Hazy, pale light illuminated trees and bushes of red and gold colours. Dry leaves coated the forest floor, leaving almost none of the browning grass visible. Two cats sat under a dark, knotted oak tree, the tall branches swaying above them. The two cream cats sat silently for a moment, sharing a moment of calm. It was all interrupted at the younger cat's words.
"Mom, why don't we have a father?"
Twist's mother glanced over at her kit, her eyes widening with surprise.
"You have a father, sweetie. He's just not here." She responded, flicking her eyes away to avoid her daughter's curious gaze.
Twist frowned. "Then where is he?" Twist's mother looked ahead, her gaze growing distant.
"I don't know, Twist." She said after a long moment.
"What?" Twist's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why?"
Her mother finally looked back at her. "I think that's enough questions for tonight."
Twist frowned again, clearly dissatisfied with this. "But I want to know more!" Twist's mother shook her head.
"No more."
"At least tell me his name!"
Twist's mother sighed, looking fed up with her daughter. "All right. His name was Fern." Twist smiled, pleased that her begging yielded some answers.
"That's a nice name. Fern. Yeah." Twist broke off into a stream of muttering, her scattered thoughts unable to be contained within her mind. Her mother sighed, looking at her kit with a wistful expression.
"Whatever will I do with you.." she murmured. Twist stopped speaking and glanced up at her mother.
"What?"
"Oh, nothing sweetie."

...

Twist awoke with a jolt, the fractured pieces of her dream clinging to her like cobwebs. She remembered that day. She never forgot her father's name after that, hoping that she'd be able to impress him by knowing it. She now realized that she would never get the chance to impress her father. She would never meet him. In the dark, with nobody but Dart at her side, Twist felt so utterly alone. She found herself wishing more than ever that she had a father.

...

Twist and Dart padded slowly through the forest, sunlight dappling their pale coats. Dart was enjoying herself for the first time since vicious flames had forced them to travel. She marvelled at the bright green tones in the leaves above them, taking it as a sign that they had passed the area the fire had ravaged. Chipmunks chattered among themselves, filling the air with a sound that reminded Dart of how life had been before. She licked her lips. The sound also reminded her of how hungry she was.
"Twist, do you want some food?" She asked, jerking her gaze away from the trees to look at her sister. Twist nodded slowly.
"Yeah, I'd like some." She responded. Dart grinned.
"Okay, I'll be right back." She already had a plan. Dart scrambled towards a tree that seemed to have quite a few chipmunks in it, circling the base. She crouched, assessing the tree. It had many knots in the wood, good for climbing. This was going to be easy. Dart sprang,  moving to scramble up the tree. Her claws were able to easily latch onto the rough bark, and she smiled to herself. Dart moved her way up the thick trunk, her pace rapidly increasing. The chipmunks above continued to talk, completely unaware of the danger lurking beneath them. Dart could smell them now, and scrabbled up onto a thick branch. She could see a fuzzy brown chipmunk sitting on the end of it, ears twitching. Dart made her way across the branch, slowly getting closer. When she was only about a foot away, she shot her paw out. Dart felt her claws dig into the chipmunk, cutting off the shrill squeal it had made. She brought the limp prey closer, picking it up in her jaws. She tossed it off the branch, letting it fall to the ground where Twist was waiting. Dart turned back to the tree, preparing to climb higher. She let herself get lost in the thrill of the hunt, scaling the tree until she was almost at the top. More chipmunks were right above her, and the smell was driving her mad. She stared into a rough hole in the wood, a family of chipmunks staring back at her with dark eyes. Dart smiled. She reached her head in, grabbing two of the furry creatures in her jaws. She quickly broke their necks, tossing them to the ground. She went to grab the third one, wincing as it scratched her nose with its tiny claws. Dart nabbed it, breaking its neck as well. She tossed it to the forest floor, satisfied with her catch. Dart scaled down the tree, taking the same path she took to get up. She waltzed towards Twist and the pile of prey that now rested beside her, then paused. A large shape was on the ground beside the other prey.
Maybe Twist caught a rabbit while I was hunting, she thought. But as she approached, she realized that she shape wasn't anything Twist had caught.
It was Twist.

...

The world went in and out of focus, bursts of pain running up Twist's legs. She didn't know what had happened, and frankly couldn't find the energy to try and find out. She just let herself lay on the ground. She didn't respond when she felt Dart pick her up and drag her elsewhere. She didn't respond when she heard her whisper "everything  will be okay."
She just stayed in her hazy state until the darkness won out and everything went black.