“It’s alright, don’t be a kit about it.” Moonkit sniffed. “Blackwolf said it’s super easy.”
“B-but Larchspeckle says there are wolves and owls and foxes out there…” Ospreykit peered through the tunnel, his perpetually sad green eyes gleaming in the darkness.
Moonkit sighed heavily, wondering why he even bothered to bring his brothers. Ospreykit might have been smart, but he was such a killjoy. “Larchspeckle is trying to scare you. The warriors make sure the predators stay out of the tunnels.”
Ospreykit didn’t look convinced, but Nightkit barged past anyway. “Well! That settles it. We’ll go on ahead and protect you! At least, Ravenkit and Moonkit will. I’m too small for that.”
“Don’t volunteer me for things,” Ravenkit muttered, bringing up the rear by pushing Ospreykit along.
Moonkit huffed and stomped his paw. “Are you guys gonna stand there talking all day?”
“No.” The three chorused, lining up behind Moonkit.
“We’re ready when you are,” Nightkit promised.
Moonkit grunted and started padding down the tunnels. “Remember, we’re only here to get the kittiwake eggs. Not to hunt the birds.” He shot a sharp glare over his shoulder at Nightkit. “Understand?”
“I won’t mess it up this time,” Nightkit said, his voice bright and cheery. He doesn’t care he ruined our exploration last time. Moonkit snorted.
Last time the four toms had gone out on a miniature hunting trip, the aim was to get some raven feathers from a nest. However, just as they’d gotten enough feathers for all of them, Nightkit had leaped at a raven and tried to bring it down.
The results had been chaotic. More than a dozen ravens attacked at once, pecking at the kits and sending them screaming back into the tunnels. A few of the braver birds followed them straight to camp, where Blackwolf had to kill them.
Their father had been beside himself, grooming them and tending to the pecks on their bodies. Wolfpaw had insisted they were fine, but Blackwolf didn’t believe the medicine cat apprentice.
Moonkit shook his head and focused back on the mission at paw. The kittiwakes were loud and annoying, but not dangerous. Sometimes Blackwolf would pluck the feathers off one and let them eat it – they were salty but tasty.
“Are we there yet?” Ospreykit asked, his voice trembling. “I think we should just turn back. Remember last time? I almost lost an eye…”
Moonkit and his brothers groaned. “You got pecked, like, once on your back!” Ravenkit said sternly. “Don’t go making stuff up again.”
Ospreykit sniffed but stayed silent.
Though Moonkit was always tempted to indulge Ospreykit’s fears and let him go home, he knew that, if the three of them went without their youngest brother, he would regret it. That’s how it always went before.
“Just keep moving,” Nightkit said confidently. “We’ll get there sooner or later!”
Moonkit nodded and continued to pad down the tunnels, ears perked and alert in the same way he had seen his father do when inspecting the ice.
“What if the ice cracks and we fall in?” Ospreykit asked suddenly. “Or the tunnels cave in?”
“Larchspeckle says that hasn’t happened in forever,” Moonkit replied in exasperation. “I mean, maybe if you’re really unlucky.”
“Or if StarClan gets tired of people whining and decide to punish them!” Nightkit said cheerfully. “Oh, wow, Ospreykit, you should probably be quiet then.”
Ospreykit squeaked and went quiet. Ravenkit growled from the back. “Don’t be mean, Nightkit, or I’ll drop you in an ice crack.”
Nightkit snickered, but stay silent. They knew Ravenkit was fully able to do so: he was almost twice the size of his brothers.
Moonkit’s whiskered twitched as he felt the wind. It was still a foreign sensation to him after living underground for most of his life. At four moons, as was tradition, kits were brought out onto the ice by their parents to play in the snow for the first time. However, that and the raven incident were the only times the four tomkits had encountered the outside world.
“We’re almost out,” Moonkit informed his littermates. “Are you ready? Remember what Lynxsmoke said about walking in the snow.”
“Spread your toes and use your claws,” Ospreykit called from the back. “And use your tail to keep balance. Oh, um, and when there’s a lot of wind, huddle together to stay safe and warm.”
“Oh, look, you do know something useful!” Nightkit said. “Good job!”
Ravenkit’s paw snaked forward and cuffed the tom over the head. “Don’t be rude.”
Moonkit marched out before the others could start bickering again. The sun was shining, almost blinding against the snow. He had to pause and squint, shaking his head for a long while until his eyes grew used to it.
“It’s… so bright.” Ospreykit squeaked. “You don’t think we’ll go blind? Larchspeckle says that can happen.”
“She said that happens when you get lost in a snowstorm.” Moonkit shook his head. “Does it look like it’s snowing to you?”
The tundra today was stark and clear – the Midnight Sun had arrived, when the sun never went away and the ice finally began to melt. Already Moonkit could see the bog-like areas of growth explode with life: sedges and reindeer mosses were already blooming, rivers had thawed and were full with fish coming to spawn, and in the distance, a herd of caribou grazed contentedly on the lichens.
“It’s colorful,” Ravenkit commented.
“Larchspeckle says the forests are even more colorful,” Ospreykit said, squinting in the light. “Remember those leaves and flowers Pounceshade brought us when she went to the Gathering? It’s like that, but everywhere.”
Moonkit tried his best, but he just couldn’t imagine so much color everywhere. “How do they hunt? It’s gotta be hard to see against all that color.”
“They probably eat each other.” Nightkit laughed.
Opsreykit squeaked.
Moonkit shook his head and started walking towards the hovering flock of kittiwakes. They made their home on the edge of the cliffs and hid their eggs there – hard for snakes and wolves to get, but easy for a cat.
When they reached the cliffs, Moonkit turned to his brothers. “Okay. Ospreykit, you’ll keep watch up here. You have the best sight so you should be able to tell us when the birds are gonna dive down on us. You’ll be safe up here, too.”
Ospreykit nodded nervously. “Okay… I can do that.”
Moonkit turned to Nightkit and Ravenkit. “You two will come with me. Ravenkit, if a bird gets too close, block them and give them a good scratch. Nightkit, you’ll be beside me. We’ll each get an egg. That’s one for us and one for Wolfpaw.”
“Got it!” Nightkit said. “I’ll make sure you don’t fall off, too.”
Ravenkit just nodded silently, his eyes already scanning the horizon.
Taking a deep breath, Moonkit carefully began the almost-vertical descent down the cliff face. It was an arduous journey, but eventually, he and his brothers made it to the little pathway carved by rain. Kittiwakes and gulls screeched and flew by, but so far they didn’t take the kits as a threat.
Edging his way slowly down, Moonkit tried to keep his fur from bushing up in fear. The waves were crashing mercilessly below, making heavy booms against the stoney cliffs, and the birds’ beaks suddenly seemed sharp and deadly.
Finally, after what seemed like days, the kits made it to the nesting site. To Moonkit’s disappointment, the first and second nests they checked were empty. One had a chick and an overly-observant parent, which he immediately discarded as a possibility.
Nightkit spoke suddenly. “This one has eggs!” He hissed, his tail lashing. “Come on!”
Moonkit hurried over to see three white shells nestled in a bed of feathers and moss. “Good job!” He praised his brother, who puffed up pridefully.
Both of the kits carefully took an egg, tucking it under their chins as they’d seen Lynxsmoke do, and began the slow journey back up the cliffside.
A scraw! broke their concentration. Ospreykit cried out, “An eagle! Run!”
Moonkit’s stomach dropped. He looked up, the egg falling and shattering at his paws, to see a bald eagle circling ahead. It had clearly come to hunt chicks, but its beady black eyes were now on the kits! It thinks we’ll be a better meal!
“Run!” Moonkit shrieked. Ravenkit and Nightkit rushed ahead, clambering up the cliffside.
Heart pounding, Moonkit was forced to wait at the back of the line, watching the eagle circle ahead. With a bloodcurdling cry, it dove at Moonkit with outstretched talons. I’m going to die! Then, like StarClan itself was descending, a cat launched itself from the cliffside. It grabbed the eagle and the two fell in a snarling, screeching mess.
Moonkit watched in horror as the eagle and cat rose together, each trying desperately to kill the other.
“Come on!” Ravenkit’s voice broke through Moonkit’s terror and he raced up the cliffside, body trembling. As he got to the top, he slipped on a loose stone, but Nightkit grabbed his scruff and hauled him up the remaining way.
The kits ran together until they found a snowdrift that had yet to melt. “Here!” Ospreykit cried. “We can hide here until it’s gone!”
Moonkit didn’t question it – he shoved Nightkit in, then squirmed his way into the freezing snow. The kits huddled there together, trembling, for a long while. When Moonkit’s heart finally stopped trying to claw its way out of his chest, he very slowly poked his head out of the snow.
Not too far away, the cat that had struck the eagle as grooming itself. A bloodied lump of feathers was beside the stranger.
Moonkit gaped. “He took it down by himself!”
Ospreykit blinked. “I think it’s a she-cat…”
Ravenkit shook the snow off. “Either way, they’re a stranger.” He hissed. “We need to head back home before they get any funny ideas.”
Moonkit nodded, then glanced back at the cliffs. “… I can’t believe we got this far and still didn’t get any eggs. It’s gonna be impossible to get them now.”
Ospreykit coughed and scuffled his paws. “Actually…” with a furtive glance back at the kittiwakes, the kit led the way over to a small lump of snow. “I found this… they’re not very big, but it’s better than nothing.”
Moonkit peered over his brother’s shoulder and gasped. Ospreykit had found the nest of a rock ptarmigan! Almost a dozen speckled brown eggs were mostly concealed by sticks and moss.
“You’re amazing, Ospreykit!” Nightkit purred, headbutting the gray tomkit.
“You’re the best,” Moonkit added.
Ospreykit shuffled his paws. “It’s nothing special. They’re barely a mouthful…” Still, even with his fur fluffing up with embarrassment, Moonkit could tell his brother was pleased with the praise.
“We can each carry two,” Ravenkit said, putting a paw on the delicate shell. “Come on. Let’s hurry back before Blackwolf sends a search party after us.”
“Yes, sir!” The kits said in unison, their bright laughter carrying across the beautiful greenleaf tundra.