"Raise your right paw up a little higher," Blizzard instructed Ash, who stood on his toes and fell over a moment later. Tanager and Hare snickered and puffed their chest out as they rose onto their back legs, swiping at each other under Scarlet's careful eye.

"Not again!" Ash complained, getting back on his paws to stand. "Why can't I get this! This is stupid!"

"Don't get discouraged," she encouraged. "Even I don't get the moves correctly. It'll come to you in time. We aren't perfect and don't have to worry about mistakes."

"I know..." The runt grumbled, flicking his tail at the other runts. "But I wanna be like them! I can't get this down! I just wanna fight!"

"And you'll fight when the time comes." Scarlet stepped in, blue eyes alight with hunger. "But you can't slaughter anyone quickly if you don't have a good grip on the moves!"

The three runts' eyes lit up at the thought and jumped back into their brawl, wrestling each other to the ground, with Ash on the top as he shoved his paws in Tanager and Hare's faces. The runts squealed and thrashed, kicking each other as Scarlet laughed, enjoying the dual.

We don't need to scare anyone, Blizzard thought with a gleeful smile. But I do remember my training and the threats of going days without food or forced to sleep in a fox den. How I miss those days.

Seeing that Firestorm's loyal friend was handling the training, she slipped off and headed toward Lizard, who knelt by a small pool of water, washing something. As she approached the tom, she noticed the surface of the pool was a shade of red and stopped, swallowing the guilt of Crescent's blank face staring at her. The rogue meant nothing to her and she hadn't found herself dreading sleep, knowing that the she-cat would appear in her dreams.

But Lizard continued to scrub his paws clean of her blood.

The tom glanced over his shoulder and noticed her arrival and quickly skipped aside, allowing her to sit by him. Blizzard peered at the pool, her eyes on the clot of red dispersing in the water. Lizard threw his tail in the water, mixing the blood with the rest of the water. She didn't hesitate or flinch when a splash hit her in the eye, the droplet sliding off harmlessly.

"Can I help you? Or did you finally discover your undying love for me?" Lizard allured with a grin, a purr escaping his throat in a seductive way.

Unimpressed, she reached a paw behind his neck and slammed the tom into the pool, effectively placing her paws on his back to keep him underwater as he thrashed, back claws digging into the dirt behind him. Water flew around them and Blizzard held him still, keeping an eye on his head as Lizard struggled to twist free. A small grin split her muzzle and she stepped off a moment later and the tom came flying out with a loud gasp, coughing up red water.

The others glanced up and spotted the two at the pool. Lizard fell on the ground, lungs desperate for oxygen as Blizzard sat by, uninterested. She locked eyes with a confused Scarlet, who dismissed it with a flick of her tail and tripped Tanager, who crashed into Ash and started up another brawl. Her eyes scanned the camp for her father, Viper, or Skull, her heart soaring with relief when she didn't spot their dark pelts.

Firestorm was the only one who looked remotely concerned and stepped forward, meeting his sister all the while giving Lizard worried looks. The gray tom got back up, spitting out the rest of his organs, immediately straightening up with the orange tabby nearby. Blizzard chuckled and dipped her head as an apology to him.

"Can I ask what happened?" Firestorm asked, looking amused at his sister and friend.

"I just wanted to have some kind of fun after that incident with Viper," she explained, covering up Lizard. "Arguing with him is something none of us want to do. We almost got caught, Firestorm." His whiskers twitched worriedly and spotted Poplar hanging out with Butterfly on a rock, the two she-cats gossiping.

"And you certainly caused Viper to yield," he acknowledged. "What exactly did you tell him? I could learn something from you."

"Then what have you been doing with Father?" she countered, waving her tail at Lizard. "I have no desire to change my course of action, obviously. I'll just do the same thing over and over until I'm sure I can kill Viper."

"Does that mean I'm going to get stuck in an endless circle of slaughtering?" groaned Lizard, looking at the pool. "Don't get the wrong idea, I'll gladly sin and kill if it means protecting myself or you. It's just I don't see why all of this is happening." He raised his paw as if it were coated in blood. The tom stepped back and threw himself in the pool, drenching his pelt clean.

Blizzard shook her head, erasing Crescent's blank stare. Pressing a paw firmly on the ground, she spun around, glowering at the highrock, blue eyes flashing. "Then ask Python for those answers. Firestorm, what exactly are you planning with Father?"

"I'm just trying to avoid another war when our forces are low. You know that he wants to take over the Tribe of Shining Suns even if it means destroying our tribe in the process. He's willing to sacrifice to gain, but if I can fill his head with lies, then that pushes the war further down the road," he explained.

"And how are you doing that?" she countered.

"By saying Hurricane told me about their forces. I remind him that their forces are large and outnumber us greatly, but I think he's starting to catch on." His amber eyes shifted suspiciously to the forest. Firestorm padded closer to the two for the next part. "The Tribe of Shining Sun's biggest weakness is the number of cats they have."

So that's where Father went, Blizzard thought, remembering Python and his allies storming out in a blaze of glory. How many cats are they going to kill themselves or are they looking for patrols coming from that tribe to kill?

"Kill enough of them and then there won't be a Tribe of Shining Suns," Lizard mentioned, digging his claws in the ground. "Why does that sound so dreadful?"

I don't think I could imagine a life without them always up in the mountains, Blizzard considered the tom's observations. Ever since I opened my eyes they were always there killing Imperfects left and right. It gave us all something to fear, but if they were gone, who would stop us if we step out of line?

Am I the one confused? Is the Tribe of Shining Suns really the right way to live? Nobody from the Tribe of Endless Stars or Never-Ending Shadows has ever come down and told us directly. These are simply beliefs. Blizzard gulped, tearing away from the fear. Am I really going to the Tribe of Never-Ending Shadows?

"Where are you, Tsunami? Are you up in the sky or in the ground?" she whispered to a fluffy cloud.

"But I need to tell you something," Firestorm pressed, features sharpening. Curious, Blizzard raised an eyebrow at him and inched closer to her older brother, sending Lizard a warning. The ally positioned himself away, his dripping back facing her.

"I don't think Father's himself anymore," he whispered. "I know he changed after our mothers died, but this doesn't seem like him. The things he used to value are getting trampled on now."

"And what has our father cared about so desperately?" Blizzard sighed, forcing a growl down her throat. Her tail twitched irritably, trying to come up with an answer or remember a moment when she saw her father drop everything he was doing to rush in and protect someone or something. She snorted, thinking it was just Firestorm trying to lighten her mood.

"Us," he replied.

Very funny. Blizzard raised a mocking eye at him. "As he promised to kill both Lightning and Wildfire, hardly shed a tear for Tsunami, and then has the right to claim he'd never hurt a hair on our pelt." 

"I'm saying that because I don't remember a time when Python went out of his way to kill a bunch of cats with only two other cats." Firestorm's head jerked toward the forest again, his fur standing on edge.

A familiar sense of doubt rushed back to her and clutched her stomach, making Blizzard narrow her stilted eyes. The world around her slowed and she felt as thought she could pick out each detail, down to Ash's paws tingling each time he fell down and up to Poplar's ears rising and falling like a tide, sensing the same hostility in the air. Her eyes darted around the clearing, searching each den for something out of the ordinary, blue eyes resting on each cat for a challenge.

Then her eyes spotted a flash.

And before she or Firestorm could shout an order, Macaw let out a horrid scream as a cat came flying out of the trees, crashing down on the she-cat. In a matter of seconds, the she-cat lay under the tom's paws, dead. More cats rushed in and Blizzard counted at least seven of them with the first wave. She sprung on her paws just as Lizard tripped over his paws and splashed into the pool again.

Firestorm wasted no time and grabbed his friend by the scruff, yanking him out, and threw the tom into the battlefield beside a feisty Scarlet, who used her body to shield the three runts. A disorganized yowl sounded and Shore threw himself into the fray with Moon following him, the two cats teaming up to take on the tom over Macaw. Unable to move with her mind scanning the surroundings, her back was exposed and the silver she-cat froze, trying to pick out the weakest member of the invasion.

"Blizzard! Get away from her!" Poplar shouted, snapping her out of her thoughts. With a menacing gleam in her eyes, the ginger she-cat tackled the incoming she-cat, stopping her assault on Blizzard.

It's the Tribe of Shining Suns... but why?! Blizzard thought, watching as Lizard and Firestorm chased down two of the cats. Shore and Moon managed to pry their enemy away from Macaw, Butterfly fought for Pike and Willow, who cowered behind the strong she-cat as they stared at their mother's body in horror, another cat dealt with Opal, Poplar wrestled the she-cat to the ground, but she couldn't catch sight of the last cat.

Her eyes were especially peeled for one of Hurricane's family. If there was any chance she could kidnap one of them and speak with them, that'd be another way she could work. She worried about her father and wherever he took Viper and Skull, questioning if the surprise attack was a part of their plan. If it was, Blizzard assumed it was to kill Lizard, the main target, and then weed out the cats he found useless or weak.

She glanced above and barely avoided the fifth cat that came spiraling down, claws reached for her eyes. Yowling, she ducked under the attack and twisted around, grabbing the she-cat between her paws, forcing the cat down. Sly as a snake, the she-cat slipped under and unbalanced her, which she forced all her weight on her left side, letting herself tumble and squash the cat. With her shoulder digging painfully into her enemy's back, Blizzard had the advantage and pressed her claws in the cat's skull, leaning close.

"Let's make things interesting," she threatened, running her paw down the gray she-cat's small head. "You tell me what you're doing here and I'll let you go, does that sound fair?"

"Liar," growled the she-cat. "You have the nerve to enter our territory when you know you'll end up punished for it."

"Oh? Enter your wasteful territory?" She taunted, giggling as she pressed her muzzle closer, ears strained for the fearful heartbeat of the she-cat. "I know I have no desire to enter that place ever since I've seen so much death over there. You're all just blind with the sun in your face all the time."

"Shut up, Imperfect!" The she-cat summoned enough strength to get up and threw Blizzard off. Flying through the air, she groaned, disappointed that the cat would put up a fight. She landed effectively, eyes searching for Firestorm in the fray, a part of her relaxing to see him knock down the cat chasing Lizard, who pushed himself forward with two paws, his other legs destroyed and suffering severe gashes.

Father has something to do with this, no doubt about that, she grimly thought, planning an argument she knew was futile as she avoided the enraged she-cat's attacks. Blizzard lashed her paw out, making sure to send the gray she-cat back a few paces. Using that to escape, she bunched her muscles together and sprang, making it look like she was going for the cat.

As she expected, the she-cat braced herself and reared on her hind legs, claws unleashed to clash. Instead, Blizzard landed behind her and darted off, weaving between the fight to make it to one cat. The she-cat yowled and was surely following her, making her plan fall into place. She grinned and dove under another enemy sent flying across the field by Opal, who didn't have enough time to celebrate her victory before Poplar crashed into her, fighting two toms.

Blizzard slipped by and sprung, flying by Firestorm's side to tackle another she-cat that tried to attack. Her brother looked up and sent her a grateful look before darting to Poplar and Opal's side. She got up, holding the wrestling she-cat and slashed her paw down at the right time, catching her previous enemy in the side.

"Tell me why you're here before I kill you," she threatened, looking at the two she-cats. "Do it!"

"Never in your life, you filthy Imperfect!" spat the first she-cat, coughing. "I'd rather die sticking true to myself than sink to your level."

"Don't play the victim card," growled the gray she-cat, rubbing her injured shoulder. "It'll make killing you something I find annoying and a waste of my time."

Blizzard clashed their heads without a second thought, red claws sinking into the dirt. "Where is Father? Is this how he's going to weaken their numbers? Killing them while sacrificing our lives?"

He plays his cards too much, she bit her tongue. One day, that's going to kill him. I wonder if I'll feel sorrow when I see him bleed out.

She groaned and scanned for the next cat, returning into the fray with a battle cry that sang a song full of anger, power, and sorrow.