A/N: WARNING! VIOLENT CHAPTER! PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

***

"Assero!" Tiquail spat over her shoulder. The ocelot looked up, her eyes widening in fear as she saw the springing cheetah.

"Take Sparrow and Tony away!"
"But-"
"NOW!"

Assero dragged the two Ancients away. She struggled toward the stairs, doing her best to drag their bodies up. Tiquail jumped aside and allowed Ainnya to crash to the ground.

That was when Tiquail noticed something on the back of Ainnya's neck. It was a paw print with an X over it.

Fear gripped Tiquail's heart. Ainnya had been poisoned.

Ainny sprang again, speed on her side. She dug her claws into Tiquail's throat and swung into her back. Tiquail choked as blood flowed down her chest.

Tiquail bucked and tried to get Ainnya off of her, but the cheetah was too strong.

"TIQUAIL!" Assero roared, bounding down the stairs. She barreled into Ainnya and knocked the cat away, the two of them tumbling to the ground in a ball of screeching claws and fur.

Tiquail collapsed, the wound in her neck stinging. It was obviously deep, and its intention had been to steal one of her twelve lives. But, knowing she couldn't rest long, Tiquail struggled back to her paws.

Ainnya was on top of Assero. Assero wailed, but it was cut short as Ainnya bit her neck. Assero stopped struggling and fell to the ground. A moment later spasms shook her small body. She was losing a life.

Tiquail roared, outraged. She flung herself at Ainnya and slashed and bit blindly, distracted by her rage and her sudden need for blood.

Eventually, Ainnya fell limply from Tiquail's mouth. Tiquail had taken a life. She watched the horrible tattoo on the back of Ainnya's neck disappear as she started to claw at the ground in pain.

Ainnya had been healed, but not without casualties.

Tiquail collapsed yet again as blood soaked her white pelt from multiple scratches and bites. The world lurched violently around her, and suddenly she felt as though everything was being ripped from inside of her.

The pain was incredible. As spasms shook her body, she became dimly aware that she was losing a life. Blackness pressed at the edges of her vision, and with one more painful yank, she lost consciousness.

***

Tiquail opened her eyes and found herself in a circle of mountains. The sky danced with color, and cold snow pressed against her side, turning red as she lost more blood.

A silver snow leopard padded over to her, leaving no paw prints behind her. She seemed to be made of stars, walking with a gentle confidence.

"Hello, Tiquail." She purred, sitting down and wrapping her tail neatly around her paws. Tiquail shivered as more and more blood drained from her body, creeping across the snow and destroying its beauty. All strength had left her body, now replaced by a horrible pain.

The silver cat watched Tiquail for a moment, her eyes sad. "You don't have much more to spend, Tiquail." She whispered. Tiquail couldn't nothing but shudder. She knew very well that she should stop getting herself killed, but there wasn't much she could do about it now that she had spent yet another life.

The silver snow leopard leaned forward and pushed her muzzle into Tiquail's fur. "You're free to go now." She murmured.

One more blast of pain, and Tiquail was floating through darkness again, a sort of emptiness that she would have to live with inside of her.

***

Sparrow opened her eyes with a gasp, shooting upward and scrambling around, panicked. For a moment, she thought she was still in the forest, being slaughtered by a horrible creature with two rows of teeth.

Then she realized she was in the main building of Trails. But something was certainly wrong. It was eerily quiet.

Tony laid next to her, still unconscious. Sparrow stared at the horrible wound on his neck for a second before heaving herself painfully to her feet and walking out of the white room.

She found herself in a white-tiled hallway. There was a hole in the ground at one end of it, and she figured it must be the stairs. She cautiously made her way down the first few.

What greeted her on the main floor was horrible. The beautiful white tiles were now stained red. Three wild cats lay on the ground, unmoving, as blood flowed freely from multiple wounds.

Sparrow stared for a moment, her eyes wide.

Suddenly, the ocelot, whom Sparrow did not know, wailed in pain. A spasm shook her body and slowly, she stopped bleeding. The wound disappeared completely.

The ocelot opened her eyes and looked around, blankly at first. Sparrow watched horror and realization flow into her gaze. She sat up and screeched in pure terror.

Sparrow stayed at the top of the stairs, frozen. The ocelot got to her paws and paced around the room, finally stopping at the bodies of the other two wild cats.

Sparrow knew these two. Tiquail and Ainnya, still bleeding.

"Are they dead?" Sparrow asked quietly, her voice trembling. The ocelot looked up, seeming to notice Sparrow for the first time. She trotted over, her expression troubled. "For now, yes." She replied cautiously.

Sparrow tilted her head. "For now?"

The ocelot sighed, her golden coat stained red in some places. Her paws were completely drenched. "Why don't we go upstairs?" She suggested, slipping past Sparrow and padding gingerly upward. Sparrow followed.

The ocelot led her back into the room where she had first woken up. She sat down and began to lick her paws clean. Sparrow sat at the edge of the cot next to Tony.

"My name is Assero, Sparrow." Assero meowed between licks. "And, I healed your wounds."

Sparrow looked at her leg and realized that it was wrapped tightly with cobwebs. "How did-?" She began.

Assero flicked her tail. "I don't know where you were found or how you were found. I only knew that you were injured, and that I had to help you." She replied before Sparrow could finish.

"Well, what happened down there, then?" Sparrow asked crossly.

Asser stopped licked her paw and set it down slowly. "Well, Ancient, it seems we have been attacked."
"By who?"
"The Trackers."
"How did they attack us?"

Assero paused again. "They poisoned our leader, Sparrow. The only way to fix that is to kill. Lucky we have twelve lives to spend, I suppose."

"You have twelve lives!?"

"Yes," Assero sounded slightly impatient. "Ainnya, who was poisoned, attacked Tiquail. I saved-well tried to save-Tiquail, and Ainnya took a life from me. I'm not sure what happened after that, but it seems that Tiquail took a life from Ainnya, thereby saving her, but not before she could save herself."

Sparrow sat in stunned silence. "Can this happen again?" She asked after a moment.

Assero stared at her, intensity and fear glowing in her eyes. "It can happen as many times as they want it to. It can happen until we are all dead."
"And we can't stop it?"
"No."