Flames At Night: Book 1: A Shattered Path

Chapter Sixteen

Snowfox

In a small, ivy-lined cave, Snowfox stretched out her legs, one at a time. She watched, eyes half-closed, as the sun gently slipped below the horizon. It was beautiful with all its scarlets and oranges. Too bad there's no one to share it with.

She cast a restless glance at the mouth of the cave, waiting for her traveling companion. They had met a long time ago, when Fire Lily was barely five moons old, and Snowfox a young, motherless kit. Fire Lily became her best friend, and from then on, they were inseparable.

Finally, Snowfox stood up and padded out of the makeshift den. If she's not coming, I might as well make a nest and get some sleep. She didn't want to spend the night on the cold rock floor.

Snowfox collected a small bundle of moss and leaves, and brought it back to the cave. Before she stepped in, though, she heard a sound.

She stopped, and gently laid down the moss. "Who's there?" she called. The misty evening air did not respond.

Sighing, Snowfox turned and began shaping the bundle into a nest. It wasn't long before she heard the noise again.

All her senses were on alert as she looked around with her nose barely poking out of the cave. If there's a badger here, it'll be sorry!

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of a pair of yellow ears hiding behind a clump of crabgrass. Growling, Snowfox stormed over and pulled a squealing kit from its place next to two others.

One leaped at her legs, snarling and trying to trip her. Cursing under her breath, Snowfox picked up one foot and shook it off. "What are you doing?" she snapped, setting down the yellow kit.

The kits stopped and stared up at her with round, frightened eyes. A tom stepped forward defiantly. "We is running away!"

"Are running," Snowfox corrected automatically, then winced. "I mean, why are you without your mother? You're too young to be prancing through the forest by yourselves."

"Who are you?" asked a tiny brown she-kit, blinking at the white she-cat. When Snowfox didn't answer, she turned to her sister. "Who is she?"

"I don't know either," the third kit whispered loudly.

"My name is Snowfox," Snowfox meowed, rolling her blue eyes.

The yellow she-kit beamed at her. "I'm Kimmy! And this is Ray, and this is Quincy!" She tapped each of her littermates in turn with a paw.

"And why are you out here?" Snowfox asked, surveying the three kits. They couldn't be more than four moons old.

"I told you!" Ray squeaked, glaring at her. "We're running away!"

The white she-cat suppressed a derisive snort. "Oh, three tiny kits, unable to defend themselves from the world, running away to be... what? Heroes? Sorry, but I don't think anyone needs saving around here." Not anymore, she added silently.

"We weren't going to be heroes," Kimmy mewed, looking sad. "Just run away from our Twolegs. We didn't think of anything after that."

"Well, that's pretty clear," Snowfox said before she could stop herself. The kits seemed as if they were about to cry, with Kimmy already whimpering slightly. "Why would you do something so silly? You could maybe wait until you were old enough to take care of yourselves."

"We couldn't wait!" Ray wailed. "The Twolegs were going to give us away, and then we would never see each other again!" He curled against his sisters, sobbing.

In her mind, Snowfox yelled at herself for being so harsh. "You're okay," she said awkwardly. "Um, do you want to come with me? I can give you a warm nest and maybe some food."

Kimmy raised her head, staring at Snowfox with leaf-green eyes. "You would do that?"

"Well...uh..."

The kits seemed to take this as a yes, as they squealed with happiness and ran up to her. "New friend!" Ray shouted uncomfortably close to her ear, climbing onto her back. Snowfox crouched down to let the others on, staggering under their weight. For kits, they certainly were heavier than they looked. Thankfully, the cave was only a few taillengths away, and she dropped them, letting them tumble into the pile of moss.

"Okay, stay right here," Snowfox told the kits. "I'm just going to get more moss so that I can make the nest bigger." She headed out again, only to hear the patter of many tiny feet behind her. Whirling around, she exclaimed, "I thought I told you to stay!"

"We will!" Quincy chimed, tail high in the air. "We just wanted to tell you to also try and hunt! Ray is a big glutton!"

"Hey!" the little brown tom squeaked, tackling her. Kimmy immediately joined in, yowling at the top of her voice.

Sighing, Snowfox picked up the kits and carried them back to the cave, one at a time. "If you scare away all the prey in the forest, I won't be able to catch you anything. Now stay here and don't get into trouble."

She padded a short way into the forest. After several minutes collecting bedding, she located a squirrel, and stalked towards it. A twig snapped beneath her paw, and she lunged quickly, hoping that she would still catch it. Luck was on her side, and Snowfox's claws caught in its bushy tail. She snapped its neck in her teeth and carried it back to her bundle of moss.

Arriving back at the cave, she was pleased to see that all three kits were sleeping. She quietly patted the bedding into another nest and curled up in it, drifting off.

Some time in the night, Snowfox woke up and found that the kits were sleeping next to her. Shifting so that Kimmy's tail was out of her ear, she tried to fall back asleep. There was one thought on her mind: What have I gotten myself into?