Leafshine leaped through the air, kicking up clouds of dust, and landed squarely on the unaware blackbird. She killed it off in one bite, and turned around to see Sungaze and Sproutpaw padding towards her.

"Good job, Leafshine!" Sproutpaw praised her Clanmate. "Another perfect day for the Chosen One." She smiled encouragingly at the white she-cat.

Leafshine glanced at Sungaze. The ginger tom was Sproutpaw's excellent mentor, and Sproutpaw had already caught three mice.

"You've done a great job too," she purred softly.

Sproutpaw smiled shyly. "Thank you, Leafshine!"

"You may not be Chosen, but you are still a great warrior," Sungaze meowed to his apprentice.

Sproutpaw let out a huge purr. "Thanks, Sungaze," the smaller she-cat butted her head against Sungaze's flank. Mentor and apprentice were very close, and Sproutpaw and the older tom were inseparable best friends. "But sometimes I wonder what does being a Chosen feels like." She looked curiously at Leafshine.

You'll regret being a Chosen, Sproutpaw. Leafshine thought, but quickly putting on her 'wow-being-a-chosen-is-so-cool' facade. She smiled. "Being a Chosen is a great rank, but it also carries a great responsibility." She meowed.

Sproutpaw bounced around. "I bet!" She meowed enthusiastically. "I'm going to find more prey!" She bounded away.

Leafshine smiled, remembering her days as an apprentice. Back then the she-cat already knew that she was different, by the way every cat watched her with a mixture of amazement and jealousy, but at least she was carefree. She stood out in ThunderClan because her white pelt among the default ginger, and she always got first pick of whatever she liked. She slept alone, in the best part of the hollow, she trained with the best warriors and when she got sick the medicine cats always used their best, freshest herbs on her. Any cat who dared to cross her was exiled, if they were lucky, or were killed.

The white she-cat shivered as she remembered her old friend, Deerpaw. Deerpaw was outgoing and bright, but things took a wrong turn when Flashtail heard them arguing about a petty thing. He had immediately reported Deerpaw to Flamestar, who didn't waste time killing the young tom. Leafshine had never got over her best friend's death, constantly blaming herself. From that day onwards, she limited her contact with other cats and rarely went on patrols to avoid any arguments.

"Are you okay?" Sungaze meowed, slightly concerned. Sungaze was Deerpaw's littermate, and was also shook when Deerpaw was executed.

Leafshine nodded. "I'm only slightly tired, that's all. I think I'll collect my vole and get back to camp."

Sungaze nodded. "It's been a long day. I'll go after Sproutpaw. I assume you can make it back to camp by yourself?" There was a hint of derision in the ginger tom's voice, and Leafshine twitched her tail, annoyed. She didn't choose to become Chosen, she would rather be a normal warrior, like her sister, Dewpetal.

She thought about her sister and Deerpaw for the rest of the time traipsing to where she killed the vole. She uncovered it, and picked it up in her jaws. She stopped for a moment to catch a very small vole, barely enough for a kit, but the Clan needed all it could for leaf-bare. She made a mental reminder to go check on the new queen, Amberblaze, and her single kit, Brightkit. Brightkit was almost weaned, and Leafshine decided to give the vole to Brightkit when she had time.

Her mind was still whirling when she returned to camp, exhausted from the whole day hunting.

"Leafshine! You're back!" Duneflower, her mother, purred, as Leafshine set down her three pieces of prey on the prey-pile.

"Hey, Duneflower," the young white she-cat meowed, touching noses with her mother.

"Are Sungaze and Sproutpaw back yet?" Duneflower asked.

"No, they went to hunt more." Leafshine replied.

"Oh, and you thought you were too high and mighty to go with them?" A new voice interrupted Leafshine. The Chosen molly whipped around to see her sister, Dewpetal.

Dewpetal was the same as every ThunderClan warrior, which meant that she was a ginger tabby with green eyes. But she held herself differently, with a charismatic attitude, and her pelt was long and soft, unlike most ThunderClan cats, whose fur was thin and short. The young tabby's stripes were also slightly darker, unlike Duneflower and their father, Cloudshine. Her green eyes were vibrant and usually sparkling, but this time they were a stormy emerald.

"Hush!" Duneflower flicked her tail at her older daughter, motioning for quiet. In fact, if Flamestar heard Dewpetal, she would be dead in a matter of seconds.

Dewpetal looked Leafshine up and down. Finally, she sniffed, and brushed past the two she-cats, out of the camp with a swish of her tail.

"I'm sorry, Leafshine," Duneflower meowed apologetically. "But you know, she's just jealous."

"Jealous of what? Jealous of being glared at, stared at every few seconds?" The words shot out of Leafshine's mouth before she could stop them. Her feelings, which she had let brew inside her for the day, were too much for Leafshine and poured out of her as water spilling from the dam. "Jealous how always having a patrol escort you wherever you go? Jealous of watching sick cats suffer because the medicine cats used up their catnip for your harmless sore throat? Jealous of being always treated as a special cat? Jealous of watching innocent cats die because of an argument?" Leafshine's voice broke as she thought of Deerpaw again, and her throat closed up. "What does she have to be jealous for?"

Duneflower's green eyes were sympathetic. "You always get the spotlight, Leafshine."

"Sometimes I would wish I weren't in the spotlight!" Leafshine hissed.

Duneflower's eyes hardened. "Well, you know, Dewpetal has a point." She turned around and padded out of the tunnel, after Dewpetal.

Leafshine stared after the retreating rear of her mother, her claws unsheathing and sheathing, sinking in the grassy turf.

Why did everybody have to judge her for what she was, not who she was?