"Sparkface, you idiot! I will put you on apprentice duties for life if you continue with your rash, mouse-brained acts. You are a danger to you and your Clan—maybe if you started using your head and thinking about your actions you would be successful."

Gorsestar sat back with a grimace, claws flexing in and out in the soft earth of the leader's den. Sparkface wished she could disappear into one of the shadows that wreathed her leader's face, a noiseless spirit, a black wraith that couldn't mess up and ruin everything and everyone around her.

"Do you understand?" he hissed.

"Y-yes," she murmured, the word sticking in the back of her throat like a pesky hairball. "I u-understand."

* * *

Sparkface's paws dragged on the dirt in front of her. She didn't bother avoiding the sheep dirt scattered on the path, and it smeared her paws and emitted a horrible smell. Heather brushed her back, brushing over her spine and raking through her fur. The sky was a beautiful blue, soft wispy clouds floating over the sky.

I don't deserve to live in this world, she thought, recalling the moment where Gorsestar's face twisted into a mask of rage at her thousandth mistake.

A bird sang sweetly over the moor suddenly, like a reminder that she could never catch any prey for her Clan, and how most of her Clan—even the kits—probably knew what kind of bird that was and how to catch it, while she just lagged behind the patrols in a feeble attempt to look busy.

Rocks loomed in front of her, gray backs rearing to touch the sky. Spots of lichen and moss clung to them bravely, getting nutrients even on the hardest, most unforgiving of surfaces. Sparkface noted them with a flicker of irony in her depressed state. If I was a bit of moss, I'd probably be used for mouse bile and then thrown away like the useless piece of moss I am.

She scrabbled at the rock. How do cats climb this? she thought in annoyance, feeling a flash of pain from her claws snagging on a depression in the rock but ignoring the nuisance. Oh, right. I'm not any excuse for a cat, I'm just a worthless bit of mouse-dung: good for nothing.

She noticed the tallest rock, Outlook Rock, had a series of marks that could easily be used as stairs without too much trouble. . . and there were sharp pieces of broken rocks scattered around the base of it. Perfect.

Sparkface quickly ascended, feeling rough granite scrape her pads, soft from the dirt and grass of the moor. Checking one paw, she saw it had a light film of blood on it, and felt her belly churn at the sight of the liquid. It doesn't even matter now, though.

She looked over the moor, wind ruffling her fur and a breeze causing her to screw her eyes shut, partially from the bright, warm sunlight. The stone was hot under her paws, and she enjoyed the brief moment of warmth before stepping up to the edge.

This is the best for my Clan.

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leopard feels dark right now *^* probably because leopard is listening to mcr. anyway, enjoy! poor sparkface t.t this is my first SR chapter and i'm already sad cause she's such a mess. ah well, it gets better from here, right? sorry for the short chapter--there wasn't much to write about.