Nightstrike slowed down as he approached the medicine den. Most injured cats were back to their dens now, all except for Rainfire and Moonheart.

Nightstrike noticed that Rainfire's nest was empty. Maybe she went for a walk. Nightstrike headed further into the den.

His ears prickled as he heard voices.

"I'll be better if I was thrown off the cliff!" Moonheart's voice rang into Nightstrike's ear.

"Moonheart—" Dappleleaf's meow was interrupted.

"Now I'm just here, crippled and a waste to the Clan!" Two figures started to form in Nightstrike's vision. They did not notice the black tom approaching.

"Your leg would heal—"

"But what do I live for now? I have no one left that I love."

Nightstrike felt as if the sharpest claw had stabbed through his heart. You... don't love me? He choked on a sob.

"I have no family left."

 Nightstrike stopped dead on his tracks.

"You still have Nightstrike." Dappleleaf reminded her.

Silence. Moonheart glared at the medicine cat, her tail swinging back and forth.

"HE. IS. NOT. MY. SON!" Moonheart screamed, her tail lashed with fury.

No. His stomach filled with dread. Nightstrike couldn't hold it anymore.

He emerged from the darkness. "It can't be true!" He blurted. 

"But it is." Moonheart said harshly, not at all surprised at Nightstrike's appearance. "You are not clan-born. You were found on the alleys of twolegplace. I did not give birth to you. I thought you could grow up as a acceptable clan cat, but I was wrong. You failed me."

Nightstrike stared at the cat that in his whole life, he thought she was his mother. This can't be true... He felt like crumpling into a corner. 

My whole life was a lie. I murdered my littermates. I'm a failure. I'm about as good as a rogue. The world feels upside-down. Nothing is alright. I wish that this day never came...

Rocks seemed to be thrown at Nightstrike, and he could not avoid them.

"It's the truth." Moonheart meowed. She turned and stalked out of the den, her broken leg dragging with her.

Nightstrike was too distressed to notice Dappleleaf staring at him in a distance. He sat down and sobbed, his tail curled around him.

After a while, when Nightstrike slightly calmed down, Dappleleaf spoke. "Moonheart had two kits—Morningkit, and Nightkit. "

Nightstrike lifted his head up and stared at the medicine cat. Morningkit?

"But then, one day, she found Nightkit missing. She went everywhere to find him. She wanted to find her kit back before Ambershine comes back from patrol. But then, Moonheart's sister, Sparrowfang, said that she saw Nightkit getting scooped up by a hawk.

"Moonheart was furious. She demanded Sparrowfang to get Nightkit back. Sparrowfang, not wanting her sister to be upset, told her that she'll find Nightkit back. But Moonheart thought that her sister actually meant it.

"Sparrowfang was forced to find Nightkit, who was, probably dead at that point. Conveniently, she found a tiny black kit covered in blood, at the edge of ThunderClan's border. He was barely breathing. So she took him to me. I saved his life.

"Moonheart knew that the kit was not her son, but accepted him as a replacement anyways. Ambershine never knew about the situation, thinking that the kit is still his own. Sparrowfang was killed by sickness soon afterwards, and Moonheart renamed Morningkit Sunkit."

"I'm the kit, right?" Nightstrike meowed sadly.

Dappleleaf nodded. 

"And..." Nightstrike didn't want to ask more, but he did anyways. "Were my fangs also covered in blood?"

"Yes. Apparently you were also choking on blood."

"Was there a storm or lightning the night before?"

"Yes." Dappleleaf tilted her head. "How did you know? The lightning bolt almost hit RiverClan's camp."

Nightstrike stared at his paws. So the nightmares were real. He thought darkly. I've killed my littermates...

And it was never a dream.