Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something Blue

A snowy white kitten opened his eyes, shivering from the early morning chill. His eyes were each a completely different color, one as blue as a clear sky and the other the bright green of a young fern. Scared and realizing he was alone in a strange place, the young kit began to cry out, a loud, but pitiful sounding mew that he hoped would bring friendly creatures his way. As he cried out, a few of the snowflakes that had clung to his back began to fall into the lush green of the warm forest.

A long-furred tortoiseshell-tabby was enjoying an early morning stroll in the faint starlight, as she often did. The stars shone on her pelt, illuminating her black patches ever so slightly, like midnight stars on her ginger pelt. The morning was a chilly one, though the she-cat didn't mind it all that much. Her thick pelt kept her warm, and she was used to it, after all. Breezebranch had been a warrior for about five moons now, and she'd grown used to it. Honeytooth was guarding the camp entrance, and so he'd be expecting her to come relieve him of his duties soon. As snowflakes fell gently on her pelt, she sighed, turning around to walk back towards camp.

A soft cry, however, made her freeze. At first, the SkyClan cat thought she'd imagined it, but then she heard it again. A loud, pitiful wail made her eyes widen, and she spun around and raced towards Fourtrees. There, she spotted what she'd been looking for: a small, poor, lonely kitten, probably orphaned. The the kit held no Clan scent, and Breezebranch immediately felt her heart swell up with pity for the poor creature. "Oh! You poor, poor dear! Who would leave such an innocent kitten alone in the snow? There, there, it's alright little one, I'm here now. Shhh, Shhh, it's alright." She mewed gently, wrapping herself around the tiny kit in an effort to warm him. She licked his snowy head gently, hoping he would calm down. She hoped her thick pelt would be enough to warm the tom enough to bring him back to SkyClan. She also prayed that Silverstar would accept the snowy kitten.

The tiny, white kit stopped his mewling and quickly spun at hearing another voice. He froze and his already small form seemed to shrink as the young queen approached. His mismatched eyes grew to giant saucers, clearly terrified. As the female came closer and then wrapped around him, Ice was motionless. Despite the deep snow, the kit had yet to shiver, like he was used to the cold or just didn't feel it. After a few moments to realize that the female meant him no harm, he looked up at her. "Wh- where am I? I... I don't..." the kit stammered in confusion. He wasn't sure where he was, but one thing was certain. *This wasn't his home.*

Breezebranch looked down at the tiny scrap of innocence as he gazed up at her. It was then she realized his unique eyes, one a clear blue, the other vibrant green. How beautiful. "You're in Clan territory, sweetheart. This is Fourtrees. I'm Breezebranch, dear. What's your name? Do you know where you're from?" Despite having more questions, the tortoiseshell-tabby didn't want to overwhelm the poor thing. Who would abandon a kitten in weather like this? She wondered.

"Fourtrees?" he repeated, then, looked around. Sure enough, four great trees stood tall, unbroken by the weight of snow among their branches. "My name is Icest-, no, it's just Ice. I... it was cold, and then I was falling, and now I'm here," the kit answered quizzically. "Where's Whitefeather? Do you know? Wait... who's Whitefeather? I don't..." The more the the kit spoke, the more he seemed to lose what little memories he had up to now, and our frightened him. "What's happening to me?" Ice pleaded fearfully.

Whitefeather? That was a Clan name! Was this kit a Clan cat? Oh.. The poor thing! Breezebranch wasn't sure who Whitefeather was, or how this kit ended up here, but one thing was certain; she wasn't about to abandon little Ice. "It's okay Ice. You're young, and you've been through a lot. It's okay not to remember. I don't know a Whitefeather, but she may have been your kin or friend. Nothings wrong with you, darling." She soothed, looking down at the handsome kit with loving eyes.

Ice buried his head into Breezebranch's warm fur. He instinctively knew he was far from his home. Probably too far to ever see it again. It had stretched so high that it touched touched the heavens themselves. Suddenly, his little tummy started to grumble loudly, demanding food. "I'm hungry. Do you have any ptarmigan? Or pikas?" he asked. As he looked up, it was the first time a smile had appeared on his face.

At the mention of food, Breezebranch frowned. Were those... Things Ice mentioned prey where he came from? The tortoiseshell-tabby shook her head, "I've never heard of those before. I can catch you something else, though Gently getting up, she scented the air. At first she smelled nothing, then the scent of rabbit hit her nostrils.

With an easy leap, Breezebranch jumped into a tree and easily and silently scaled the limbs until she reached a point where she could jump to the next tree. Once she was in the tree over the rabbit, she gracefully sprang from her tree and dropped onto it, killing it swiftly. Picking it up, she carried it over to Ice. "This is rabbit, it's not as good as a pigeon or magpie, but it's pretty good. Here, take a bite." She laid the rabbit down in front of Ice and sat beside him, putting her her thick and long tail over his pelt for warmth. The rabbit was meager, but it would be enough to feed Ice and herself.

Ice stood and watched as Breezebranch turned and leapt up into one of the trees. His blue and green gaze followed her curiously as she traversed the branches before launching herself toward the ground. There was a surprised shriek, then silence as the prey died in Breezebranch's grasp. Ice sniffed the fresh kill curiously, then took a tentative bite. His eyes instantly lit up in delight at the flavor. "Wow, tastes just like it!" he excitedly before digging in further. His snowy white muzzle became stained as he hungrily filled his small belly. "Thamk oo, Bweethbwanth," the kit managed through a stuffed mouthful.

Breezebranch nearly sighed in relief. Thank StarClan the kit had an appetite, that meant he probably wasn't sick. She chuckled as the snow colored kitten dug into the rabbit, hungrily gulping it down. "Well! You must have been hungry!" Her green eyes twinkled with amusement and she purred softly. Though a thought chilled her. What would Silverstar say about this? If Ice wanted to come with her, surely he'd let him stay, right? After all, Silverstar knew better than most the pain of being an orphan. He'd just have to let Ice stay, he had to! SkyClan would surely welcome Ice, right?

Breezebranch wrapped her tail neatly over her paws and waited for the snowy tom to finish eating. Looking into his beautiful dual-colored eyes, Breezebranch had to stifle a smile. This was serious. "Ice, I have something to ask you." She began softly, "I've already told you this was Clan territory. There are five Clans, I live in SkyClan. It's not safe here; foxes, dogs, twolegs, rogues. How would you like to come to SkyClan? You'd be safe there, the queens would look out for you and there would be kits to play with. And of course, I'd be there." Her greens eyes met his and she smiled.

"So, what do you think? Do you want to come back to SkyClan with me, Ice?"

Ice finished the last bit of the rabbit and swiped his tongue over his jaws. Now finished, he looked up at Breezebranch, a curious expression on his small face. He listened as she explained to him that it was dangerous, but the dangers she described were not words that he knew. "What's a dog, and a twoleg? I know foxes though! They're little and white!" Ice said, clearly pleased with himself for knowing the answer."Is Skyclan like your family? Family is good," he added happily.

Breezebranch thought for a second. Yes, SkyClan was like family to her. "Yes, Ice, SkyClan is like my family. Family is good, isn't it? Dogs are big scary creatures that live in twolegplace. That's where twolegs live. They are horrible, furless, ugly creatures that walk on two legs and have pink, fleshy paws. They sometimes capture cats and make them into fat, lazy kittypets, cats that live with twolegs. Other times, they'll yell and kick at you. Foxes here in the forest aren't small, little one, a fox kit is almost as big as me, if not bigger." Breezebranch explained as simply as she could. She didn't wish to scare the kit, but he had to know the danger the forest possessed.

"In SkyClan, you'd be safe and protected. You'd be well-fed too. If you think rabbit tastes good, just wait until you taste your first pigeon or lapwing!" She finished with an amused purr. "All SkyClan cats are strong and powerful, we can jump very high; we're also kind, too. So, Ice, would you like to come home to SkyClan with me?"

Ice still didn't quite understand. He wasn't scared, so much as confused. The foxes he knew weren't that big. Not to mention, whatever a twoleg was, it sounded awful! The little white tomkit listened excitedly as Breezebranch described her clan. "Oh, I can jump! Watch me!!" he allowed as he began to leap repeatedly in the air, gaining considerable height despite his small size. It was clear he was suited to it. "We can be friends if I go too, right, Breezebranch?" the odd eyed kit asked as he continued to bounce around.

Clearly little Ice would fare easily in SkyClan, giving his jumping ability. When the dual-color-eyed tomkit asked if they'd be friends, the broad shouldered she-cat grinned, "Yes, of course, Ice! You'll make tons of friends in SkyClan, I'm sure of it. You'll love it; I promise. Shall we go, then?" She asked, padding slowly over to the SkyClan border, motioning with her long, fluffy tail for the kit to follow her.