Chapter 1:
"Hurry up, Ice!"
Ice struggled to reach Silver. The Snow was as tall as her ear-tips, and moving around was hard! "I'm trying, Silver! There's so much snow!" she panted. Squealing, Ice slipped under the snow.
Ice felt sharp teeth prick at her fur and pick her up. Silver set her on her feet on a stone. "Thanks, Silver!" Ice gasped breathlessly.
Silver's ears flicked. "It was nothing. But can't you walk any faster? The goal is to arrive back at the cave the same time as Shadow and Gray!"
"The snow is up to my ears! I can hardly move!" Ice protested, giving her pelt a good shake to get the snow out.
Silver looked thoughtful. "That's true," she meowed. "I want to try something. Ice, step off the rock and come toward me."
Ice hopped down, squeaking when she felt the chilly snow. Ice, unable to just walk, half-walked and half-swam toward Silver. Silver set the four moon old kit back on the stone. "You're doing it the hard way, Ice!" Silver scolded gently.
"I am?" Ice mewed.
Silver nodded. "This is how you do it."
As Silver took a step, she made a slight leap into the air. When she landed, she put her paws down lightly. It was as if Silver was almost floating!
Ice's eyes glowed with excitement. She hopped down and tried it. It worked! Ice purred happily. "This is much better!"
Silver purred. "Definitely. Come on, we need to get to the Great Lake! We're almost there!"
The pair scrambled up a small hill. When they made it to the top, there was there the Great Lake, all frozen over, stretching for miles and miles. Ice gasped. "It's- it's amazing!" she whispered.
Silver's eyes shone at the young cat's excitement. "If you followed the Great Lake far past the horizon, you would eventually reach a land where it's warm, and it only snows during the period the cats there call leafbare. In a period called greenleaf, the cats actually get hot!"
"Wow!" Ice exclaimed, her eyes huge. "Is that a real place?"
"Of course, young kit. But it is too far away," Silver said.
Ice sighed softly.
The two gazed out into the horizon, each wrapped up in their own thoughts. Then Ice broke the silence.
"Silver?"
Silver didn't take her eyes off the Great Lake. "Yes, Ice?"
"Are you my mother?"
Silver hesitated, her thoughts filled with images of a white she cat, first hunting, purring when she caught a fish, then pregnant, and finally, still and lifeless as two motherless kits wailed by her side.
"Yes, Ice. I am your mother."