Warriors : Rise of the Weather [2] : The Brightest Star (OLD/DISCONTINUED)

Chapter Three

Mouse cautiously placed his paw into the snow, the solidified liquid breaking beneath his paws as his legs sank towards the ground, touching the buried grass. He shivered as the snow reached up to his belly fur, and the tufts of hair along his spine stood on end. Feebly, he tried pulling himself out of the cold material, but it spilt down into the small hole he had made instead. "M-Mist!" He mewled, and on cue to his cries his mother scooped him out from the snow and carefully pulled him close.

She licked the fur between his ears in a comforting manner, her tail swishing from side to side. "Mouse, let me lead." She murmured, gently nosing the kit to the side. Her blue gaze flickered upwards as she tried to peer past the thick foliage of leaves, only to discover cloudy night skies beyond the forest canopy. Her tail twitched in betrayal to her annoyance, and Mouse followed her gaze, only to replicate her disappointment with a small frown.

"Mist? Where's the brightest star?" The tom-kit meowed, his muzzle crinkled in a minor sign of concern as the scarce moonlight dappled his already patched fur.

Mist shook out her pelt, advancing forward in slow, steadied steps. "It's this way." She assured Mouse, however her uncertainty wavered in her voice. Doubtfully, Mouse followed in her pawsteps, placing his small feet into the crevices left by Mist's footprints.

"Are you sure?" He questioned.

Mist twitched an ear in annoyance, grinding her teeth harshly together in desperation to remain calm. She regarded her kit with a strained look, a mixture between a frown and semi-reassuring smile. "Yes." She replied firmly, her large tail swiping from side to side as she trudged through the snow without waiting for a further response. Dutifully, Mouse continued onwards behind his mother, his muzzle lowered close to the ground. Something cold and wet landed on the back of his head, and with a yelp Mouse pawed it away, scraping a forepaw across his head. He glanced up to see whatever it was, and was met with millions of snowflakes drifting down from the cloudy sky. His jaw parted in awe as he lowered his head and let his gaze wander, watching as snow dappled through the air and further covered the forest.

"Mouse!" Came a shout from ahead. Realizing that he had stopped walking, he scrabbled after his mother, tumbling through the holes in the ground she had made with each pawstep.

Mouse soon caught up to her, his tiny frame shivering as he pressed close to his mother. "Are we going to find shelter soon?" He mewed, turning his head to look at her with wide yellow eyes. Mist dismissively flicked an ear, shrugging her shoulders.

"Soon." Was all she replied with, her blue eyes set forward and occasionally flicking to the concealed sky. Mouse trotted alongside her as snow lashed at his ears, its beauty turning aggressive. The young tom felt a lump rise in his throat.

"Mist, I'm tired." He murmured as he awkwardly stumbled over his own paws. Mist huffed a sigh, and slowed her steps until she was standing still. Wind howled around them like wolves, and Mouse quickly stepped closer to his mother, feeling like the torrents of wind would close around him, choking him.

Just like my dream. He could just recall the fog gushing into his lungs, and with a shiver he suppressed the memory. As if summoned, the wind picked up and snow closed in around the two, a violent blur of nearly white illuminated by shafts of moonlight that caved into the forest around the two felines.

Mist's blue eyes widened, and wrapping her tail around Mouse she trudged forward at a much quicker pace, guiding her kit's stumbling form alongside her. There was a sudden panic to her movements, sharp yet fluid as she forced herself along. Her front paw slithered down in the snow, and she involuntarily let out a yelp of surprise as an oddly large rabbit warren's entrance was revealed through crumbling snow and earth.

Without hesitation, Mist grabbed Mouse's scruff and hauled him into the tunnel. Mouse let out a startled yowl as he tumbled down, his limbs flailing for a hold in the soil walls. Glancing behind her with brief hesitance, Mist launched herself into the cool depths alongside her kit, a spray of snow and soil cascading around them.

The blinding white of the outside world vanished, darkness wrapping itself around the two.