Redstars Broken Trust

Chapter 3

The four cats continued down a narrow slope, leading away from the moor. With Mischief in the lead, they noticed an abrupt end nearing them. It didn't look natural, and it sure didn't look like the horizon. Red seemed to be the only one to notice, because her sisters were busy looking around, examining the area.

Red felt the presence of something that wasn't welcomed near the densely packed rocks. Her pelt was burning and she scampered ahead to halt at Mischiefs side, still keeping her distance from the ample paws her mother had.

"I feel weird, mom. As if something's watching us." Red peeped quietly, her voice airy.

"I know, I feel the same way." Mischief whispered only loud enough for Red to hear. Mischief cocked her head to call for Talon and Frost as they were beginning to lag behind.

"I want you both to stay with me. Alright?" Mischief hushed her kits from questioning her with a lash of her tail, which grazed Talons nose and made her sneeze. She piped up, an apologetic look in her twinkling eyes. Suddenly, Mischief halted. Red slammed onto her haunches as Frost crashed into Talon. Red noticed that below her was only air, and an abandoned desert below her that seemed to be a lifetime away. Talon flung forward, halfway over the edge when Mischiefs swift reactions made her lock her jaws around her kits scruff, yanking her up as she dangled in thin air. Talon seemed to be melting her pelt off, because Red hinted a strong, heated scent as well as a tainted one bubbling off of Talon.

Talon slinked behind Mischief with a petrified expression smacked onto her face. Below them was a range of jutting boulders expanding over the horizon. Red noticed a puffy white figure floating just above the peaks, being trimmed as they sliced through it.

Before Red could say even the slightest peep, Frost asked first, "Mom, what's that white thing?"

Mischief glanced down at the mountains before responding, "They call those clouds, Frost." Then she added something that must've been to herself, "We must be very high if we are above clouds."

Red didn't know if that was something good or bad, but she felt very cold and had trouble breathing time to time. Mischief found a narrow sloping path that ran from the top of the cliff down the face. When Red and the others emerged to the bottom, the path disappeared beneath a thick sheet of white fluff.

"This place has weird weather. It's like we're above the clouds one minute and now we're on the ground. It's actually a bit cooler down here than it was up there." Red ignored what her mom was saying, because she thought Mischief was just observing her surroundings. She was walking when suddenly her paws forced through something light yet densely packed, and realized that she'd stepped on the fluffy white stuff that looked just like a cloud, just not as thick and puffy. Red tried running, but flopped continuously into the snow, disappearing under a sheet that came tumbling down when she flopped.

Red felt something fasten around her scruff, and felt her mother hauling her away from the fluff. When she set Red down, she had a scornful look plastered across her face, scowling eyes locked on hers. Red was too curious to take any notice of her mothers look, so instead she asked, "Mom! What's this white stuff?"

Another voice chirped in, and Frosts voice trailed after Reds.

"Yeah- it's so cold and I can't feel my paws anymore!"

"It's called snow. It's everywhere in these types of mountains." Mischief responded to her kits questions, and in response of Frosts complaint, she wrapped her elongate tail around her kits and herded them to her side. With a hopeful tone, she added, "We will find somewhere to hunt and shelter."

All three kits pressed against each other, trying to radiate heat off of one another as they chattered in response of the cold winds that tugged by. As they continued on just behind Mischief, their path suddenly twisted and split in half. The larger half had an open snow covered area, with a path winding up the side of a rockfall. At the top seemed to be a more lilliputian space, with a smaller path that lead up to the highest elevation. The smaller half of the path only showed a high snow wall which thinned and blended into the smooth rock, and that was all Red could see because the path twisted into a U shape and it was already dark at the entrance.

Mischief followed the smaller half, with Talon, Frost, and Red huddled behind her. Finally everything opened up, and a smooth stone path lead over an open platform, which then curved inward and the path sloped down to the lowest level. The humidity rose as an expanding lake stood in front of them. Red could smell the moist vapors inside the cave, developing against the smooth stone walls. As her fur warmed up, Mischief sat by the waters edge, as the untouched surface moved calmly, lapping over the rock that Red stood on. In a distance, she could make out the sight of ripples casting outward, and noticed that they looked like rings developing and growing bigger until finally disappearing.

тнey're everywнere... Red thought while gazing out, trying to catch everything in the cave all at the same time. Mischief had caught five minnows, one for each kit and two for her. Red demolished hers and curled up next to Mischief, joined by both her sisters. She dozed, listening to her mothers heartbeat before she allowed her mind to escape its thoughts and develop a real life scenery.