"Traitors!"

   "How dare she!?"

   "Kill them both!"

   "Silence!" A large ginger and white tom yowled, instantly silencing the angry calls. "Stone, Dove, you broke our rules by mating and having kits while you are assigned to other partners. Have you no hearts? Think about what you've done, Dove. You lied to your mate and told him those kits were his. Do you have any idea how bad it must've hurt to learn that they weren't his children? And you, Stone," the old tom's eyes glazed. "I would have thought better of you, as you share my bloodline. What do you have to say for yourselves?"

   A small, fluffy pale gray she-cat stepped forward. "I do not regret my decision. Stone is the cat that I love, and I would die for him and his children."

   The darker gray tabby tom who had been standing beside her lifted his chin and nuzzled her. "As would I for you."

   "Then I condemn you both to death."

   Dove's eyes suddenly grew round. "Can't it wait, at least until the kits are done nursing? It'll only be another moon."

   "They can nurse with Dragon," the king replied, waving his tail dismissively. But his gaze suddenly hardened, and he nodded towards a group of large toms that had been lurking in the shadows. "Fang, Onyx, Macadamia, Jag, and Chester, take them to the dogs."

   "Wait!" Stone's voice trembled. "Can't we at least tell our children goodbye?"

   The ginger tom's eyes flashed with annoyance, but he nodded reluctantly. "Yes, but be quick. We don't have all day."

   The small gray tom made his way around heaps of Twoleg rubbish and over to a cardboard box. He lifted it with his nose and blinked sorrowfully at his two tiny kits. "Hello, my loves," he purred, his voice edged with grief.

   "Mama? Papa? What's going on?" The smaller and the female of the two kits, Aspen, mewed. "Why did they call a meeting?"

   Stone cast an agonized glance at his mate. Dove cleared her throat. "I-I'm sorry, dear. We have to go away for a while."

   The other kit, a dappled gray tom named Boulder, wailed. "Why? When will you be back?"

   The pale gray she-cat shot her mate another sidelong glance. "I'm sure we'll see each other again one day." She rested her muzzle on her daughter's head. "I love you more than life itself. Don't ever forget that."

   "Today, several brave cats were lost in a battle with the Clans," the young tom, King Raven, began. "Including my father. May King Flame walk in peace, wherever it is he may do so."

   "We also lost fine warriors but the names of Toad and Puddle, as well as a well-trained and highly-skilled assassin in Boulder. Only one she-cat was lost, and we will mourn their deaths their deaths for many seasons. May you walk in peace, Toad, Puddle, Boulder, and Aspen."

   The white she-cat blinked her eyes open at the call of her name. Did he just say I'm... she rose slowly to her paws, realizing the exhaustion and terrible pain that had lingered with her after the battle were gone. She let out a yowl. "I'm not dead!" When no cat turned, she tried again. "I'm right here! Look!"

   But her breath caught in her throat as she saw a familiar gray shape stained with blood on the ground in front of her. Is that... me? She stumbled backward, going right through a mourning black tom. Her heart began to race. I can't be dead! I have so much left to do! I—

"Aspen?"

The white she-cat whipped around. Her eyes widened and she choked on her words. "Not you too, Boulder. I'm so sorry. I—"

"Don't apologize," the gray tom replied quickly. He looked quite at peace, floating a whisker off the ground. "Come. There's a few cats you need to see."

Curiosity tugging at her fur, Aspen followed. She relished the feeling of the cool breeze drifting through her pelt, guiding her on like the gently lapping of a mother's tongue on her kit's head. She felt as light as air, and perhaps she was.

"Wait here." The two ghosts had reached the edge of an alley that lay a little outside of the Alley Cats usually scavenging grounds.

She tipped her head to one side. "Why are we out here? Who am I supposed to see?"

Her brother smiled at her before leaping gracefully over a trashbin and gazing down at the ground below. "She's here!"

Two cats instantly shot up to the top of the bin beside Boulder. Aspen's breath caught in her throat. "M-mama? Papa?"

Both cats bounded over to their daughter, purring and nuzzling her fur. "B-but I thought you had to leave? I didn't know they... they—"

"It's alright, dear," Dove purred, a sad smile on her face. "We still got to watch over you, just from a bit of a longer distance than we would have liked."

"But you were right," the white she-cat blinked lovingly into the eyes of her parents. "We did meet again."