see the black and white pelt of Petalkit, the she-cat half invisible in the snow.
Petalkit, along with her brother Lizardkit, were the oldest kits in the nursery and would soon become apprentices. Hazelkit couldn't wait for her turn to be an apprentice.
"Yeah…" Hazelkit admitted, "I don't remember it being this cold."
Petalkit chuckled and rested her tail on Hazelkit's flank.
"Well, you were barely a moon old when it last snowed." Petalkit meowed. "I'm not exactly surprised." Petalkit then left to walk elegantly through the snow and over to her brother, Lizardkit, who was meowing enthusiastically to one of the senior warriors, Badgerfall, who seemed to humor the energetic kit.
Hazelkit looked around the clearing, trying to take in all the different scents and shapes. Thornjaw and Larkwing were sharing a rabbit over by the elders' den; whereas the other elders had snuggled together for worth in the den.
Oakstar was sitting with Antclaw and Quailfeather, heads close together, fur fluffed up against the cold air; probably talking about some important clan business.
Cloverbush and Ashcloud, along with his apprentice Palepaw, came out of the gorse tunnel; each of them carrying a piece of prey. The prey was skinny, barely a few mouthfuls for a hungry cat. But that was what leafbare prey was like.
Hazelkit turned her attention over to where the apprentices slept and sometimes trained. Comitpaw and Frogpaw seemed to be practicing battle moves. Comitpaw lashed his front paw down on Frogpaw's head, stunning him.
End of preview
