EARTHQUAKE!

Drift gave the limb a few sniffs and prods with her nose. "It's not broken," she purred. "It's just sprained, but you gotta lie still. How old are you two?"

Drift sighed. She hadn't expected this at all... "Stay here. I'll get you something to eat," she murmured, licking their ears before dashing off for fresh-kill.

Drift came back with two voles and some poppy seeds dangling from her mouth. She pushed the seeds and a vole to the smaller kit, and the other vole to the older. "Eat up," she said, crouching in a corner.

Drift looked at Capekit. "Okay, stay here with your sister and protect her for a bit," she murmured. "Can you do that?"

Drift left the den and went back to the camp, or where it used to be. She yowled as loud as she could, but she couldn't find any she-cats, or any cats for that matter. She dashed back to the cave, but paused outside. How would she tell the kits that their mother... might never come back? "I can't do this," she whispered, stuck to her spot.

Drift slipped into the den and gently groomed the two. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, tenderly licking the small ones between the ears.

Drift sighed. "I couldn't find your mom," she said slowly, stiffening. "I'm sorry. For now, I think you'll be alone for a little while."

Drift looked outside at the dark sky. "It'll be alright..." Just then, another tremor shook the ground, and the cave's walls nearly crumbled, but they stood firm.

Drift stiffened and crouched around the kits. "It'll be okay," she hissed as the tremor faded. "It'll be okay." She licked their ears gently, comfortingly.

Drift sighed and picked them up, trying not to wake them, and headed off. Their makeshift "cave" would collapse any minute. She headed out to some more open area, a field of what looked like hay. She left them in the long grass, shielded.