Bearstrike's POV

I padded back to camp, Ashfur's pawsteps echoing close behind me. The weight of the plump squirrel in my jaws promised a decent meal, but my satisfaction was short-lived. A shadow swept across the sky, and I froze mid-step, my fur bristling instinctively. Ashfur let out a startled hiss as Nyx descended, her wings spread wide and majestic, the silver tips glinting in the late afternoon sun. Between her powerful jaws dangled a squirming shape—a dog pup.

The squirrel slipped from my jaws, forgotten, as a growl rumbled in my throat. "Nyx, what are you doing?" I demanded, my voice sharp with disbelief.

Ashfur stood rigid beside me, his tail fluffed like a bramble bush. "She's gone mad," he muttered, his eyes fixed on the wriggling creature in Nyx's grip.

Nyx landed in a flurry of feathers, dust puffing up around her talons. With a smug grin, she set the pup down gently between her ebony paws. "What does it look like I'm doing?" she purred, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "I brought a little pup. What else?"

"That thing is a dog!" Longtail's furious bark split the clearing as he leapt to his paws, his ears pinned back and his fur bristling. "Are you out of your mind, Nyx? Dogs are nothing but trouble!"

Nyx tilted her head, her wings flaring out in an impressive display. The pup cowered beneath her, wide-eyed but silent. "Stop that," she snapped, her voice carrying a sharp edge. "I'm a wolf. I know the difference between a threat and a pup that needs help. And let me remind you—you couldn't catch me even if you tried."

A murmur of unease rippled through the camp as cats began to gather. Their murmurs mingled with the distant wind, heavy with suspicion. All eyes turned to the high rock, where Harestar stirred, her white pelt catching the dying rays of sunlight. With an irritated flick of her tail, the leader rose and padded down, her movements languid but commanding.

"What is this?" she asked, her voice low and heavy with exhaustion. Her pale gaze flicked from the pup, trembling beneath Nyx's wings, to Longtail, whose claws were scoring the earth in agitation. "What is going on here?"

Longtail's growl deepened, his amber eyes blazing as he thrust a paw toward Nyx. "Your sister's a traitor! She's brought a dog into our camp—right under our noses!"

The camp erupted into shocked cries and whispers, but Harestar remained silent, her gaze sharpening as she turned to Nyx. "Explain yourself," she said, her voice cutting through the chaos like a shard of ice.

Nyx lifted her chin defiantly, her tail lashing as she shielded the pup with her wings. "This isn't just some dog," she said, her tone calm but firm. "She's alone, starving, and defenseless. She needed help, and I did what was right. If you can't see that, then maybe I'm not the traitor here."

Harestar raised her head, her tired gaze fixed intently on Nyx. The weight of the leader's authority clung to every deliberate movement as she stepped closer. "Sister," she began, her voice steady but edged with weariness, "Longtail is right. A dog will grow up to be vicious. It will grow strong, and one day, it will turn on us. It will attack—"

Nyx's growl sliced through Harestar's words like a claw through brittle ice. Her black lips peeled back to reveal sharp fangs as she thrust her muzzle forward, snapping her jaws so close to Harestar's face that the sound echoed like thunder. Cats in the clearing gasped, fur bristling with shock and fear.

"Then I'm a vicious dog too, aren't I?" Nyx snarled, her voice trembling with raw fury. "You haven't sent me away, and I could kill every one of you right now, Harestar. With one swipe of my wings, I could end it all!" She spread her great feathered wings, their shadow swallowing Harestar's slender form and casting a looming silhouette over the clearing. Her piercing eyes burned with frustration, daring anyone to challenge her.

The camp fell deathly silent, the tension thick as storm clouds. Even Longtail, who moments ago had been brimming with anger, took a cautious step back, his tail flicking nervously.

Nyx snorted and shook her head, her feathers rippling like dark waves. "No," she spat, her voice softer now, though no less fierce. "Cats are too scared of anything they don't understand. You all see something small, something helpless like this little dog pup, and you can't see past your own fears."

She bent her head, brushing her nose gently against the trembling pup, who whimpered and tucked itself tighter beneath her wings. Nyx's voice softened further, becoming almost a whisper. "This pup is defenseless. It has no home—not with a pack, not with twolegs. It's nothing but a tiny scrap of fur and bones, and it needs a mother. I won't turn my back on it because you're all too blinded by your own claws to help."

Her words hung in the air, heavy and unyielding. Harestar's eyes narrowed, her tail tip flicking as she regarded her sister in silence. The watching cats shifted uneasily, their murmurs starting again, low and uncertain.

Harestar lifted her head, the sharp lines of tension in her face softening just enough to betray a sliver of understanding. The light of the fading sun caught in her pale fur, giving her an almost ethereal glow as she straightened to her full height. "I'll let you keep it," she said at last, her voice steady but measured, carrying the authority of a leader balancing duty and kinship. "But foster it outside of camp. Away from the forest, where it won't be a danger to us."

The murmur of the crowd swelled again, this time with a mix of relief and discontent, but Harestar paid it no mind. Her gaze remained locked with Nyx's, piercing and unyielding, as if daring her sister to argue.

Nyx's expression softened as she dipped her head, a rare flicker of gratitude in her fierce amber eyes. "I know just the place," she murmured, her voice quieter now, though the defiance that defined her was still present, smoldering beneath the surface. She stood, the dog pup trembling beneath her protective shadow. With deliberate care, Nyx spread her massive wings again, the glossy black feathers catching the last rays of daylight like polished obsidian.

She turned to Harestar, her sharp features relaxing into a rare, genuine smile. "Thank you, sister," she said simply, the words carrying a weight that even the boldest warriors in the camp would hesitate to challenge. With that, Nyx gave a powerful beat of her wings, sending a gust of wind sweeping across the clearing and stirring the fur of the cats gathered below.

The pup yelped as Nyx lifted it gently in her jaws before launching herself skyward. She rose steadily, her dark form cutting through the golden sky, a solitary shadow moving against the endless expanse. The murmurs of the gathered cats faded as they watched her disappear into the horizon, leaving behind a sense of uneasy calm.

Harestar turned back to the assembled warriors, her expression guarded but resolute. "She's chosen her path," she said firmly, her tone brooking no dissent. "And now, we must choose to trust her, as we have before."

The camp slowly began to disperse, warriors retreating to their nests with muttered remarks and flicking tails. Longtail lingered a moment longer, his amber eyes narrowing as he stared at the empty sky. "I hope she knows what she's doing," he muttered under his breath before turning and padding away.

Harestar stood alone for a moment longer, her gaze lingering on the sky where her sister had vanished. "For all our sakes," she whispered to herself, "I hope so too."