An on-time update! (whaaat?)

It's a rather short chapter, I'm afraid, at least compared to the last two, but still a good length I think. The final wordcount came in around 5,500 words, if you're interested.

Unfortunately, since this chapter is being posted only a week after the last one, I completely forgot to send out review replies! I suppose I'll just have to reply to them here. I hope you don't mind! I mean, I suppose if you really wanted a sneak peek, you could count this entire chapter as a sneak peek...?

Anyway, on to the reviews~

Starrysong is on Winter Break: I do try to keep my promises! ^^ Is the beach much fun in winter? I went to Spain once for winter break, but unfortunately the highs were only in the 60's, which was much too cold to go swimming or to have any fun at all in the sand.

Noobah9: Ha, yeah, Santa is a bit creepy. It's so weird how most people love Santa as kids but then think he's so creepy once they grow up a bit!

Leafy: A late review? That's it. End of friendship. XD Or, uh, maybe not. I'm glad you loved them! Felix gets more attention this chapter, though I've tried bringing the other two into the spotlight a little, too, for (uh) future purposes. Hopefully you'll remember those things at some point! Maybe after sleeping on it it'll come to you?

The following morning found me padding leisurely out of the medics' tunnel, my white and black fur soft from the morning's grooming. I yawned widely, taking a deep breath of the snow-scented air, coughing a little as the frigid temperature hit the back of my throat. Dipping into a stretch, I leaned back on my hind legs so as not to put too much pressure onto my shoulder. Ahhhhh… That felt good. I loved stretching.

Glancing around the camp, I let my mind wander to the day ahead. I'd spent most of the last quarter moon or so playing with the kits every morning, then training in the afternoons, but somehow I hoped today might be a little different.

A white bundle of fur darted out of the nursing tunnel. Felix skidded to a halt, straightened, and stared eagerly around. As soon as his eyes fell on me, they widened and he darted forward. And though I adored all three kits, I couldn't help but heave a sigh. Today would be just like every other, it seemed. Squirrel-dung.

"Rae! Rae! Guess what?" Felix skidded to a halt before me, his eyes gleaming, his furry ribcage lifting and falling with each panting breath.

I couldn't stop myself from purring; his enthusiasm spread like a cold. "What?"

"I'm turning four moons old today." Felix puffed out his chest.

"Oh, really?" My eyes widened. "Congratulations! That's a big milestone, you know!"

"Uh huh. Guess what we're doing today?"

"What?"

"We're going outside for the first time!"

My heart lurched at the word. Outside. Yeah, I'd just left the cavern a few days ago, but already it felt distant, like a dream. Yeah, I knew I had to stay inside to heal and all, but honestly, was it too much to ask to smell the fresh air every once in a while? Maybe today I can go out on the mountain again!

Don't get ahead of yourself, now, a little voice near the back of my mind insisted. This is thekits'day, not yours. Most likely, Cephas will force you to stay inside and train even longer.

Felix still waited expectantly for some kind of response. Trying to reawaken my earlier jolt of excitement, I grinned widely. "That's great!"

"Yeah, isn't it?" He beamed at me, reflecting back my half-hearted delight with about ten times the intensity.

"Uh, where are your littermates?" I asked, glancing back toward the tunnel.

Felix twisted around too. "They should be coming…? Aha!"

I spotted them too. The two remaining kits padded at a more reserved pace into the cavern, Cephas just behind them. As soon as Fable spotted Felix, he scampered over. Lumi hesitated a moment, then hurried to join us.

"There you are, Felix! Avalon was looking for you." Fable glared at him reproachfully. "Now we've had to delay the trip's start!"

"I already cleaned my fur last night," Felix complained sullenly. "Why does she expect me to redo that? I brushed off the dirt and stuff; I'm clean enough. Plus," he added, "we'll just get dirty outside, so what does it matter?"

Fable shrugged, his annoyance still visible in his eyes. "Bring that up with Avalon, then. Don't just go running off. Hiding won't stop you from having to wash yourself."

"You know we never leave the cave in the morning unless Avalon's watched us groom ourselves," Lumi piped in. "You should've probably just left your bath until this morning. Then we wouldn't have this issue."

"Yeah, but I wanted to leave as soon as possible! It makes sense to me to just do it last night instead of wasting time this morning."

"And you ended up wasting time after all," Fable noted. "We were supposed to leave earlier, remember?"

Felix thrust out his lower lip. "It doesn't make any sense to do it that way," he grumbled.

I nosed his shoulder. "Just go try talking to your mother," I meowed. "Try to make her see sense. But if she doesn't then give yourself a quick wash and you can go."

"'You?' What do you mean, aren't you coming too?"

Felix's voice overlapped the end of Fable's. "What do you mean, a quick wash? There's only one speed of washing, isn't there?"

"Uhh…" I stared between the toms, wondering whose question to answer first. Lumi hastily swooped in to my rescue.

Sidling up beside me, she stretched up toward my ear. "Felix first," she whispered. "Then he can go wash himself and you can answer Fable's question."

I nodded in thanks. "Smart." Then, raising my voice, I addressed the white and gray tom. "If you keep your tongue's pressure light, you can just skim over the surface of your fur. It gets out most of the visible dirt and saves time. I learned that trick in the city, when I kept having to get dust off of my fur."

Felix nodded slowly, pondering my words. "Huh. That makes sense, I guess. Thanks!" Flashing me a yellow-fanged grin, he darted off toward the nursery tunnel again.

"As for you," I turned to the gray rosette Bengal tom, "I haven't heard anything about me coming along. So—"

"So I suppose I should give you the good news, huh?"

I blinked around and spotted Cephas approaching. Since all my attention had been focused on the kits, I supposed I hadn't noticed him heading over. "What do you mean, the good news?"

"Well, since Caspian seems to have his entire day booked with hunting—" (I snorted, remembering his discussion with Theola yesterday) "—you would otherwise have nothing to do. I figured you might want to join us and stretch your legs a bit."

I gaped at him, my chin stretching almost all the way down to my chest. "W… what? Really?"

He purred at my expression. "Unless you don't want to."

"Yes! I—I mean, uh, no, of course I don't want to, uh, not want to…" I trailed off hopelessly, then tried to start again weakly. "Um, I'd love to go!"

"Good! Then that's settled, then!"

"Yes!" Lumi spun in a circle. "Rae can come! This day's just getting better and better!"

"That's not saying much. I'd say it started out pretty low," Fable muttered darkly, casting a look after Felix.

I followed his gaze and, to my surprise, spotted Felix and Avalon padding out of the tunnel, Felix with noticeably cleaner fur. That was fast. Guess he used my technique, I thought with a touch of pride.

"All set over here!" Avalon called to her mate, who nodded.

"Now, Rae, I know I said you could go outside today," Cephas meowed, "but I want you to be especially careful of your shoulder and tail, okay? Don't hit them on anything or put too much weight on them or anything. And no climbing trees or diving through thorns either, okay?"

"Okay," I grinned. "I'll be careful."

Cephas shook his head gently at the ceiling, then, smiling softly, nosed Fable and Lumi forward. "Come on, all of you. Let's begin our outdoor adventure."

"Finally!" Purring in excitement, Fable dashed toward the entrance tunnel, Lumi only kitten-steps behind him. Across the cavern, Felix noticed his littermates' speed and broke immediately into a bound, racing them to the tunnel entrance. He didn't have enough of a head start, though, and joined them only after his siblings had stopped panting.

Cephas and I followed at a much slower pace, much to my annoyance, since the medic wanted to ensure I didn't put any unnecessary stress on my injuries. Lukan told me I could move around to strengthen my legs, I thought irritably. He's a medic, too, right? Why can't I just listen to him?

Lukan's not as good of a medic as Cephas though,I realized.He could've been wrong. But I immediately shoved that notion away. I had a right to be annoyed.

Avalon reached the kits just before us and began shepherding them through the dark tunnel, though admittedly they didn't need much encouragement. Felix, apparently still sore from losing his earlier race, took off like an eagle, streaking up the tunnel.

"Careful!" Avalon called after him. "Watch out for other cats!"

"There aren't any—oof!"

A slight whump echoed back down the passage. Avalon rolled her eyes to herself and continued cautiously along the path, calling, "I'm sorry! It's his first time out, and he's quite excited!"

"That's fine," came a swift reply. My eyes widened as I recognized either Peter's or Simon's voice. Is it Simon? But I shouldn't make assumptions; I don't want to be wrong again. But then again, wouldn't Peter have said something extra? "That's fine" is just two words. Simon wasn't all that talkative, after all. Is it possible that it is him, after all?

"Off to the side, you three. No, not that side, the right side! Let them through."

Cephas and I shuffled to the right, too, pressing ourselves into the mixed earth and stone of the wall. It was freezing, but there wasn't really all that much room in the tunnel, so I had to satisfy myself with just fluffing out my fur for protection.

After a moment, I scented a cat approaching. As his whiskers brushed against mine, he shifted to the far side of the passage again. I caught a strong whiff of his scent and realized he was, in fact, Simon. I got it right!

"Thanks," Simon muttered.

"No problem," Cephas returned.

"You're going out too?" Simon huffed. "I should've guessed."

"I'll be back later. We can share a squirrel or something then," the medic promised.

Simon's tail touched Cephas's shoulder in reply, just brushing against my tail-tip, then continued along the tunnel. Behind him, I scented Emil, the white and brown patched tom I'd met yesterday. Was Simon training Emil like Caspian was me? Maybe I can try talking to him again later. He'd probably know Simon's general daily routine. I could see if there's anything suspicious there.

"Anyone else?" Avalon called. Upon receiving no answer, she continued, "All right, let's keep going."

The six of us kept padding along the tunnel, silent besides our thudding paws and our strengthening panting. I quickly realized I sounded the most out of breath of us all, including the kits, and tried to even out my breathing. I've got to get back in shape soon. Hopefully when my shoulder healed more fully I could start racing Caspian in the forest or something.

I suddenly realized I could make out Avalon's fluffy shoulders through the gloom. My heart beating even faster, I sped my pace, all concern for appearing in shape fleeing my mind. My jaws gaped, hunting around for that first breath of fresh air.

The tunnel opened under the spread of ferns. I ducked through them, trying not to touch them from the fear of having snow dumped onto my head. Logic caught up a moment later, though, telling me other cats would doubtless have already disturbed the ferns, which wouldn't have been able to hold much weight anyway. The cold, clean air filling my nostrils, I let a grin slide onto my muzzle. If I didn't have to worry about the snow…

I leaped out from under the covering, a little howl of excitement stripped from my lungs by the wind rushing past my cheeks. My hind legs, strengthened from Caspian's rock-throwing sessions, sent me flying skyward, much higher than I'd expected. The forest exploded into view around me, all dark green and grayish brown and silver, all covered with white, all shimmering in the sunlight streaming down from a brilliantly blue sky.

I would never get tired of this moment.

The sensation of freedom granted wings to my heart and lungs, lifting my tail and the corners of my mouth. I landed with spread toes in the deep snow, my feet sliding into the pockmarks left by other paws. But though I was still tied to the ground, I couldn't stop a bubbling laugh from surfacing in my throat. Gathering my haunches beneath me, I let myself fall skyward once again.

"Rae! Be careful!"

"Wait for me!"

"…Avalon?"

"Hey, what's that?"

The others' voices washed over me, leaving only the faintest trace of meaning behind. I ignored them, continuing to leap and prance about in the snow, forgetting about the cold, forgetting about my injuries and my promise to keep them safe, forgetting everything except the moment.

I was free again. Free to wander wherever, whenever I wanted. Like in the city. No boundaries. No rules. Nothing but freedom, nothing but my own will, my own dreams, to guide me. Nothing could tie me down now. Nothing could hold me back from that horizon.

"Rae! Rae, wait up! Wait for me!"

My euphoria was punctured by a pair of icicle paws colliding with my flank, knocking me into a drift. I woke to reality with an almost painful jolt and stared up into the bright green eyes of Fable. He grinned at me, all former irritation forgotten in the wake of this new world.

"Where do you think you're going?" he laughed, sending a pawful of snow into my face.

"Why, you…!" I shook my head, ridding myself of all freezing whiteness, then shoved the kit off of me. He sank deeper into the drift, then came up sputtering, pawing at his whiskers.

"It's, it's so cold!"

"Yeah, genius, it's snow!" I kicked a lump of it at Fable in revenge, which exploded all over his rosette-spotted fur.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself. You started it!"

Fable scrambled out of his indentation. "You'll regret ever attacking the great, the powerful—"

His voice cut off as another spray of snow landed across his muzzle. He coughed, shaking his head and vigorously rubbing his nose. "Ack!"

"What were you saying?" I asked sweetly. "The great and powerful something?"

Fable growled, stomping forward, his long fur all fluffed out against the cold. I snorted; he looked like a puffball.

"It's an eagle!"

A flash of white fur darted across the little clearing, cannoning into Fable's side and knocking him once again into the snow. I laughed again as I caught sight of Fable's expression.

"Ha-ha! Triumph!" Felix crowed, lifting his head in victory. "The great Felix has taken down the eagle!"

"Not quite!" Fable insisted, gathering his paws beneath him. Before Felix had time to react, Fable pushed himself upward, throwing his brother off. "Ha! The great and powerful eagle rises again! He circles to find his prey…" Fable turned toward Felix, still scrabbling to get out of a mound of snow. I caught a glimpse of brown in the snow and realized he must've gotten tangled in a bit of dry foliage.

"The great and powerful eagle zeroes in on his prey." Fable waggled his hindquarters, gathering his strength. "Annnd… he attacks!" He pounced on Felix and the two tussled in the powdery snow.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lumi hanging back by the tunnel's mouth, gazing longingly at her brothers. "Come play," I suggested, tilting my head in their direction.

"What? Oh!" Lumi shrank back a kitten-step or so. "N-no, I think… I think I'm good. Thanks."

"Naw, come play! It'll be fun," I smiled.

"Um, no, I don't really want to." Lumi's gaze dropped and she pawed at the ground a little.

My mind flashed back to her first encounter with snow. "Uh, are you still sc—I mean, do you still not like snow?"

Lumi shrugged.

"But… you were playing with Felix just yesterday! You didn't seem to mind the snow that much then!"

"Yeah, but that was just a thin layer. I could deal with walking through that. But this is… well, deeper. Colder." She shivered. "I think I'm good right here."

"But you're not having any fun!" My whiskers drooped. Fable and Felix were obviously having a blast out here. It wouldn't be fair if Lumi got left out just because she didn't like snow.

Lumi shrugged again, still pawing at the packed snow beneath her paws.

I nibbled at my tongue, thinking. The toms obviously wanted to play in the snow, so they wouldn't want to go to a clearer area for Lumi. But Lumi wouldn't want to play anywhere with snow deeper than her ankles. Hmmm…

My eyes flickered to the tunnel's entrance, sheltered by the ferns. There wasn't all that much snow underneath. Perhaps that might work? But then what game to play?

The idea came in a flash. "Hide-and-seek!" I blurted out.

Felix poked his head up, the gray markings on his face barely visible under the layer of snow dust. "What?"

Even Fable quit trying to pin his brother down, glancing curiously up at me too.

"Hide-and-seek," I repeated. "We can play hide-and-seek."

"No thanks," Lumi meowed. "I'm g—"

"Listen," I interrupted hastily, "the snow drifts out in the open, but under bushes and things there's barely anything. You could hide under one of them and never get your paws wet in the slightest!"

"But I'd have to walk in the clear areas to get to the bushes in the first place," Lumi argued. "It'd be easy to find me, and then I'd have to seek everyone and stomp around through the snow!"

"Not necessarily." I nodded toward a clump of bushes I'd noticed during my earlier excursion with Caspian. "See those? They're so thick I bet there'd be a huge area underneath without a single drift. We could all hide under there and you wouldn't have to get into the snow if you didn't want to."

Lumi eyed the thicket skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," I assured her. "Or, uh, at least mostly positive."

Lumi flicked an ear. "Well, I'd have to get over there first. There's not exactly a clear path for me."

"That'd be easy. I could carry you across. Or," I added as Lumi shot me a disparaging glance, "uh, all three of us could walk across using the exact same path, so we'd pack down the snow a bit for you."

Lumi shrugged. "I suppose that would work."

"Hold on!" Fable protested. "We haven't agreed to this yet!"

"Yeah! What's in it for us?" Felix, who had apparently gotten himself free of the tendril, stood beside his brother with his head tilted to one side. "We want to play in the snow!"

"Yeah!"

"You could still play in the snow," I meowed, trying to think quickly. The ferns… "You could find each other by making the snow on the tops of the bushes fall onto the hider. Like, instead of yelling, 'Found you!' you could shake the branches all sneaky like and get them all covered with snow."

"But—" Lumi began, her eyes widening, but I cut her off.

"You obviously wouldn't be allowed to do that to Lumi. Just to each other and to me."

The toms considered this suggestion for a moment.

"And," I added tantalizingly, "you two could have a sort of competition. Whoever gets found the quickest the most times gets to be buried in the snow at the end."

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Avalon and Cephas watching us. As I glanced over, I realized with a jolt they wouldn't really be able to see us in the thicket. Would they call off my game? But surely they wouldn't! They'd probably seen better than I that Lumi was being left out!

"Uh, and I'll make sure no one gets hurt. We'll stay right in the thicket and at the smallest injury we'll call for Cephas."

Avalon's gaze turned warm and she blinked approvingly. Turning, she curled back around Cephas, sharing their warmth, and gazed out across the valley below. Though he cast one final, worried glance in our direction, Cephas relaxed back into his mate's long fur. He turned his gaze toward the horizon, watching the patterns of sunlight on clouds or the faraway outlines of birds or something. Relief surging through me, I turned my attention back to the kits.

"Deal!" Fable cried, bounding across to join us.

"Oh, fine," Felix relented, following.

"Great!" I grinned, stepping forward into the snow. "I'll go first, shall I?"

I waded carefully through the deep drifts, my paws growing steadily number as I progressed. By the time I'd only gotten halfway to the closest bush, I couldn't feel anything below my knees. Shivering, I imagined longingly just sprinting the rest of the way, then plopping myself down to lick the ice-like snow from my fur. But, of course, I couldn't do that; I had to make a path for Lumi. Thiswasyour idea, after all, I reminded myself tersely. You should be the one to go through with it.

A glance over my shoulder told me the toms were cooperating well. Felix hopped from snow mound to snow mound, trampling each into the ground, but missing several spots. Fable had decided to use the more methodical but colder technique of rolling along the path, catching every last bit of powder and crushing it into a slippery yet smooth pathway. Behind them, Lumi padded tentatively along, her claws working their way into the packed layer to steady each step.

If you give up now, the toms will start playing again and Lumi'll never get to enjoy her time outside. Sighing to myself, I pressed my chest forward, carving away at the passage once more. Just one more step. One more. Clear out that part there; the toms won't ever manage to get that. A bit more… Now another step.

Finally, my chilled paw kicked through the snow layer into the comparatively warm air. Gasping in relief, I stumbled forward into the sheltered, snow-free clearing. Leaving the rest of the clearing to Felix and Fable, I curled into a ball beneath the cover of the thicket. Immediately, I reached around and ran my muzzle across my forepaws, brushing off the worst of the snow before ruffling up the fur the wrong way. I'd learned this technique from Thalia—manually fluffing my pelt to protect myself from wind and let the gentler air dry away the water. Of course, the process was a bit colder than it had been in the warmth of Greenleaf.

Fable slumped to the ground beside me, shaking the snow dust from his long-haired pelt. "Brrrr!" He began rapidly grooming his flank, pulling up the fur with his teeth like Cephas had told him not to. "Yaksha, I can't believe I actually listened to your idea!"

"Well, at least we get to include your sister, right?" I asked bracingly, watching with a surge of satisfaction as Lumi hopped lightly through the snow path's exit, safe from the cold claws of snow under the thicket's covering.

"Yeah," he muttered, "if we ever thaw again. I think I'm gonna stay frozen just like this for the rest of Frozen-Time."

"You'd be living up to the season's name, then!" Felix chirruped as he shook excess snow from his paws. "It's the time to be frozen, after all."

Fable ignored him, instead focusing his entire attention on warming himself again. I couldn't say I blamed him.

After several long moments, during which Lumi watched the rest of us warm up again, her eyelids half-closed from boredom, I finally shook out my pelt one last time and stood up.

"Okay, team," I said, glancing around, "you ready to play some hide-and-seek?"

"Mhm." Fable flicked his plumy tail over the ground.

Felix stopped trying to pounce on Lumi and looked up at me. Lumi did likewise. "Finally!" she muttered. "You guys have been fussing over your fur for ages! And you complain about me!"

"Yeah, we're trying to get warm, lazybones!" Fable shot back. "I'd like to hear a 'thank you' sometime soon for us freezing our tails off to get you over here in the first place!"

"So, uh," I continued loudly, hoping to break up the oncoming argument, "who wants to seek first?"

All three kits' tails shot straight into the air, Felix's quivering slightly. I stared at them curiously, and just a little bit uncertainly.

"You're it," Fable prompted.

"What? Why?"

"Because your tail's not up." He nodded to my splinted tail, lying flat along the ground as usual.

"But why does that mean I'm it?"

Felix rolled his eyes. "It's tribe tradition," he explained as though to a newborn. "Tails-Up. It's our system for choosing who's it."

"Oh. Well I guess I'm at a bit of a disadvantage, aren't I? Not only did I not know about that, but my tail's also a bit injured. So maybe we could try that again, except with… I dunno, our ears or something? Or maybe I could just be left out from being picked at all?" I added hopefully.

Lumi snorted. "Yeah, right. Like we're going to stray from tradition just for you. It just means you're it."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh… fine. But you three had better find good hiding spots, because I'm verrrry good at this game. You'll regret ever forcing me to go first!"

The kits squealed a little in excitement as I turned away, shutting my eyes and beginning to count. "One… two… three…"

We kept playing until the sun neared the horizon, casting long shadows across the ground, mostly because of Fable's and Felix's competition. Whenever Lumi or I begged exhaustion or a lack of new hiding places, one of the toms (whoever was behind in points) always insisted we continue. Eventually, though, we were forced to quit the game when Avalon and Cephas called us out of the thicket.

"Rae! Kits! Time to head back inside!"

"Awww!" Felix's face fell.

"Yes!" Fable leaped out of his most recent hiding spot, his face positively glowing in triumph. "Ha-ha! I win!"

"Oh, shut up," Felix grumped.

All four of us trooped out of the clump of bushes, cold and tired but grinning (with the exception of Felix). I let the other kits go first this time, aware that Felix might try to stay behind again and insist the game was not yet over, that he could still beat Fable. He did, in fact, try to drop sneakily behind, but I quickly nosed him forward again.

"Have fun?" Cephas asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah!" Lumi grinned.

"Oh yeah!" Fable affirmed.

"Not really," grumbled the last kit.

"He did," I meowed, shooting him a look. "He just lost his competition with Fable, that's all."

"And did you?"

"Me? Oh, yes, yes I did. It was great getting to come out here again!" I glanced over my shoulder, staring out toward the west, remembering Caspian's rock. The sun would set soon; I bet it'd look spectacular from that vantage point.

"What competition?" Avalon asked the toms.

Fable was quick to respond. "Whoever got found the most times, most quickly would have to get buried in the snow!"

"Buried, huh?" Avalon lifted one eyebrow.

"Well, his head would still be out," Fable admitted. "We actually haven't buried him yet. I was thinking maybe over—"

"Well, you could always do that inside. We've got some perfectly good snow in there. I'm afraid it's getting dark and it's really about time you four should be inside. Now, come on."

"What?" Fable's face fell.

"Come on," Cephas insisted, sweeping his tail behind his son's heels. "It's cold out here. You need to warm up in the nursery cave." When Fable still refused to move, he added, "With a story to help ease you off to sleep."

"Oh, fine," Fable huffed. "But before the story, we've got to bury Felix."

"If you insist. Now let's get going, shall we?" Cephas padded forward, and Fable consented to follow. Avalon picked up a squirming Lumi for the short trip back to the tunnel entrance, and Felix and I brought up the rear.

We didn't meet any other cats on our way back into the (sorta) warmth of the cavern. I kept glancing over my shoulder as we walked, only stopping when the light from outside had completely vanished, leaving us only our ears, noses, and whiskers to guide us. Though, admittedly, all six of us could easily find our way with only two of those three, so the darkness really wasn't that much of a handicap. Still, the disappearance of the entrance seemed to lower my mood and add an extra weight to my paws. Already, I wished I could be back outside.

Most cats in the cavern were relaxing around the walls or already in their caves for the night when we entered the camp once again. Fable immediately dashed toward the snowy layer near the middle, Lumi following a little reluctantly and sitting at the snow-free edge. Felix, alternatively, flattened his ears and refused to move any closer.

"Go on." I nosed his heels, forcing him to take a step forward. "Fair's fair. You agreed to the competition and lost."

"I know," Felix muttered, taking another couple pawsteps. I watched him continue padding slowly forward until he reached Lumi's side.

"Rae! Come over here a moment, won't you?"

Jumping a little at the sudden voice, I turned to see Cephas standing by the prey-pile. I trotted over, my head tilted to one side. "What's up?"

He nodded at my injured shoulder. "I don't recall telling you to start using that leg again."

"What?" I glanced down, only to find my weight on all four paws. How did that happen? Maybe in all the day's excitement, I forgot about needing to limp?

"Uh, sorry." I quickly shifted, curling my paw up under my belly once again. Though I'd tried to stay in this position for the past half moon or so, I couldn't help but feel the awkwardness of the position. Who held their legs like this, anyway? See, that's what you get for not following Cephas's instructions, I told myself in annoyance.

"No, no, you weren't limping at all. That's wonderful news, wonderful!"

I blinked. Very rarely if ever had I seen Cephas in such a happy mood.

"I suppose you've healed much faster than I'd expected," he continued. "You may walk on all four paws again."

My mind leaped immediately to the forest. I could walk again. I could go out and train with Caspian. I could tell Nova about Simon's attempts to uncover the Rebellion plans. When's the half moon? I thought back, my eyes narrowing to concentrate harder. I've been here about… two quarter moons? My stomach turned over. Tomorrow night was the half moon. Tomorrow night I could meet Nova.

"What? I—I mean, really?" My paw uncurled on its own, placing itself once more firmly on the ground. I barely noticed its movement.

"Yes, I suppose so. And, while my mind is on the subject…"

Cephas padded swiftly around to my tail, slicing his claws neatly through the splint's bindings. With two swipes, the stick fell off with a thunk, rolling about a dog-length before being stopped by a pebble. I lifted my tail, waving it gently through the air, amazed at its apparent weightlessness.

"Wow," I murmured, watching the black, snakelike thing swish back and forth.

"Now," Cephas continued, his stern voice returning, "you are allowed to walk only, you hear? And you're still not to hit your tail on anything for the next moon or so, got it? You're still healing, and that tail is still a spine injury. If I have to put that splint back on, there's no way I'll take it off again until about two moons after it's fully healed, you hear?"

"Yep." I grinned at him, my tail lifting still higher. "Thanks, Cephas."

"Don't thank me," he meowed gruffly. "Thank your youth or your agility or the Yaksha Tribe. I only splinted it up and restricted your activities, that's all."

"And you set my tail," I added. "Remember that? I could've been off-balance for the rest of my life if not for your skills."

"Oh, yes. That. Well, you're welcome, then."

I pressed my muzzle briefly into the fluffy fur around his neck. Cephas hesitated a moment, then returned the gesture, pressing his chin to the top of my head. After a couple heartbeats, he pushed me away again. "If you really like me that much, I suppose you could go take another fall off a cliff or something," he snorted.

I grinned back at him. "Well—"

But my voice was cut off by a shout from the entrance. "He's gone! I can't find him anywhere!"

I spun around just in time to see a dark gray tabby tom burst through the entrance tunnel. His flanks heaving, his eyes wide, he skidded to a halt and repeated, "He's… gone! He's gone!"

Kahuna shot to her feet immediately. "Who? Who's gone?"

Phantom sucked in another deep breath. "Emil," he panted. "Emil. I can't find him anywhere. He's just… gone."

I realized I haven't done a cliffhanger in a little while, so I figured the quarter milestone would be a good spot to start up again. XD Expect a lot of plot in the next few chapters!

QOTD: What do you think has happened to Emil?

AOTD: Spoilers! :3

I do have another week off, but of course I might get caught up doing homework or other stuff, so I'd guess the next chapter will likely come in two weeks? Maybe one if I find my flow a couple times while writing in the next several days or so.

I hope you have a merry Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or (uh) whatever else you celebrate! If you do celebrate something I haven't listed, feel free to let me know! I'd love to learn more about whatever it is. ^^

Have a wonderful rest of break and I'll see you in the new year!

~Snow