I yawned and looked around. Amber tumbled around, playing with a newly fallen leaf. It was autumn and the leaves were falling. As I ran over to join her, the brown and red leaves crackled beneath my paws. It was only a few weeks ago we were born. I jumped up in the air. My claws made holes in the leaf which grew bigger as I landed back down on the ground. Amber smiled.
"Wow," she admired. "You can jump high!"
I nodded and licked my paws. We lived in a small, cozy cave just above a cliff. There was an amazing view, but sometimes I had to make sure Amber didn't fall of the edge; the same went for myself. Nova flicked her tail every so often as we played with the leaves. Even though we were in a cave, the leaves were whisked inside. We turned when Rex came back with a mink in his jaws. I squeaked and ran over to him.
"A mink?" Amber asked.
Since his mouth was full, our father replied with a nod. Rex nuzzled Nova and laid down beside her. He dropped the prey and we padded over. Rex began to rip fur off for us. We'd never had mink before. I took a chunk out of it and chewed. It tasted delicious and I took a few more bites. So did Amber.
"It tastes so good!" we said together.
Rex and Nova laughed. When we all were done, Amber and I nuzzled up with our parents. I looked into Amber's eyes, and she mine. Her pupils were like fossilized bugs trapped in an amber tomb. Yes, her eyes weren't always red. I laid down and quickly fell asleep.

....

We woke up to the sound of hissing and yowling. I shot up. In the mouth of the cave was a large snake with pearly fangs. It snapped at Rex as he wapped it's eyes. Amber curled her lips up in a snarl. If I am water, she is fire. Amber was strong and brave, where I was intelligent and fast. She unsheathed her claws and ran up to Nova and Rex. Amber began to batter the snake's tail. I yowled for her to get back. She looked at me with those piercing eyes and went back to fighting. The snake let out a fierce hiss as it looked at its bottom. The snake was a small anaconda, that was clear. It reared up and tried to bite Amber, but instead it's jaws latched onto Nova. Rex, me, and Amber all shrieked in panic. Rex slashed at the snake's eyes and face. It finally let go of Nova. Amber ran over to me. She panted and her fur was puffed up. It let out a final hiss and slithered away as Nova slashed it.
"Are you okay?" Rex asked her.
Nova simply nodded and laid down. The snake's fangs went deep into her shoulder, maybe even to the bone. Rex began to lick the blood away. She purred and panted.
"Are you guys okay?" Nova turned and asked us.
"I-I think," Amber answered.
We learned something that day; that the world wasn't always on our side, and safety wasn't always guaranteed.