Mouse's heart raced like a downpour of rain. Mist's back was arched with fury, and although he could see the pain in her movements, she showed no hesitance to attack.

No hesitance to kill.

Mist had the strange she-cat trapped against the rubble she and Mouse had fitfully escaped from. Mouse's brown dappled fur was smudged with a smear of blood, and plenty of tiny, yet fresh scratches from the crumbling fall.

"Please! I meant no harm!" the red tabby cried, her voice strained with desperation. She had herself pressed firmly to the ground, trembling with fear and wide-eyed. Mist still advanced with full-blown aggression, and the red she-cat's hope vanished from her brown eyes.

The strange feline stilled, her eyes squeezing shut as she accepted her fate. Mouse's muscles bunched together, ready to spring forward and stop Mist. What she was doing was wrong.

Before he could so much as take a step forward, a tom exploded from behind the rubble, a vicious snarl rising from his throat. He violently rammed himself into Mist's side, sending her staggering to the wall with a yowl of surprise. Her gray fur came in brutal contact with the hardened dirt, and a dark, rusty color began to spread through her side.

Snapping her head in the black and white tom's direction, she charged forward with her jaws agape. She snapped her fangs around his
shoulder, barely missing his neck, and her teeth sank through his fur and buried into his skin. The black and white tom let out an agonized yowl, rearing onto his hindlegs and slamming himself against the wall, bringing Mist's head with the impact. Stunned, she released her solid grip and staggered for a moment.

The black and white tom took advantage of her dazed instant, and charged at her, raking his claws across both her shoulders and tackling her to the ground in a haze of blue-gray and black. Mist's blue eyes flashed with defiance, and she writhed viciously, raking her claws against his stomach with pure fury. Mouse backed away, eyes wide with fear as the tom kept his mother pinned.

The red tabby Mist attacked had finally come to her senses, staggering to her shaky paws and watching the battle with awestricken surprise. A brown tom could be seen hidden behind the rubble, peeking over it with shocked amber eyes. Finally, the black and white tom unhooked his claws from Mist's fur. She had stopped attacking, laying eerily still against the floor. Mouse, unable to help himself, darted forward with fear rising through his fur.

"Mist!" He cried, streaking across the tunnel. The black and white tom's hard gaze flashed in the kit's direction, and he moved forward to stop him. The red tabby rushed forward, growling to the black and white tom.

"He's just a kit! Don't you dare hurt him." She snapped, her brown eyes flashing fiercely.

The black and white tom's eyes narrowed coldly. "What did I tell you about investigating things, Miley?" He snarled, however not taking another step in Mouse's direction. "If it weren't for me, you would've been killed!"

The red tabby — Miley, flinched away. She clamped her mouth shut, casting away her gaze. Mouse huddled against his mother, sniffing her fur. "Mist?" He whispered quietly, his heart beginning to race.

The dusty brown tom crept from behind the rubble, eyes wide like twin amber moons. "Did...did you kill her?" He murmured, his gaze settling on Mouse's tiny figure against Mist's blue-gray fur.

The black and white tom whipped his head around to the brown cat, his lip curled back. "What do you think I am, a murderer?" He snapped. "No, of course I didn't kill her." He retorted once he saw the dusty brown tom's wary gaze.

Visibly, the tom relaxed, and Miley came up to touch her nose reassuringly to his. "Don't worry, Harvey. I wouldn't bring you along with a killer!" She reassured with a light-hearted tone, yet relief could be seen in her sagging shoulders.

The black and white tom turned away from the two, scorn and an emotion indecipherable to Mouse drawn across the tom's face. He stalked over to Mist, and Mouse quickly slid backwards, eyeing the tom with fearful eyes. He regarded Mouse with a roll of his eyes, and lowered his head to sniff Mist's fur.

"She's out cold." He announced, his tail whipping against the ground. Mouse watched as he backed away, turning his gaze firmly to the kit. Mouse shrank under the tom's cold amber gaze.

"I'm Shade." He meowed calmly, taking the kit by surprise. Mouse stared up at Shade, not moving an inch. "Sorry about your mother." He continued, glancing at Mist's limp form. "She attacked that kittypet back there, and I can't afford to allow somebody to die under my watch."

He huffed scornfully, yet a small glitter of admiration appeared in his eyes. "We'll stay with you until she wakes up. But if she attacks again, I will not hesitate to kill her. Do you understand?" There was a cold certainty to Shade's amber eyes as he stared down at Mouse, awaiting an answer from the young tom.

Mouse swallowed nervously, his tail wrapped around himself. "O-Okay." He managed to say, unable to contain the small tremors of fear that rippled through his pelt.

Shade briskly nodded, and padded away from Mouse to speak to the others. Mouse watched with wide, wary eyes. Odd scents billowed from Miley and Harvey, masked by the smell of snow. But from Shade, the familiar scent of forest tickled his nose. Breathing a small, uncertain sigh, the tom-kit placed his chin against his paws and watched with round yellow eyes, until his eyelids drooped, and he slipped off into an uneasy slumber.