// since it's been way too long since I've written Imperfect, here is a quick recap that will briefly describe everything's that happened

// it should be obvious by now but this includes spoilers. no yelling at me for spoiling it when you're the one who decided to read this before you finished the other book

~~~oOo~~~

// Long ago, there was a queen that had attempted to escape the Tribe of Shining Suns with four of her kits - and older brother and sister, one that was born just a few days ago, and another kit she was expecting. The attempt ended in failure and the loss of her newborn kit, but the escaped queen managed to escape into the night with the help of another batch of cats. The story has been told and the fallen tree that fell that night still represents the scar of the queen who failed running from perfection.

Moons later, Citrus is born under Sabertooth and Dandelion, with her older brother Blaze, her older sister Maple, and soon after, an older sister to her younger brother, Apple, and two sisters, Lark and Cherry. Time passed and Sabertooth died just a few days after Lark, forcing Cherry to stay behind as the rest of her siblings left to the Training Den. There, Citrus and her family trained for twelve moons to enter the Tribe of Shining Suns, a tribe made out of perfection and grace. She watches as Blaze and Maple leave and as time ticks on, she eventually follows them.

However, a few moons before she leaves, Citrus runs into a band of Imperfects, cats who didn't live in the Tribe of Shining Suns and a disgrace to the world. She learns that the Imperfects are a huge group of siblings banded together, going by the name "Storm Siblings". Firestorm, Blizzard, Lightning, Tsunami, and Wildfire are all Imperfects and attempt to bring Citrus to their side, but her family comes in and engages, resulting in failure for the Imperfects and Citrus' close death. When she wakes up, she learns that the Imperfects were slaughtered effortlessly and Citrus vows to eliminate any Imperfect she sets her sights on.

As she sets out for the tribe, she comes across a small she-cat facing a group of rogues. After being pulled into the fight, Citrus learns that she helped save an Imperfect from capture and leaves before the she-cat can explain anything. Finally, she reaches her goal and is welcomed into the Tribe of Shining Suns by Origanum, the tribe's Alpha. Hailed as a perfect cat, Citrus takes the name Wildflower to prove her loyalty to her new home, promising to do her best to earn her place. She also reunites with her mother, Dandelion, proud to be back at her side after moons of absence.

Not too soon, Wildflower goes on a patrol and runs into a slight Imperfect invasion which turns into a fight between the perfects and Imperfects. To her surprise, she runs into the Imperfects she believed her family killed moons ago. Believing she can fight one, she fights an arriving Tsunami and ultimately loses, surprised at their difference in strength. She wakes up in a healer's den and spots an unfamiliar cat and after talking to each other, the cat introduces herself as Cinder, a Fallen Hero, and Origanum's best friend. News gets around about a Fallen Hero returning, sending the camp into a panic, but Wildflower does get a private chat with the Alpha out of the chaos. Before Cinder leaves, she warns Wildflower about an upcoming fate of her ultimately becoming an Imperfect. Angered, Wildflower snaps at the dead cat and tries to let the words roll off her shoulders.

Origanum tells her that Cinder was her best friend from long ago that had taken a risk and tried to murder a Beta, resulting in her exile and execution by the paws of her best friend. Held back by the memories spent with her, Origanum only knocks her friend out and places her in Imperfect territory, running away before anyone could see her. She explains that the only reason she became Alpha was to hide her mistake and if Wildflower should tell anyone, she'd be killed right on the spot. Wildflower only nods with Cinder's last words echoing in her mind, taunting her.

A few moons later, Wildflower has forgotten about Cinder entirely and the Imperfects haven't caused any trouble for her since the last battle. She welcomes her brother, Apple, into the tribe with his name new, Arrow. When she heads out on another patrol, she runs into another Imperfect going by the name Wasp, who talks to her from his side of the territory. There, she learns a little more about their view but refuses to bow down and storms away, Cinder's words coming back up.

Later, she learns from an elder about the story of the escaped queen, learning that her own mother was the cat that was abducted that night. Wanting to talk to her, Wildflower hurries off but stops by Origanum's den for more information to confirm her suspicions. However, she slips on her paws and makes a mistake in front of the entire tribe by a simple spook, giving her limited time to escape and run before the Alpha figures out what happened. Dandelion pulls her aside and gives her options, saying she'll always love her even if she isn't in the Tribe anymore. Wildflower makes a split-second decision and takes Snow, a defected three-legged kit that was doomed to die by her mother or father, with her and escapes, barely making it out. She breaks out of the mountain but ends up fighting Icicle and is saved by Wasp, fighting the cat himself and chasing her back out of his territory. Wildflower passes out after the run and fight, her fate sealed in the Imperfect's paws.

She wakes up in an unfamiliar den surrounded by five cats that she dreads. With her life in the paw's of the Storm Siblings Wildflower accepts her death but Wildfire, remembering the time when she saved her life, jumps in and defends her, offering her a position in the Storm Siblings instead of death. While her siblings disagree, Wildflower watches as the family gets into a small argument - mainly Tsunami and Lightning fighting each other - and sees her own family in the Imperfects. Firestorm eventually gives in, Blizzard is thrilled to have another cat to protect, Lightning had no say in the matters, Tsunami is doubtful and suspicious, and Wildfire gladly throws at Wildflower, welcoming the newest member of the Storm Siblings - even if they aren't related by blood. Filled with hope and courage, Wildflower nods and accepts the position, seeing the Storm Siblings as her newest family, and changes her name to Hurricane.

The Imperfect tribe, the Tribe of Roaming Spirits, starts to get used to Hurricane's arrival, but Python, the tribe's leader, disagrees and throws her through trials to prove her loyalty. The Storm Siblings stand up for her and claim that if she happens to be disloyal that they'd be the ones handling her. Hurricane promises she won't leave them and slowly gets used to the idea of them being a family-like symbol, but her mind still wanders back to the Tribe of Shining Suns and the two sisters she never got to see after she left the Training Den.

Hurricane and the others go on one quest at first to eliminate a fox that has been showing signs of hostility, passing by the Tribe of Shining Suns along the way. She spends a few moments staring at her old home before leaving, feeling a calming set of eyes on her back as she disappears after the Storm Siblings. During the walk, she learns about their family and the love they never received from their mothers. Unsure how to respond as her mother gave her love and her father did support her when he was still alive, Hurricane stays silent as Firestorm briefly explains how their mothers only got close to Python just for the idea of being his mate. Tsunami, fed up, snaps at Hurricane and her family for opening up to them too soon and storms off angrily. Wildfire tells her not to worry about her sister as Tsunami is the only cat in their family that has trust issues. Hurricane does wonder if there will be a day when she can finally connect with Tsunami.

Wildfire wants to go on another adventure after they finish up with the fox and their family accepts, bringing them back to the Tribe of Shining Suns. Tsunami and Wildfire head off to do some exploring and when they don't return, Blizzard and Hurricane set off, leaving Firestorm and Lightning behind. They find their sisters surrounded by rogues and they join the fight, determined to save their family. With Blizzard dealing with a majority, Hurricane rushes to Wildfire and Tsunami's side, fighting the last rogue. When she is overpowered, she falls to her side and tries to get up to flee, but Tsunami jumps in at the last second, fighting off the tom herself. She puts up a fight, bringing down the rogue herself but with the cost of her own life. The rogues flee after the Storm Siblings snap, and the sisters return to tell the bad news to Lightning and Firestorm.

Before they can react, Python arrives with the Tribe of Roaming Spirits and informs them of the raid on the other tribe. When Wildfire puts up a fight, Lightning is ordered to kill his sister to silence her. Refusing, Python then proceeds to seal Lightning's fate after the war, promising that he'll be the one to kill Wildfire. As Firestorm and Blizzard join, the rest of the tribe steps up, threatening to fight now. Python forces the protests to sit back and listen to orders and drags his tribe into war. Hurricane says nothing as she gets closer to fighting her other family.

During the fight, Hurricane runs into Icicle, who still holds a massive grudge against her. Instead, Icicle reveals that the grudge isn't about her mistake of losing to an Imperfect, but towards Hurricane for making her sister, Cherry, cry herself to sleep for moons. Hurricane tries to defend herself and claim she never stopped thinking about Cherry, but Icicle doesn't listen and continues to fight. When Icicle bests Hurricane, she is unable to land a killing blow out of love, not wanting to see Cherry's pained face when she learns the truth about her older sister's death. Running, Hurricane bumps into Lark, who is happy to see her sister alive and well. Lark, now going by the name Serval, explains what happened when she arrived and spends a few moments talking to her. When Hurricane mentions joining the Imperfects, Serval snaps and attacks her, only for Firestorm to jump in and tell Hurricane to leave the mountain.

She listens but stops the moment she spots Cherry in the battle, struggling to fight. Hurricane rushes over to her youngest sister and embraces her just as Cherry, now Cardinal, cries over the loss of Icicle, revealing her feelings toward the she-cat. The two sisters try to converse but Cardinal snaps, unable to control and understand herself anymore. Hurricane doesn't want to fight and as Cardinal continues to attack, she tries to reason with her. The battle ends with Hurricane lashing out and Cardinal stopping, letting the claws score across her next, releasing her from the twisted emotions. They have one more conversation and Cardinal eventually dies, her death falling on Hurricane's paws. Angered and blind, she attacks Razor out of pure hatred, killing him, but quickly regrets it and wishes the battle would end.

In the far corner, Origanum is seen running toward Mantis, who was forced up a pile of rocks by Summit, one of Hurricane's new friends. The Alpha screams and attempts to attack Summit but Phantom jumps in and drags her into another war. Mantis loses his balance and cries out just as Phantom pins Origanum down. Hurricane realizes the rocks are about to tumble and shouts at her friend to run while she still can. The warning comes too late and when Summit finally hears her, the rocks start to fall. She yelps and attempts to run just as a rock comes crashing down on her back, killing her. As Mantis falls down, Phantom looks over her shoulder to see the rocks and screams just as a rock smashes into her, taking Origanum down with her.

Cats stop and realize what's happened and crowd around the pile, hoping to see Origanum come out alive and well. When she doesn't and is announced dead, the camp is silent, the Tribe of Shining Suns and Roaming Spirits no longer wanting to fight. Python agrees to leave and return home, leaving the fallen cats for the Tribe of Shining Suns to deal with and promises to kill Wildfire when they get back, which she accepts as long as she can be buried next to Tsunami's resting place. Heartbroken, Hurricane tries to find a way out of the she-cat's death, but Wasp encourages her to talk to her birth family one last time before they leave.

She tries and joins her family mourn over Cardinal's death. Initially mad that neither of them noticed their sister's affection for a she-cat, Hurricane questions what happened. Arrow doesn't talk to her, angered that she came back and doesn't want anything to do with her while Serval tries to defend herself. Maple and Blaze aren't mad and are confused and stressed, questioning their lost sister. When Hurricane explains to them about the Imperfects and their ways, she isn't listen to as Arrow snaps over her. Finally, the Storm Siblings come in and tell them their opinions before leaving, taking Hurricane with them. Hurricane follows after telling each of her siblings and Dandelion a final goodbye, looking at the fallen body of Cardinal one last time.

They stop at the base of the mountain and Firestorm tells Hurricane that she's most likely going to die if she steps foot back at camp. Her only option is to run and find a place to live as she won't be accepted into either tribe. Unsure what to do, Hurricane proposes finding another way to live life that isn't perfection or imperfection. Blizzard likes the idea and they start to think of ways to achieve it. Wasp comes in and says he'll go wherever Hurricane goes in memory of Summit, claiming that they'll find a way. She ends up taking Wasp, Snow, and Lightning with her on the quest.

The plan becomes leaving Wildfire back at camp for her to heal, even if Python doesn't like it. Wildfire will have to play dead for a couple of moons and once she's ready to move again, Blizzard promises to leave and join her family. Firestorm says he'll stay with their father and learn as much as he can to stop the next attack while Lightning and Hurricane leave, giving Hurricane one cat she can rely on. They part ways, with Hurricane swearing on her life that her new goal is to find a way for perfection and imperfection to coexist.

Back at the Tribe of Shining Suns, Eagle takes the Alpha's position and declares new changes. He says that they need to get as many cats as they can and demands that the she-cats find a mate and give birth to as many kits as they can. He gives all of them two months to decide before he forcefully pairs cats up. The training method changes to an old way of six moons of training instead of twelve. Not wanting to have kits, Serval starts to plan a way to kill Eagle so she doesn't have to go through birth. Dandelion stops her and tells them they have to accept the new rules while they plan a way to get Blaze strong enough to challenge Eagle. Angered and forced to bite their tongues, Blaze, Maple, Serval, and Arrow can only sit back and listen as their home slowly crumbles to the ground.

Wildfire is forced to stay silent and still for moons, only able to move at night when cats have gone to sleep. She dreams of the day when she can finally get back up and do something, more than willing to help out with Hurricane's plan. However, she can only watch as Python grows stronger and stronger, imposing harsh punishments if results aren't good. Her world crumbles, knowing that Tsunami's death started the quicksand and the end of the Storm Siblings \\

Now all that's left is to find a way for both tribes to live together without another war breaking out. However, the task is difficult as both tribes rise to the top, the long war of perfection and imperfection continuing even after so many cats fell. The stakes are high as Hurricane wanders through enemy territory, knowing that death awaits her on each side. She continues to search and wander for a reason, but breaking into the tribes results in bloodshed...

And the impregnable defenses of each tribe haunt her in her very nightmares...