Throughout the camp, an aura of exhaustion seemed to dull the minds of everyone around.

So everyone was asleep. It was only customary for the first few nights after Halloween.

The moon sweetly glittered overhead.

All was calm. All was bright. 

Though it wouldn't last.

"Swiftkit stole my Sour Patch Kids!"

Immediately, the entire nursery was awake and screaming.

"Because you stole my Gobstoppers!"

"Pigeonkit took my Fun Dip earlier and I didn't care! Just get over it!"

"Or steal something back..."

"Give me my Sour Patch Kids back, Swiftkit!"

Pikekit had the thin she-kit pinned to the ground, his tail lashing furiously behind him as he growled at her once more. Chocolate coated the area around his muzzle and it covered his paws, staining the white kit's pelt.

Pigeonkit suddenly pivoted on his paws, turning to stare down at Pikekit.

"You stole my Mike And Ikes! I knew you weren't to be trusted!"

Pikekit was soon ripped from Swiftkit, who immediately skimped off to go eat the stolen Sour Patch Kids. Pigeonkit pinned Pikekit to the ground, hissing about his missing Mike And Ikes.

This was a usual occurrence after Halloween, regardless of the litters that had been born. The season before it had been hardly existent and the queens had been grateful for that.

Obviously, with the kits they'd had this Halloween, it was inevitable.

"Where'd my Kit-Kat go?" Applekit questioned curiously.

Furzekit quietly stuffed himself with candy that he'd secretly stolen from others.

"Okay, okay!" Swiftkit shouted, trying to get the cats to calm down.

The den silenced.

"In order to stop arguing about the candy, let's hold a competition! Whoever wins will get all of the candy in this den. If you agree to the rules, then scream Halloween!"

"Halloween!" All of the kits yowled, deafeningly loud.

Swiftkit bounced a little with excitement as she ordered, "Everyone, get your candy and drop it in the middle of the den. Don't forget the bags they came in! Hand them over to me!"

Pikekit dumped a ridiculous amount of candy, some in half-opened wrappers, onto the ground.

Swiftkit added her candy, mostly filled with Heath bars, Almond Joys, and Hershey's. Applekit added her Twizzlers, Blow Pops, Smarties, and Sweet Tarts. Cloverkit added her complete and total mix of candies. Troutkit gently put in her haul, which was rather small and consisted of Yorks, mostly. 

Furzekit dumped in his candies, too. Pigeonkit laid his down rather carefully, full of M&Ms, Reeses, Snickers, and Airheads, and they all handed over their bags that kept their candy, which was consequently a bunch of pillowcases.

Swiftkit took out a pair of scissors and started cutting them up. Eventually, she had glued them all up to be an extra large pillowcase, and she promptly dumped all of the candy inside. 

"Thornshine!" She called, and the light brown tabby she-cat came skittering up.

"Can you hide this for me?" Swiftkit handed over the bag, grinning. "It's for a game!"

She narrowed her eyes, "What game?"

"You'll see!" chirped the ragged-furred white she-kit, twirling and turning around with a giggle.

Thornshine nodded, trotting away to go and hide it.

"Okay," Swiftkit mewed, lowering her voice, "I think the best way to do this is to have it so whoever finds it first can win all the candy."

"Okay!" Applekit nodded excitedly. Furzekit murmured his agreement beside her.

Pikekit reluctantly agreed, and Pigeonkit chirped his agreement.

Swiftkit didn't really care what the others had to say because she was ready to win all the candy.

So, she shouted, "Three, two, one, go!"

And the kits charged out of the den like they were ready for war.

Their tails waved like flags as they all searched the camp. Ferns were brushed aside. Leaves were trampled. Paws were stepped upon. Cries of anger were heard. Furious hisses of irritation could be observed. Flattened ears were a trend. A muzzle drawn back in a snarl wasn't too far behind it.

Furzekit had decided to follow Thornshine around the entire time, who was hidden in the nursery after the kits' exit out of the den.

The queen didn't move the entire game.

Pigeonkit was racing through the dens, particularly the warrior's den first.

"Is the candy in here?!" He demanded, short gray fur bristling in anticipation.

"Get out!" growled a warrior, and he skittered away, only to return to the apprentice's den, where a similar situation occurred not long after.

Applekit was taking a slower approach, trying to sniff the air and locate its position before anyone else. But that didn't really work that well, because she was going far too slow to beat Swiftkit.

The she-kit was dashing around the camp in circles, crying and screeching every now and then to see if anyone knew where it was. And of course, nobody did. They'd been sworn to never tell.

Pikekit was stalking the clearing, green eyes flashing. He wanted someone to tell him where it was. He was too lazy to get to it unless it was swimming. And it wasn't, and so he didn't.

Cloverkit was tentatively trotting up to one of the dens- the apprentice's den. Across the clearing, Pikekit watched, and he snickered. That wasn't a good idea.

"Does anyone know where the candy is?" asked the she-kit.

Pouncepaw, a kinder apprentice, started to speak, but Yarrowpaw snarled, "Get out! Didn't I just tell Pigeonkit to get away, too?! You nosy kits!"

"S-s-s-sorry-sorry-" Cloverkit stammered, her eyes widening as she stumbled backward and away from the rude apprentice. She turned and dashed away towards the elder's den.

She was turned away, there, too.

Troutkit's tail was tucked between her legs as she quietly searched the clearing.

The kits were making a mess of the camp. Lichen and leaves littered the camp's ground, along with the tears of those who couldn't find the candy.

"Where is it?!" screamed Pikekit.

"I want to find the candy!" cried Applekit.

"No, I do!" snapped Swiftkit.

Suddenly, the world seemed to go twice as slow as Swiftkit paused for a moment. Her gaze swept over to the shadows of the nursery.

Her tail raised.

"Get over here," she called to the rest of the kits, and they eagerly gathered around her. 

Swiftkit stalked towards the nursery to find Thornshine laying next to a large bag of candy. 

It was empty.

"No!" screeched Swiftkit, launching herself at the empty bag and clawing at it, as if it would bring back the candy.

Cloverkit burst into tears and Pikekit roared with fury. Pigeonkit followed Swiftkit as Applekit stared in shock. Troutkit's eyes widened as she watched the scene play out, shock in her gaze.

They whipped to Furzekit, and he, guiltily, looked up. Chocolate stained his fur.

"Oops."

Written by Lamb, who loves candy too much

Edited by Koi, who also loves candy too much