𝘼 𝙃𝘼𝙒𝙆'𝙎 𝙍𝙀𝙏𝙍𝙄𝘽𝙐𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉, warriors

──── 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨.

      A creature she had never seen before scampered out of the tall grass, with a long slender brown body and a white chest. It was a little larger than a squirrel, and once it saw her, it stood on its hind legs, nose twitching curiously.

     Arch snarled and lunged forward, claws out to catch the strange animal and bring it down. She expected it to turn and flee, but to her shock, it immediately went on the defensive, hissing and twisting out of the way. The molly landed where it had just been, and didn't have much time to figure out what was happening before she felt sharp teeth sink into her shoulder.

     With a shriek of pain, Arch reared back, throwing her front paws off the ground and trying to shake the creature off of her.

     It clung tight to her flesh, its teeth sinking in deeper with every vain attempt to throw it off. "Jag, help!" She cried, terror spiking through her. Why wasn't it letting go? "Get it off me!"

     She could feel a warm liquid seeping through her fur between the teeth of the creature attacking her, causing more panic to flow through her body as she shook herself more violently.

     Jag had gotten more serious and rushed toward her sister, desperately swiping at the strange rodent to attempt to help her littermate. But it was driven into her flesh and keen on remaining there, which caused another stab of greater panic to course through Arch. It was going to kill her!

     Suddenly, a blood-curdling yowl sounded from the other side of the grassy clearing, and a large cat lunged from the long stalks toward the two screeching kits.

     It was Shadow Fox!

     Their mother snatched up Arch by the scruff of her neck and tossed her hard, so when the kitten hit the ground, she was immediately dazed, though the teeth of the creature had dislodged from her shoulder.

     Shadow Fox lunged forward and snapped her jaws around the rodent, flinging it up into the air before swatting it across the clearing aggressively. It twisted with a screech and landed roughly, though still on its feet. With one last hiss at the cats, it backed up and vanished into the long grass.

     "Arch, Jag, are you okay?" Their mother rushed over to the kittens, sniffing all over them worriedly.

     "I'm fine, but it bit Arch!" Jag wailed, crouching beside her sister as the younger of the two struggled to a standing position. "What was that thing?"

     Shadow Fox was bristling. "That was a weasel. They're extremely dangerous." She sniffed the wound on Arch's shoulder, ears pinned back. "What were you two doing out here alone?"

     Arch looked away. "We were hunting." She mumbled.

     "We wanted to impress you with our skills, and didn't want to eat the food King brings back." Jag told their mother, still very tense as she stood beside her littermate.

     Shadow Fox sighed deeply, closing her amber eyes for a long moment before she opened them and swished her fluffy brown tabby tail once. Leaning down, she picked up Arch by the nape of her neck, lifting her up off the ground and beginning to walk back toward their den, giving Jag a look that commanded her to follow.

     It didn't take them long to reach the small den they called home, and once they reached it, their mother set Arch down on the ground.

     King rushed from the opening in the bramble shelter, his ginger fur standing on end. "You found them!"

     "Of course I did." Shadow Fox huffed. "They were being attacked by a weasel."

     "A weasel?" The small tom widened his eyes. "This close to our home?" His gaze flickered down to the wounded kit that his mate was trying to help, lapping at the wound with a rough tongue. "Is Arch okay?"