Signs Of The Moon Book 2: Moon High

Chapter 2

Hazekit awoke with a start. A bitter Leafbare breeze swirled through his fluffy white fur, making the young tom shiver. Hazekit sat up in his nest, squinting to catch a glimpse of the world outside his den. It looked as if it was a cold, snow filled day. But Hazekit couldn't wait to get up and embrace it. Before he was able to make a great escape from his nest, the tomkit felt teeth grip his scruff. A cat pulled him close to their warm body, their tongue beginning to rasp against the back of his neck. Hazekit glanced up to see the beautiful face of his mother. Eelnose's pelt appeared darker in the shade of the roof looming above their heads. Her white fur turned grey, ginger patches now a dull brown. Hazekit whined as his mother groomed him, itching to get away. This would be one of the last snowfalls of the season and he wanted to enjoy it.
Soon, Eelnose released her son with a satisfied purr and nudged him along to go outside and play with his denmates. Ecstatic, Hazekit bolted away and into the fresh air outside the den. His pelt fluffed up in reaction to the sudden chill, making the white tomkit appear twice his normal size. Proudly he trotted through the snow and across the usually sand littered clearing. His stomach growled as he moved along and his mouth watered, yearning for the sweet taste of prey. Maybe a fish or seagull would be good today. Hazekit made his way to the usual spot the fresh-kill was left in to find it almost bare. By now the dawn hunting patrol should have been back, yet the pile was severely lacking. Only a couple scrawny mice and a half-starved vole from the Forest Patch lay where the pile usually towered. Hazekit huffed, a tiny cloud of breath blowing into the wind. How was he ever going to grow big and strong if this was all that there was to eat? Not to mention the clan was starving. With another sigh, Hazekit gave up on looking for a meal in favor of spending time with his friends. Quickly he shuffled through the snow and over to where the other kits were playing. Some threw snow at one another, one was rolling in the sandy snow mix, and the rest were playing Prey Sight-No Sight. Hazekit found his way over to the other kits where he was tossed a snowball by Richfur, the clan's current Den Mother. Hazekit wasn't a big fan of the tom. His mother said he'd been a kittypet before, only joining the clan after being abandoned in the Forest Patch by his Twolegs. He would have gone to join Treeclan, if Wavestar hadn't been patrolling nearby, and spotted the pale ginger tom before he crossed the border. And now he was here raising his kits while his mate Duneshine continued preforming his warrior duties.
Richfur knew how much Hazekit loved rolling snowballs around, and despite his distaste of the tom, Hazekit gratefully accepted the queen's gift. Happily he pushed it around, making it grow bigger and bigger until it was almost his size. While he worked on his snowball, another kit came over to talk to him. Hazekit glanced over to see the spiky black cat beside him, Urchinkit.

"Wow, for once you've found something that actually looks like you," he teased. "Are you going to melt away like the snow when Newleaf comes?"

"If it means getting away from you, I just might," Hazekit growled. He didn't understand why Urchinkit liked to make fun of him for his pelt when he was in the same boat as he was. Neither tomkit had fur which was the standard for the clan. Black was a color that made it hard to blend in with anything except the shade. It would make hunting harder for Urchinkit unless he'd take the trip down to the Forest Patch. Pure white was a rare color and was hard to manage. Hazekit would have to work tirelessly just to keep his pelt clean. Both toms would also have to be more wary around Twolegs, with such odd colored coats they would be more attracted and tempted to steal them away. Though it was good to be seen as attractive by the strange creatures, it wasn't so good to be targeted by them.
Urchinkit rolled his eyes, batting at Hazekit's ears with a playful paw.

"You'd miss me too much," Urchinkit purred, smirking. Hazekit flicked a small pawful of a sand-snow mixture at him.

"Like I'd miss an annoying clump of fur like you." He mumbled. "Why don't you go play with your siblings instead of messing with me, huh? Oh yeah, that's right, they aren't here anymore! And even if they were, they'd be all the way in Mountainclan!"
Urchinkit took a step back, hurt expressed through his features. His mouth hung slightly ajar in shock and his eyes opened as wide as a full moon. After a few heartbeats his face turned, the look of pain melting away into a spiteful grimace.