Frozenkit sat silently by his mother's paws as she groomed his dark, silver fur. He watched sadly as Blizzardclaw talked to Mist and Frost near the entrance of the den. Even though he was far away from them, Frozenkit could still see the confused expressions on both his siblings' faces. The parents of the kits had separated them while Frost had been telling his littermates about the clan. As Feather was busy making Frozenkit's fur look nice for his introduction to his new home, Blizzardclaw explained to the other two kits why their brother had to leave.
Feather gave her kit one final lick before nuzzling him. "You're all set to go, Frozenkit!" she purred, hiding her sadness behind a smile.
Frozenkit gave his mother a defeated look, his ears flat against his head. "Can't I go tomorrow…?" he mewed, glancing back at his siblings. Blizzardclaw had finished talking to them and now they were all looking back at him intently.
"No, little one," Feather shook her head. "It's either now or never and never would be a lot worse than what now is like."
Frozenkit was about to protest again when Blizzardclaw suddenly approached them.
"Are we all set?" Blizzardclaw questioned his mate before looking down at their kit.
Feather nodded silently as Frozenkit mumbled a "Yes," to his father. The warrior gave his son a sympathetic look before touching his nose to his ear. "Would you like to say something to your brother and sister before we go?" Blizzardclaw asked him.
Frozenkit immediately scrambled to his paws. "Of course I do!" he responded before pelting across the den to speak to his siblings.
As Frozenkit approached his siblings, who were seated by the entrance, Mist shifted on her paws uncomfortably. "Hi Frozenkit…" she mewed sadly.
Frozenkit's ears drooped at her sad tone. "Hi Mist. Hi Frost," he sighed, looking at his paws. When his brother didn't return the greeting, Frozenkit looked up in surprise. What shocked him more was the expression Frost was giving him.
Frost was wearing a solid scowl on his face. He stared at his brother through narrowed, blue eyes before demanding, "How come you get to go see the clan and I don't?"
Frozenkit exchanged glances with Mist before looking back at Frost. "I'm not going to go see the clan, Frost. I have to go live there," he tried to explain. "Maybe you could still go one day and visit me…?"
Frost stayed silent. After a few moments of thinking, he flicked his ears and erased the angry look from his face. "Well…okay," he agreed with a purr.
Frozenkit gave his brother a questioning look as Mist bumped her head against his flank affectionately. "I'm going to miss you, Frozenkit!" she told him, tears welling up in her eyes.
A wave of grief suddenly rolled over Frozenkit, causing him to go stiff. Holding back his own tears, the tom slowly bent down and gave his sister's ear a lick. "I'm going to miss you too, Mist," he managed to mew. Mist touched her nose to his shoulder before backing away from him. As he watched the she-kit sit beside Frost again, Frozenkit turned his focus on his brother. "Bye Frost," he meowed. "I'll miss you just as much as I'll miss Mommy and Mist…"
Frost blinked slowly at him before tilting his head curiously. "You don't want me to lick your ear…right?"
"No," Frozenkit responded, his whiskers twitching in amusement. He was going to miss his mouse-brained brother!
"Well then I'll miss you too," Frost assured him with a nod. "You should come visit us though so we don't have to miss you too much."
"Yeah!" Mist agreed instantly. "Come visit us all the time! Bring Daddy when you do too so we can all play hide and seek with him again," she smiled at Frozenkit.
"I will!" Frozenkit purred happily. "And I'll tell you all about the clan when I come too!"
"You should ask clan cats if they like squirrels," Frost meowed. "And then tell me what they say."
Frozenkit rolled his eyes in amusement before he pawed at Frost's ear. "I'll try."
"Are you three ready?" Blizzardclaw asked, padding over to them with Feather by his side. "We need to leave now, Frozenkit…"
"Don't worry! We're done," Frozenkit assured him before brushing up against his siblings for the last time. Mist purred and licked his ear as he did so while Frost batted at his tail.
Blizzardclaw smiled at the three kits before turning back to his mate. "Well, this is it…" he meowed, his smile growing weak.
"Don't act like this is the last time we'll see each other, you furball," Feather warned teasingly before she pressed her muzzle sadly into his fur.
Blizzardclaw let out a sigh as he rested his chin on her head. "I'm still sorry we have to go so soon! I already have a lot of explaining to do to Streamstar though so we can't stay any longer. She probably suspects your father killed me…or something else that's bad," he mused.
Feather remained silent for a few seconds before looking up at him. "Do you promise you'll take care of him…?"
"I promise I will," the tom meowed, licking her ear gently. "Nothing will be able to hurt our kit without trying to get past me first!"
"Good," Feather smiled at him with a purr. "And don't you forget to avoid getting thrown into those mouse-brained battles!"
"You'd have to talk to Streamstar for that to come true, but I'll try nonetheless," Blizzardclaw chuckled as he nuzzled her.
Feather gave him a final lick on the muzzle before padding away from him and towards Frozenkit.
Frozenkit gazed up as his mother approached him and smiled. "Bye Mommy!" he purred.
"You seem much more excited about leaving now than you did while I was grooming you, little one," Feather smiled sadly as she sat down in front of him.
"Well that's because I'll only be gone for a while," the kit explained to his mother as he pressed up against her. "I'll come visit you and Mist and Frost real soon in our den! Or here if you want," he purred as he rubbed up against her legs.
Feather cringed at his words but managed to purr along with him. "I'll be looking forward to your visits, Frozenkit! Go with your father now though. The sooner you leave, the sooner you will be able to visit!"
"Right!" Frozenkit chirped, hopping away from her. Padding towards the entrance, he let out a silent sigh. A bulk of emotion, as heavy as a boulder, sat in the pit of his stomach as he glanced back at his family. He game them one last smile before scrambling out of the den. Stopping by the edge of the fallen tree's roots, he anxiously waited for his father.
Blizzardclaw shook his pelt as he prepared to go after Frozenkit. "Be good to your mother, little ones," he meowed to his kits while he brushed up against his silent mate. Feather remained quiet as he then walked over to Mist and licked her forehead. "Until we meet again, pretty she-cat," Blizzardclaw smiled at her.
Mist purred happily before she reached up and licked his nose. "Bye Daddy!"
The warrior purred in response before turning to Frost. "I'm relying on you to protect and take care of Mist and your mother, Frost. Do you think you can handle that?"
Frost sat up with his back straight and his head held high. "Of course I can."
"I know you can," Blizzardclaw laughed before licking the kit's head. "I hope to see you all someday soon," he meowed before he began to back out of the fox's den. He waved his tail in farewell before disappearing out the entrance.
"Bye Daddy! Bye Frozenkit!" Mist called loudly as Frost watched their father vanish from sight. Both kits then looked up at Feather curiously when she brushed against them with a purr.
"Now that they're gone, how about we take a short nap before we leave?" she suggested with a weak smile. "It'll help us stay strong on our way back to the den."
"Can't we just go back home without a nap instead? I'm not tired since we just woke up!" Frost whined, soon letting out a yelp as Mist bit his paw.
"Shush!" she hissed quietly. "Can't you see Mommy's sad!?" the she-kit frowned at her brother.
Frost blinked at her before gazing up at their mother. Feather's feeble smile was gone. She was now looking down at him with tired and sad looking eyes. Noticing her sorrow, Frost quickly laid himself down on the den's sandy floor. "A nap sounds like a good idea, Mommy," he agreed with an exaggerated yawn.
Mist rolled her eyes at Frost, but soon curled up beside him. "I agree with him," she purred sleepily while smiling up at Feather.
Feather sighed shakily as she curled herself around them tightly. "Sorry little ones, but I would really feel better if we would just rest for a while," she admitted. "Seeing your father and your brother leave at the same time has overwhelmed me a little," the she-cat meowed, resting her head on her paws.
Mist blinked before pressing her nose reassuringly into her mother's long fur. "Don't be sad! We'll see them again real soon!" she purred, her eyes gleaming.
"Yeah, real soon," Frost nodded with another yawn before he fell into a slumber.
'If only that would be true…' Feather quietly thought as she reached over to lick Mist's ear. "That's something good to think about later. Now let's sleep so we can head back to our den," she said to her daughter before closing her eyes again.
Pretending to fall asleep, Feather could hear Mist's soft purring as the kit pressed against her flank. Eventually, her purr ebbed away as she dozed off beside Feather and her brother. Feather opened her eyes and glanced at their slow rising flanks while she thought of the next step in her plan. Now that her mate had taken Frozenkit away safetly, it was her turn to get Mist and Frost as far away from Storm and Thorn as she could. Her plan's next step involved leaving the comforting cover of the forest she had known her whole life. Feather knew it would be risky, but the forest was beginning to be too dangerous for her family anyway.
The sound of a twig being stepped on outside the den made Feather's head snap off her paws, her stream of thoughts ending abruptly. Had Blizzardclaw returned for some reason? The continuation of rustles of vegetation near the fallen oak tree raised her hopes. Perking her ears excitedly, Feather let out a soft meow, "Blizzardclaw…? Is that you?"
Immediately after saying that, the noises stopped, causing Feather to frown. "Probably just a mouse or something…" she concluded in slight defeat, resting her head back on her paws.
"Are you sure about that…?" Thorn's voice chuckled before he popped in through the den's entrance.
Feather went rigid as she slowly rose her head up again. Fur prickling with distraught, she turned her head and look up at the tom's face. "Thorn…?" she breathed, her eyes widening in shock. "How did you know I was here…?"
"I didn't!" Thorn exclaimed with a laugh, his eyes glowing with amusement. "Well I didn't until I saw a certain clan cat walk away from this direction with a kit following after him. That kind of got me suspicious, so after they were out of sight, I jumped out of the tree I was in and came to investigate. By the way, was that a clan name you called when you decided to give your position away…? It sort of sounded like you said Blizzardclaw…" the brown tom jeered. "He's a Fogclan warrior if you didn't know. That tom I just saw sort of matched his pelt description. Did I mention that kit almost reminded me of you in a way?" Thorn sneered, his tail curling in triumph. "It all seems rather coincidental in this silly situation we're both stuck in…doesn't it?" he purred.
Feather flattened her ears as dread made its way through her pelt. "Thorn, may I speak to you outside…?"
"Oh right, sure," Thorn scoffed. "After all, we wouldn't want to disturb those precious little kits of yours," he laughed, casting a glance at the two sleeping kits. "Funny," he sniffed. "I thought Storm said that there were three kits when he visited you. Maybe Blizzardclaw came by while you were sleeping here in this abandoned fox burrow instead of your den and stole one of them. Well, it would explain why he had a kit following him over the border…"
"Outside, Thorn," Feather growled softly as she carefully stepped away from Mist and Frost. "Now."
"You're so bossy all of a sudden," Thorn snorted. "But fine, let's go outside. I've already done enough talking anyways so now it's your turn," he purred joyously before exiting the den.
Feather stiffened as she watched his brown pelt disappear through the entrance. Though she had left their side, the two kits were still fast asleep, both of them unaware of the danger all of them faced now that Thorn seen Blizzardclaw with Frozenkit. Frowning, Feather suddenly held her head high as she padded towards the entrance. Thorn might have seen her mate, but she wasn't going to allow him ruin everything she's worked for so easily. She was fully prepared to fight him if it would help insure the safety of Blizzardclaw and their kits. Fighting might end up being her last resort since the moment she slipped out of the fox burrow, Thorn launched himself at her.
A/N: Yay for chapter 8! Feather's day seems to be going like poop now. My week was going like that too until ANDY MURRAY REACHED THE OLYMPIC FINALS MATCH IN TENNIS :'D But you probably care more about the cats than that so I'll stop talking xD