Brookshadow woke the next day to sunlight filtering in the Medicine den and dancing along her tabby coat, warming her. Jayfeather was in his nest, sleeping, while Leafpool was nowhere to be seen.

Brookshadow stretched a bit and hissed quietly in pain as her neck wound was stretched too far. Sighing a bit, she laid her head down in between her paws and closed her eyes.

Piketooth was laughing, pinning Brookshadow down on the RiverClan border. Brookshadow screamed as she felt his claws digging into her shoulders. She struggled, lashing out and catching Piketooth just above his left eye. He jerked his head backwards, hissing as blood seeped from the cut. Brookshadow leapt up and started racing away from him, her ears pinned back and her pelt fluffed up in fear. He could hear his growl as he gave chase to her.

Brookshadow saw claws flash out of the corner of her eye and then felt them rake on the side of her throat. The force of the blow knocked her onto her side, and she let out another scream of terror as Piketooth again leapt at her, his fangs bared.

"Brookshadow."

The light brown tabby she-cat jumped awake, her eyes narrowed in fear as she glanced around her for the source of the voice.

Dewfur took a few steps back. "It's alright, it's me."

Brookshadow sighed, calming down a bit. "You startled me."

"I'm sorry," Dewfur mewed, stepping forward and brushing his muzzle with hers. "I didn't mean to."

"It's alright. Not your fault."

"But anyways... I was coming to ask if you maybe wanted to go hunting with me and your siblings?"

Brookshadow took a few breaths. "I suppose..."

"If you don't want to, I can understand."

Brookshadow looked at the ground. "It's not that I don't want to, it's just... I don't want to."

"It'll be good for you to get out. Go hunting, Brookshadow." Jayfeather mewed, his head down as he sorted a pile of herbs on the ground.

Brookshadow pulled her ears back. "Oh... o-okay." She headed for the ivy curtain, pausing to look at Dewfur when he didn't move. His gaze was locked on Jayfeather, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Brookshadow coughed a bit, and his gaze moved to her. "Sorry. Let's go." The tom led the way out.

Brookshadow squinted a bit as sunlight glared in her eyes. After they'd adjusted, she looked to the entrance to camp and saw that her siblings were sitting and talking to each other. Dewfur started trotting over to them, flicking his tail for Brookshadow to follow. The tabby she-cat glanced around uneasily, feeling anxiety spike up her spine. Seeing that no one was looking at her particularly, she slunk along the ground towards the camp's entrance.

Lightfur smiled at her. "How are you feeling, Brookshadow?"

Brookshadow furrowed her brow a bit. "O-okay, I guess."

Flintwhisker nodded. "Ready to get out of the Medicine Den for a little while?"

Not... really... "Yeah..."

"Well then, let's stop talking about it and get going!" Featherdapple mewed.

Brookshadow followed her siblings and Dewfur out into the forest. They headed towards the WindClan border, although they stopped a ways away from it to hunt. Brookshadow smelled mouse and dropped into a crouch, pulling herself forward through the bushes on silent paws. The mouse was scuttling around on the roots of a tree, a seed clamped in its paws. Brookshadow bunched her muscles, readying herself to pounce. She leaped forward, her claws extended for the mouse, but the mouse saw her and screeched, running away. Brookshadow swiped it with her paw, and it lay stunned for a few seconds. Brookshadow lunged, then hissed in pain as she felt her neck wound pull itself apart. She felt wetness seeping from the wound, and smelled a hint of blood. Growling under her breath, she looked around and saw that her mouse had disappeared. She headed back to where she'd left the others and saw that all of them had already caught two pieces of prey. Dewfur was burying a thrush in a hole that he'd dug. He looked up and smiled when he saw Brookshadow.

"Did you catch anything?" He asked her.

Brookshadow looked down. "No."

"You're bleeding!" He rushed over, examining her neck.

Brookshadow turned, pulling away from him a bit. "I'm fine."

"No you're not. What did you do?" Dewfur mewed, giving her a bit of space.

"Nothing. I told you, I'm fine. I just think I'm going to get back home."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright... Featherdapple!"

Featherdappple, who had covered up the hole Dewfur had dug, looked up. "Yes?"

"Would you mind taking Brookshadow home? She's bleeding."

"Sure." Featherdapple trotted over and blinked a few times at Brookshadow before sighing a bit and heading back towards camp. Brookshadow followed close behind.

"I know it might not be the best time to discuss this," Featherdapple mewed, slowing to a stop. "But I just... I warned you, Brookshadow. I specifically told you that I didn't want you getting hurt."

Brookshadow blinked a few times. "Wait... W-who told you?"

"What are you talking about? Bramblestar told the entire Clan."

"H-he..." Brookshadow felt her stomach drop. "He did that?" She whispered.

"He did." Featherdapple looked at her. "But that's what you're worried about here? Not the fact that you were raped by a former love interest?"

Brookshadow pulled her ears back. "I-I..."

"What's wrong with you? You only care about your reputation with the Clan when you're the one who caused all this to happen!" Featherdapple spat.

Brookshadow flinched a bit. "N-no, I never said-"

"I can't hear you." She mewed coldly, padding forward. "Maybe you should speak up."

Brookshadow stayed where she was for a few seconds, then slowly followed her sister. When they reached camp, she slunk across the clearing quickly into the Medicine Den.

Leafpool was sorting herbs in the den. When Brookshadow came in, she looked up and sighed a bit. Brookshadow laid down in her nest. Leafpool came over a few minutes later with some soaked moss and cobwebs. "What happened?"

"I went hunting. I didn't really want to, but Jayfeather said it would be good for me."

Leafpool sighed again. "I'll have a talk with him... He's been a bit more irritable lately."

Brookshadow nodded a bit. "It's fine."

While Leafpool continued cleaning and redressing her wound, Brookshadow lost herself if her thoughts.

Featherdapple is right... I let this happen.