"And you never told anyone any of this why?" asked Flaredust.

"I would've been exiled." I say softly.

"Icy. You're the biggest mousebrain in all of the clans." Moonstar says the words so casually, it makes my fur prickle. Well, it's none of her business.

"Don't call me Icy! Cats died because of me. A lot of them."

"The deaths weren't your fault." Moonstar says. "They were obviously Wolfpaw's. If you had tried to explain it to someone, they might've been able to help."

I poke my unsheathed claws into the earth in frustration, but no brilliant retort comes to mind. Defeated, I slump deadly to the side,  and Moonstar nudges me up. "Would first watch help clear things up? Or would you rather sleep?"

    "Sleep." I decide in a heartbeat.

Moonstar nods to me. "If you say so." she chuckles to herself, cozying up in a nice den. Cobrastrike and Pinefrost wait outside in the icy night air, watching for danger. The whole world is holding it's breath, and the carrion smell is now everywhere. It drifts up my nose, and it's cold and dark. I scoot out of the corner and curl up near Flaredust and Moonblaze. The two of them are so familiar, even if I haven't been sleeping near little Flaredust since he was Flarekit. I miss those days, curled up in the cozy nursery.

It's unimportant. He made his own choice.

I'll respect that, I tell myself, gritting my teeth with loneliness. Then again, had he stayed, would he still be here for me to curl up by right now?

    The thoughts making me restless, I brush them aside, pushing up against them and falling asleep.

My dreams are static, image after image burned in my mind with the desperate sound of screaming. I can't place it, turning around and around, looking for anyone at all to answer me, pleading if nothing else. The whispered sound of pain under my breath, blood like a river below me, my white paws stained red.

I wake up in the morning, and to my surprise, it's still dark. I stretch out, my whole body aching and resisting as I strain it as much as possible. Hissing under my breath, I head outside to see Moonstar waiting outside.

"Are you ready to go?" she asks.

"Sure." I say, voice gravelly, looking out at the huge forest.

Moonstar takes it as an enthusiastic yes and keeps me close to the front.

"We're entering the real territory now. They've been going west recently. You can smell it, if I'm correct."

I can. The scents here are so stale that they're almost like ghost footprints in the fall leaves. As we trudge on, they become stronger, and at one point a half-dead cat charges out of the bushes, foamy jaws snapping, and suddenly the whole patrol is on the offensive. Considering the size of our little group, we dispose of it easily, leaving the crippled body there, twitching feebly.

Before we go, Moonblaze stops. "We can't just leave it to die."

"Why not?" asks Cobrastrike, and Everpaw behind him nods in agreement.

"It's evil." Everpaw protests.

"No cat should be left to die like this." Moonblaze argues.

"Moonblaze," says Pinefrost, "That's not a cat. That's a monster."

We compromise and bury the dead body below a bush, with only minutes of mourning for the tortured soul inside.

At around sunhigh, we can hear loud rustling in the bushes.

"Who's that?!" yowls Fallenshade, and Ashfern at her side bristles.

A tawny cat flies at us, claws unsheathed, and we're about to attack when I recognize Flamestar.

"It's my patrol." Flamestar says, and I see the bloody scars on his face. "You seem well off."

"We've seen maybe one, possibly two rogues. If we had succumbed to that I would be embarrassed to tell of it. What happened to you? Your road significantly less silent?" Moonstar says in the same, flat voice.

"You could say that." Flamestar glares at the cats behind him. "Warriors will jump on everything that moves. Besides the three rogue patrols, we also rid the territory of a fox and two badgers."

The cats talk casually, discussing battle, when a loud and sharp voice pierces the clearing like the screech of a hawk- "Freeze, we have you surrounded." Claws are unsheathed, teeth are bared, and eyes are wide with hate and fear. Everyone turns to the trees from which the voices are coming, waiting for even the slightest movement.

Cinderstar jumps down, her blue eyes now bloodshot and filled with the dark energy inside. Even her once luscious silver coat is now grizzled and gray, as if she had aged ten moon cycles in the course of only two. She limps towards me, feigning injury in a strange way, as if she had been stabbed around the heart. She's curled her body, and strides forward like an insane serpent.

She looks me up and down, as if sizing me up, and fixes me with a too-wide grin. Her half focused eyes and cruelly obvious ribs tell a story I don't want to hear, but I know now escape is not and will not be an option. She spits in my face as she cackles the words to the whole clearing, "Oh, silly little kitties. Didn't you think I'd have a super special surprise ready for my very best friend?"