Winter Month: 3 
Day 
Now’s not your time
The forest was dark, the only source of light being the scarce bit of the moon shining through the dense shrub. There was a small cloud coming and going from the spotted tom’s maw as he sprinted past the wood, who was unable to feel the icy cold air that prickled his skin. Harou wasn’t sure what he was running from, anytime he tried to look behind him there was nothing but black, the sounds of horror screeching after him.
After what had felt like hours of running, Harou began to feel his limbs caving on him. “Please... Please!” tears began forming in his eye as he pleaded to his failing body, the darkness beginning to close in on him. He took the last few steps he could, collapsing hard on the ground, the streams from his eye falling even harder. He weakly eyed the darkness wrapping over him one last time. “Please...” Harou’s eye fell shut, the shadow now fully engulfing him, silence filling the air as he continued his deafened sob.
Soon after, a beacon of blue light began blinding Harou. He attempted to open his eye, squinting as he listened to what sounded like humming, a nice tune it was, calming Harou’s mind. It was faint, and it sounded like it came in the direction of the light. The tom stood, taking a few moments as his abused legs fought with him to stay on the ground before heading toward the light, the humming growing louder as he walked toward it.
Once his eye finally adjusted, he began making out what was in the distance... another feline, but it was...familiar? He inched closer, his limbs shaking with every step he took. Once he was finally just a tail length from behind the glowing figure, the figure turned around, revealing herself.
Harou’s gut tightened, he felt like he was floating as he could no longer feel his legs, tears immediately streaming down his cheek. “M-Mom?” he said weakly, the spotted she-cat quickly picking him off the ground, embracing Harou as she cried as well. “Harou, my sweet baby Harou,” the two cried into each other’s shoulders.
“Mom, I thought I... I’m so sorry Mom,” Harou wept, his mother quickly shaking her head. “It’s not your fault, Harou. I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop them from taking you away,” the she-cat squeezed her kit one last time before placing him onto the ground in front of her. “You have to go,” her voice sounded urgent.
Harou’s ears went down, looking up at his glowing mom. “But I-” “You can’t stay here, Harou. Now’s not your time,” his mother cut him off, the light illuminating off of her starting to fade away. “There’s a clan North from here,” his mother quickly shook her head, realizing her kit wouldn’t understand what that meant. “Follow the moss on the trees, they’ll keep you safe, I promise,” she quickly touched noses with Harou before vanishing.
The spotted kit lept toward the darkness in an attempt to catch his mom, though he started floating. He then tried calling out for his mother, quickly realizing he couldn’t breathe, opening his eye, finding himself surrounded by water. Harou immediately started kicking, thrashing through the water as hard as he could to reach the surface. As soon as his nose hit the air, he gasped, taking in all the oxygen he possibly could before making his way toward the first bit of land he saw, pulling himself up onto the sand.
He sat there, sobbing between his breaths. He eyed around the place, but it was no use as he had no idea where he was. Harou felt the sun beginning to warm his soaked fur, and the words his mother last said to him began echoing in his mind. He sniffled one last time, wiping his face off with a wrist in a weak attempt to dry it before standing up, following the direction the moss grew on the trees.
