Mousekit's pulse raced with excitement. He was finally leaving camp! And Wildkit was so brave! She wasn't even flinching as she set paw on the hard, icy ground. Of course, he wouldn't admit it, but he was a little nervous. It was night, and who knew what was out there? There could be foxes, or even worse, badgers.
He had heard so much about badgers. They were huge, scary creatures with big paws and sharp teeth, and they were so heavy they could snap a cat's back in half in one blow!
He certainly didn't want to run into such an animal.
He flicked his ears, and took a step forward. The ground was a little less icy outside of camp.
The wind rustled the pine trees, and an eerie silence was cast upon them when it stopped.
Mousekit shook his head, and put his tail straight in the air, trying to look brave.
"Let's go!" he urged. Wildkit paused for a moment.
"Frog-brain! I'm scenting for prey," the ginger kit retorted.
Mousekit snorted. "Even a stupid moth would have the sense to stay away from a Clan camp! Were only just outside of it! Let's go further out!"
"Fine!" Wildkit's ice-blue eyes narrowed at him.
She turned away from her brother, fur bristling, and padded forward.
Mousekit glared for a moment, then bounded forward, his paws snapping a brittle twig in the process.
He stopped beside his sister, tail twitching and eyes in slits.
"Where exactly are we going?" he asked after a moment's silence. "Isn't this the way to the training gorge?" he tasted the air, scenting apprentices and wet sand.
Wildkit hesitated, her ears twitching thoughtfully.
"I think so. Maybe there'll be prey in the bushes?"
As if to prove her point, a soft rustling broke the silence, and out of a nearby bush hopped a dark green frog. It's skin glistened in the dappled moonlight, it's bright yellow eyes unmoving. It's left hind leg twitched, as if ready to leap again, but it kept in the same position, practically waiting to be pounced on by one of the two kits before it.
Mousekit stared blankly at the amphibian. He ordered his paws to move, to try to catch it, but they seemed to be frozen to the ground.
He gave a passing glance at his sister, then stared back at the frog. She looked at him the same way he was looking at the frog, expectantly.
"Catch it!" Wildkit whispered. "Frogs are still fresh-kill, or have you forgotten how to move your paws?"
Mousekit continued to stare at the creature, unsure of what to do. He knew he should catch it, but no part of his body was responding properly. All he could get was a soft twitch of his gray tail.
Wildkit sighed, rolling her eyes. She tensed, then reared up, and brought her white paws forward. They landed square on the frog's spine, and a sickening snapping sound echoed through Mousekit's ears. A faint croak came, then all fell silent again.
He blinked, regaining the ability to move. Breathing in deeply, he glared down at his forepaws. Freezing right when fresh-kill was in front of you was not how a warrior acted, even an apprentice would have moved! Was he really that stupid?
Wildkit looked questioningly at her brother, obviously wondering the same thing.
Mousekit sniffed, and shuffled his paws uncomfortably.
His sister snorted loudly, then bent down to bite the dead frog's hind leg. Jerking her head up, she managed to pick it up halfway, since the animal was nearly as big as herself.
She began to walk back toward the camp, dragging the frog a long with her.
Mousekit stared back at her for a moment, then saw how a few bits of earth was being kicked up by both Wildkit and her prey.
"Stop!" Mousekit ordered. "You'll get it all dirty! We should both carry it."
Wildkit paused for a moment, then dropped the frog and spun around, tail lashing back and forth.
"Shut up! I know what I'm doing! Besides, the ground is frozen over. It won't get dirty at all."
"Then explain why one of it's legs already has a few bits of dirt on it," he meowed, nodding towards the green amphibian.
Wildkit glanced back at it, then sniffed indignantly. "It's not much, there'll be hardly any when we get back. Just be quiet, you're not the one that caught it in the first place!"
Mousekit gritted his teeth, and cuffed her on the ear with his paw. She had no right to tell him to be quiet! They were both out of camp for the first time. She didn't know anything more than he did!
Wildkit froze for a moment, then growled angrily and leaped on top of him.
Mousekit gasped, startled and caught off-guard. He stumbled, and eventually gave way to his sister, and she immediately snarled and bit down hard on his tail. A bolt of sharp pain shot through his body.
"Ouch! Hey!" he spat.
Mousekit swiped at his sister's face, claws unsheathed.
He missed, barley touching her whiskers. Wildkit hissed in anger and slashed his face in turn.
A stinging pain in his cheek, then a wet feeling as blood welled in the fairly deep scratch she inflicted.
"Ow!" he cried out "Stop!"
"Don't tell me what to do!"
"You fox-heart!"
"You piece of fox-dung!"
"Stop! Now!"
"No!"
Mousekit gasped as a crushing weight fell on his chest as his sister reared up to bring her paws down on him.
He hissed fiercely, and thrust his hind legs upwards, dealing a heavy blow to her own chest. Wildkit didn't expect the hit and rolled on the ground, winded.
She sputtered, trying to regain her breath.
Mousekit leaped up, on all four paws again and growling loudly. He waited for her to make another move, ready to match and slashes or bites she meant to deal.
After a long moment of watching his sister lying on the cold ground, he stepped back, waiting for her to get up.
Wildkit noticed the movement, expecting him to pin her down, and glared blankly ahead at nothing.
Eventually she regained the ability to breathe properly and staggered up, casting soul-piercing glances at him every few seconds.
Her ears twitched angrily, and her tail lay limp on the earth. She stared at him for a few moments, then looked back at the frog.
"Snake-heart..." she whispered, then her voice grew louder, more angry. An icy blue fire of rage blazed in her eyes. "You snake-heart!"
Her claws unsheathed for a second, showing their frighteningly long length. They glinted silver, an almost blinding reflection of the moon itself on the blade-like weapons.
Mousekit flinched as he imagined those claws raking down his flank. His were only half as long as hers! Sure, he was stronger than her, but she was much more agile and could probably dart around him, dodging his attacks.
But they hid back in her paws as she flattened her eyes and tightly screwed her eyes shut.
"We need to get back to camp, the sun will rise soon," she meowed, looking away from him, her voice surprisingly calm. Mousekit titled his head to one side, one eye narrowing curiously.
He stared for a little while, then shook his head, frustrated.
"Right, back to camp," he muttered, turning to grab the prey and began padding back, Wildkit's pawsteps signaling she was right behind him.