telle est la vie d'un misérable [c]

Faraday and Emery - such odd names, Acornstem thought briefly but she smiled nonetheless at Faraday question of where they would be heading. Vinecrawler answered first, but she nodded along as he lowered himself to allow the kits on his back. "And I am Acornstem of ThunderClan - the deputy...Or second-in-command, I suppose," she meowed, realizing that the term deputy would mean nothing to the kits. "Vinecrawler is correct - our camp is not far. I am sure we have a queen who will happily look after you...And you will not be forced to stay, if our lifestyle is not for you than you both may take your leave once we are certain you can look after yourself - we are duty bound to care for kits, but to live our lifestyle is a choice." She glanced up, fluffing fur against the chilly air with a grimace. "...Come, we should head back before the weather takes a turn for the worst - you can hop on Vinecrawler's back or we can carry you - but the faster we reach the camp the better. We don't want you two getting sick," she meowed with a sigh - truly more cats getting sick was the last thing they needed even if they were on the verge of figuring out a cure.

Emery glanced between the strangers. Their explanation of where they were going had clarified little but it at least had to be better than their current situation. And other than insisting they not walk, it seemed like Acornstem and Vinecralwer- what sort of names were those? -really did want the kits to come freely. Even assuring they could leave if they wanted, once they were able. As if there was a chance they'd ever want to stay with these strangers and their mysterious "lifestyle" in the first place. She glared suspiciously at Vinecrawler as he knelt down, seemingly offering a ride. Faraday was the one to speak up and she looked at him with as much reassurance as she had. Of course he didn't want to go near the beast -Vinecrawler. That left her with the choice either to walk or...

She cast another look at Vinecrawler, making her distrust clear. But as little as she wanted to get anywhere within a fox-chase of him, the thought of dragging her paws any further through the snow was worse. Numbing shock had worn off now, letting the pain in her paws and stomach creep back into awareness. The wind was growing stronger now and it flattened her puffed-up fur to the side, chilling to the bone. The disappearing adrenaline and distress had left her even weaker on top of the hunger. She had always been even thinner, less physically sturdy than Faraday, even if he was far more faint-of-heart. Naturally he wouldn't be willing to travel with the terror inducing giant. It wasn't like she wanted to either. A wise choice on his part, but it meant Emery would have to be the one to step onto the barely frozen-over lake, so to speak.

"Fine- I don't think Acornstem can carry us both at once." She reasoned, the unfamiliar name stumbling off her tongue awkwardly. Even with their scrawny frames it would be too hard to pick up both kits at once, especially as the wind picked up and snow-drifts deepened. The "deputy" was right, they needed to reach shelter before the weather turned and the kits shivers worsened. She took one more moment to stare down the stranger before finally the tortoiseshell nodded again. Her tiny head bobbed stiffly and her voice was tiny, but it was there. "I'll go with you." The fur on her spine and tail was still sticking up as she took the first steps towards Vinecrawler, but with each paw in front of the other she nervously approached the tom.