"D-Don't hurt me... P-please," Cherry begged, looking up at the rogue as her entire body shook. "L-let m-me go, p-please...!" The rogue snorted and curled his paw around her, claws digging into her sides painfully as she cried out, desperate for help.

"Don't touch her!" barked Citrus, struggling against the paw holding her down. "I'm gonna hurt you really bad if you hurt her!"

"Yeah! Let go of us so we can escape already!" Lark fought, thrashing against her cage. The brown rogue held his two sisters down with a single paw, looking amused as the two struggled to break free. Citrus growled, sharing the same anger as her younger sister.

"A-Apple, help me!" shrieked Cherry, voice like shattered glass.

"Let my sisters go!" he snapped, jumping into the clearing, facing the two rogues with a brave face despite the shivering in his legs.

"Sisters?" One of the rogues repeated, the word stabbing him in the heart.

"What do you mean by 'sisters'?" The other challenged, looking curiously at Citrus and Lark. "You mean these Imperfects?"

"They aren't Imperfects, Imperfect!" he fired back. "They're my sisters and that's that!"

"Are we, Arrow?" Cherry's voice dropped to a tone he thought she didn't have. She turned around and dangled in the rogue's grip, amber eyes flashing coldly, a look that didn't suit her soft demeanor. "Am I really your sweetest, dearest, little sister?"

"O-Of course," he argued, fighting his fur. "You're my little sister..."

"And what about me?" Lark growled. "What about me, older brother? Am I really your sister or am I just a random Imperfect?"

"You're all my sisters! Why are you asking this?!" he demanded, fear starting to swallow him.

"Because you claim to hate Imperfects so much," Citrus hissed out, mist swirling around the clearing. "But here we are... But you are my little brother, aren't you? Surely we're related."

"Bad dreams, back away!" A loud voice shouted and Arrow snapped his eyes open just as a cream leg came flying at his face. He didn't avoid the kick soon enough and Spring's back leg smashed into his nose, making him stumble in his nest.

The healer held herself up with three legs as she crammed her paw in the spy's face. Arrow spat out the paw and shook his head, rubbing the side of his head with his own paws, waking up his way. He finished and glared at Spring, who stuck her tongue at him and darted away, standing at the opposite side of the den, crouched and ready to jump again.

Acting like a kit, she jumped into another position and lifted her right paw over her face, peering at him with one, emerald eye. Spring narrowed it at him, her eyebrow furrowing. "Are they gone yet or do you need another kick to the face?"

"Kick to the face?!" he sputtered, lashing out. "Don't do that to me!"

"I am a healer, my job is to heal cats no matter how hard it has to be," she responded heartfully, removing her paw from her face. "But seriously, you really need to stop going to sleep."

"Sleep is an essential part of my life," he remarked. Frowning, he said, "Why do you think I need to stop sleeping? Is my brother doing better than me with less sleep?"

"No, not at all," she answered. "I hardly talk to Blaze since all he cares about is the tribe's safety and his family's well-being. You're one of the worst sleepers I've ever come across, though. The nightmares didn't start coming until three days ago."

"Maybe it's just side effects from you seeing Hurricane three days ago. Her imperfection clung to your pelt and then you spread it to me," he fired back. "My punishment is over so I can finally get away from you."

"Hmph! Fine by me!" Spring turned her back, scoffing. "Good luck with finding a she-cat that will tolerate your attitude."

"Who said anything about that?!" Arrow hissed, hiding his embarrassment. He got up and moved toward the exit, casting a dark look at the healer. "And for your information, good luck finding a tom that will be willing to have your kits."

Spring and Arrow gave each other one last look, one filled with riddance and relief. Then the spy took off, storming away before the healer could snap something at him. He did hear her snarl and return to sorting herbs, stuck in the world she fled to.

He pushed forward and went straight for the scouters' den, aimed for a particular cat. However, he didn't need to enter the den because the she-cat he was looking for was standing at the side, her eyes raised in amusement. Arrow slid close, making sure nobody could eavesdrop on the conversation. Eyeing the camp one last time, he yanked his mother closer, forcing her to look at him.

Dandelion hardly resisted and let him drag her to the side. Not knowing how to approach the conversation, Arrow slapped his tail on the ground repeatedly, hoping that would get an idea flowing or at least understandable words to come out. His mother raised an eye and sighed, watching as he struggled to talk.

Finally, he finished and glared at her. "Can I ask you something? Something really important, Mother."

"It doesn't look like I have another option," Dandelion mumbled. "And why so much hate?"

I should kill you right now... Arrow thought, fighting to keep his claws in his paws and to keep his fur straight, trying not to let his bloodlust show.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked, concerned. "Have you still been having those nightmares?"

"Reality is colder than fantasy," he spat.

"What?"

"Mother, be honest with me," he demanded. Collecting himself, Arrow felt his heart twist and turn as the words came out of his mouth, knowing he was cutting open his little sister's heart with each word. "Is Cardinal my little sister or is she just an Imperfect that was adopted into the tribe that went unnoticed?"

Dandelion's eyes flashed with hurt at the words. She opened her mouth to say something and then reconsidered, shutting it. The silence was enough to answer for him, knowing that there was a definite answer that could be worse or better. Perhaps it was just him overreacting - the one thing he could do. Maybe his memory was bad and Maple was just lying to give him something to occupy his thoughts with.

But the look in his mother's eyes told him he hit a near bullseye.

"Why do you want to---"

"Answer the question," he snapped, holding back his emotions. "Just answer the question. Then you can talk all you want."

"I don't approve of your tongue," she growled. "But... your answer is yes."

I knew it.

"But I don't want you to take it so seriously. Your whole life, you always knew Cardinal as your sister and you had an unbreakable bond with her. Seeing how you bonded with her despite the truth made me hesitate and I couldn't bring myself to tell you. That goes for all of you."

Arrow let out an angered huff through his nose as he stared at his paws a little too intensely. His paws shook and he tumbled to the ground, memories of a sweet smile shattering into tiny pieces of glass with a single arrow. A bond he cherished became the thing he hated and despised with his entire being. All that it took was a single shot and then she'd be nothing more than a fragment of his mind and a lowly Imperfect who, unintentionally, lived a life she wasn't worthy of.

That innocent and loving gaze from Cardinal's eyes would turn monstrous and harmful, her angelic voice became a voice that demolished any hope of achieving a perfect status. The tiny figure stalked through a dark forest as ice spread around her, mocking him for letting an Imperfect into his life. For letting an Imperfect get so close to him that made him think of her each passing day.

For letting an Imperfect become his little sister whom he loved.

"Thank you, big brother," her voice whispered, turning cold and harsh.

"... Why," he managed, choking on his own voice. "Why? Why did you let an Imperfect into the Tribe of Shining Suns?"

"I'm not saying a thing if you're going to put up some kind of fight," Dandelion declared. "I have nothing to lose if you say anything to Eagle. I'm getting older and don't care if I'm kicked out. You, on the other hand, might not be so lucky."

"What? Explain," he snapped, unleashing his claws and lashing his tail. But I already know the answer...!

"Dig your own grave or keep your mouth shut," Dandelion ordered. The scouter sat down and let out a long sigh, curling her tail over her paws to distract herself. "You know I wanted to tell you this for the longest time. Then you got so... focused on perfection that I knew telling you would destroy you."

"Just tell me what's behind my birth and why you let an Imperfect into this tribe." His patience was running low and he did his best to control himself as cats began to disperse and return to their dens. Arrow shuffled again and went to the back of the den, his claws leaving a trail.

"I was never able to have kits of my own. I found it as the Tribe of Endless Star's punishment on me for killing and abandoning my family. Sabertooth never cared and tried to convince me it was okay, but I just wanted to have kits and give them a family relation I never had." Dandelion looked to the side and out the exit, eyeing the sun overhead. "Then I found him."

"Found him?" Arrow repeated.

She nodded. "Our Alpha wasn't so tight back then. I think I liked Eclipse more than I ever did Origanum. Anyway, I had gone out as usual for a walk and stumbled upon an Imperfect mother heading toward the Training Den. I followed her and watched her hide something as she made her way up to the place. Obviously, she was slaughtered.

"But then I looked at what she hid and found a tom kit with the darkest pelt I'd ever laid my eyes on. I instantly realized what his mother was trying to do and wanted to honor her wishes and took him in, nursing him as my own. I came back to the tribe and Sabertooth knew the truth yet he said nothing, promising to raise the kit as his own."

Blaze. Endless Stars, Arrow thought, narrowing his eyes at the beta.

"I went exploring and found another kit, this one a calico. The scent on her didn't belong to the tribe, indicating her birthplace. I didn't let that stop me and took her in and she became the younger sister. I was happy, even though they weren't my real kits. Never once did I complain, neither did your father."

Maple... has she figured it out? How is she going to react? Arrow couldn't block out the sound as his paws forced him down, letting him hear the words fill his mind, crushing that bright sun.

"Then I caught a whiff of my younger brother, Leopard. I chased him for what seemed like moons until I stumbled upon another she-cat. My brother was gone and I was left with this tiny kit between my paws. I took her and came back, introducing her to her older siblings. A moon later, I found a tom kit hiding, crying that he was lost." Dandelion blinked sadly, placing a paw near Arrow. He backed away from it, trying to fight his memory for that day.

All he could see was blurry images and black and white. He pressed his ears against his forehead and clenched his teeth, whisking his tail back and forth.

"I met a dying mother, begging that I would at least take her only kit away so she wouldn't catch the sickness she had. I listened and was debating whether to leave her or not since I already had four. Sabertooth came and convinced me to take in that she-kit. The battle came and went and I watched as he died, struck down by Imperfects. I bore no hate toward any of them and he told me there was one more kit he wanted me to protect."

Blaze. Maple. Hurricane. Me. Serval. Cardinal...

"And when I saw that tiny she-kit, I fell in love with her and took her into the tribe, knowing that I was committing some kind of sin against the tribe. But I don't regret any of it." Dandelion curled her tail around his paw encouragingly. "You five are proof that Imperfects can be 'perfect'."

He said nothing as memories swept past him. Times when he looked up at the shining sun, his grin growing larger and larger as hopes and dreams soared. When he fell during training and one of his siblings came by and picked him up, encouraging him to try again because perfection was the key. Then he looked down at his paws, five silver bonds attached to them like spiderwebs.

Only two had snapped while the others were firm and strong, unbreakable. He extended a shaking paw and tested the strength, jerking his paw back just as one nearly snapped. Blinking over and over, Arrow hoped to shake the image away but it stayed on his paws, ensnaring him.

In the distance, something flew for his paws and he jumped, turning his back to shield them from whatever. Pain like a thousand thorns rippled through his back as a sharp end dug into his organs, making him wither. Arrow dared to turn around and spotted a feathered stick impaling him, threatening to break the silver strings that resided in his paws.

And Dandelion snapped him out of the illusion but the strings remained tied to his paws.

Worry flashed through her face and she rested a paw on his shoulder. "Do what you want, Arrow. Would you rather have lived the life of an Imperfect or live in the Tribe of Shining Suns?"

"Imperfects aren't allowed in this tribe," he snarled, backing away from her touch like it was fire. "But just because I was born an Imperfect doesn't mean I am an Imperfect."

"Stop twisting the lies." Dandelion snarled, her cold eyes pinning him in place. "I've heard you claim every kit born with Imperfect parents is an Imperfect through and through. They'll never get the chance to live here, and they don't deserve to live all because they're imperfect."

"I... I... You don't know that! My real parents could've been hunting and left me there!" he snapped, knowing the excuse was poor.

"Arrow." Dandelion's voice came out strong. "You were born under perfection and strived to be perfect. You still are perfect, regardless of your birth. Understand that---"

"Just shut up!" he snapped, a little too loud. Blaze perked his head up and noticed the two and came closer. Arrow hissed, fur bristling with anger as he tried to curse and spit on his mother. Every nerve of him told him to snap at her right then and now and kill her for sneaking in six Imperfects into this perfect tribe.

But any time he looked at her, he saw the look of his little sister reflecting in her eyes, knowing that she was out there, somewhere - that wasn't the Tribe of Endless Stars.

"What's going on here---"

"Be quiet!" Arrow snapped at Blaze, whirling around to face his older brother. "You know nothing so you don't have the right to say everything's fine!"

"Arrow, you're over---"

"I said shut up!" he roared, lashing out, claws scoring across Dandelion's cheek.

And he heard Cardinal's screech instead of Dandelion's.

Blaze snarled and advanced, turning on him. Arrow stopped what he was doing and stared at his paw, eyes widening at the blood that stained the tips of his claws. He looked up and saw Dandelion rubbing her cheek, showing no anger or hate as she cleaned the wound. The spy glanced at his brother's angered face, ready to shout at him. He felt numerous eyes on him, all silent as they listened to his outburst.

He stumbled back, the world around him going numb. Blaze was snapping at him for sure and he was certain that Dandelion was holding the beta back. Arrow spun around, refusing to look at Eagle's judgmental look from the highrock, watching the family. Enraged, he turned on his paws and barged through his mother and brother, refusing to stop.

His paws took him out of the camp and down the path, pushing forward despite the burning in his lungs. The two sides of the territory blurred together in a mess of green, perfection and imperfection joining together for a single moment. Arrow snarled and the two sides parted once again, the right growing taller and taller, flourishing like a budding and the left dying and shriveling into ashes as nutrients poured out of the trees, becoming nothing more than a barren wasteland.

And then his paws gave out and he collapsed, staying in place for the longest time. His lips curled back, trying to snarl and cry at the same time. Arrow forced himself up and faced the sky, the bright sun becoming a dark moon, mocking at him as the rays that once dressed him left, going to a true tribe cat.

Then he yowled, letting the sound of his own shrill voice drown out his senses.