It was leafbare, but edging towards the end of the season. The snow was beginning to melt and the kits were coming out to play in the sloppy, slushy mess. Moonstar watching the kits from her vantage point in a nearby tree, watched them, amused.
A chill ran up and down her spine, and she turned around, scared. She hadn't felt like this since... last time. She grit her teeth, half expecting for it to start snowing like it had on that day.
To her relief, the others seemed to notice it too. A few kits squeaked and ran back to the nursery, huddling up against eachother. Moonstar felt a pang of jealousy towards them. One of her littermates was stillborn, the other didn't leave the old clans when the plague came. Moonstar liked to think that he might've lived, but in her heart she knew that Creekpaw had passed on long ago.
She, herself, had only lived because she left WindClan. She left the old forest clans behind and journeyed west. That was where she found DragonClan. It was nothing like the forest clans. The customs were still there, but they were less rigid. Kits were often allowed to leave camp. Apprentices would train with whoever was in camp.
The one thing that she wished would change, however, didn't. The black fox. The story existed here, too, and there had been a pawful of deaths and disappearances to its name. Their first leader, Dragonstar. Too many kits to count. Cats had left, and come back, claiming to see it, and gone insane. Yes, the black fox had been in DragonClan before it was even a clan itself.
On her fourth life, Moonstar feared the fox. Five lives wasn't enough to keep it away. Annoyed at how dark her daydreams had become, Moonstar jumped down from the tree, landing on four paws. Most warriors were out hunting or training with apprentices. One skittery warrior ran up to Moonstar, a huge smile on her face. "Mom, what should I do? I've been waiting around alll day and it's so so so boring I can't take it I just can't."
"You could get some bedding for the kits, if you want." Moonstar said casually.
"Aww, all alone?"
"Of course not. Take Clawpelt with you, he's not doing anything either."
Clawpelt pricked his ears at this, muttered something under his breath, and snarled finally, "Yes, Moonstar."
As the two cats walked out of camp, Clawpelt flicking his ears irritably.
"Moonstar." Moonstar's fur spiked and she turned to face the stranger. It was a calico cat with one blind eye and slightly distorted features, just enough to be terrifying.
"Sun... why are you here? Haven't seen you since..." Moonstar stammered, trying to show no fear.
Sun pushed her out of the way and went to the nursery. Riverkit was playing moss-ball with the other kits, hissing playfully and bounding across the den, while Pheonixkit, a bright red kit whose mother had been killed by the fox and whose father was most likely a rogue, was playing with a silver-blue kit named Rainkit, who was obviously much older.
"Pheonixkit."
The young kit turned to face the terrifying older cat.
"Now that," whispered Riverkit to an older kit named Flamekit, "Is a face that not even a mother could love." Flamekit tried not to snicker.
Sun ignored them both, letting out a low hiss.
Looking up into the blind eye, Pheonixkit whispered, "Who are you?"
"I am Sun." announced the cat, "And I have a gift for you."
Pheonixkit tried to mask her fear with a giddy smile. "What is it? Is it a mouse? I love mouse!"
"No." Sun held out a red feather, singed on the end. "Here it is." Pheonixkit looked up and down at the feather and Sun, confused. "Don't lose it," Sun said, and turned to walk away.
"But... wait! What is it? What..." Sun was already gone.
"Can I touch it?" asked Riverkit, reaching a paw out tentatively.
"No." hissed Pheonixkit, smacking his paw down. "It's mine."
Riverkit smacked it out of Pheonixkit's paw with a grin, and the two kits began chasing eachother around the nursery.
Moonstar watched the kits until cats filed back into camp. It was a good life, even if it was a hard one. The only hard thing would be keeping it that way.
