Lizardkit stumbled out of the nursery, followed by his smaller sister Halfkit.
"Wait for me!" She yowled, chasing after her larger brother. Halfkit leapt onto Lizardkit's back with a running start, unbalancing him and causing the two to topple over into a pile.
"Oof!"
The two wrestled in that spot, rolling over eachother and kicking up dust. They had been out much more frequently now Cloudedsun had her kit, Russetkit. He was a fragile, sickly kit. He was the only one in his litter, too. Not strong enough to come out yet, but Lizardkit and him were already close. He told Russetkit bedtime stories every night about what he and his sister did that day, and Russetkit always seemed enchanted by his stories.
Lizardkit narrowed his eyes, his sister pinned beneath him.
"Rawr!" She yowled, batting him across the face and kicking him in the stomach. Lizardkit stumbled backward, looking at her angrily, "No fair! You always go for my stomach!" He complained. Halfkit just chuckled and went to lunge at him again, before a familar voice caught the attention if them both.
"Lizardkit, Halfkit!" Willowstream mewed. The silver warrior padded up to them, thr sunhigh daylight cast a dark shadow beneath him, and lit up the top of his pelt like a white fire.
"Why don't you kits go play somewhere that isn't the middle of camp" He advised, tail twitching. Lizardkit and Halfkit looked at eachother. Halfkit turned to look up at Willowstream. "Okay, cmon Lizardkit"
Lizardkit sighed and followed his sister. They bounded toward a clump of lavender on the side of camp. Lizardkit stopped to sniff the purple flowers, its strong scent overpowered much else around him. He looked up to see his sister turning and disappearing behind some rocks.
"Hey! Wait up!" He called, following her past them eagerly.
He found his sister by a scratched up part of the camp boundary. The rocks hid a kit from prying eyes, and it was even harder to see clearly from most of the camp because of the thick bushes and shade from the pine canopy. Lizardkit could see through the camp wall- Still intact, but it had obviously been worked at by tiny claws. The pile of ripped thorns and bracken pushed to one side against a large dark gray rock proved that even more.
"I've been working on breaking through the camp wall!" Halfkit squeaked excitedly, sitting down and looking at her brother eagerly. "If the warriors won't take me outside, I'll just go on my own! Wanna come?"
Lizardkit looked at her skeptically, but he couldn't help but feel amusement in his sister's determined eyes. And he did want to see the forest for himself.
"What if we're caught?" He asked her, glancing back through a crack in the rock at the rest of camp.
"We won't be. Sunhigh patrol will be back soon, And there isn't another till sunset. We have plenty of time to check out the lake and come back!" She told him. But he still wasn't convinced.
Lizardkit narrowed his yellow eyes at her. "How do you know when patrols are sent and when they come back?"
Halfkit purred proudly, announcing- "I've been paying attention to when they leave for a moon and a bit now. Its really simple- There is a patrol at the same times every day. And one at night"
Lizardkit flicked his tail. "Okay, I believe you" He told her, stepping forward toward the boundary. Halfkit stood up and pushed infront of him, bursting through the weakened barrier. She skidded down a slope, gasping in surprise. Lizardkit chuckled as he followed her, more careful wuth his step. Halfkit regained her balance when he had gotten down there.
"Oops, That was steeper than I thought" She commented, shaking her pelt of dust as they started walking. Lizardkit looked up- unlike camp, the sky was blocked out by many tall pines, the tallest he'd ever seen. Lizardkit stopped as he heard a rustle in the bushes ahead. Halfkit heard it too, as they both stopped and stared infront. Halfkit took a few steps- but jumped back as a ginger furry shape darted out from the bush and between her legs. Lizardkit spun round as he saw it pelting up a tree- Its huge bushy tail hitting against the trunk as it disappeared behind a cover of pine needles.
"Squirrel!" Lizardkit yelped, trying to hide his laughter at his frightened sister.
"I thought it was a fox!" She gasped, regaining her breath. "It looked like one when it jumped at me like that!"
The two kits carried on, the sun getting slowly lower in the sky. The two kits travelled in the direction of the sun, hoping they were heading toward the lake.
"Shouldn't the dusk patrol be heading out soon?"
"Yeah,"
"Then I hope we find the lake soon!"
Lizardkit saw a flash of blue through the trees. As they padded towards it Lizardkit's eyes widened as he realized what the blue beyond the trees was.
"The lake!" He yowled, pelting forward.
"Hey! Wait up Lizardkit!" Halfkit yowled, following her brother.
The two skidded to a halt on the shore- Lizardkit stood dead still on the very edge of the lake- The water lapping at his small white paws. The pebbles were smooth under his feet and the grass here grew softer and longer than at the heart of their territory.
"Woah..." Halfkit's odd-eyes grew wide. The both of them didn't have much to say, they were so in awe of the lake. The sun reflected down the middle, creating a seemingly Starclan-blessed path across toward the moor opposite them. The trees on the gathering island were sillhouetted black, and the island itself cast a shadow across the water.
"Its... huge. Bigger than I imagined" Lizardkit mewled quietly.
The two stood there for what seemed like a moon, before Lizardkit turned to his sister.
"I think we should get back. Dusk patrol might arrive soon"
Halfkit nodded, and the two turned to pad back through the forest. Halfkit and Lizardkit murmured excitedly to eachother about the lake, all the stories he'd tell Russetkit when he got back!
Halfkit froze, looking around. Lizardkit turned to look at her.
"Whats wrong?" Lizardkit asked, clearly confused. Halfkit looked worried, flicking her tail. "Don't you smell that?"
Lizardkit tasted the air. It still smelt of pine sap, but there was an underlying tangy scent of something he'd never smelt before. It didn't smell natural.
"Uh, Let's just get back-"
Suddenly the bushes came alive as the thud of pawsteps made the two kits turn around, eyes wide open. Lizardkit felt his heart hop into his mouth as a flash of yellow fur pelted towards them. Lizardkit yowled as he was grasped in the jaws of the stranger, the unnatural scent extremely pungent around him now. Lizardkit and Halfkit both yowled as the stranger attempted to run with them both in its jaw. Lizardkit yowled as he was dropped- air whistled past his ears. Thud. He could feel pain searing through his back and cold, hard stone beneath his body. His eyes were open for a few moments- The last thing he saw was the stranger- Now more clearly a scarred yellow she-cat- Carrying away his sister. Lizardkit could hear familar yowls of his clanmates behind him, and felt the thud of more pawsteps persueing the stranger, and the warm, familiar scent of a Shadowclan warrior standing over him.
