Chapter Text
Prologue:
The wind lashed through the forest, carrying icy claws that pierced Bluefur’s pelt. Snow swirled around her, thick and heavy, as if the storm itself was trying to bury her alive. Her paws dragged through the drifts, each step harder than the last, but she refused to stop. Not when her kits needed her. Not now.
Mosskit hung limp in her jaws, her tiny body frighteningly cold. Stonekit and Mistykit struggled to keep up, stumbling and whimpering with every gust of wind. “Keep going!” Bluefur called to them, desperation tightening her voice. “We’re almost there. Just a little farther!”
She stumbled into the hollow where they were supposed to meet. The river roared faintly in the distance, its frozen banks barely visible through the blizzard. Bluefur set Mosskit down on the snowy ground and crouched beside her, licking her kit’s frost-crusted fur with frantic strokes.
“Mosskit, wake up!” Her voice cracked as she tried to warm the tiny body beneath her tongue. “You’re okay. You have to be okay!”
Stonekit and Mistykit huddled close to her, their wide eyes shining with fear. “Is she going to be all right?” Mistykit’s voice was barely a whisper.
Before Bluefur could answer, a shadow emerged through the swirling snow. Oakheart. Relief and dread surged through her all at once. His amber eyes were wide with shock as he took in the scene—the kits trembling in the snow, Bluefur’s anguished expression, and Mosskit’s still form.
“She’s alive,” Bluefur said quickly, her voice trembling. “But she’s not waking up. She’s so cold…”
Oakheart moved closer, his breath misting in the freezing air. Gently, he leaned down to sniff Mosskit. “She’s weak,” he murmured. “She won’t survive this storm unless we act now.”
Bluefur hesitated, her heart twisting painfully. This was the moment she had dreaded, but it was also the only choice she could make. “Take them,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Take them to RiverClan. They’ll be safer with you.”
Oakheart didn’t argue. He scooped up Mosskit first, tucking her carefully against his chest, before nudging Stonekit and Mistykit to follow. Bluefur leaned down, pressing her nose to each of her kits in turn, memorizing their scent, their warmth.
“I love you,” she whispered, her voice barely audible above the storm. “I always will.”
Oakheart turned to go, the kits following unsteadily behind him. Bluefur watched them vanish into the snow, her heart breaking with every step they took away from her. Mosskit’s small, frostbitten body was cradled protectively against Oakheart’s side, her tiny tail trailing in the snow.
The storm screamed around her, but Bluefur stood frozen in place, watching until they were gone. Only when the blizzard swallowed them completely did she let herself collapse, her sobs lost to the wind.
She had done what was best for them. But it didn’t feel like enough it would never.