Kasai shook her ginger fur out, flinging tiny bits of moss at her brother.

"Hey!" Arashi grinned.

She gave him a playful look, then stared at their pile of moss. "Well, it's not much, but better than stone. I think my spine cracked last night."

"As if," Arashi smirked. "Drama." He started kneading the moss with his paws, condensing and then stretching it. A few bugs crawled out in surprise. "Dinner?"

"You want us to eat bugs?" Kasai pinned her ears.

Arashi rolled his eyes. "I know, it's not your everyday doe or rabbit, but Mizu told us to stay put, and I don't see any other living organisms in this cave besides you, me, and these bugs."

Kasai squirmed at the thought of roaches crawling down her throat. "There has to be some rats or something here," she said, looking around.

Arashi shrugged and started eating the bugs, but Kasai squeezed back through the gap into the wall to the smaller cave. I know I saw some other gaps over there... She carefully studied the cave, then started with the biggest crack. Peering into it, she searched for glowing eyes or a visible glint of teeth or claws.

Kasai flinched as movement skittered just in range of her vision.

Quickly, she lashed out a paw, feeling her claws come in contact with something. It struggled, scampering away, out of her grasp. She snarled, pounding the ground with her paws. Kasai retracted her paw from the crevice, pulling out the tufts of fur from between her claws.

She tried the next crack, searching for any signs of life. Only a moth fluttered out. Ew, but better than nothing. With a swift swipe of her paw, she smacked the moth out of the air. It landed on its back, its furry antennae twitching. Quickly, she scooped it up in her mouth, crunching it between her teeth, then forced herself to swallow. Ugh, that tasted awful.

She slowly turned, being careful to keep her balance as she cautiously squeezed back through the hole to Arashi. He was staring at a skinny rat.

"I caught something... But there's not much." He sighed. "You take it, I'm not that hungry."

Before she could protest, he'd flopped over, showing only his back.

Kasai swallowed awkwardly, then prodded him. "Are you sure?" She hissed softly.

He nodded, staring at the wall. Kasai turned for a moment, sniffed the rat, then picked it up. She was full, after losing her appetite a moment earlier...

Trying to keep her disgusted stomach at bay, she plopped it in front of his nose. "I'll find something else, with luck," she murmured. All she got in response was a grunt, and she looked down.

After a moment, she spoke again. "You don't have to take on all the responsibility just because you're older. We can take care of each other."

Silence.

"Alright, well... I'll be back soon." Kasai blinked, padding back out and pricking her ears. Her fur bristled as she heard a hiss. "Well, great."

She advanced towards the sound, finding what she had expected: The horrifying creature her father had told her about. A snake.

Daku had always said how some were harmless, and some were dangerous. "How can you tell? Well, let it bite you. If you die, then it's not harmless."

These words had always drawn laughter from everyone, including Mizu. Now, however, they seemed to burn her tongue. I'm not exactly looking forward to dying...

Nevertheless, she advanced, her pawsteps as quiet as she could. She just hoped her pounding heart wouldn't give her away. The hissing grew louder, and she started to see the serpent curled in a corner, its roundish head waving. "You don't look that scary," she said, grinning.

Suddenly, she recoiled with a shriek as its tiny fangs pricked her nose. Kasai put a paw over her nose, waiting for poison to spread to her body. She waited... and waited... Until, bored, she peered up at the snake, which was still trapped in the corner. "If you're dangerous, I might as well kill you now while I'm still alive."

Kasai shuddered, advancing again and pinning it against the wall. It writhed around, hissing. She took a breath, ripping it in two. She flinched, as the snake twitched and stopped moving. "Well, that's over with..."

She scrunched her nose up. It didn't sting anymore. Thank goodness...

A/N: Thanks for reading! This is from Kasai's point of view (if you couldn't tell) and we will alternate chapters from their perspectives. Thanks for your support! More coming soon!

~FalconTiger_Authors