𝘼 𝙃𝘼𝙒𝙆'𝙎 𝙍𝙀𝙏𝙍𝙄𝘽𝙐𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉, warriors

──── 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞.

     "Shadow!" He hissed suddenly, his voice clearly one of alarm and worry. "Get in here!"

     The young kit watched as the big dark brown tabby glanced over her shoulder when he spoke, just as the ferns behind her rustled, yielding a light-colored cat whose blue eyes gleamed in the light against his white face.

     Her mother froze in place, shifting her body to stand in front of the bush, claws sliding out of their sheathes. Her bristling fur made her look even bigger than she already was, which was a frightening sight to behold for the kit.

     The moment the stranger's eyes locked on Shadow Fox, he sprang forward, claws flashing as he pounced on her back.

     A flash of terror shot through Arch, and she made a desperate attempt to lunge out and protect her mother from the strange cat, but King's teeth drove into her tail and held her, before he used a paw to muffle her angry screech.

     As the sounds of the fight just beyond the branches became more rage-filled, her father pressed them against the far side of the small bush, his fur nearly suffocating alongside the tension. It took everything for Arch to keep silent and still, listening to the sounds beyond the undergrowth as her mother fought to get the stranger to leave.

     Until she was aware of a soft thud, and a loud yowling that rose up over the trees.

     Pawsteps sounded, fading quickly, but King didn't move a muscle, nor did he allow for the kits to move, huddled against the branches for some time after the screeching even in the distance had stopped.

      The air was left in a . . . creepy sort of quiet. Ominous. And Arch didn't like it.

     She wasn't sure how long they stayed there, positioned as they were in the bush. Only when the noises had been quiet for long enough to warrant the return of some songbirds to the treetops did King shift sideways and let the kits get up.

     Jag spat out a mouthful of ginger fur, glaring at their father, but Arch didn't bother being as dramatic. She shook out her fur and watched as King moved toward the bush's entrance, wiggling out and flicking his tail as a motion for the two she-kits to follow.

     Arch squeezed out of the small den and looked around, observing the trampled flowers and scuff marks in the dirt patches from where Shadow Fox had fought, but King didn't pay attention to those, striding quietly over to where a large figure was slumped over toward the far side of the clearing.

     Shadow Fox.

     The two kits scampered after him, halting a few paces away as he shoved his muzzle under Shadow Fox's shoulder to wake her. "Get up, Shadow." He murmured. "Good job playing it off, but the threat is over — we need to go."

     "Yeah!" Jag chirped, bouncing around to stand between King's front legs. "You were so brave, taking on that cat! I want to be just like you!"

     Arch hung back, staring at the figure of Shadow Fox worriedly. It looked as though she was asleep, tired from fighting. The wind rippled across her dark fur, but there was something strange about the way she was laying.

     King snapped his head up with a surprised hiss, sending a jolt of surprise through the young kit as she was suddenly tackled by her father. He grabbed both kits — taking Jag by her tail and Arch by the scruff — and dragging them behind the nearest tree. He didn't give them time to breathe before he was crushing them under his belly fur, tucking them beneath his body and crouching over them.

     Peeking out from under him with a near-exasperated huff, Arch was immediately silenced when she saw two unfamiliar cats out of the corner of her eye, approaching the figure of Shadow Fox.