BirchClan's Haven ;; Swanpaw's Hope

Four ; Swankit

"Swankit, wake up!"

The snow must've stopped, Swankit instinctively thought to herself. The snow must've stopped!

Rising quickly to shaky, sleepy legs, the white kit ran straight for the exit of the nursery, expecting to dive straight into a patch of snow outside of the entrance.
Instead, an aching wave of pain searched throughout Swankit's forehead.

Opening her eyes wider, she realized that instead of the opening she was hoping to bounce through, it had been sealed over with a thick wall of frozen snow.

"Swankit, are you okay?" Crowkit shaking mew came from behind. "The snow... It didn't stop while we slept. We're stuck."

"Stuck?" Swankit breathed. "What do you mean stuck?"

Crowkit didn't answer. Her dark golden eyes went wide, almost out of terror. Though what was most shocking was that the short-furred tabby was staring straight through Swankit.

"Crowkit, what's wrong?" The older sister stuttered, her heart beginning to race. Her question was soon answered as another wave of pain banged against the walls of her head, and she felt a small drop of blood roll down her face.

"Swankit, stay calm, stay calm, we just have to wake Amberdrop. She'll protect us!" Crowkit nervously reassured, yet her fear-scent still was noticeable.

She went over and prodded at the golden tabby roughly, stammering the queen's name. Amberdrop didn't move. Her chest barely heaved with each weak breath.

"She's either a way deeper sleeper than we thought," Crowkit murmured. "Or the cold is getting to her."

"What are we going to do?" Swankit whispered, in shock. She stared down at her paws. "I'm bleeding, you're weaker even when I'm hurt, and we're both shivering!"

Crowkit shrank closer to Amberdrop.

"W-What?" She said, barely audible. "You think... I'm weak?"

"Wait, behind you!" Swankit continued, not noticing Crowkit. "Look! There's some sort of hole!"

Near Amberdrop's unfurled tail, there was a small gap between the walls of the nursery. There's no way a warrior, or even an apprentice, could slink through; but two wriggling kits could surely make it out.

"That's it, Crowkit!" Swankit exclaimed, dashing over and sticking her paw through the opening. "We'll climb through here, run into camp, break the wall and then save Amberdrop!"

Crowkit reluctantly sighed and nodded her head.

"Come on, you first," Swankit nudged her sister closer to the entrance.

"Maybe we should just wait for help," The other kit anxiously mewed. "Or try Amberdrop again."

"Seriously?" Swankit asked, a taken back look in her green gaze. "You'd rather freeze to death-"

"We won't freeze," Crowkit hissed, with passive-aggressiveness in her tone, "I mean, for StarClan's sake, do you have any idea how long we could've been stuck down here before I woke you up?"

"Crowkit, what is wrong with you? All of a sudden being so grumpy?" The white molly questioned.

The dark silver kitten huffed angrily before exploding. "I have to deal with the stress of seeing my sister hit herself in the face and start to bleed instead of her watching where she's going, then get called weak when she has the audacity to say such a thing when she just ran head-first into a solid wall of snow!"

Swankit held her breath. A mixture of pain and regret pooled itself inside her.

"I'm... Im so sorry, Crowkit," she quietly said. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that - that y'know -"

"What? That I'm not as big as you?" The tabby spat, offended. "Or as strong?"

"You know what, yes!" Swankit hissed. Layers of rage that she didn't know she held beneath her skin began to shine through. "You are smaller than me now, and you always will be, just watch. If you hadn't been so lazy to take a nap, I wouldn't have hit my head! It's all your fault, you tiny little freak!"

A different kind of anger replaced the one that Crowkit showed. Instead of stress and insecurity, pure rage and revenge was her motive now. Her amber eyes were like golden flames against the green forest of Swankit's.

"You wanna know who's the real freak here is?" Crowkit growled, her fur standing up.

Despite being littler than her sister, Swankit couldn't hide her shrinking form from the intimidation of her littermate.

"You! For thinking you could ever be deputy! If you're ever deputy, it's because I'm the leader!" Crowkit yelped, before dropping in volume. "You want to leave through that hole? Go ahead, see where it gets you. But no matter where you go or what you do, I'll always be there to outshine you."

The two were panting, puffs of white leaving their maws with each breath. Before Swankit could fire back, a thump came from the wall of snow. This time from the other end.

The thumps and echoes continued until Ashmoon, Brindleclaw, and Wispstripe all burst through, sending clumps of snow and ice across the nursery. A particularly thick patch of hardened ice landed directly on Amberdrop's head, causing her eyes to flutter open.

"Thank StarClan!" Wispstripe purred exhaustedly, running over in long steps to see his two daughters. "Swankit, there's a cut on your head! Crowkit you're out of breath! You both are freezing - Brindleclaw get Dawnflower, my poor kits!"

Swankit felt numb from the frost and from the ice coming from her sister's words. She didn't mean to call her weak, but at the end of the day, that's how the duo worked out. The white kit was strong and charismatic, while the black kit was analytical and sneaky. They fit together easily, but there was just one thing Swankit couldn't shake off, unlike the snow from her pelt.

If you're ever deputy, it's only because she's leader.

Maybe we both need to accept the truth.

A/N;;

This feels like a weird chapter now that I'm reading over it I hope it's not bad

Just one thing was needed from this chapter: for me to write about the kits negatively (either where they're experiencing negative emotions or in a bad light where they both are at fault; I tried to do both??) and if that seems forced than my bad dudes

Thanks for reading so far!!