Three pairs of eyes glowed and then faded into the inky darkness around her, taunting her.

      Vibrant green, framed by fluffy red. I died because I was searching for you.

      Then came the piercing amber orbs, ablaze with injustice. You were too weak to protect me.

      Finally, a silver pair emerged, boring deep into her soul. They were the newest to join her recurring nightmares.

      Your foolishness led to my death, the eyes whispered, more hateful than they had ever been alive. You murdered me.

      A weight began to crush down on her chest, until she was gasping for air. Yet none would come. The eyes drifted around her, watching and cursing her as she struggled for a breath. Just as blackness began blooming in her vision, her body jolted.

      Leopardpaw jerked awake, quickly sitting up in her nest. Sides heaving and spotted fur ruffled, the apprentice shuddered as the memory of her nightmare returned to her. Firetail and Redpaw's angry faces had haunted her for many days now. Maplefur's appearance was new.

      The apprentice tried to shake the memory off, but the stormy thoughts would not leave her mind. The day's light had faded, and only darkness filled the medicine den. There was no sign of Mousepaw, and Snowheart was missing as well.

      Leopardpaw twitched her ear in annoyance at the thought of her brother. How could he so easily tread on her nerves and then act as if everything was normal? Nothing was normal anymore.

      With a sigh, the small spotted she-cat rose from the nest and ducked out of the mouth of the cave. Darkness was falling over the stone hollow, but the bleak light left illuminated the forms of Stripedfur, Goldentail, and Rockface lifting something across their back. Many shadowy figures of cats lined the edge of camp, looking on with eyes glowing in the gloom. Leopardpaw gulped and felt as though she might retch.

      Not wanting to be seen, the apprentice ducked her head and hurried toward the dirt place. She couldn't bear to see her Classmate's faces. Or Maplefur's.

      No one even spared a glance her way as she crossed the stone hollow. Even Darkstar, sitting atop the High Ledge, kept his blank green eyes trained forward.

      Once she was out of sight, Leopardpaw let out a shaky breath. She quickly took care of her business and prepared to make her way back to the medicine den when a rustling just outside of camp made her ear twitch.

      She turned to the exit of the thorn tunnel, sniffing suspiciously. Prey would not venture so close to camp. The fur on her back rose instinctively. Another crunch, louder this time. Definitely not prey.

      A smarter cat might have alerted a warrior to the suspicious noises coming from the deep of the forest, but Leopardpaw was far beyond that now. She couldn't even bring herself to meet the stares of her Clanmates. Caring very little whether danger awaited her, the little she-cat ventured cautiously out of camp.

      As soon as she had emerged, a mass covered her jaws and stifled the surprised yowl from her throat. Leopardpaw felt the prick of fangs sinking into her scruff and her paws flew from beneath her as she was tugged powerfully deeper into the woods.

      She tried to twist back to her paws, but another force collided with her head, momentarily stunning her. Dizzy with fear, she watched through blinking eyes as the gnarled tree branches passed over the indigo sky above. There were no stars tonight.

      The weight suddenly disappeared and her head hit the ground with a thud. Several blurry faces danced in her vision, slowly coming into focus. Leopardpaw was not surprised to see the black and white muzzle of Weedpaw baring his fangs at her in a sneer, but the others filled her with an unexpected, deeper hurt. Fogpaw, Longpaw, even Blossompaw. All of their eyes glowing in a hostile light among the darkness of the forest.

      Leopardpaw scrambled to her paws, heart pounding and legs weak. She backed up against a tree and faced the other four apprentices, all larger than her. The spotted she-cat's legs shook with each breath. "What's going on?" she croaked.

      Weedpaw snarled maliciously. "Wouldn't you like to know." He reached out with lightning speed and landed a hard blow on Leopardpaw's head.

      The young she-cat was too dazed to dodge, and she almost fell from the impact. She teetered on her paws.

      Fogpaw's accusing voice rang out into the darkness next. "Surely you aren't that dense. You got Maplefur killed, all because you were trespassing on the territory that you lost us!"

      Leopardpaw was so numbed by fear that the older apprentice's gibe only caused a dull ache in her chest. Longpaw added his own blow to her shoulder, and even Blossompaw muttered something that sounded like "murderer" under her breath.

      Before she could recover, all of the apprentices had surrounded her, lashing out in the dark, landing heavy hits on her head, shoulders, and haunches. Leopardpaw's mind spun, and she found herself on the forest floor once more.

      Through the endless cuffs of the beating, she dimly heard Weedpaw's bitter voice. "You are a disgrace and an embarrassment to ThunderClan! You aren't my littermate."

      Then came Blossompaw's voice, lower but filled with just as much poison. "You are nothing but a bad omen."

      Leopardpaw tried to cover her head with her paws, but then teeth once again buried into her scruff and yanked her backwards. She yelped as Fogpaw held her still, and Weedpaw stepped closer, eerily slow. There was a pure hatred glowing in his yellow eyes that Leopardpaw had never seen before, and her heart fluttered in fear.

      Once again he set upon her, clobbering her again and again with heavy paws. Leopardpaw pinned her ears as she felt her brother's claws slash them, and her mind rocked from the force of the blows. She shut her eyes, willing herself that this was all just one of her cruel, cruel nightmares. A part of her willed her to cry out for help, but who would come running? Her dear Clanmates?

      Suddenly the blows stopped and her body slumped to the ground. Her head was still spinning, but she could see the four apprentices staring at her, jeering at the pathetic state of her. And Leopardpaw could only imagine what they saw. She could feel her wounds burning as they reopened and her whole body shook uncontrollably.

      Not waiting another moment for the apprentices to set upon her again, the small she-cat turned and bounded into the darkening woods, listening to the taunts fade into the forest behind her. She stumbled and nearly crashed into a tree, but regained her footing and kept running.

      Leopardpaw's entire body screamed in pain but she would not allow herself to slow. She pushed through the pain, narrowing her amber eyes and stifling the sob rising in her throat. The apprentice did not care where she ended up. She only wanted to get away.

      After her lungs burned so fiercely that she could not catch another breath, she finally slowed to a weary walk, coughing as she weaved through the undergrowth.

      "Leopardpaw?"

      The familiar voice caused her to freeze, and the she-cat looked over to see Lizardpaw standing a ways up the border, his tufted ears silhouetted in the darkness. He stood there expectantly. As if he had been waiting.

      Why can't I ever run off towards the WindClan border? Leopardpaw thought remorsefully. She hastily licked a paw and tried to flatten the ruffled fur on her head, wincing as she did so. Trying to ignore the intense throbbing all over her head, she tentatively limped over to her friend. She hoped Lizardpaw wouldn't notice the severe pain she was in.

      The worried flash in his green eyes told her that he did. "What happened to you?"

      "Nice to see you too," Leopardpaw croaked out, trying to offer him a grim smile. She quickly clamped her jaws shut when she felt a loose tooth.

      Lizardpaw was not amused in the slightest. Without hesitating, he crossed the invisible border and approached her, his green eyes raking over her wounds.

      Leopardpaw shied away from his closeness, her heart thumping. "Lizardpaw, what are you doing?" she hissed. "You just crossed the border."

      Lizardpaw gazed down at her, a stony look on his face. Leopardpaw hadn't realized how much taller he had grown, now having the build of a young warrior. His tall ears were dark against the dusk sky. "I think I have worse things to worry about," he said quietly, his eyes searching her face. "Now, are you going to tell me what happened or not?"

      Leopardpaw gulped.

     Quite a time later, as darkness fell over the forest, the pair still lay beneath the trees. Lizardpaw ran his rough tongue over the cuts on her shoulders until they ceased oozing blood. Leopardpaw spoke quietly, telling him everything from the incident with Maplefur to the attack from the apprentices. The tomcat listened, his tufted ears twitching but never interrupting.

      When she was finished, the spotted she-cat let out a deep sigh. "I just... I feel so guilty for her death, Lizardpaw," she mewed, her voice cracking.

      The tom gave her an unexpected lick over her nose. Leopardpaw flinched back and her eyes widened, though her insides grew warm.

      "It was all a terrible accident, Leopardpaw," he said quietly. He pointedly met her gaze, though she struggled to keep her amber eyes trained on his. "Iceberry never meant to kill that ThunderClan warrior. It was just a border skirmish gone very wrong. Flowerstar has been super high-strung ever since it happened. I think she's expecting ThunderClan to retaliate."

      Leopardpaw let out a breathless laugh and shook her head. "Darkstar was prepared to defend her, but there was no battle. She was already dead when he arrived to the border." The she-cat grimaced as she imagined the scene her Clanmates must have stumbled upon. "Besides, Darkstar is not the type to go seeking revenge. He is more noble than that..." Her voice trailed off quietly.

     Leopardpaw thought back to the days of her kithood, pouncing on Darkstar's tail as they lounged in the heat of the stone hollow. She had gazed up at him with pure wonder and admiration. If only she had known as a small kit that she would never measure up, never even have a chance at becoming a leader.

      For moons, Leopardpaw had longed for the black tom to be more assertive in response to the blatant disrespect from her Clanmates, especially Sandstreak, but she could not speak on his honor. Darkstar was a tom that was pure of heart, and he deserved the respect of his Clan. Leopardpaw had only brought misfortune. She deserved the opposite.

      The small she-cat choked on a sob and looked away, pinching her eyes shut. A dark, gaping hole opened up within her, deep in her bones.

      Lizardpaw studied her closely. Leopardpaw could almost sense the storm churning in his mind. Slowly, carefully, he pressed his thick pelt into hers. The she-cat tensed at first, and then leaned into him with a sigh. She silenced the small voice of protest in her head, for once letting herself enjoy the warmth of him enveloping her. She hardly had the strength to resist anyhow.

     Lizardpaw did not look away from her. "You are going to think I'm crazy for saying this," he began, then paused. "Why don't you come back to ShadowClan with me?"

      Leopardpaw snorted. "You're funny."

      Lizardpaw shifted beside her. "Think about it though." He turned to look at her, and the apprentice realized that he was being serious. She peered back.

      "ShadowClan's numbers are still low," the tomcat admitted. "Low enough that Flowerstar has been pressuring all her warriors to bring more litters of kits to the Clan." Leopardpaw made a face and Lizardpaw nodded in agreement. "Besides that, she would love the idea of a ThunderClan traitor," he finished with a smirk, gently nudging her.

      The spotted she-cat scoffed. "Didn't I already do that once? When I was taken away from ShadowClan, I saw the looks on all their faces. They despised me for being on ThunderClan's side! No, I couldn't go back to ShadowClan. They would never take me back anyway."

      Lizardpaw swished his fluffy tail. "If they accepted you once, they can do it again," he said firmly, his green eyes lighting up. "Besides, you were only a scared kit back then. Now, a pledge to ShadowClan would be far different. It would be a vow of a warrior. ."

      Leopardpaw shot him a narrowed look. "Who said I was scared?" she retorted, but inwardly the gears were already turning. Lizardpaw's proposal sounded ridiculous at first, but his argument made the prospect more appealing. Going back to ShadowClan was a threatening idea to say the least, but anything sounded better than remaining with her own hostile Clan. A glimmer of hope was rising in her chest, and the she-cat quickly snuffed it out. She would not get her hopes up for this absurd idea.

      Lizardpaw's long whiskers twitched and Leopardpaw side-eyed him, knowing he was about to tease her. "If you joined ShadowClan, I could also teach you how to hunt..."

      Leopardpaw's pelt bristled in annoyance. "I'll have you know, great ShadowClan hunter, that I caught my first mouse today!" She lifted her head up in mock arrogance.

      Lizardpaw purred in laughter. "Ah, yes, the rare mouse, one step up from those elusive beetles..."

      Leopardpaw playfully cuffed him over the ears. She caught herself staring at him and his brilliant green eyes, illuminated silver in the moonlight, and she quickly looked away. His fur was suddenly far too hot against her own, and the she-cat painfully stood up. "I should probably head back," she said quietly, her ears burning.

      Unlike her, Lizardpaw did not break his stare. It pierced her, green and bright as daylight upon the forest. "Alright. Just think about it, okay?" he said softly as he raised himself to a sitting position. "If you decide, I'll be around the border tomorrow."

      Leopardpaw gave him a quick nod, her heart skipping a beat once more. She gave him one last accusing glance over her shoulder. "And you better get your tail off of ThunderClan territory before someone less forgiving than me comes along," she joked, narrowing her eyes and smirking.

     Lizardpaw's whiskers twitched but he did not move, watching her with glimmering eyes as she retreating into the shadows of the undergrowth.