"Are you sure you don't want to do special training again?" I ask Knottedstar, my eyes wide. I feel my heart pulse with an emotion that's not new to me- guilt. Did I do something wrong? Why doesn't she want to train with me these days?

"I've been very busy with leader duties. The warriors are restless," she tells me, "Tensions are running high in camp. As much as I'd love to train with you, we both know the clan has to come first- no matter what."

"That's reasonable." I say with a curt nod. "What do you need me to do, then?"

"I believe that's Amberstreak's job, not mine. She's already sent out patrols but I'm sure you could get on a late one if you tried."

I nod, bounding over to Amberstreak. The warm newleaf air is fresh on my pelt, making it ruffle like the winds above. I take in a deep breath, trying to soak in the scent, and exhale with a long and satisfied purr as I approach the bright she-cat, who's talking with a group of three cats.

"May I join a patrol? I missed the official ones and-" I say, but she waves me away with her tail.

"You're fine. Carbonfrost, Emberstreak, and Sunshade are all about to go on a border patrol. You can join them."

I recognize my father among the three and dip my head respectfully. Though I don't know him well, Scarletsky always told me he was amongst the clan's greatest warriors.

"We should head out." he says, leading the other two she-cats and I out of camp with determined purpose. We march in rhythm as he guides us through the forest, sniffing the air and making small talk with Emberstreak.

"Sorry I was so late. I was helping with the kits and they were acting up. You know, those kits are malicious. It's almost like they have some sort of secret agenda to make the lives of our warriors miserable." Sunshade says.

"They're just kits. We were all late today." Carbonfrost tells her. "No need to apologize."

My ears twitch, hearing a rustling in the bushes. Smelling nothing but old prey-scent, I decide this is something better left for the hunting patrols.

"What border are we going to patrol?" I ask Carbonfrost, but Sunshade answers me instead.

"LionClan, I believe. They don't check theirs often. For such a big clan, you'd think they'd be more vigilant, but no one wants to fight them anyways." Sunshade informs me with her face wrinkled in disgust.

"Are they really that stupid?" I ask, surprised.

"Reckless." Carbonfrost corrects me. "Close, though." he adds teasingly.

"Reckless or not, they should really-"

Carbonfrost stops. "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" I ask.

He leads us in a skewed curve, deviating from our path towards LionClan, and I notice there are bloody pawmarks on the ground. My nose wrinkles up and my stomach turns uncomfortably as the pawmarks are coated by messy splashes. The tang is strong, though beneath it I can almost scent something else, something far more sinister...

We approach a nook in the forest between a tree and a bush, where a large figure is hunched over a bright and all too familiar form.

Carbonfrost rushes over and slashes the cat standing over my mother's corpse across the face. Titanfoot, now bleeding from fresh scars across the face, stares angrily up at my father. "You foxhearted rogue." he growls, noticing the blood on her claws.

"Scarletsky!" I cry. I can barely run on my shaking legs as I stumble across the clearing to her body, pressing my face into her bloody sides. Her eyes are wide open in shock and fear and savage bites line her neck, some of them still slowly oozing blood. My ears begin to ring painfully as Carbonfrost and Titanfoot hiss at each other, circling, while Sunshade stands in abject horror and Emberstreak has her claws unsheathed, ready to pounce.

The ringing grows more powerful, a high sound like a shrill bird call as it echoes in my skull and Carbonfrost yells for Sunshade to run back to camp for help. It rings through my brain, whispering and screaming at the same time in an awful cacophony and unable to hold back the torrent of emotion flooding through me, I let it all go. I can feel something wrap around me, something foul, heavy, and decaying yet light as air when I try to move. It surrounds me like an aura and something besides my own voice rings from my mouth when I speak.

"My poor mother."

The rage spills from me like a waterfall cascading onto the ground, a never ending torrent of hatred released as I nudge her body. She's still warm.

I turn to the fighting cats and Carbonfrost looks away, staring at me with as much fear as when he saw his mate's body. I step forwards, each pawstep burning in the best way as I approach them both. My claws stay sheathed as I walk up to Titanfoot. "You're still angry." I say, my voice not my own but that of another cat, one much older and wiser. Ashleap has broken through and though I no longer control my own pawsteps, I do not feel scared or angry. I feel save.

"You killed her! I just got revenge. How does it feel to lose someone you love? Someone innocent?" Titanfoot puts a foot backwards, but her back is arched and her ears flat.

"Not everything is what it seems in this world. I wish I could find some way to show you, but I can not. I only wish you understood the life of an innocent cat is far more valuable than-"

Claws sink into my side as Titanfoot, unfazed by my ghostly aura, slices down the side of my neck, close to where she used the killing bite on my mother.

"Get away or I'll do it again. I'll kill you." Titanfoot warns. The others are recovering from their shock

"Petty revenge." I finish, blood still dripping down my side. My claws unsheathe and I hear Ashleap yell, "Don't do it!" but she's me and so is Lunarshine as she grapples for control. We stagger towards Titanfoot, and our claws flash in midair as we parry back and forth, though I'm now losing blood. Even in this elevated state, I can tell the wound was deep and I can feel my lifeblood leaking away.

"She's dangerous! That's not a living cat, it's a dangerous animal capable of killing us! She already killed Jade. Aren't you guys going to help me?" Titanfoot asks as a powerful blow sends her down.
Carbonfrost rounds on Titanfoot, claws unsheathed. "The only dangerous animal here is you, Titanfoot."

He and Emberstreak dive from both sides, perfectly synchronized in rage. I myself try to get a few blows in, Lunarshine urging me on, but her influence is fading and I can feel Ashleap escaping from the pent-up corner of my mind. My brain is buzzing like a beehive again.

"I'm back with reinforcement- Holy StarClan, what is that?!" Sunshade mews incredulously. There are cats behind her but I have no idea how many.

"Ru-Ashleap!" Knottedstar says. She sounds like a kit herself, full of awe. "What happened?"

I open my mouth but nothing comes out. I can see light all around me and I have a feeling the blood on the ground still belongs to Rushpaw, even if I am a separate...

Separate...

Jetkit is by her side.

I look at him closely and see his form flickers to that of Novapaw's. I blink again and see it keeps changing, moving to cats that I do not know but somewhere within me I can recognize from ages long gone.

Titanfoot's eyes widen as she backs up into nothing, eyes narrowed. "You can't scare me. You can't scare me."

The lights begin closing in from all sides, sapping my strength. My paws go weak beneath me as the ghostly aura blinds my eyes and the light grows ever more powerful. Silhouettes of cats begin to appear on all sides of me and I open my mouth to find it unfamiliar yet certainly mine.

"Where am I?" I ask, and the smell of herbs waft up my nose. It's a medicine den, but looking out at the rest of DragonClan, I realize that it's not our camp at all... and I'm not the patient.