Chapter 2– A Fox in the Night
Shadowstep and Rushsong watched their kits proudly. They had begun to open their eyes. They had decided to wait until now to name them. The one that had been born first had opened his that morning. They were amber with green flecks. They had decided to name him Spotkit, more for the brown flecks on his back than for his eyes. The gray and black one had opened her bright green eyes a few minutes ago. They had decided to name her Greenkit.
As they watched the light blue-gray tom was bowled over by the black and white she, and his eyes popped open in surprise. They were amber. He jumped to his paws lightly, and leapt at Spotkit.
Shadowstep and Rushsong looked at each other.
"Lightkit?" suggested Rushsong.
Shadowstep nodded agreement.
...
As the sun began to set Rushsong was curled up in the nursery with her kits. The last one had still not opened her eyes. Rushsong was contemplating naming her Blackkit, but she was determined to wait until the little kit had opened her eyes.
The kits snuggled into their mother's belly and finally fell asleep, mewing sleepy challenges for tomorrow at each other. Shadowstep slipped in and lay down beside his mate, curling his tail around her. Rushsong purred, and they fell asleep.
...
The kits awoke and quietly slipped out of the nursery. It was moonhigh, and the whole camp was asleep. They hurried to the entrance and slipped easily through it. The black and white one was just as silent and surefooted as the others as they raced through the dark trees. The kits inhaled all the forest scents, exploring every nook, cranny, and hole they could find.
After making sure they were far away from the camp, the kits stopped. Spotkit automatically fell into the role of leader, and he laid out their plan.
"All right, so we actually managed to get out of the nursery and out of camp. Now it's time to try the challenges. Greenkit, I challenged you to a game of hide-and-seek. Lightkit, you challenged me to see who can catch the first piece of prey, and sister I challenged you to make it out here with us." The last challenge had been directed to the black and white kit. She moved to stand beside Spotkit. She moved so confidently and easily that a cat would have had to look at her from the front to realize that her eyes were still closed.
"I beat your challenge, Spotkit!" she announced proudly, "And now I want to take the other challenges too."
The other kits mewed agreement and the black and white one sat back down.
"I want to do the hide-and-seek challenge too!" mewled Lightkit, jumping effortlessly to his paws. "Can I, Greenkit?"
Greenkit nodded, and the four set off.
Greenkit squeezed her eyes shut and began mewing out numbers. She was nearing twenty when a strange, rather disgusting, scent flooded her nostrils. She opened her eyes and froze. Standing before her, mouth open hungrily, was a huge red fox. She only knew what it was from her parents' descriptions, but it was unmistakably a fox. Greenkit let out a faint mew, and then bolted. The fox had her in an instant. Greenkit mewled as the creature grabbed her in its teeth.
Suddenly Spotkit and Lightkit came streaking out of some bushes. Together they leapt onto the fox's back and dug their tiny claws into its fur.
The fox howled in pain and dropped Greenkit. A soon as she touched the ground she spun around and bit the fox's leg. It kicked her away, and she blacked out as her head hit the ground hard.
When she managed to flick her eyes open again Spotkit and Lightkit were unconscious as well. Their sister stood facing the fox. Her eyes were still shut. She had only just arrived, but her claws were already unsheathed. Greenkit watched in horror as the fox lunged for her sister, but when it was only a hair's length away from her the little kit's eyes flicked open and she slashed the fox's muzzle, leaping aside at the very same moment. The fox crashed into the ground, howling.
Greenkit stared into her sister's eyes. They were blood red and gleamed with the light of battle. There seemed to be the presence of a great, black, starry bird looming over her. Greenkit watched as the kit tightened her muscles, and she realized that the fox had leapt at her again. This time, there was no chance of escape. The fox was about to snap its jaws shut around the kit when two cats, one a dark tabby, the other a light blue gray, burst from the trees and bowled the creature over. The cats slashed, bit, lunged, and parried in complete harmony.
Soon Shadowstep and Rushsong had driven the fox off and they quickly gathered the four kits together. Shadowstep yowled sharply and Brightwhisker appeared. Greenkit fell unconscious again and the medicine cat knelt beside her. She knew she was safe.