Silverkit was cowering in the corner of the Waiting Den. She was alone now, her siblings already taken to be tested. She knew that Lilyflower was coming soon for her Testing. And she knew that today was Battle Testing.

Battle Testing. She shivered, then got up and began pacing.

Silverkit hated it. The fighting. The injuries. The blood.

Blood. Horrible, red, wet, warm, terrifying--

She cut herself off. No need to get yourself more worked up than you are already. Just enjoy the moment of peace.

Silverkit sat back down in the corner of the den, breathing deeply. In, out. In, out. In--

"Hello, young Silverkit," mewed LIlyflower politely as she entered the den.

Silverkit bent her head formally, carefully rehearsing the response in her head before she spoke it. "Greetings, Leader of the Flowers."

Lilyflower gave her a nod of approval, indicating that she had gotten the response correct. Silverkit let out a sigh of relief. Her last tries had been incorrect, resulting in many a scratch from an unsheathed claw. Blood. She shuddered again. Lilyflower turned back towards the entrance. "Come. It is time for Battle Testing." She began padding out the entrance of the den, pausing to make sure that Silverkit was following.

Lilyflower lead Silverkit to the Battle Testing Area, where her siblings were already waiting in a beautifully straight line. Silverkit took her place beside them, barely concealing her trembling. Lilyflower gave her a nod of approval before walking over to the rest of the Testers.

Oakbranch, Greykit's tester, took a step forward. "For our first round, Creamkit against Greykit." He stepped back and the two siblings stepped forward into the ring drawn in the sand. Creamkit was looking confident and glared at her brother menacingly, teeth bared. Greykit, on the other had, was standing as absolute far away as possible.

Silverkit fought the urge to look away, knowing that would be taken as a sign of cowardice, but the scene reminded her so much of poor Tankit's death...it always had.

"Fight!" Oakbranch's call rang out an interrupted Silverkit's thoughts.

With a growl, Creamkit leapt at Greykit, snarling and clawing at him. Greykit, kicking out with his hind legs, managed to shove her off. With a weak hiss, Greykit launched himself at his sister, batting at her without much conviction. Creamkit suddenly tripped, giving Greykit an excellent opportunity for a killing bite, but he paused at the last second. Creamkit took advantage of his hesitation to pin him to the earth, miming a killing bite.

"And the win goes to Creamkit!" announced Oakbranch, sounding disappointed in his Testee's failure. Silverkit, on the other hand, silently yowled approval of his lack of violence. If only Creamkit were more like that.

"Next round- Silverkit against Brownkit!"

Reluctantly, Silverkit stepped forward, looking at her opponent. Brownkit practically bounced into the ring, looking pleased at her almost guaranteed success.

Silverkit looked at Brownkit, suddenly remembering her with bloodied teeth, standing over the body of Tankit. Murderer! hissed Silverkit silently. Sudden conviction struck her from nowhere, instilling her with a bout of courage she had no idea she had.

I have to win. I cannot let this MURDERER simply walk over me.

"Fight!"

With a true hiss, Silverkit jumped towards Brownkit, landing on her squarely as though she had pounced on a mouse. Brownkit yowled in shock, trying in vain to shove Silverkit off of her.

Yes! thought Silverkit triumphantly. 

Her unsheathed claws raked down Brownkit's side, causing a screech of pain. Silverkit bared her teeth, but then blood began pouring out unto Silverkit's paw. With a screech, Silverkit leapt back, staring at the blood. The red, sticky liquid pouring out of the wound.

Brownkit looked at her curiously, malice in her eyes, slowly advancing towards her. "What is it, sister? Afraid of a little blood?"

Silverkit backed up against to the edge of the circle, not daring to speak.

Brownkit's nose twitched in amusement. "You are, aren't you? Are you afraid of this?" Brownkit suddenly charged forward and clawed Silverkit's leg.

Silverkit stared in disbelief at the blood slowly running down her leg. Blood...

Brownkit purred. "What about this?" She leapt forward and clamped her teeth on Silverkit's tail. "Or this?" She ran her claws along Silverkit's back, allowing the blood to flow down on either side. Silverkit was too terrified by the blood to even scream.

Poppyblossom stepped forward. "That is enough! Brownkit, you are the winner!"

Brownkit did not seem to hear her Tester, continuing to taunt Silverkit. "Oh! I know you will be afraid of this!" she mewed, staring at her petrified littermate, suddenly lunging forward and clawing her right above the eyes.

Now Silverkit screamed, truly screamed. All she could see was the red, horribly warm liquid she hated and feared with every hair on her pelt. She felt her vision begin to darken as she sank further into fear and pain. Distantly, she heard Poppyflower yelling something and Brownkit's yells of protest. Then everything went black.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"Silverkit, dear? Can you hear me?" A voice was right above her, sounding concerned.

Silverkit attempted to say she could, but all that came out was a weak mew.

"That's good," replied the voice. "Would you try to open your eyes for me, please?"

With quite some effort, Silverkit managed to open her eyes to see a cat leaning over her, looking relieved. "A whisker lower and she would've gotten your eyes," she mewed.

"Wh-who are you?" asked Silverkit.

The cat's nose twitched in amusement. "Haven't you seen me before? I'm Moonblaze."

Silverkit wanted to sink into the earth itself. "Oh. Of course." How could she had forgotten who the Healer was?

Moonblaze purred. "It's alright. You've lost a lot of blood, I'd be surprised if you recognized me. Besides, I think you tend to avoid me." Her mew held no accusation, just a bit of amusement.

SIlverkit felt even more embarrassed, despite Moonblaze's tone. She always did avoid the Healer's den. Too much blood...

Blood! Suddenly, Silverkit remembered why she was here. She looked down at her pelt quickly, only to see that it had been cleaned. She breathed a sigh of relief. She did not want to lick any of that stuff off her paws or fur.

Moonblaze seemed to notice her relief at having her pelt clean, "Yes, your littermate-- Graypaw, I believe-- came with some wet moss and cleaned your pelt for you." Her whiskers twitched. "At least your fear of blood won't matter too much longer." She leaned closer and mewed, "I heard that you will become apprentices tomorrow."

Graypaw did that for me? thought Silverkit. That's very nice of him. Wait. One day? "How long have I been unconscious for?" she asked, worried, her body tense.

Moonblaze quickly padded over and gently pushed her back down. "Not long, dear. Only long enough for one hunting patrol to leave and come back." Silverkit's body relaxed. Only one patrol. If she had been out for too long, she was sure that Lilyflower would punish her.

Another thought struck Silverkit. "What happened to Brownkit?"

Moonblaze looked at Silverkit, then around the empty den nervously. "She is to be--" She gulped. "--exiled for ignoring a Leader of the Flowers." She paused, then looked at Silverkit urgently. "Please don't tell anyone this. You are not supposed to know until it is announced to the Clan. Only the Leaders, Sunpaw and I know. I doubt Brownkit even knows. I really shouldn't have told you."

Silverkit bobbed her head, wincing as it stretched the long cut along her spine. "I won't tell," she promised. "Am I allowed to get up?"

Moonblaze nodded. "That is fine."

Silverkit got up from the rock floor of the den, stretching her tired muscles. She winced as her muscles screamed a protest-- she'd pushed herself farther than normal this last fight, and clearly she wasn't quite okay. But she had to push through it, and she stretched carefully, feeling the pain slowly seep out of her limbs.

There. Silverkit flicked her tail, then tested her paws. She poked her head out of the den just in time to hear Marigoldflower's call. "All cats old enough to serve meet under the Great Tree!"