"I can't sit still," Lizard whispered to Scarlet, causing Blizzard to flick her ear in annoyance. "He's getting more serious each day." The two cats straightened up just as Python passed through, giving them a gruff look.

     When he stopped in front of the gray tom, Blizzard's heart fell to her stomach and she could only look away, pretending she wasn't there. Poplar cast a worried look at her friend and gulped, staying quiet as Scarlet fidgeted in her seat.

     Stars above, please don't let them know... Blizzard narrowed her eyes at Firestorm's place behind their father, staring at his paws and refusing to lift a paw to save his friend. Lizard didn't seem to rely on his superior's guidance and only stood his ground, facing Python.

     "Can you explain how another she-cat escaped when you were on guard?" Python demanded, placing the blame on Lizard.

     The gray tom flattened his ears. "I'll tell you a million times if I have to. She escaped when I wasn't looking. You did see there was a hole in the wall. With her skinny frame, she could've easily escaped."

     "Like all those other she-cats?" At this, Lizard froze, fear now starting to trickle into his system.

     Python threw a paw at each she-cat in the clearing. Scarlet, Blizzard, Poplar, and Butterfly tensed up and looked the other way, silently supporting their friend from behind. Firestorm still did nothing, holding his anger back well. She looked at her brother and received his message, knowing she was helpless as Lizard faced punishment.

     "I know you've gone around to each she-cat in my tribe. You seduce them with your way of words and only get rejected in the end." Lizard bit his lip and lowered his head, knowing what was coming next. Python didn't waste time and sharply cuffed the tom in the ear, drawing blood. At this, Firestorm tensed up and looked ready to protest but his friend a simple wave of his tail, motioning him away.

     Blizzard felt Poplar inch closer, worry creeping through her friend.

     "It really does explain the past five she-cats that have gotten away when you were on guard," Python mentioned, making Lizard hold, his paws supporting his weight with his head bent down, blood flowing down his cheek. "I'm sure you had something to do with it. Care to explain?"

     "I---"

     Lizard didn't get a chance to finish before Python whirled around, lashing a clawed paw in front of his face. The tom barely avoided the attack and reared away, yowling as blood flew out of his nose. It didn't stop and the gray tom choked when his leader threw him to the ground, pounding him on the sides. Firestorm finally broke away from his trance and stepped forward but Viper interceded, making her brother's face scrunch in anger. Scarlet broke away and bared her teeth, unleashing her own claws, ready to jump in had Butterfly not jumped ahead, placing herself in the she-cat's path.

     Then Python slammed Lizard's head on the ground, making Blizzard hold back a growl. Underneath one paw, the gray tom coughed up a mount of blood and weakly glowered at the massive cat. Skull looked bored and uninterested, showing some kind of enjoyment only when the ally was punished. She stood up before her father could land another paw on the tom and stepped closer to her friend. He looked up and saw her, light flashing through his yellow pools.

     The look she received from her father still sent shivers down her spine, even after she'd seen it for moons. Every time she missed a catch or failed to kill one of his enemies, she'd get the same treatment as the pathetic tom at her paws did. Scolding and beatings only to return to her siblings with a warm and caring smile - it almost sounded like a kit's tale.

     "Father, stop this now," she begged, hoping her words would work on him. "Lizard didn't mean it. He may sweet-talk she-cats left and right, but as you said, they always reject his feelings in the very end and leave him out to die."

     "Salt on a wound..." coughed Lizard, one eye peered open while the other was pressed against a pool of blood.

     "The prisoners are just like any other cat. Let him go," she concluded, locking eyes with Python. Be the father I once knew you to be. Go back to a time when you listened to us and even if it meant Mother was alive... I'd do it just for you to listen to me.

     "You have no say in this," Python responded with a grunt. "Though I'd never raise a paw against my own kin." He cast a dark look at Lizard and then sighed, getting off the tom. Weakly and as quick as he could, the cat sprung and limped away, collapsing on his side while Scarlet and Firestorm ran over. Poplar was the only one who ran into the territory, looking for leaves to wrap his injuries in.

     What a pleasant lie, she thought grimly. But that got Lizard out of any more beatings.

     "But." Her father's voice stopped her thoughts cold. "Blizzard, I'm placing you in charge of Lizard."

     "What?!" exclaimed her and Firestorm.

     "Did I hesitate?" Python challenged.

     "N-no," she responded. "I just thought Lizard would be under Firestorm's care and aid since he's on his team."

     "Then consider Lizard to be part of your team until I think he's ready to return."

     "Hey! That's not fair one bit!" Scarlet interjected, fur bristling as Poplar passed by, dragging a patch of leaves with her. "What about Firestorm and I?! You can't just take him away from us!"

     "That's why I called Butterfly." The she-cat straightened up and nodded, understanding her change with painful eyes. "Now that you've gotten rid of Wildfire and all, Butterfly is now a part of your team, Firestorm." Butterfly gritted her teeth and tensed up at the sound of the golden she-cat's name.

     "Father..." Firestorm growled through clenched teeth.

     "I understand what I must do," Blizzard whispered. She stepped closer and helped Lizard get to his paws. Surprisingly, he was at her height and could easily lean against her without her toppling under his weight. Her pelt was stained with his blood, something she'd have to rinse out later. For now, all she wanted to do was carry the tom to her den.

     His steps were uneven and he seemed half awake, barely able to stand anymore. She frowned and the moment they stepped into her old den, she threw him into the nearest empty nest. Even if Tsunami, Lightning, Wildfire, and Hurricane's nests were abandoned, seeing another cat on them that wasn't a Storm Sibling made her hiss. Lizard hardly protested when he hit the ground, his eyes sealed shut.

     She stood there hesitating and then she settled beside him, resting her chin on her paws. He looked at her and then shook his head, struggling to laugh at her.

     "...Why did you...?" he coughed before continuing. "Why did you do that?"

     "You're my brother's teammate and therefore, you are part of my family. I love family more than anything else," she claimed, sighing. "It doesn't matter if you've hit on me so many times; I'll still come and help you."

     "Why?" Lizard asked, shuffling in his paws. "All we've ever done together was go on quests and adventures. I don't want to accept your help... someone like me."

     "Hush," she snapped. "Or else I'm giving you back to Python."

     "Please don't," he begged. "Care for some idle chat, though?"

     Her pelt bristled with anger. "How can you still talk about sweet-talking she-cats when you can barely stand? Get ahold of yourself!"

     "Do you know why...?" Lizard growled, straining himself to look at her. "It's because I'm horrible at talking to others and I'm not like the other toms... I've never been like the others. Firestorm's one of the very few toms I'm comfortable talking to."

     "You? You get along with Sheer - well, used to." She cursed the white tom for slipping under her nose last night. Along with her own sister that tried to converse with her. Blizzard tried not to worry about that, wishing she could go back and actually stay awake.

     Lizard chuckled. "True, but when you see me, how long do I stay around him?" He looked out the exit and whispered, "I had one older sister named Hollow. Our father got into a fight with the Tribe of Shining Suns and was killed, and our mother gave her life shielding the two of us. Alone, I could only rely on her."

     That sounds like us, she thought, a blurry image of her forgotten mother coming back. Blizzard pushed it away with icy winds, burying it away in mounds of snow.

     "She was really the bravest sister anyone could have. Someone as pathetic as me didn't deserve her. It killed her in the end. I couldn't do anything as I hid in a bush, watching as my own blood was poured before me."

     "But that doesn't explain why you talk to she-cats," she countered. "And how come you never told Firestorm this? When you first joined, you hated talking about your past. All I ever heard about you is that you were just a wanderer with no dreams or ambitions."

     "Doesn't that hurt?" Lizard joked, sounding hurt. "I started because that's what Hollow and I would do when we were lonely or lost. Cuddle together and talk about anything. When she died, I guess I couldn't handle the loss and hoped to find some kind of remedy." He rolled over and closed his eyes and she could tell he was remembering the older she-cat.

     "Have you?" she mumbled, curling her tail around her paws. "Any luck?"

     He shook his head, avoiding eye contact with her. Lizard shifted in his spot and curled into a ball, facing the opposite direction. Blizzard frowned but didn't force herself on him and sighed, setting her chin on the soft nest as she stared into the wall, trying to clear her jumbled mind. Python would surely give the tom another punishment when she wasn't looking and could possibly kill him if he desired. Even if she or Firestorm stepped in the way, she knew that it wouldn't be long before she was considered just like the others.

     Then she heard something choke. She turned one ear toward Lizard and bared her teeth as the tom struggled to keep calm with a bleeding cheek and a broken body.

     Blizzard stayed on her side of the nest, staring at her shaking paws as memories swarmed back of Hurricane and the promise the she-cat made that day. Promising that she'd find some kind of way for the Tribe of Shining Suns and Roaming Spirits to live together. Then she left with Lightning, two more cats falling out of her life. They could be running after Tsunami for all she knew, and Wildfire only followed like a sheep or was dragged out like a lamb to the slaughter.

     And they left a destroyed tribe.

     She squeezed her eyes tighter, hoping to block out reality and sink into a world that only existed in her mind.

     What was the start? When did it fall? Was it when we welcomed Hurricane? Was it when Owl died? When we ran into Hurricane for the first time? Or was it always there and I was blind? Blizzard thought, heart stinging.

     "Lizard," she called out softly, stopping the cat from choking on his own breath.

     "Yes...?" he croaked, still refusing to look at her.

     "Tell me about your past life. What was Hollow like? Do you regret joining the Tribe of Roaming Spirits?" Blizzard asked, hoping a conversation would help clear his mind.

     Perhaps I could step in for the role of Hollow. I've never cared about how many cats I have to look after as younger siblings. I just don't want anyone - even if they're older than me - to not have some cat to lean on. Granted, I can't walk everyone through life paw by paw, but I can carry them when they can't walk anymore, she thought, remembering the day when her mother first lashed out and left a scar on her neck. There was a slight twinge of pain at the thought of a clawed paw swiping through the air, slashing into the hapless kit's body.

     She blinked and the memory of a beaten kit was gone and was back with Lizard.

     He didn't say anything and groaned. "I don't want to regret anything... If we regret things, then that just makes us weaker. Though." He paused and she waited. After a long silence, he finally sighed and continued. "Hollow and I did share one burden and regret."

     "Those being...?"

     "Not being strong enough," he answered. Then with much effort, the gray tom pushed himself to his paws and sat up, flinching as he applied pressure. Blizzard looked up and saw pain flash through his yellow eyes, about ready to burst into tears. Lizard swallowed the lump in his throat and said, "And hiding from everyone."

     "Hiding?"

     "We needed to be strong, there wasn't any time for weakness or mourning. Hollow... That wasn't the name she went by at first. She returned to her real name the day before she died." Lizard's gaze darkened and he stared at his paws. "I haven't gone back."

     "Real name?" Blizzard repeated, her pelt shaking. "Were you like us?"

     He grinned at her. "Perhaps. Though that would make a great story one day when we can take a nice stroll through the territory."

     "Do not try talking to me when you can't stand," she countered. "Or else I'll be the one who attacks you."

     "A secret for a secret then, darling," he pushed and Blizzard snarled, making him jump like a kit. Lizard shrank back, hissing in pain as his paw touched the ground.

     "Then tell me your real name and I'll keep it a secret," she growled. "You can't just leave off a story like that."

     Lizard got up and slowly padded closer until he stood in front of her. He leaned forward and she froze, staying still, waiting for the tom to strike. Instead, his whiskers brushed against her ear softly and she flicked it, causing the two to smirk. Even though she didn't like being close to other cats or in tight spaces, she found staying near him decent - as long as he didn't pull any tricks on her or she'd be one to throw him out.

     "My real name is Sedge. Now, don't tell anyone..."