Willowkit stayed curled up in a ball in the cover of a bush the whole day. Her stomach grumbled by afternoon, angry for food. She ignored it. She kept her head buried in her paws. She trembled. She couldn't believe what she had heard. She always knew something had made Mintspot like that. She always knew that Mintspot hadn't always been depressed and grumpy. She hadn't known, hadn't ever thought that it was because Mintspot wished she had disappeared instead of Stormkit. I should have guessed, she told herself softly, I'm nothing. I'm nobody. I'm invisible. Who'd want me as a kit. Willowkit didn't know why she was sulking. She shouldn't be sulking. She shouldn't have expected herself to be better than her brother. Nothing made her better than him. He deserved to be here. He deserved to be in WindClan, living a good kit life, not somewhere with Twolegs. The more she thought about it, the more sure she was. Mintspot was right. It had been a mistake. The Twoleg should have taken her. Then her family would be happy. Stormkit, Mintspot and Beetlejaw. The happiest family on earth. Willowkit was stopping that. She was stopping it from happening. She didn't want to stop her parents from being happy. She wished she could change it. But she couldn't. So, to make it up for Mintspot, she would be a good kit. She wouldn't play. She would behave herself. She wouldn't ask questions. She would do everything Mintspot told her to do. Yes, she thought, that's right. That's what Mintspot wants. She wants me to stay quiet. I will. I will show her that I can be a good kit. Almost as good as Stormkit. Then she cursed herself. She shouldn't be comparing herself to her brother. She sighed. 
                 "What are you doing?" asked Acornkit, peering into the bushes. Willowkit jumped. 
                 "Huh? nothing," she replied quickly. 
                 "Do you want to play?" he asked. 
                 "No," replied Willowkit flatly. "I'm going to the nursery. Acornkit watched dumfounded as Willowkit brushed past him and padded towards the nursery. Mintspot was lying on the ground. Her eyes focused on Willowkit as Willowkit slipped in. Mintspot looked away, ready to answer another one of Willowkit's questions. Instead, Willowkit curled up into a ball and stayed there. Willowkit was going to be a good kit. Mintspot had always tried to teach Willowkit to be a good kit. That meant lying down and not making a sound. So that's why she did. She stayed quiet and stayed still. Her mind flew off. 
                 "What are you doing?" asked Mintspot, breaking the silence. She was surprised to see Willowkit inside. She expected Willowkit to go out and play with the other kits, or just hang about in the background. She hated that Willowkit never talked for herself to the other kits. She hated that Willowkit never talked to the other warriors. She knew what every warrior was whispering. That her kit was messed up. Couldn't Willowkit just be a bit braver? More confident? But now, she was just lying there, alone, not doing anything. Mintspot didn't mind. If Willowkit was going to be shy, she'd rather Willowkit just stay quiet away from other cats. It wasn't good for Willowkit to see other cats so happy. She could never be like that. Her brother had disappeared. She couldn't be happy knowing that. Mintspot sighed. Her thoughts flickered back to that night. They always did. Everything went wrong that night. Sometimes, Mintspot had nightmares at night. Both her kits were taken by five large Twolegs, waving big sticks and yelling loudly. In her nightmares, Mintspot would try and save her kits, but Brownfur, Antpelt and Russetstorm held her down. She had to watch as her kits were thrown into dark cages and blood filled her vision. Willowkit looked up at Mintspot as she spoke. 
                 "Just lying down," Willowkit said softly.
                 "Alright," nodded Mintspot. She forced herself to smile. After all, Willowkit hadn't done anything wrong. Quite the opposite. Mintspot heaved herself up. She then walked towards the nursery entrance, dragging her leg behind. She hated it. It was like ugly dead meat. She hated seeing it limp like that and all twisted. It made her sick. She wished it could just disappear. She wished she had died. She wouldn't need to lay eyes on her twisted ugly leg anymore. She wouldn't have to see Willowkit anymore and be reminded of Stormkit. Be reminded of all her mistakes. Everything she could have done to save him. Everything she could still do to save Willowkit but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Because everytime she saw Willowkit, it reminded her of that night. And everytime she saw Willowkit she could see Stormkit in her. Just the smaller, shier and more useless Stormkit. She couldn't betray Stormkit by favouring Willowkit. She couldn't betray Stormkit by letting Willowkit be happy. How would he feel, knowing his family was happy without him? No, that was out of the question. Mintspot took a deep gulp of fresh air outside of the den. Her thoughts were mixed up. Everything was mixed up. Part of her just ignored Willowkit, as a default. The other part, the softer, almost saner part, screamed against it. Nuzzle her. Play with her. Teach her. Tell her you love her. She never listened to her softer part. She never told Willowkit she loved her.