"That's outrageous!"

"We needed that territory!"

"It's the middle of leaf-bare, for StarClan's sake!"

A blanket of dreary, gray clouds had drifted across the sky in the early leaf-bare morning, leaving the prickly forest below sunless and bleak. The air had a biting chill to it, seeming far colder than the day before. The angry shouts and cries coming from the stone hollow echoed across the forest trees and startled every creature within earshot, sending them scrambling for cover.

      Leopardkit wished she could hide as she cowered next to Darkstar in the midst of camp, surrounded by bristling warriors. Yellowcloud, Sharpwing, Nightdapple, and Singe-ear were the only ones brave enough to growl to his face, but many others had gathered in the outskirts of the hollow, their shadowed eyes clearly conveying their disapproval. Silverstripe, Grayfoot, and even Dawnleaf shook their heads at ThunderClan's leader.

And at her.

Leopardkit shivered under their cold stares. Most cats blamed Darkstar for the loss of territory, but it was clear that some despised her for it.

This is my fault. The she-kit was stared at her paws, unable to meet the glares of her Clanmates. They didn't want her back, especially at the cost of their land. As if that wasn't enough, she was still reeling from the news of Redpaw's death. She glanced at Darkstar, who was trying to console his warriors with that deep voice and calming, reassuring words.

Darkstar had ordered Leopardkit to stay near him, but she was finding it very hard to sit still. She decided to look for her mother in the crowd. She expected the cream-colored queen to be at the head of vexed warriors. Leopardkit spotted her in a heartbeat.

Sandstreak sat outside the nursery with twitching ears and a bored yellow gaze, probably only irritated to have been woken early. The queen, apparently deciding the riot wasn't worth her time, eventually turned and slipped back inside the bramble den without a word.

Feeling sick to her stomach, Leopardkit whipped around and padded away. She headed to only shelter she knew she would be able to find. The medicine den.

It'll be empty now, Leopardkit realized grimly. Firetail's death shook her, but Redpaw too? She tried to swallow her grief, but her throat felt raw. It all seemed very unreal.

As Leopardkit padded up to the hidden cave, she half-expected a fluffy ginger head to push through the bramble tendrils, greeting her with a cheerful meow. Instead, the she-kit slowly ducked her head under the silent brush and stepped in, coming face to face with a pair of wide blue eyes.

Both cats yelped in surprise and jumped back. Her heart pounding, Leopardkit examined the white she-cat curiously. Her name was Snowclaw, and she was a fairly young warrior, perhaps only a couple season-cycles old. What in StarClan's name was she doing in the medicine den alone?

      Snowclaw let out a sigh of relief when she recognized her, her thick white fur lying flat. "Just a kit. Sorry about that. I've just been on edge with this new assignment..." the white she-cat rambled on, blue eyes drifting back to the shelves of herbs.

      Leopardkit peered at her. "Assignment?" she asked skeptically.

      Snowclaw offered her a weak grin. "I volunteered to become the Clan's new medicine cat," she explained, but ducked her head as she spoke in an ashamed manner. "...mostly because no one else wanted to do it. Also, I don't know a lick about herbs, and Darkstar has asked RiverClan and WindClan—not ShadowClan, obviously—if they could send their medicine cats to help, but—"

     "Why do you have the borage out?" Leopardkit interrupted, glancing around Snowclaw to where the pile of leaves and flowers lay scattered across the cave floor.

      Snowclaw sighed. "That's what it's called? Never mind. I was trying to move it, and then the tie broke, and it all—"

      "I can put it back on," Leopardkit meowed, brushing past the astonished white she-cat. Her mind was far too jumbled to listen to Snowclaw's mindless sputtering; she needed a task to focus on.

The spotted she-kit padded past the spot where Redpaw's nest once was, now only a dull shadow on the den floor. She gulped down the stone lodged in her throat and continued to the herb storage.

Leopardkit quickly located the tie, a strand of foxtail, and bundled up the scattered leaves and flowers with quick swipes of her paw. With a harsh puff of air from her nose, she blew the dust off the herbs. Holding the bundle with one paw and the tie in her jaws, she managed to slip it around the bundle, careful not to bite through the foxtail. With a satisfied twitch of her whiskers, Leopardkit nudged it back to Snowclaw.

The white she-cat gaped at her, blue eyes round. "How did you know to do that?"

Leopardkit shrugged. "I spent a lot of time with Firetail. She... she taught me." Her voice faded and her throat tightened.

Snowclaw tilted her head at the small she-kit, her blue eyes softening. "Well, you're always welcome here. Especially if you want to help me do something like that again," she joked.

Leopardkit nodded briefly and left, the empty shadows of the medicine den quickly overwhelming her.

Once the she-kit made it outside, it felt easier to breathe. Just like that, Firetail and Redpaw had been replaced. As if they never existed.

Camp had finally cleared out for the most part. Darkstar had disappeared, but some warriors were still huddled together as they gossiped, their pelts fluffed out against the cold.

Leopardkit was debating where to go next when a familiar voice caught her attention. Her amber eyes were drawn to a wiry black tomkit padding toward her. Although he walked with a limp, his green eyes were bright. "Leopardkit!"

Leopardkit rushed toward Mousekit and pressed her nose into his dark pelt, breathing in his familiar, clean scent. She hadn't realized how much she missed her brother as a surge of emotion filled her body . The she-kit stifled a sob, her shoulders quaking. Everything that she had been trying to hold in since last night was threatening to break loose.

Mousekit laid his tail over her back. "Yuck, you reek!" he teased her, scrunching up his little nose. "ShadowClan scent is all over you. I suppose you'll have a lot of stories to tell me."

      Leopardkit only nodded, her throat choked up with grief. Her brother led her to the half-rock for some privacy. She didn't miss Yellowcloud glare at her from across camp, and he whispered something to Squirrelheart beside him. The she-kit ignored them and stared ahead.

      Once she and Mousekit had settled down on the rock, she told him everything—from watching Firetail's death to the intense game of mossball at ShadowClan's camp to the moment Darkstar brought her home. The she-kit thought she would break down from talking about it all, but instead she felt oddly relieved after she had finished.

      Mousekit gazed at her, his green eyes soft. "I'm sorry you had to see that happen to Firetail. That ShadowClan tom is a horrible cat. I think he's the one who murdered Redpaw as well."

      "Wolfsong killed Redpaw?" Leopardkit repeated, her amber eyes widening. Her intense hatred of the ragged tomcat only burned fiercer. Her claws dug into the half-rock. "What exactly happened?"

      Mousekit's lip was curled grimly. He hesitated, as if debating whether or not to tell her. "I was in the nursery, and Gingerstorm was just outside defending it. I have no idea where Sandstreak was. Anyway, Redpaw ran inside, I suppose to check on us kits, and then this huge white tom appeared at the den's entrance. As soon as he saw Redpaw, he pounced on him and dragged him out. That's the last I saw of him..."

Leopardkit's stomach heaved as she imagined the scene. She pinned her ears but could not shut out the echos of the apprentice's dying shrieks. Poor Redpaw. Poor, poor Redpaw.

Mousekit changed the subject, looking her up and down suspiciously. "Other than Wolfsong, it seems to me that you almost... liked being with ShadowClan."

Leopardkit shot him a defensive amber glare, still trying to push thoughts of Redpaw out of her mind. "You don't understand. Things were almost good there."

Mousekit's voice took on a concerned tone. "Good? What are you trying to say, Leopardkit?" he challenged.

The she-kit huffed in exasperation and laid down, her chin resting on her forepaws. "Things were just so different. The queen that took care of me was the kindest she-cat I've ever met, a million times better than Sandstreak. And I had actual friends in ShadowClan. The kits were welcoming—even the apprentices were nice!" Leopardkit paused for a moment, her amber eyes narrowing. "Except, this one tom. The whole time I was there he was a pain in my—"

"You're a ThunderClan cat, Leopardkit," Mousekit suddenly butted in. His voice was surprisingly stern. "ShadowClan are our enemies—they killed Redpaw and Firetail, for StarClan's sake! Why in the world did you become friends with them?"

Leopardkit stared at him, appalled. Mousekit had never acted this way with her before. Irritation flared in her belly. She hadn't done anything wrong! Darkstar had left her there so long that the she-kit never thought she would return. "First of all, Wolfsong killed them both," Leopardkit retorted. "He's the evil one. But the rest of ShadowClan would never do something like that!"

Mousekit raised his brow. "How can you be sure?" he meowed skeptically.

"I just know!" she blurted out, spotted pelt bristling. Why was her brother acting like this? "I was there for nearly a half-moon! Some of them are my friends."

Mousekit's face was still set in a deep scowl, conveying his disbelief. "If you went back to ShadowClan right now, do you think they would accept you? Do you think you're still a friend to them?"

Leopardkit opened her jaws to retort, but paused. She suddenly remembered the resentful expressions of all the ShadowClan cats after she had accused Wolfsong of cold-blooded murder. Their eyes burned and their pelts bristled at her. Unknowingly, Leopardkit had chosen Firetail to protect in that moment. She had chosen ThunderClan over ShadowClan. And as easy as that, her fragile acceptance into ShadowClan was shattered. She would not be welcomed back.

Mousekit took her silence as an answer. He gently touched his tail to her still bristling back. "I'm not trying to upset you, Leopardkit. You're meant to be successful warrior, but you simply can't have your loyalty divided."

Leopardkit itched to snap back at him, but she knew he was right. She would have to forget about the ShadowClan and the brief friendships she had made. It was foolish to befriend any of them in the first place. For some reason, her heart ached at the thought.

"Let's just focus on becoming warriors," Mousekit said gently, trying to lighten the mood. "Did you know that we're turning six-moons-old tonight? Our apprentice ceremony is tomorrow!"

The news did little to cheer her up. The she-kit looked away from her brother, staring at nothing. She briefly thought about Rowankit and Lizardkit, and how they were supposed to be apprenticed alongside her. Leopardkit realized what she was doing and quickly pushed the thought out of her head. "I can't believe it's finally happening," she murmured.

Mousekit nodded, his green eyes content. "It feels like we've been kits forever," he remarked. "Soon, things will be different. Once we're apprenticed, we can start contributing to the Clan."

The thought of that actually made Leopardkit brighten. "I guess you're right about that," she admitted. After tomorrow, she and her brother wouldn't just sit around camp all day and be a nuisance—they would finally be able to make the Clan proud.

And when Sandstreak realized that she had brought a great warrior into the Clan rather than a burden, perhaps she would be proud...

      The pair shared tongues on the half-rock in a relieving silence for quite a while. Leopardkit tried to clear her mind of every troublesome thing clogging it, but it was as heavily clouded as the dreary gray sky above her.

•••

      The end of the day was nearing, but the cloud cover had not let up. ThunderClan's camp gradually sank into darkness as warriors retired to their dens from the night, disgruntled from the unearthly chill and their leader's clouded decision-making skills.

      Darkstar was settling into his nest when Leopardkit's little silhouette appeared at the mouth of his cave. "Darkstar? Can I come in?"

      The black tom's whiskers twitched in surprise. "Of course." His green eyes were heavy with exhaustion, but he rose from his nest and sat facing the she-kit, long black tail curled around his paws. "What do you need?"

      Leopardkit crept into the shadows of his cave, her steps tentative. "I just need to ask..." The she-kit sat and reflected his position, her little tail curled over her paws. Her amber eyes lowered to the ground. "Why didn't you come for me sooner? Why did you let me stay so long? I get that you had to rebuild camp, but surely it couldn't have taken nearly a half moon?"

      Darkstar's green eyes softened. "You're very perceptive, you know that? To be honest, Leopardkit, I did not know that you were missing. But don't think that I wasn't concerned about you—after the ShadowClan cats retreated I asked Sandstreak if you were alright. She said you were fine and told me to mind my business." His face twisted in a scowl. "I should've known that she-cat was lying to me. It wasn't until Mousekit went limping around camp, looking for you, when I finally realized something was wrong. He had been bedridden for a quarter moon after his brothers accidentally hurt him. When he finally could get up and walk, all he did was looking frantically for you."

      Leopardkit's heart dropped. She had noticed Mousekit's limp, but had promptly forgotten about it and hadn't even bothered to ask what happened. All she had done was spill her own problems on to him.

      "Anyway," Darkstar continued. "When we found out you were gone, I immediately gathered a search party. We scoured the territory for a day and found nothing, and the next day we went to ShadowClan. I'm sorry we didn't come for you sooner." The black tom flicked his ears back shamefully.

      Leopardkit slowly shook her head. "It's not your fault, Darkstar. It's Sandstreak's." Her mother had been cruel to her all her life, but this felt like a painful blow to her gut. How could she have told Darkstar that Leopardkit was fine, when she truly had no idea where the she-kit was? For all her mother knew, she could've been dead. And she didn't care.

      Darkstar must have noticed the small she-kit sinking into despair, because he leaned down and gave her a comforting lick between her ears. "At least you're home now, and safe from those savages. And your apprentice ceremony is tomorrow!"

      Leopardkit met his gaze, her amber eyes suddenly flaming with anger. "Are you going to do anything about Sandstreak? After she lied to you?"

      Darkstar sighed and straightened up. "Leopardkit, it's much more complicated than that. There's much going on that you don't understand."

      The she-kit rose to her paws. "You're right. I don't know what happened with you, my mother, Sandstreak, and Bluesky. But it couldn't have been that bad!"

      The black tomcat stiffened and all the warmth quickly disappeared from his green eyes. He stared at her and spoke in an eerily calm voice. "You know nothing, Leopardkit. You may see yourself out."

      Leopardkit pinned her ears back as her gut flooded with a mix of anger and shame. Had she gone too far? "Fine," she growled, storming away to the entrance of his den. She turned back once before exiting, seeing ThunderClan's leader staring into the stone wall. "By the way, I've seen Bluesky. Twice now."

Not waiting for a response, the she-kit left. She scrambled off the High Ledge to the stony ground, her huffs coming out as angry white clouds. As furious as she was, the she-kit felt small twinge of guilt. Perhaps she had only made things worse. But how could it have been her fault? She really didn't know what had happened in the past. Judging by Darkstar's reaction, it must be far worse than she imagined. The stony look in his eyes lingered in the back of her mind.

      Fox-dung, she thought gloomily. Now Darkstar was angry with her too. What was the matter with her? At this rate, she will be making enemies out of all her Clanmates.

     If only she knew the truth about her parents. Then, perhaps, everything would make sense.

As she made her way back to the nursery, Leopardkit felt a pinprick of cold on her ear. She swiped over it with her paw, tail flicking in surprise when a wet spot appeared. She glanced upwards, amber eyes widening as millions of little white specks floated down toward her.

She was alarmed, but Leopardkit had heard of this white stuff before. Snow.

Leaf-bare was here. And the Clan would
need strong warriors to make it through the season. Leopardkit closed her eyes, letting the snowflakes fall gently on her whiskers.

      Bluesky told her that she was important. But how could she be? All she had done in her short life was cause ThunderClan strife. She was a burden.

Even if she didn't have Rowankit and Lizardkit by her side, even if Darkstar despised her, even if Firetail was dead and gone, even if her mother didn't care about her, even if the whole Clan was angry with her, Leopardkit promised herself that she would be a strong apprentice. Maybe that's why Bluesky had saved her, so she could become the best warrior the Clans had ever seen. Perhaps if she proved her worth, everyone would finally accept her.

The snow fell softly, silently, sadly, into the stone hollow as the she-kit padded back to her den.