Chapter 1

Ink shivered. For the entire 3 moons of her life so far, it had been brutally cold. However, it had been getting colder and colder. One of her siblings, Dew, had already died. Her father had disappeared when he was hunting. She wonders if her mother, Pearl, would be going out to hunt. As if reading her mind, Pearl got up. "I'm going hunting." she announced. "Good!" cried Ink. "I'm starving!" Her brother, Stone, barely even looked up. "I will be back in a little while" said Pearl, walking out of the cave entrance. "Look after your brother" "okay" replied Ink. With that, her mother walked out of the cave. Ink turned to her brother. "You hear that, Stone? Mom's going hunting! We'll have food!" Stone didn't move. "Stone? Wake up! W-wake up!" Stone was still as a rock. "WAKE UP!" shouted Ink, shaking her brother. He was motionless. Hesitantly, she leaned closer to listen for breathing. Nothing. Her brother was dead. "Stone..." she whispered under her breath. "No.." Just then, her mother walked in. Her head was down. "I'm sorry.." she whispered. "I didn't get any prey..." Ink looked up. "mom..." she didn't want to break the news to her. But Pearl saw. "Oh.." She walked over to Stone and sank to the ground, her eyes glazed over. They stayed like that for hours, mourning the death of Stone. That night, a dark gray cat walked in. "Pearl?" he called. Pearl slowly lifted her head. "Shadow." He walked to her side, confused. "Where are the kits?" He asked. Ink opened her mouth to speak, but then Shadow saw the body of Stone on the ground. "Dead?" he croaked. Pearl nodded. suddenly he grew angry. "YOU LET THEM DIE!" he shouted. Shadow lunged forward, and before Pearl or Ink could do anything, Ink's mother was dead. Shadow stood above her body, panting. Ink's eyes widened, and staying in the shadows, she rushed out of the cave into the freezing night. That night, before she drifted into oblivion, her last thought was "my mother was killed by my father. I will never make her mistake"