Flames At Night: Book 1: A Shattered Path

Chapter Twenty

Snowfox

Snowfox was playing with the kits she'd accidentally adopted, when Fire Lily trotted unceremoniously into the cave. Kimmy squealed and ran to hide under Snowfox's tail, screaming, "Intruder!"

"You're finally back!" The white she-cat stood and thrust her muzzle at Fire Lily. "What were you thinking, leaving for so long? You had me worried sick!"

Fire Lily shrugged nonchalantly. "I was busy. I had a meeting last night, after I visited another two clans." She eyed the three kits sitting in the moss nest. "It seems we have new visitors! Hi, what are your names?"

Ray grabbed the mossball they had been playing with and hurled it at the orange-yellow she-cat. It bounced harmlessly off her leg.

"These are some kits I picked up two nights ago," Snowfox sighed, herding Quincy back into the nest. "Kimmy is the yellow tabby, Ray is the brown tom with the one white spot, and Quincy is the brown she-kit." She turned to the littermates. "Kits, this is Fire Lily. She's my friend, but she's very busy going to the clans all the time, so she probably won't play with you much."

"Actually, I'd love to play with them!" Fire Lily interrupted, smiling down at the little ones. "Maybe they can even come with me to my meetings!"

"Absolutely not!" the white she-cat gasped. "They're safe here, and you know I don't want to go to the clans!"

Quincy stood and padded over to Fire Lily, short brown tail raised. "I want to go to the clanses," she squeaked. Her siblings were quick to agree, cheering and jumping around.

Fire Lily's tail twitched, and she glanced nervously at her friend. "I might take Ray and Kimmy," she said carefully. "But I'm not sure about Quincy."

The three kits looked crestfallen. "Why not?" demanded Ray.

"If Quincy can't go, then I won't either!" Kimmy mewed, standing determinedly next to her sister.

"Quincy can only go if Snowfox does too," the orange-yellow she-cat explained. "And I don't think Snowfox will want to."

"Leave me out of this," Snowfox grumbled, ears pinned back. "I'm fine with the kits going, as long as they're asleep before midnight."

Fire Lily's gaze bored into the white she-cat as she slowly shook her head. "You don't understand," she meowed. "Quincy can't go because she's blind."

"WHAT?" Snowfox yelped. She pulled the brown kitten closer to her, frantically licking her ears. "She's not- She can't be-"

The other kits climbed over the nest to sit with Snowfox and Quincy. The she-cat wrapped her black-tipped tail around them, head spinning.

All three kits stared into her eyes. "We thought you knew," Kimmy said. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you."

"It's fine," Snowfox meowed, grooming the fur on the tops of their heads. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed anything wrong. Quincy played with her littermates easily, and could do everything they could. But her eyes were clouded blue.

The she-cat looked up at Fire Lily. "Quincy can go to your meetings if she wants," she said. "But I don't intend for these kits to leave my side for quite a while."