Chapter Text

Snow Kin Allegiances

Leader

Blizzard Bite - A large flecked white and pale gray tom with silver eyes.

Deputy

Frozen Crow - A beautiful black, gray, and white she-cat faded with blue eyes.

Medicine Cat

Snow Fall - A white she-cat with pale gray speckles and light purplish-blue eyes.
Apprentice; Spotted Paw - A pale gray and white spotted she-cat with green eyes.

Warriors

Wolf Nose - A striped gray she-cat with yellow eyes. Apprentice; Sheep Paw - A half white and half black she-cat with bright yellow eyes.
Cloud Fall - A pale gray and white splotched she-cat with blue eyes.
Silver Creek - A silver and white striped tom with green eyes. Apprentice; Needle paw - A toned gray and dark gray she-cat with green eyes.
Frost Walker - A pale gray and white she-cat with pale green eyes.
Jade Eyes - A gray tom with dark green eyes.
Hail Freckle - A gray freckled tom with yellow eyes.
Lynx Tail - A gray and brown striped tom with a short tail and yellow eyes.

Queens

White Whisker - A pale gray and white striped she-cat with greenish-blue eyes. Mother of; Whistling Kit - A pale gray and white striped she-cat with green eyes.
Snowing Storm - A white and pale gray color-point she-cat with pale yellow eyes. Mother of; Quartz Kit - A white and pale cream point she-cat with pale blue and yellow eyes and stripes, and Ivory Kit - a cream white white striped she-cat with pale yellow eyes.

Elders

Evergreen Fur - A dark gray she-cat with green eyes.
Thyme Leaf - A gray and white tom with green eyes.

Prologue

A silver-brown striped tom stumbles blindly through a blizzard. The tom’s body is gaunt and his pelt is nearly matted with snow, ice, and mud, unkept and wild. The glacial ice beneath his feet makes his paw pads sting when he moves them, but he marches forwards. He doesn’t know where he’s going, but the others do, they know exactly where he’s going. Even though he’s wobbly on his legs, his body slowly shutting down, he follows their orders, their calls, and keeps moving.

Through the still dim sky of dawn and the blizzard surrounding him, the tom sees them. Glaciers reaching up towards the sky like splashing waves frozen in time, like claws about to strike down. A magnificent sight, the tom would think if he could. Instead, he stares uncomprehendingly for a few long moments before marching faster through the snow.

He reaches the mouth of a cave in the center of the rising glaciers. The entrance is tall and narrow, though not too narrow for a cat. His thin body slips into the cave easily, towards the dark and away from the rising sun behind him. It quickly becomes too dark to see, but he carries on, whiskers just barely brushing the cold walls on his sides. He stumbles on cracks and lumps in the floor, but doesn’t pause, something's pulling him ahead, something that won’t let go.

Time passes, but he doesn’t know how much. He just knows that the pains wrapping around his body continue in their mission, whatever mission that may be. He doesn’t think about it for long before his mind blanks and he marches forwards once more, thoughts forgotten.

Finally, his whiskers no longer brush the walls as they open up around him, forming a round room. He can see again, from the sun’s light peaking through a hole in the ceiling, and he can see a pool of water down in the center of the room, just below the light.

This is it, they say. Your mission is almost done. You can rest soon.

Finally, he thinks with relief as he draws near to the pool. The water is crystal clear, but darkens quickly as the pool gets deeper and deeper. Don’t worry, they tell him. It’s always been this way.

He doesn’t know what to feel about that. He wonders for a moment if he should be worried but the thought leaves him as he dives into the pool, swimming down with all the force his frail body can manage. The water is shockingly cold, and makes him somehow colder than he already was before. In the quickly fading light he can see a few bones scattered on some ice shelves as he sinks. Us, they confirm for him. We’re all here.

The light is incredibly dim now, his lungs cry out with the need to breathe, but something draws him down, deeper and deeper into the cold dark. Your mission, Wind Fang, they remind him with his name. How long has it been since he’s last heard it again? Your mission is almost complete.

His aching fore-paws touch the ice floor of the pool, scraping by scattered bones he cannot name. His lungs are screaming now, and the pressure is unbearable, but he reaches forwards anyways and tries to pick up an impossibly large skull with his fore-paws. Yet, his paws are numb, they no longer hurt but he can’t feel them, can’t control them enough to properly pick up the skull.

Dark shapes are clouding his vision, some of them taking the forms of cats and other creatures he cannot put a name to. It’s alright, they tell him. We forgive you. You can rest here with us. They forgive him? Oh, right, his mission. He can’t complete it.

As his body lays against the floor of ice and bones, he stares at the skull, just barely visible through the dim light and dark shapes. It is large enough to hold his head in its jaws, he thinks as he closes his eyes.

He feels the sudden warmth of paws on his pelt, a warmth he hasn’t felt in so long. It swallows him whole, dragging him down, down, down…

For a brief moment, his mind clears. For a brief moment, he knows that he’s fallen right into their trap.

Chapter 1

Quartz Kit wakes up early, early enough that the dawn light hasn’t yet peaked over the horizon and into the nursery. She looks around at the sleeping cats who are with her in the den. Next to her is her sister, Ivory Kit, and curled around them both is Snowing Storm, their mother. She thinks warmly of her mother for a few moments, taking in her show of love.

Climbing a bit to look over her mother’s sleeping body, she spots White Whisker and Whistling Kit sleeping in the next nest over. Their white and gray striped pelts nearly blending into one.

Then, in the far shadowy corner of the den, is the other cat. Their form is dark and faded, it’s difficult to make out the exact colors. Their eyes are hollow, empty, and the sight sends shivers down Quartz Kit’s spine every time she sees them. Though she’s learned not to complain, because every time she does everyone just acts confused and claims that the cat she’s so clearly seeing isn’t there, and then they all just look at her in weird ways that she’s decided that she doesn’t like.

The shaded cat doesn’t move from their hunched over sitting position. They just focus their hollow gaze right on Quartz Kit. Then they do something they haven’t done before, in the whole two moons that Quartz Kit’s been alive, they open their mouth and speak, voices raspy as multiple sounds come out of the one cat.

“You’ll be the one to save us, you must be.” the voices ask, almost begging.

Quartz Kit blinks, she has the thought to wake up her mother but knows that likely won’t do anything but make her worried. Instead of waking someone up like she probably should, instead of ignoring the cat like her mother says to do, Quartz Kit responds, “Save you?” she asks, voice trembling ever so slightly.

The cat stands slowly, their face never turning away from Quartz Kit, “You’ll save us… or join us.” they rasp, before they close their eyes, and when Quartz Kit blinks, they’re gone.

She stares for several long moments before crawling back into her spot between her mother and sister, trembling with her fur fluffed up. She doesn’t sleep for the rest of the night.

Blizzard Bite visits them in the morning, once the sun is properly shining in camp. With him, he brings a big hare, a plump one too, one that’ll feed Quartz Kit, Ivory Kit, and Snowing Storm. He also brings a large squirrel for White Whisker and Whistling Kit too, to be polite.

Snowing Storm says that Blizzard Bite is her father, their grandfather, and that he’s a very important cat, outside of being related. He’s the leader of the whole group, he represents them all and carries the weight of their well being on his shoulders. It makes Quartz Kit’s mind whirl, she briefly imagines herself in such a position, as a leader, then decides she doesn’t really want it.

Blizzard Bite ducks his head to fit in the nursery, despite his large build and fluffy coat, he’s careful and almost elegant as he ducks under the tree roots in the ceiling. He doesn’t bump his head once while he’s in the den which impresses Quartz Kit and Ivory Kit. He hesitates but then purrs when they run up to meet him, a low and rumbling sound that could probably shake the earth if it were louder. He sets the hare down by Snowing Storm, turns and gives White Whisker the squirrel — who gives a thankful smile — then turns back around to sit next to Snowing Storm. “Thought I’d bring you your morning meal,” he says to Snowing Storm while Quartz Kit climbs up his back.

Snowing Storm purrs back, “Well, thank you. It’s surely better than going out and coming back to track snow all over.” She thinks for a moment, “Ivory Kit, why don’t you show Blizzard Bite what you found yesterday?” She suggests, nudging Ivory Kit with her fore-paw.

Ivory Kit blinks, thinking for a moment before she brightens up and hops around to the back of the nest, pulling out a beautiful white feather with black speckles running down the length of it, “I saw a big bird fly around last night! It dropped this!” she exclaims, setting the feather down in front of Blizzard Bite.

The old tom looks down at it thoughtfully, then smiles and raises his head back up, “You’ve found yourself a snowy owl feather. Beautiful creatures, they are. They fly silently and blend in well with the trees, it’s impressive that you saw one.” He praises with a smile.

Quartz Kit watches the interaction quietly from her spot where she’s climbed on Blizzard Bite’s shoulder, she wants to say what she saw later that same night, but knows that no good will probably come of it. She then stares at the owl feather. It really is pretty…

Blizzard Bite’s bright mood suddenly dims, he turns his head to glance at Quartz kit before looking at Snowing Storm, “You’ve had Snow Fall check their growth, what did she say about… the visions?” he asks in a low, hushed voice.

Snowing Storm’s purring and smile both fade and Quartz Kit finds herself quickly missing it, “She said… to keep a close eye on her for now. I don’t even think she’s entirely sure what they are.”

The two older cats sit quietly for a few moments, even White Whisker and Whistling Kit’s talking on the other side of the den has hushed now. Quartz Kit shifted uneasily from her spot on Blizzard Bite’s shoulder, she was then  interrupted by a tug on her tail. Looking down she sees her sister with the end of her tail in her mouth, not biting hard enough to hurt but just enough to be annoying. A grin forms on Quartz Kit’s face as she pushes herself off Blizzard Bite’s shoulder and lands right on Ivory Kit, who squeals from underneath her.

“You asked for it!” Quartz Kit yells as she jumps off her sister.

Snowing Storm and Blizzard Bite watch them play, their faces warming up once more, the sight eases the pit of worry in Quartz Kit’s stomach a bit. It was warmer here, in the den, but it was also warmer close to her family. They seemed to chase away the chill that always dug into her coat. She didn’t think on that subject any longer though, as Blizzard Bite stood with a huff, touched his nose briefly to Snowing Storm’s head, brushed Quartz Kit and Ivory Kit’s pelt with his tail, then left with a soft word of goodbye.

He was gone quickly, giving Quartz Kit and Ivory Kit little chance to react, maybe that was the intention. They both turn to look back at their mother whose gaze lingered on the den entrance for a while before she looked down at them with a soft smile. She tilted her head towards Whistling Kit who was terrorizing her mother, “Why don’t you two take Whistling Kit and play outside? The sun’s out and I’ve heard that it’s not super windy today.” she suggested.

Quartz Kit and Ivory kit look at each other, then towards Whistling Kit who is now looking at them. Whistling Kit is just about 2 moons older than they are, a bit bigger, and a bit meaner. Quartz Kit furrows her brow with determination as she and Ivory Kit follow Whistling Kit out of the nursery, she won’t let Whistling Kit intimidate her!

Outside of the den the air is cold, the chill reaches deep into Quartz Kit’s fur and bones, but the other two kits don’t seem to be too bothered so she plays off the shiver she has. Some warriors are mingling around camp, sharing tongues and enjoying the sunlight that shines through the light clouds.

They stop in the small area in front of the nursery, specially designated for kits to play in. Whistling Kit grabs the half-frozen mossball and hurls it towards Ivory Kit with a taunt, “This’ll roll right over you!”

The ball does not roll over Ivory Kit, she moves out of the way and then snags it with her claws before it can roll further. Using her mouth, Ivory Kit throws the ball at Quartz Kit, who crouches in preparation. Out of the corner of her eye a shadow moves. She can just barely make out pits of dark eye sockets in the shadowy figure’s face from where they stand by the camp wall.

Quartz Kit doesn’t realize she’s full-on staring until something is thrown into the side of her face. She stumbles with a cry of alarm, though stays on her feet. Turning to the object, she sees the mossball and — oh, she got distracted again. Quartz Kit stands still, staring at the mossball as Ivory Kit and Whistling Kit hop over, “You’re supposed to look and catch the ball.” Whistling Kit says, voice biting with irritation.

Ivory Kit turns her head towards Whistling Kit and opens her mouth, then closes it, and looks at Quartz Kit with a confused and concerned expression that’s slowly becoming as familiar as her laughing expression, “Did you see something again?” she asks.

Quartz Kit doesn’t take her eyes off the mossball, embarrassment burning hot through her pelt even with the deep chill. They think I’m crazy. She thinks as she digs her claws into the permafrost floor beneath her. Stupid shadow cats! I can’t sleep, I can’t play, what else will they stop me from doing? She bares her teeth and begins to rake her claws against the ground in frustration. Ivory Kit takes a couple steps back and Whistling Kit runs back into the nursery, probably to get their mothers.

Quartz Kit doesn’t care right now. She doesn’t care that she’ll probably get another lecture about having to ‘act normal’, she doesn’t care that she’ll probably get taken to the Medicine Cat’s den again, and she doesn’t care that Ivory Kit is looking at her now with something like fear. She wants these shadowy cats to leave her alone! She wants them gone! She’s tired and wants to sleep! Then she wants to be able to play without getting interrupted!

She hisses as her small claws scrape against the hard layers of permafrost, hitting small stones and roots and sending some of them flying. Her paws start feeling colder than they already do but she doesn’t stop until a silky tail lays itself across her back. Quartz Kit stops her anger-induced digging and looks up, her mother stares back at her with concerned eyes and a frown, “What did you see, Quartz Kit?” she asks, voice taut.

Quartz Kit feels her face soften from its previously twisted form. She worries her lip before answering, “I saw the shadow cat again. Only one this time.” she says.

Behind Snowing Storm, Quartz Kit sees White Whisker and Whistling Kit both staring at her, the former’s tail curled around her kit. White Whisker at least looks a little ashamed when caught staring, though Whistling Kit begins to glare. Snowing Storm sighs, bringing Quartz Kit’s attention back to her, “Let’s go back and eat. There’s still plenty of hare left.” Snowing Storm says after a moment.

Quartz Kit nods and briefly wonders if her mother doesn’t trust her to play with the others anymore, because she lets Ivory Kit stay outside with White Whisker and Whistling Kit. She frowns at the feeling the thought gives her. Snowing Storm leads her into the nursery with a guiding tail tip on her shoulder, and casts glances back all the while.

Snowing Storm sits back in their nest with the partially eaten hare sitting in front of it, leaving plenty of room for Quartz Kit besides her. Letting herself drop next to her mother, and lean her head towards the hare. It still smells kind of fresh, fresh enough that it makes Quartz Kit’s mouth drool a bit. She takes a bite and closes her eyes, taking in the warm feeling and hoping that it’ll warm the rest of her up. It won’t, she knows this, but lets herself hope regardless.

The familiar chill digs itself into her fur, and Quartz Kit shivers. Snowing Storm watches her and takes this chance to speak, “You’re still cold? You weren’t outside for very long..” she worries over Quartz Kit’s fluffed up pelt, sniffing it before pressing her nose to her head, “You’re not warm, you’re cold…” she frowns further and curls her tail around Quartz Kit.

“I’m always cold.” Quartz Kit mumbles between mouthfuls of hare before she can think.

Snowing Storm watches her eat, the tension in the den isn’t suffocating, but isn’t light either. Quartz Kit finishes her share of the hare and burrows herself into Snowing Storm’s side, letting out a purr as her mother reaches down to lick the fur on her head.

A couple quiet moments pass before Ivory Kit comes bouncing in the den. She hesitates for a moment before running over to curl up next to Quartz Kit. She puts her face up close to Quartz Kit’s, looking her in the eyes, “Are you okay?” she asks, voice small.

Quartz Kit blinks back at her, she can feel their mother watching them but she doesn’t say anything, “Yea, I’m fine.” She gives Ivory Kit a smile, gently reaching forwards to touch her nose to her sister’s, who gives a little laugh.

Ivory Kit sits for a while before noticing the mostly eaten hare and climbs out of the nest to eat it. Quartz Kit watches her and their mother, the two of them no longer focusing on her and instead each other as Ivory Kit gets fur up her nose and sneezes.

I’m okay. Quartz Kit thinks, trying to assure herself.

It only kind of works, probably because even though her mother isn’t looking at her, Quartz Kit still feels eyes burning cold into the back of her pelt. With a sigh that she hopes comes across as just tired and not slightly irritated, Quartz Kit curls up, getting as comfortable as possible in her spot in the nest. She closes her eyes, lets her breathing ease and slow, and her small muscles relax. Ivory Kit joins her eventually, and Snowing Storm curls around them both, purring.

I’m okay, she thinks again. I’m okay when I’m with them.