Shadowfur woke with a shiver. Her head was pounding. She could hear angry mumbling and looked around until she saw Goldenscar pacing battling with himself. His golden tabby pelt brought a pang to Shadowfurs heart. She immediately saw him as a squalling kit in her arms reaching up for a hug. Shadowfur so badly wanted to wrap her arms around him and reassure him all would be okay, but she was no fool.

"You're going to kill me." Shadowfur spoke crisply.

Goldenscar stopped pacing and stalked up to Shadowfur grabbing her by the neck. He looked into her eyes, green, like he faintly remembered since she abandoned him. He squeezed harder hearing her choke.

"You know what you put me through?! Constant bullying, no parent to go home to, no family to call my own. You left me! Coward." He spat in Shadowfur's face.

"I had nothing to offer you. You would of died." Shadowfur choked out.

Goldenscar threw her back to the ground. "At least I would of died with dignity. With family!"

"Goldenscar I'm so sorry. If I could take it back I would." Shadowfur cried out defeated.

Goldenscar picked up his crossbow aiming it at Shadowfurs face. She didn't move. Shadowfur could see the mental war battle in his mind and a tear? Goldenscar's blue eyes were beginning to fill with them.

"You deserve to die." He snarled with a little choke.

Shadowfur stared at her son and now killer standing in the falling snow aiming a weapon at her and said nothing. Goldenscar sniffed and pushed the crossbow closer to her, almost touching her head. Shadowfur closed her eyes and breathed.

"I loved you. I love you and I will always-"

BOOM!

Goldenscar gasped out. The arrow had slipped and shot right into his mothers head. He fell to his knees trembling. He punched the ground.

"NO! NO!" He shouted into the cold air.

He crawled to his mother pulling her into his lap. 

"Oh starclan no! Starclan forgive me! I was tainted by the Dark forest oh god starclan please bring her back." Goldenscar sobbed.

Goldenscar began to rock with her holding her close like a mother would a kit...like Shadowfur had done for him.

"Mom," he croaked. "Im sorry."

Goldenscar began to hear the calls of the Dark Forest congradulating him. No. No. NO! Goldenscar laid Shadowfur to the ground and began hitting his head and the hitting it against the tree. 

After a while he pulled his dagger out and held it to his head sobbing. He jerked it towards his head.

BOOM!

Badgersrtike kept running faster and faster. The cat that had followed him looked as if it was from the Dark Forest, lumbering through the forest swinging a sword. Out of no where Badgerstrike smacked into another cat.

"Hey!" It was a toms voice.

Badgerstrike looked up and met brown eyes. Ripplenewet.

"Barb-!"

Badgerstrike pounced on him covering his mouth suddenly filled with rage. Ripplenewts scent was the only one that had been tangled with Silverstorm's when she disappeared.

"Did you kill her!?" Badgerstrike whispered angrily.

Ripplenewts face was confused as he struggled to break free. Badgerstrike picked him up and slammed him back into the ground. 

"Did you kill Silverstorm!?" Badgerstrike hissed lowly.

Ripplenewts eyes widened and he started to chuckled under Badgerstrike's forepaw. Badgerstrike seethed pulling out his sickle and stabbing it through Ripplenewts head.

BOOM!

Behind Badgerstrike he could hear a screech. He turned seeing Barbwire racing to him full speed with a machete in her forepaw. He slipped to his hindpaws and turned pointing his sickle at her.

Barbwire reached Ripplenewts murderer and swun her machete at his sickle knocking it clear out of his paw then swung again smacking his thigh.

"OW!" Badgerstrike yowled.

The tom suddenly rammed into her stomach knocking her onto her back and began swinging punches the first smacking her chin and the next her already bruised eye. Barbwire hissed and reached for he machete that she had dropped. She felt Badgerstikes hind paw stepping into her wrist. She screeched in anger.

"Barbwire?" It was Mousesnarl.

Badgerstrike looked up and then turned tail and ran weakly since Barbwire had sliced his leg. Barbwire jumped to her hindpaws grabbing her machete and began to follow, but a paw grabbed her shoulder.

"Don't! He won't survive long with a wound like that in this weather." Mousesnarl warned.

"He killed Ripplenewt!" Barbwire hissed.

"And he'll die slow for it. I got the fire going come on it's freezing out here." Mousesnarl meowed turning back and heading back to their camp. Barbwire looked down at Badgerstrike's pawprints in the snow and grumbled balling her fist. Badgerstrike would suffer if he lived through tonight. Barbwire leaned down next to Ripplenewt laying a kiss on his head before following Mousesnarl back to camp.

Berrytuft blinked open his eyes to see gray stone above him illuminated in a warm yellow. He immediately reached for his sword but it wasn't in its holder. He looked to his side to see a crackling fire with a rabbit roasting above it. Suddenly there was a sound of snow crunching near the cave entrance. He jumped to his hindpaws, his head barely touching the top of the cave when he saw her...

A tall dark brown she cat came in through the entrance. She was a long haired clearly and her tail was gray discolored from the rest of her body. Berrytuft's eyes traveled up to her face. Her eyes were a sunset yellow. She was carrying firewood. She glanced at him for a heartbeat and gave an uncomfortable smile.

"Glad to see you're finally up." She meowed softly.

"You pulled me from the lake?" Berrytuft questioned. The she-cat didn't seem to be very muscular.

"Well would you be here if I hadn't?" She chuckled a little to herself setting the firewood aside and sitting down beside the fire turning the rabbit.

"Why?" Berrytuft asked.

The she-cat stared into the fire shifting uncomfortably. 

"I ran when a cat I was with was injured. She ended up dying because I wasn't there to defend her. When I saw you I knew I couldn't do it again..." the she-cat meowed clearly not wanting to revisit the subject.

Berrytuft looked into the fire as well, watching its red-orange flames dancing upwards towards the rabbit. He couldn't believe he was sitting here. After knowing Snowfrost death was his fault he couldn't see any reason to keep going but this she-cat had gone through the same thing and somehow found a reason to keep going.

"My names Berrytuft." He announced.

"Biohazard."

Berrytuft chuckled. "Thats a name."

Biohazard giggled a little and shook her head. She pulled the rabbit from the fire and handed the stick that it was on to him.

"You need it more than I do." Berrytuft shook his head.

"You're getting frostbite. You need something warm inside you. By the way move you're hindpaws closer to the fire. Your toes were close to frozen after I got you here.  I massaged them out before starting the fire. I'm no medicine cat but I know I couldn't leave them in that state" Biohazard ordered.

Berrytuft stared at her before giving up and taking the rabbit reluctantly. He hadn't realized how hungry he'd really been and began tearing into the rabbit leaving nothing but bones. He instantly felt bad.

"Sorry." Berrytuft apologized laying the stick back on the ground.

"No you needed it and you need more rest. You're body's been expierencing shock." Biohazard rose and headed towards the cave entrance where the wind from the snowstorm was now blowing in making the fire dance wildly.

"Where are you going?!" Berrytuft called after her.

"More firewood and more prey. I don't know how much worse the game makers will make it. Don't worry I have a heavy coat this snow is nothing." Biohazard meowed without facing him and dove back into the dark snowy night.

Berrytuft snuggled back up closer to the fire. He glanced at the cave entrance and then the fire. There was something about that she-cat...No. One of them was going to die there was no use in feeling this way.

Silverstorm had found a hole in the tree and burrowed herself into it, trying her best to keep warm from the snow when she suddenly felt sharp poking behind her. She turned to find an owl less than half her size. She'd burrowed in an owls hollow. The bird flapped its wings in her face and poked harder at her skin. Silverstorm slashed her claws at the owl and manuevered around to make room to pounce. Once she'd found her spot she striked out killing the owl. She immediately began to feast while the prey was still warm. The howling wind outside began to slow to reveal the deep blue night sky that painted the snow covered ground a blackish blue.

After finishing the owl off Silverstorm looked out into the night sky to watch the tribute who had passed that day. Snowfrost. Silverstorm closed her eyes lowering her head to mourn, thats when she heard the exhausted panting from down below. She peered her head from the owls hollow in the tree to see a very familiar pelt that made her tremble in fear. 

The cats muscular body was pulsing and his long hair was one edge, clearly on the hunt. He was massive from above bigger than he'd been at ground level. Suddenly his head whipped around exactly where Silverstorm was his blind eye squinted in the dark. Silverstorm shrunk farther into the hollow hoping her gray pelt would blend with the shadows. The she-cats heart was pounding so loud in her chest she feared the tom bellow could hear. It seemed moons before she could hear the toms footfalls in the snow begin to trail away. Silverstorm let out a breath of relief, but she knew what this meant. As long as that tom was alive the games would continue to be more brutal than ever.