precious metals [open, darkfly kits!]

ooc: takes place during the march 2022 gathering; cats attending the gathering cannot post here

Darkglow was gone. She’d been gone for a day and—Flywhisker stopped pacing to glare at the hazy moon overhead—two nights. Her scent trail led out of camp through a tiny gap in the reeds, veered toward RiverClan’s northern border, and vanished. There could be more to follow; a poor tracker to begin with, they could barely think past the film of panic settling across their mind. But every time their restless paws brought them near the camp’s exit, something pulled them back. Five somethings, specifically. History was already repeating itself. The last thing these kits (their kits—Flywhisker stumbled, as they usually did when that thought hit them, heart skipping each time as if it was the first—their kits) needed was for their other parent to disappear, too.

Flywhisker abruptly spun to face the nursery. Being closer to an apprentice than a fully-realized warrior, they knew little about parenting; what they did know was that walking circles around camp wouldn’t help anyone. Not them, not their kits, and certainly not Darkglow. They focused on breathing until they could no longer feel worry twisting their features. Then, with one last glance toward the camp’s exit, they poked their head into the nursery, searching until they found five scraggly little pelts. “Um.” As usual, they hadn’t bothered to plan past step one. They opened their mouth, trusting that whatever came out would be reasonable. “You guys awake?” Well. They'd had worse starts before. Encouraged, they continued: “Pretty much everyone’s at the Gathering right now, so it's…a good time to check out the camp.”

Dovekit was already looking outside of the nursery, although not fully seeing. Her mind was off where she was staring, in the stars, and a world of her own creation. A world she was beginning to shape for the first time, in wonderment of what she finds around her, or what is lacking. As for the latter, she has not yet realized what she is missing in her life, she knows only the stars, and so they begin to take shape in her world.

It was a voice that penetrated her world, one that she herself knew she had not created. Shocked at the sudden sound, Dovekit jumped back a bit, startled, and blinked a few times to clear the fogginess that had filled her mind. Now that she had returned to reality, she could see the dark figure of her Adi at the entrance, now blocking the view of the stars she had been so lost in.

A soft, high-pitched "hm?" sound was emitted, and the young kit cocked her head as Flywhisker spoke. Although she did not give any input herself, leaving that portion up to her siblings, her ears had definitely pricked at the thought of going outside. She truly hoped her siblings would want to go. Perhaps she would find new wonders to add to her world?

The dark-russet coated kit lifted his head with a curious purr. Little eyes blinked once, then twice, as his gaze focused on Flywhisker. Stretching out, Rushkit took on the appearance of a red snake with pads reaching out as far as they could go. He shook his coat out slightly. For a moment, it seemed like the kit was going to stand but instead he flopped onto his slide and rolled over. Those tiny little paws reached up to bat at the fur on Flywhisker's chest. With this action, he meowed softly, almost a dreamy sound, "Will you carry me?" Walking seemed like such an exhausting feat and the camp was so large but he truly did want to explore everything. If Flywhisker carried him, it would be perfect!

Kitekit was bored. Her mother was gone for a while, and her siblings weren't much for conversation at the moment. When her Adi walked towards the nursery, offering them the opportunity to check out the camp, the young kit was immediately excited. "Check out the camp?" she asked, unable to stop her bouncing. "We can see the rest of it now?" It seemed like her sibling also seemed interested in the idea as well, which only meant that she wasn't the only one who also wanted to take a look around the camp. Kitekit bounded out of the nursery, gazing around. The enormity of the camp made it a much bigger playground than what she had in the nursery. Maybe something here could interest her.

"Adi, where did the stars go?"

The sky that Dovekit had been staring at had darkened, as had the world around them. Was it supposed to be like that? How would any cat be able to see? She didn't know if this was normal, but she didn't like it. It was so dark, and she was scared.

"Adi, I don't want to go out anymore. I'm scared. It's so dark, and I can't see. Make the stars come back. I want the stars back. Adi, are you still there?"

She realized that, as dark as it was, she couldn't see any other cat either. Had they all gone? Oh no, she was all alone, wasn't she? This was too scary now, everything was gone. Even in her own fantasies, she couldn't seem to find comfort. She just curled into a ball, whimpering as she tried to calm herself. She wanted everyone back. She didn't like this.

Fortunately, the kits picked up on neither their nerves nor their uncertainty. Dovekit emerged from her daze enough to give a chirp, Rushkit slipped out of his nest, and Kitekit went racing toward the nursery’s exit without further ado. “Hey! You—we’re still—” Before they could finish fumbling through a way to call Kitekit back without calling, well, Kitekit, Rushkit let out a mew. Already half-angled toward the world outside the nursery, Flywhisker stopped and sighed. For now, they’d have to trust the night guard wouldn’t let Kitekit go too far. “I can’t carry you and give a tour,” they said, turning to Rushkit. “We’ll go slow, and we can stop whenever…”

Flywhisker’s voice trailed away. Their field of vision had gone dark. They blinked once, bemused, but nothing changed. The nursery’s walls were woven tighter than any other den’s, but they didn’t block out everything, which had to mean— Braced for the sight of stars, they looked up. What they saw rooted them to the ground, claws burying themselves into the snow. They’d seen StarClan’s wrath before. This was something new, something worse. A darkness thicker than mud hid every trace of Silverpelt from view, turning the hazy sky black as tar, and the moon—the moon burned.

Prickling heat washed across Flywhisker’s face. They forced the nausea down, tearing their gaze away from the blank sky and sucking frantic breaths through their nose one after another. They couldn’t go to pieces. The kits and Darkglow (wherever she was; Flywhisker’s chest tightened painfully) were counting on them. But what else was there? Cloverheart, they thought dazedly—except she was at the Gathering, along with the warriors, apprentices, and all of RiverClan’s leadership. Though a few cats had stayed behind, they were effectively alone.

One of the kits started to whimper. They were out of time. “Change of plans.” Marching forward, they reached out to shepherd Kitekit (at least, they hoped this was Kitekit; they had only size and scent to go on) back toward the nursery. “No point in a tour when you can’t—can’t see anything. We’ll find something to do in the nursery, all right?” Dovekit had curled into a ball at the nursery’s entrance. Flywhisker hesitated. “It’s okay. The stars’re still here. Always will be, even when we can’t see them.” In that, they were certain. It lent their voice a steadiness they couldn’t have found otherwise. “It’ll be fine,” they said again, and gently tapped their kit’s side, “but—we’re going inside.” A hint of a tremor crept in; they cleared their throat. “Where it’s safe.”

A little yawn signaled the waking of the kit, her form shuddering in the process. Awaking to complete darkness, panic hit her like a whirlwind. "Hello?! I can't see!" Her ears flicked around, relief calming her when a familiar voice was heard. Was that Dovekit whimpering? What was happening? "What did I miss?" the tone of her inquiry was steady, and while she waited for a reply, an answer was contemplating in her mind. Its dark. Really dark. That means something has happened to the light. The stars? Maybe a cloud is passing by...

As Kitekit wandered around the camp, peeking into the dens, she saw the world around her turn to darkness as well. "Adi?" she called. "Dovey? Rushie? Anyone there?" Suddenly, something picked her up and moved her. She recognized the scent of them being her Adi, but it was still very weird to not be able to see anything in the camp. They tried reassuring her, but Kitekit was still worried. Why are the stars also gone? Is it the evil Dark Forest trying to come over here? Really, there was nothing she could do, besides try to discern the figure of her Adi through the darkness.

Dappledkit looked around, trying to find Adi. She couldn't see anything, and she was scared, but she straightened up and looked at the sky. She didn't find the stars or the moon, "Where are the stars Adi?" Dappledkit tried to keep her voice from shaking as she spoke. She didn't feel safe with no stars or moon to look upon. She curled up, covering her nose with her tail for comfort. Dappledkit felt safe when she sensed her littermates around her, but she still feared what caused the stars to disappear.

Rushkit frowned softly at the lack of a ride. It seemed his own paws would have to carry him, which was highly unfortunate. The thought of rolling over and gathering his pads underneath him to teeter around the camp was exhausting enough. The kit grumbled softly and seemed to melt into the ground. Stretching his limbs out, the little russet tom looked more like a little red snake than a cat. Although his eyes had flickered shut, contented to stay here until Flywhisker gave in or other kits pushed him along, they opened briefly to shoot annoyed glances at his littermates for being so nosey.

But at his tiny lids opened once again, he realized that the light was gone and he couldn't see much. Curiosity caused him to raise his head with a slight chirp. The other kits piped up with questions but he found himself rather unaffected by the lack of sight. After rolling to his side, the tom looked around, finally muttering, "Maybe a fox took 'em." He had no concept of what a fox was, but he knew they were terrible creatures. Probably terrible enough to steal stars from the skies! Or maybe even sight from a cat. Regardless, he was contented enough in the safety of the nursery, never having known his life threatened before.

Dappledkit woke up from a nightmare. She couldn't recall it, but she woke up shaking from ears to tail tip. She could scent her littermates around her, so she cuddled in closer to them, laying in a tight curl. She kept her ears pricked for any noise, in case a cat would come in for her to talk to. She squinted her eyes to try and see other cats around her, but all she could see were very faint outlines of cats, which looked like shadows. When she couldn't fall asleep, she decided to sit up and wash herself. She was bored and wanted to play around, but she didn't want to wake her littermates during their nap. What is happening out there?, she thought silently. She wanted to see light and play outside the den instead of napping all day. Dappledkit curled up again and laid in the darkness, only hearing the light breathing of other cats around her as she tried to fall back asleep.