Untrusted

This is for a contest.

Chapter One:
Wind blew over the tree tops like water flowing over rocks. Mice curled up in their dens, sheltered from the cold outside. An almost leaf thin layer of snow covered the hard ground. Fallen branches and rotting logs laid on the ground next to old oak trees.

Nearby a small she-cat sat next to the river. Her dark gray, almost black fur looked like the soot left over from an old burned out fire. Her eyes were as green and as soft as the nearby moss uncovered from the snow by the winds. Her long tangled fur stood on end as she shivered in the cold air.

Leaf-bare, when does it ever end?

The she-cat stopped pondering for a moment, to gaze out at the frozen river her Clan usually fished from. The ice was cracked in a few spots, and the apprentice remembered the warning her mentor gave her.

"During leaf-bare, our Clan turns away from the river for food, and into the forest where prey is hiding. Many cats have died getting trapped under the ice and our Clan can't afford to lose cats during such a crucial time. Surviving leaf-bare with as many cats possible not only shows the other Clans that we can survive during the hardest season, but it also proves to ourselves how strong we are,"

The she-cat then looked up towards the sky. The sky once so full of light was covered in gray clouds. A small slither of the sun was visible. A ray of light in a dark abyss.

''Storm clouds. Hopefully it doesn't snow too much.''

She knew it was starting to get darker even without being able to see the sun. The shadows around her grew bigger and bigger as the little light that had once been disappeared from the forest.

I miss the stars.

The stars that had once been so luminous would be covered by the dark clouds. The moon would be gone too, also covered by the concealing clouds.

The first around her was now almost devoid of colour. The red petals of a wilting rose appeared gray instead of it's usually vibrant red. The bush the flower was attached to was otherwise completely void of roses.

That bush probably won't survive this frost. predicted the she-cat.

Sometimes, she wondered how anything could survive the sharp chill of leaf-bare. Reminding herself that sadly, this was not that worse part of leaf-bare, she stood up. Her short stubby legs were lightly covered in snow. Shaking it off, she shivered feeling a cold breeze sweep through the trees. Her eyes glanced around at the trees in front of her, their dark thick trunks seemed to appear from nowhere as she padded forward.

Dead leaves almost as thin as a piece of fur, disintegrated with a soft crunching sound as the soot coloured she-cat walked on top of them. Her soft paw pads weren't as hard as other cats, and she flinched as she stepped onto a sharp rock.

"Ouch!" She exclaimed.