Spirit's Journey

Chapter 52- Hannah: One Day

I scooted closer to Blaze's ruffled, blotchy dark tan pelt and hunched my shoulders against the cold night with Diamond underneath me.

"I'm going to go hunting," the ruffled tom meowed, so I scooped Diamond closer to keep her out of the way of his paws as he went out in search of food, brushing his pelt against mine as he left. Blaze often didn't go hunting unless he had to, but I didn't blame the tom and I admired him for going out on a night like this, when the wind was strong and the snow was swirling all through the air, through eardrums, streaming through tails, and piercing eyes with the tint of ice on the wind.

"Mama," Diamond said, and looked up at me with wide blue eyes. Her eyes were so beautiful; a bright, bright blue like the color of ice. They'd not grown a shade darker from when they'd first opened, and I knew now that her eyes would stay the pretty shade forever.

"Am I gonna be pretty like you?"

The question took me aback, but I purred instantly and rubbed my jaw along my kit's tiny soft head.

"Of course you are. You're going to be even prettier than me, and get all the tom's you want."

Diamond twisted her head around to look at me, her whiskers being blown by the wind.

"Isn't one enough?"

"Of course, dear," I murmured, ashamed for saying such a thing without thinking. Of course no cat should have more than one mate. If you'd found the right one, you should stick by them.

Diamond's tiny ears looked small and frail against the wind; I could only imagine how numb they must be on the tips as I tried to shield them from the worst of the wind with a paw.

"Spirit doesn't need any toms," Diamond meowed in a small voice, and pushed herself into my belly-fur farther.

I tried to peer a few tail-lengths away, where Spirit had been just a few moments before, but Storm and her had gone hunting. Midnight and Aspen were curled up close together, Midnight's head resting on his back while the orange-and-white cat's snores were carried away by the wind.

"No cat needs any tom in their life," I said into Diamond's ear gently, choosing my words.

"But sometimes it's nice to have other cats close to you, whether they are friendly or something more."

Spirit often acted like she didn't need anyone, but I knew that she had Midnight and probably always would.

And I'll always have Diamond and Blaze. I curled up close around Diamond but knew she didn't want to sleep yet; the kit kept her eyes fixed on the trail we'd come down below. We were near the top of the mountain, on the side where we'd started traveling up the day before. Within a few hours of morning we would be at the very top, which felt like we'd come barely any way already. But Spirit was pushing us to our physical limit's; tonight, we'd stopped after dark because she'd said that she wanted to try and reach the top before the Great Spot had appeared. We'd failed due to sore paws and empty stomachs.

"I'm hungry and my ear-tips are froze." Diamond said sadly. I felt a pain of hopelessness claw against my heart, and buried my muzzle against the kitten's neck.

A few minutes passed and I felt Diamond's head loll against mine, telling me she had fallen asleep. A small thud sounded in front of me, so I turned my head quickly without disturbing the fuzzy kitten.

The scent of chipmunk hit my nostrils, and it was all but easy stopping my mouth from watering.

"You should eat some," Blaze urged, but I shook my head.

"Diamond will enjoy the prey when she wakes up. I won't starve. Go hide it under that rock over there," I said while stretching my jaws in a yawn. Blaze didn't argue, and when he came back, laid down beside me with his paws tucked in. There was still not enough warmth to go around, and I felt myself shivering throughout the night until Blaze curled his own body around mine and Diamond's.