I opened my eyes to the harsh glare reflected of the mountain snow. My fellow warriors slept on around me, all except the dawn patrol I had organized. Where did I send them again? Oh yeah. Over Highmount and past the Iceriver. Circle back when you make it to Largecave, and pick up any prey you find. Even though it was snowy, we still had large amounts of prey due to fresh shoots of grass closer to the bottom of our mountain. I stretched and stood up in my nest. We lived in a cave, etched out of the windblown rock. Our paws were enforced with rock, allowing us to tunnel slowly through the hard dirt and stone. My tail flicked in amusement as I saw Jewelstone and Freezepelt curled together, they had already announced the mateship. In fact, rumor had gone around that Jewelstone was with kits. I didn't doubt it, seeing as those two spent nearly all waking hours (and sleeping too...) with each other. I padded into the main cavern where two warriors stood guard at the entrance.
"Willowstorm. Dogclaw." I acknowledged. They smiled and nodded their heads. Silverstreak was pawing away at the medicine den, where Yewberry was running out of room for his herbs. Frostpaw was helping clear the den. I glanced around and noticed Rosethorn and Fallenleaf sharing tongues with each other in the elders den, their long mateship still not over. Eaglefeather and Frostwing lay in the sunny nursery, Eaglefeather's kits tumbling with each other as their mom watched amusingly. One of them, a tan kit just like his mother, rolled right into my paws. I looked into his face with sadness in my eyes. I could never kit. The sweet little bundle picked himself up and stared at me with wonder.
"What's your name, little one?" I asked, and the kit took a large intake of breath, obviously pleased sat being talked to by the deputy.
"I'm Tigerkit!" He squeaked. I nodded and smiled. He picked up a ball of moss and tossed it back to his littermates. Driftstar walked towards me, looking at his kits with pride.
"Cute, aren't they?" He noted, and I agreed.
"Especially Rabbitkit." I looked at the father. In his eyes was pride, yes, but also something else. I quickly realized what it was. Worry.
"Is something bothering you, Driftstar?" I sat beside him, and looked at my former mentor with concern. He glanced at me and nodded a little.
"Yes. I don't think we'll have enough food in leaf-bare."
"No one ever does."
"Yes, but we live in the mountains. Prey only comes up here for short periods of time, then they leave; or die.
"We can't afford that, you see. Yes, we have enough now, but what happens in the future? I don't know if we can make it." I nodded.
"I can lower the amounts of patrols so that we can teach our stomachs to get used to it, and save some fresh-kill for later." He looked at me and grinned.
"That's perfect. Go ahead and let the warriors know." He stood and I ran my tail along his back. He looked back in surprise.
"Hey, whatever it is, it's okay. Silverclan will take care of us."