Greyshard felt as if she'd never breath again. An icy claw grabbed her throat and her stomach flipped and squirmed.

"N-n-no..." she choked out, feeling her breath catch in her throat.

Her legs trembled and she felt her heart twist, a feeling she had never experienced before.

But then, she'd never had any reason to feel like this.

The unfathomable grief overwhelmed her, as if a dam had broken in her chest, spilling a monstrous wave of water onto her heart.

She gasped and stared at the tiny body barely a fox-length in front of her. Greyshard then looked up to meet the pair of slightly-surprised, but mostly satisfied, water-blue eyes. A grin spread slowly across a white muzzle and blood-soaked teeth bared themselves into a spiteful snarl.

"Well, well, well, you must be his mother. How nice of you to abandon your kits just like that in the middle of a forest. Don't you know that there are vicious Clan cats out here?" the blue-eyed cat asked innocently, sneering all the time, as she met Greyshard's eyes.

"V-v-vic-cous...?" Greyshard sobbed quietly, glancing back down at the crumbled brown-and-white patched tabby body.

Patch lay under the she-cat's claws, pinned down by his chest. His claws were unsheathed in his tiny white paws and his mouth was wide open in a cry of, what looked like, pain, fury and fear. His hazel eyes stared blankly ahead, as if they were simply pieces of dry moss, nothing else. When a beam of sunlight flooded the clearing, his pelt shined a bright white and brown, looking like it was freshly cleaned and glossy, while the blood smeared and seeping from it glistened happily.

"P-P-Patch... n-no...! I-i-it c-can't-t... no..." Greyshard stammered, trying to steady her breath and flatten her shivering fur.

"Patch you say? Brave little rat he was." Scoffed the she-cat, flicking her tail with amusement. "Attacked me without thinking twice, the dumb, human-headed furball."

"Who... who a-are you...?" Greyshard asked, feeling the heart-stopping grief being corroded away with something else.

"Me?" asked the she-cat, as if it was the weirdest question to be asked. "I'm Darkness of Leaf, but I guess you can call me Dark." She smiled and blinked, yawning widely.

How can she dare to act so coolly after she just ki- did th- Patch- I-I... I... Greyshard gulped, closing her eyes tightly, willing it to be a dream.

"The real question - or questions - are: Who are you? And should I consider killing you as well? Afterall, you Clan cats are pure blabbermouths, always running off to snitch on others."

Greyshard looked up suddenly, surprised how genuine and annoyed this 'Dark' sounded. She was shocked into replying, "I-I'm Greyshard."

"Ah, Greyshard... Hmm... Greyshard, Greyshard, Greyshard." Dark repeated, looking deep in thought. "Ah, yes! Greyshard - that moody, snappy one that hates Rockpaw, grew up with her best friend being a dog and can't have kits. Isn't it?"

Greyshard stopped breathing for a second. How would a rogue know something like that? Those were some of her darkest secrets! Well, except for the first one, but, how...? The fur on her spine spiked up and her claws unsheathed themselves instinctively.

Noticing this, Dark twitched her ears and meowed, "I wouldn't advise fighting me. That is - unless you don't want to end up like 'Patch' or that tortoiseshell you found dead by the human farm. You probably will anyway though, so, honestly, I'm fine either way. It's not that I don't like killing cats for a cause - it's just that I absolutely hate it when Drip makes me be so conspicuous about it. Telling me to leave the bodies there for a few days, then throw them into the river. Bleh. Servant work. And just plain stupid." Dark licked her unsheathed paw, lifting it from Patch's body, causing him to limply roll onto his side. She kept her deep blue eyes on Greyshard throughout, smirking and her brown tail-tip twitching.

Greyshard didn't know what to think anymore. How many cats had this she-cat murdered? Who was this Drip that was... ordering her to kill cats? And what were these 'humans'? Her head whirled, and her legs trembled again.

"Tired are we? Heh. It'll make the job easier for me." Greyshard heard Dark murmur half to herself. She saw the she-cat's curiously brown tortoiseshell pelt shake and then fly through the air, getting bigger.

Pain seared through Greyshard's nose and chest, like fire racing down her fur. She felt claws pierce her skin and rip at her fur. They grabbed at her throat and muzzle, and another pair lashing at her hindquarters and stomach. Her paws felt like they were made of stone - she didn't have the energy or willpower to move them. Something warm spilled over her fur and something like thick red rain started to obscure her vision. Agony gnawed at her body, her muscles screaming with it.

Then the claws loosened their hold and the pain ceased, but only a little. The warm liquid on her flank and head kept flowing, but it lessened and Greyshard managed to stumble up into a crouch. When she tried to open her eyes, they stung and burned, as if she was trying to open them underwater. She blinked frantically, trying as hard as she could to regain the ability to see.

Finally, she could, and she wished she didn't. A shape that resembled Flamepelt was squirming weakly under Dark, and Skunkpaw's was crouched next to Rockpaw's, which was barely moving.

Greyshard pushed herself to her feet, only to fall back down, causing her head to flash with pain again. She coughed a few times and started to gain control over her fading breathing.

Suddenly, a rush of wind soared over her, along with a pure white smear of fur. It leaped at Dark's smudged figure and slammed into her, knocking her off of her paws. She was limp, before she started struggling as the white shape buried its muzzle into her throat and she opened her white jaws to yowl with pain.

Only, Greyshard didn't hear anything over her thumping heart and the roaring blood pounding in her ears. She was nudged gently and rolled into a crouch. A brown shape hurtled over to Rockpaw and Skunkpaw, pulling them into standing positions. With a gasp of pain, Greyshard was hauled onto her paws by a pale tortoiseshell figure, who she soon recognised as Rosesong.

"It's ok. Just breathe. The rogue is gone. Frosttail chased her off. Breathe, Greyshard." Her voice whispered into Greyshard's ear.

The thundering of noise settled down and Greyshard gathered enough strength to stand by herself. She looked around, blinking slowly to clear her eyes of the blood and dirt.

Treepaw was licking Rockpaw's face, cursing him in a high-pitched voice. Skunkpaw hovered nearby, hunching his shoulders and shivering. Flamepelt was struggling to his paws, wincing and licking at his fresh wounds. Frosttail was on the other side of the clearing, staring at something on the ground with a lashing tail. Owlstar padded up to him, followed by Wolflungs. They all stared at the same point for a moment, before looking at each other.

Rosesong trotted over to them, looking curious, but a look of horror crossed the she-cat's face. Her dark green eyes were wide, and her claws dug into the ground. She turned back to Greyshard and then to Owlstar, murmuring something Greyshard couldn't hear.

Greyshard looked around at the rest of the clearing, her head still spinning. Blood was splattered over the grass and the rabbit still lay on the ground nearby. The tall barrier of elder bushes and oaks towered around them, casting green shadows and golden light onto the clearing. Thick patches of ferns speckled the edges of it. One of them rustled, and a pair of short-eared brown rabbits peeked out of it.

As Greyshard's vision cleared and went back into focus, she saw the distinct swirling stripes and bright gingery-brown pelt of two familiar kits.

"Taffy! Coco!" Greyshard exclaimed, leaping to her paws, all tiredness and pain gone. She bounded over to the two kits, who had only just stepped out of an abandoned rabbit hole, and wrapped herself around them, blocking them from the other cats' view. She licked the tops of their heads furiously, her heart thrumming with joy at seeing them alive. Then, it slowed down again, and the air was squeezed out of her lungs. She breathed in shallowly and buried her muzzle in the two kits. They squirmed around, bigger than Greyshard had remembered them to be.

Coco pushed Greyshard's muzzle back with a paw and asked, peering around Greyshard's ear, "What's going on, Grey? Who are they?"

Taffy glared at something over Greyshard's shoulder and leaned away.

Quite suddenly, a paw tapped her on her back, and Greyshard sat up, turning around.

Owlstar stood behind her, her yellow eyes wide and surveying. "What," she demanded, "Has happened here?"

Word Count: 1525
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