Amber poked her head out of the barn. The wind was cold, and there was snow blanketing the entire floor. She stepped out gingerly, placing her paws carefully on the crunchy snow. She quickly made her way to the back of the barn, where there was a large oak tree. She spotted Coal sitting near the base of the tree, shivering with an impatient look on his face.
He stood up as Amber paced over. "Amber! Uh, h-hi!" He seemed hesitant for a moment. "Come with me." He turned, flicking his tail in a flirtatious manner.
Stunned, Amber followed closely behind, her feet feeling quite cold from walking through the freezing snow.
After what seemed to be many seasons, Amber finally spoke up. "Coal, where in the world are we going? I'm freezing!" The breeze was so sharp and strong, it threatened to whisk her away.
"Don't worry; we're almost there." He didn't look back at her as he lead the way.
"But where is there?" She mewed, her voice shaking.
"It's supposed to be a surprise...." He paused, sniffing the air. He padded toward the Thunderpath, waiting for monsters to pass. When there was a gap between them, Coal placed his tail-tip on Amber's back and looked at her, his gaze saying 'Let's go!'.
They raced across the path, and Amber's pads were really beginning to hurt. She stopped. "Coal, this is enough! My feet hurt, I'm freezing, the snow is getting worse, and you won't tell me where we're going!" She lashed out, and immediately felt bad. Coal flinched, but before Amber could apologize, he spoke up. "I know.... This was supposed to be fun.... But there's only a little way to go! I found a lovely little spot and I thought maybe we could.... You know, just be there for a while. Talking and stuff. There's prey there, too...." He stared deeply into her eyes, waiting.
"I'm sorry for snapping." She drew her tail across his face, then pulled away. "I'd love to go with you. Lead on."
They walked for a few moments longer, then found Coal's special spot. It was underneath some tree roots, and there was no snow in there. There were two small nests and one large nest made of moss. There was cat scent in the distance. Clan cats, perhaps? Come to think of it, I never told anyone about Foxstar....
"Let's go inside here. It's cozy and warm." Mewed Coal as he ducked under the tree roots and curled up in one of the small nests. Amber padded in after him.
They sat there in silence for a little while, their fur brushing, staring out at the falling snow. After a few more moments, Coal broke the silence. "I.... Enjoy being here with you, Amber." He looked over at her, his eyes warm, yet expectant, as though he wanted her to return the comment.
"Me too.... I wish it could stay like this." She let out a weak purr.
"But why can't it? We're old enough to leave the barn! We could leave and never go back." He rested his tail on hers and twined them together.
"What about Smokey? Or Catnip! They'd be devastated. Besides, they're my kin. I'm sorry, but I can't." She dropped his gaze and turned her head from him.
"I understand. Family comes first.... I-I never had a real family. You were my sister, Smokey was my brother, and Catnip was like a grandfather."
"I'm not your sister anymore though, right?" She looked back at him.
He laughed. "Of course not. You mean more to me than that."
"And you do too. Coal, I...."
"Yes?" He seemed to tense.
"I love you."

The day seemed to last forever. But, it wasn't a bad forever, because Amber was with Coal, the cat she truly wanted to be with.
After having talked to Coal for what felt like many wonderful moons, she decided to mention her dream about Foxstar. "Coal, I know who my father was." She blurted out.
"What? Really? Who was he?" He perked his ears, listening intently as she told him that her father had been the leader of one of the four warrior clans. After explaining her whole dream, she told him the mysterious prophecy.
"What once was small will grow, but beware of the falling snow. Or, something like that. What do you think it means?"
"Hmm.... Maybe the plants on the farm will grow, but the snow will ruin them?"
"I doubt my father gave me a prophecy about plants. He told me not to be 'discouraged'. Do you think somebody's going to get hurt?"
"It's a possibility. But I can't believe you're the daughter of a Clan leader! Maybe they'd let us live with them because you're half clan cat."
"I told you I don't want to leave my family. Especially since Catnip is so fragile."
"Oh alright." Coal sighed.

It was already dusk before they knew it. "Oh dear. We should go; the others will be so worried if we're not back before the time the moon's up."
"A night out never hurt anybody. We could stay out here for the night." He smiled. "I could get us some food while you prepare the nest....s."
She looked at his disbelievingly. "Yes, and we'll both freeze to death; lovely!" She mewed sarcastically.
"Aww, come on! Maybe it'll be fun to live out in the wild for the night! Besides, we have each other to stay warm."
Amber finally gave in. The moon was rising anyway. "Alright! I'll get more moss for the nests." She climbed out of the tree-root-den. "You catch something tasty." She grinned.
Amber looked around, sniffing for moss, or anything that could make the nests cozier. She thought back to the day Catnip told her she'd be a good mother. "You may change your mind one day." He'd shrugged.
Coal had mouthed out "I wish."
Do I want a family? I'm only thirteen moons old. Perhaps it's a little soon to be thinking about that.