At the entrance of camp, there was an orange cat, wearing a neat white dress. She had her paws folded in her lap, her tail twitching, her eyes wide. She was waiting.

The darkening sky meant that the caverns, too, would darken. She knew it was night when she could no longer see the jagged edges of the tunnel. Come on! They should be home by now! I just wish it was day again. Can it be day again, please?

When she opened her curious green eyes, a flicker of energy raced up the path. It looked like lightning, a bright, concentrated beam of light, shooting from her paw. She let out a startled mew and balled her paw up into a fist, the light leaving as quickly as it came. 

There was a traipse of footsteps up ahead. “Fernkit?” came the reassuring voice of Skipstar. “What was that?”

“Nothing!” chirped Fernkit, hopping to her feet with a friendly smile. “I was just waiting for you two to come back. Did you find the others? Or maybe some food? Or maybe a new landmark, or a town? Or maybe--”

Skipstar quieted her with a soft sigh. “No, not yet, Fernkit. We’ll keep trying.”