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It had been storming all day, and Bearpaw would be lying if she said the weather didn't worry her. For some reason, bad things always happened during storms. Rain on its own was nice, but thunder? Lightning? Never a good sign.
She'd been patrolling by herself near the edges of camp, making sure everything was in order. Every time the lightning crashed to the ground, she could hear it, and the sound made her fur stand up on its ends. However, the next time the lightning struck, she could hear a different sound accompanying it.
The loud, terrified wail of a kit in the distance snapped Bearpaw out of her typical duties, and she looked around in search of the source. The sound wasn't coming from camp... it was coming from the thunderpath.
Racing after the sound, Bearpaw caught the little form of one of Birchshine's kits, already on the other side of the path in her panicked dash. That was... Hopekit, wasn't it? Had the lightning startled her, too? Oh no. Oh no. What should she do?
"Come back!" She shouted, stopping at the edge of the territory. "Hopekit, no! Don't run off!"
But either the little kit couldn't hear her, or she was too panicked to process her words.
It would far too dangerous to run back to camp for help; Bearpaw wasn't sure if they'd be able to track her scent through the rain if she let Hopekit get out of sight. She had to go after her. She had to go right now.
"WAAAIT!" She shouted, pelting off through the rain after the kit. Bearpaw was surprised that Hopekit could move so quickly; to her memory, wasn't this kit the weakest of the litter? Suddenly, she felt bad for Birchshine.
Bearpaw could not believe she lost the kit. How fast was she?? This whole situation is rigged. Ridiculously rigged.
"Hopekit!" She called, looking for the missing kit. The thunder was slowing, signaling the passing of the storm, but there was still no sign of the kit. "Hopekit, where ARE you?!"
Surprisingly, Bearpaw didn't find Hopekit in all her shouting... but she did find someone else.
"Elmpaw? What are you doing out here?"
"I, uh-" Elmpaw stammered. "I was-"
"Wait, never mind! Hopekit's missing! She ran this way; help me look!"
Elmpaw's voice was a bit quieter than hers, so maybe he wouldn't be that much help in calling for the kit... but at the very least, Bearpaw appreciated the company. With two sets of eyes on the prowl, Bearpaw was much more confident that they'd find their missing kit.
That was Hopekit's voice..! Bearpaw hurried in the direction of the noise, hoping it was a "woah" of excitement and not a "woah" of fear. It was hard to tell through the rain.
"Hopekit!" The moment Bearpaw had eyes on the kit, she let out a sigh of relief. "What were you thinking?"
"Look! I found a shiny!" Hopekit seemed completely unbothered by her current distance from home, and from the scolding tone in Bearpaw's voice. "Look at the colors! Aren't they pretty?"
"They... they sure are." Bearpaw couldn't help softening a little at the kit's bright, genuine excitement. If Hopekit wasn't scared... then it meant she was safe. And that was all any of them could really hope to ask.
"Can I keep it? Please?? Pleeeease???"
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Hopekit runs away from camp, panicked by the lightning. She's thankfully unharmed.
Hopekit finds a rare Soulpeace gem while out of camp and completely forgets about her distress. She begs to keep it.
Bearpaw and Elmpaw bring her home, where Birchshine and Magic are relieved to see her safe.
Hopekit's parents do not think her keeping the gemstone is a good idea. They compromise by placing the Soulpeace in the healers' den for decoration.
Lightstar takes some time to play-fight with Horizonkit in the rain.
Hopekit is not the only one who was startled by the thunderstorm. Dawnkit and Birchshine are spotted freaking out as well.
