#snowclaw

“This- This isn’t funny anymore Birch!” Snowkit cried. Looking around desperately, all he could see was snow and trees. He’s never been this far away from the quiet little camp settled in the plains. He’s never even seen a tree before!

“Birchkit?” He trembled. His coat was still mostly kitten fluff, nothing like his Mother’s yet. Snowkit could barely feel his paws from the cold, and everything smelled cold and wet. His shivering was so intense it nearly knocked him off his paws.

“I-I better, I better keep movin’.” He mumbled to himself, picking a random direction and starting to walk. Despite his best efforts, his paws were so numb it was like he was dragging stones attached to his legs. His tail felt frozen to the core, the fur smoothed down from the melted snow.

Dragging his tiny body along, Snowkit jumped as he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Swivelling his head around to peer closer, he could have sworn he saw a cat.

“No…. Gotta keep movin’.” He muttered, shaking his head before continuing to tredge on. Not like he had much of a choice, anyway. Why did he ignore his Mother’s warnings and follow Birchkit out of camp?

He let out a cry as he suddenly stumbled, falling forward into the cold snow. Snowkit could see his own breath fogging in front of his muzzle, as he trembled in the snow.

“No no no no…. I gotta- I gotta keep…. Gotta keep movin’.” He slurred, feeling frozen to his core. He barely registered the sudden warm presence next to him.

“Up, Kit. You cannot die here.” A voice rumbled into Snowkit’s ears, before he felt himself being picked up by the scruff and set onto shaky paws. Before he could fall back over, he was propped up against a larger body. A gentle nudging was all it took for him to start moving his paws again.