Blizzard sprang on the last she-cat in the field, forcing her down with a painful growl and stab on her shoulder. The cat, who she learned was called Ivy, withered and cast a hateful look her way, teeth curled back in a snarl. The Imperfect shook her head, forcing the cat to look at the blood-bathed camp and more importantly, the bodies of her fallen teammates.

     Ivy went still but didn't give up, struggling to turn herself around. Facing Blizzard, she snapped, "This isn't over! They fought to the very end!"

     "Are you blind?" She countered, whisking her tail to a tom in the field, who was beside a fallen Poplar, who stayed on the ground as strength drained out of her in the form of blood. Ivy craned her neck at the two and Blizzard caught sight of her eyes lighting up when the brown tom took a painful breath.

     "We aren't going to kill you, but I think we should because you did come into our camp to kill us," Blizzard noted, toying with Ivy by placing her paw on the back of her neck. "It wouldn't take too much energy to end this now..." The she-cat thrashed in a panicked manner, making her blue eyes spark with realization.

     This is what I was looking for, she sneered. Curling her claws around the she-cat's shoulders, she leaned closer, making sure her muzzle was placed beside her ears. "Look at you right now. Panicking. Why? Because you're at my mercy. I remember a certain she-cat telling me when you tribe cats have your backs pressed against a wall, you're supposed to fight till the very end."

     Ivy froze and looked at her with wide eyes, trying to deny her words. "N-no! I'm not panicking! I've got this cover---"

     "Then get out of my embrace and die or stay and listen," she interrupted, voice as cold as ice. "You can do that much, can you? Tell me what's been going on in your little home. Don't leave a single detail out."

     "Why would an Imperfect be so focused on our life? Are you planning to take over our home?" Icy curled her lips back, forcing her worried expression away and replacing it with a seething glower. "After you lost the last time? You know you were the ones who lost."

     "Oh?" Blizzard prompted, touching her tail on the she-cat's muzzle, silencing her protests. Even though Ivy sunk her thorn-like teeth into the bone, she kept a calm expression but her claws dove into the warrior's shoulders to endure the blistering pain. Trying to keep her voice level, she managed, "We didn't lose our leader. If I remember correctly it was you."

     "Shut your lying face!" roared Ivy, unable to break free. "Even if we did lose our Alpha we just got another! You guys will always lose no matter how many times you come to attack us! We're perfect!"

     "And we're Imperfect. This seems too familiar," she replied, releasing the hold on the gray she-cat, who wiggled free the moment she tasted victory. Ivy scrambled away and crouched to attack, immediately halting as a row of cats crept behind Blizzard, piercing gaze holding her paws still. Glancing over at an injured Lizard and limping Scarlet, the two cats nodded, ready for their next orders.

     She frowned and sat down, withdrawing her claws. Ivy bit her tongue and kept her claws out, fur rising like a wave. The smokey she-cat darted her gaze to her tribemates, frame loosening from its tense state.

     But the moment Blizzard took a step forward, she jumped to her feet and lashed out, warning her. Lizard held back a snarl and a feisty Scarlet, who was more than ready to fight even with wounds sapping her strength. Ivy recoiled and stood on her hind legs before crashing down, fur spiked like a defensive animal.

     What would work against her? She knows her tribemates aren't killed, only fatally injured, she thought while casting a sharp, blue eye at the Tribe of Shining Suns. Firestorm had rounded them up with the assistance of Opal, Poplar, Butterfly, and Pike. She refused to look at her older brother and whisked her tail toward the faint silhouette of the mountain.

     "Let me try," Scarlet spoke up, stepping beside the larger she-cat. Giving her a confident look, she explained, "Violence is always met with violence - which I do like." The scrawny she-cat turned to Ivy, lowering her fur as she did so, arching her back to flee if things turned bad. Then the Imperfect stood a few feet away from the gray warrior, exposing her neck.

     Scarlet sighed. "But everyone gets tired of fighting. Name a cat who wants to fight their entire life."

     Coming from you, this is a surprise. All I see you do is challenge someone to a fight, want to hunt just to kill a mouse, and always assume violence is the answer to everything. Blizzard's eyes darted to a nearby figure, searching for a gaze that mirrored her confusion. Lizard was there, expression wrinkled out of perplexion - but neither said a word, instead deciding to leave Ivy up to the bloodthirsty she-cat.

     The warrior curled her lip back in defense. "Rot in the deepest pits of the Tribe of Never-Ending Shadows, Imperfect."

     Wait a second, Blizzard thought, suddenly alert. Firestorm stood a few feet away from her, gathering the rest of the tribe cats in one bunch - most likely trying to keep them together to present to Python when he got back. Before Lizard or Poplar could get to her side, she bounded away like a frog, paws taking her away from the camp and into the territory, leaving the cries of her friends and brother behind.

     If they claim we invaded them first, that means that Father must've had something to do with it. However, I know that he left promising he was just going to scout and that usually means he's going to start up some trouble, but it'll never be a battle that he can't miss. He's too battle-hungry to let a fight like this one just slide, she thought, weaving through the forest on a desperate quest for her father's scent. The she-cat charged through another bush, crashing in an awkward manner, hissing to herself.

     Before her body could recover, she pushed herself back up and scanned her surroundings, taking note of the way the grass swayed in the wind and the way the leaves shook and glistened like raindrops under the bright sky. Blizzard panted, images starting to blur as she scanned for a red trail. Her heart pounded and she tensed up, willing her energy back into her system.

     But she failed and growled, the faint scent whisking under her nose. Blizzard coughed and her ears twitched as the sound of an incoming cat shuffled in the bushes. Senses sharpening, the she-cat sprung up just as a tom poked his head out of the forest, a pair of pale, green eyes landing on her. She rose her fur along her spine and bared her teeth, warning the tom.

     Ignoring the threat, the tom stepped closer, keeping his distance. With a pelt of the night, Blizzard couldn't help but see her sister's image take the place of the rogue in front of her. She hesitated, knowing that tom had no correlation to her dead sister, but the similarities stayed, fluttering around her like a pesky fly. The tom blinked, staying still as his white chest heaved, waiting for her next action.

     Who is he? Blizzard thought, eyes narrowing at the unfamiliar tom. The scent from his pelt lingered with the Tribe of Shining Suns faintly but the coating of rogue and imperfect overpowered the hidden one. Did Father find him?

     "You look tired," the tom said from his spot. "You can relax; I won't hurt you."

     "Worry about yourself," she responded, eyeing the rogue again. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

     "I just got back from healing a cat and talking with a cat from the Tribe of Shining Suns. I'm surprised someone from that tribe actually spoke to a cat that's considered an Imperfect." The tom curled his tail around his paws neatly. "I came over here on my way back home."

     "A cat from the Tribe of Shining Suns? Who was the cat?" Blizzard asked flatly. "And you know that you lucked out when you ran into whoever that was. Otherwise, I don't think you'd be talking to me."

     "She didn't tell me her name, all she did was thanked me for bringing him back home uninjured and alive, but I could tell that a part of her wanted to escape," the tom mused, "all because her stomach was getting larger." The rogue blinked and then said, "My name is Seeker."

     "Seeker..." Blizzard repeated. "Are you some kind of sign from the Tribe of Endless Stars?"

     The tom shook his head with a soft laugh. "No, I just wander. I don't like choosing sides, and I do what I think is right - not something 'stars' tell me to do. I find this 'Tribe of Endless Stars' nothing more than a tale." Seeker padded to a bush and pulled out a large leaf from it, approaching Blizzard a moment later. She let the rogue lower his head and wrap the leaves around her injuries, letting the dark leaves turn damp.

     "Why are you healing me? You know I can kill you right here and now," she insisted, testing the waters surrounding the tom like a barrier.

     Seeker momentarily raised his head and glanced at her blood-stained claws. "You could," he acknowledged, showing no traces of fear or doubt, "but you would've already done it if that was your intention." He snickered, adding, "And if I wanted to kill you, I would've done it as you were blind."

     "Blind?"

     The black and white tom nodded and on further inspection, she noticed that his bulging eyes stared at her blankly. Curious, Blizzard waved a paw in front of him and Seeker jerked away, sensing the threat.

     "Are you blind?" she asked, lowering her paw and withdrawing her claws.

     Seeker shrugged. "That's up for you to choose."

     "I don't think you're understanding me." Blizzard dropped her ears and shut her eyes, exhaling. "But if you haven't seen a tom, then I have no reason sticking around. He's bound to be back by now. Who knows how many cats died."

     "You're someone important to this tom, aren't you?" the rogue prompted, latching on while tying her in a bundle of tight cobwebs. Blizzard held her breath and peered an eye open, scowling to herself at the sight of the tom cleaning himself. "What about a daughter or mate? I'm assuming daughter, but I've been wrong many times before."

     A scavenger at the heart, she noted. Mother told me about cats like this; dangerous if you tell them too much. Her invisible brow quirked as she studied the tom. Firestorm's mother was just like that... but only Tsunami's mother could do anything about it.

     Seeker twitched his ear and whisked his tail in the direction of the Tribe of Shining Suns. He blinked and Blizzard thought she saw a lightning bolt strike the rogue over the head. For a brief moment, his green eyes focused on something far away. "I'm supporting myself in this game, but there's always room for a secret messenger."

     Another scent appeared and Blizzard jerked her head behind her shoulder, recognizing the smell of her father, followed by the rotting one of Viper. The last scent was one she knew from heart, and she already knew of the tom's fate just by the dark cloud hovering above the sky, knowing that the sun was mocking him. Seeker waited for her trance to end, patiently watching her as if she was a juicy piece of prey.

     I'll have to make a note to thank whoever killed him, she thought. But if Father's close, that means I better get back with a good excuse. Before she could open her mouth, Seeker unleashed his claws and dug them into his shoulder, immediately withdrawing the moment a scarlet liquid trailed down, splashing onto the ground. She didn't let his strange actions and his odd ability to tell what she was thinking bother her and Blizzard reached a paw out, brushing her claws in the red river.

     "I don't know what's going on with that she-cat. Revealing a secret rebellion to an outsider should be against their almighty code." Seeker licked his lips after Blizzard finished her painting, admiring the color against her silver pelt. "But that tells me that if the entire tribe isn't on the same page as her, at least she's desperate enough to look for help."

     Eating the predator inside-out. She shuddered, knowing the moment the grand tribe tumbled to ash and dust, her father would bring another storm after the scorching. But Seeker can help me if I use him correctly. I just need to play his game.

     "Seeker," she cleared her throat. "Do you think you could do me a favor if we ever meet again?"

     "If," pointed out the rogue. "Why can't you do it yourself when you're free?"

     "I'm not free," she hissed back. "I just need a cat that's clever enough to weave their way through a ticket." Seeker skull turned, odd eyes focusing weakly and she continued. "If we cross paths again, can you let me know if you run into three, possibly four, other cats? Their names are the storms we face each day."

     "Storms that we face each day...?" The tom's eyes lit up - even though she swore they stared into nothingness. "It's a riddle, isn't it?"

     Blizzard didn't reply, keeping her gaze adamant as she padded away, a trail of blood following her. Whether or not the tom listened to her request, she managed to open up another rogue's eyes - even if she couldn't put a paw on if his eyes could even see in the first place. She slipped through the forest, making sure to rub against each tree she passed to ruffle her fur; perhaps that would make her lie seem more believable when she stood under Python's shadow.

     But she looked up at the sky once again, noticing the dark cloud had floated aside, letting the sun burst through its misty shield.

     And she didn't know whether to welcome the relief rushing into her blood or despise it.