The pic is of Skykit!

~Gingerr

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Lionkit flicked his ears. The nice leader had led them to the nursery, a small cave in the side of one of the walls of camp. It was warm and roomy, and there was only one other queen in the nursery- who had not yet given birth.

"Can we pleeeeaaaase go out today?" Skykit asked Leopardcry.

"No." she snapped, glaring at the kit. Skykit pulled his ears back and dipped his head submissively.

"You're so rude." Lionkit snorted at his mother. "I'm going out anyway. See you whenever I chose to be back." He trotted out before his mother could reply and slipped out of camp, into one of the tunnels.

"Lionkit, come to me." a voice breathed in his ear. He shivered, ignoring it.

"No, he will lead you astray. Follow the path." another voice called intensely. Both voices were only whispers but he could hear nothing else.

"Follow me and I will show you the destiny owed to you." the first voice said temptingly. Lionkit hissed, becoming irritated by both voices.

"Do not follow him, he is trying to trap you. Come this way, to the light." A soft ball of light appeared before Lionkit and he jumped backwards, surprised.

"They lie!" the second voice hissed. "Follow me and I will lead you down the path of greatness... Of happiness and power." Lionkit flattened his ears. He was a little frightened, but he didn't want to choose. A crow fluttered in towards him, leading the way down a different tunnel than the ball of light.

The crow stared Lionkit in the eye, its beady eye black and void of emotion. Shaking, Lionkit raced past the crow, away from the light. His fear was growing. As he raced along he came to a cave.

It was dark but he could tell it had a high ceiling. It was cool but muggy, and the air felt close. Lionkit could feel moss beneath his paws, slick with dew. There was a small hole in the roof, but it didn't let in much light.

"Yes, this way." the voice urged, and then crow fluttered in and exited the hole in the ceiling. Lionkit padded around the cave, but tripped over something. Whatever it was it was furry and cold. "Look into its eyes." The voice commanded.

Lionkit did, and was horrified by what he discovered. The dark green eyes of his father stared back at him, glossy and lifeless. The now terrified kit gave a small squeal and backed up quickly.

"Look at what you did. You have done fine work, you should be proud." the voice encouraged him. A dark cat stepped from the shadows, a dark brown tabby with sharp long claws and harsh amber eyes.

"W-what are you talking about?" Lionkit replied in a small scared voice.

"In doing this you sent us a valuable servant and have created a masterpiece of blood and fear." the tabby said as he grinned at the kit.

"I don't understand." Lionkit backed away slowly, shaking his head.

"Follow me. I will teach you how to be strong, how to strike fear into your enemies and gain automatic respect from all you meet. No one will dare lay a hair on you for fear of what your strength may do to them in return. I will teach you to be greater than any other in that pathetic little clan you've joined." He circled Lionkit.

That all sounded very appealing to Lionkit. He felt weaker than all others he knew, and his self esteem was at the bottom of a lake too, it seemed. Strength and respect.... That's the perfect way to make Lionkit's life better, or so he thought anyway.

"How?" Lionkit asked, his ears perked slightly in interest.

"Let me show you. I will lead you to your great destiny. I am Tigerstar, but you will call me Father, because I will raise you infinitely better than your biological one." The tabby brushed against Lionkit gently. He gave Lionkit's ears a fatherly lick and the kit followed him, all the way to a forest filled with darkness and dampness. And thus was Lionkit's first visit to the Place Of No Stars, the Dark Forest.

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As Lionkit awakened from the dark and moldy place his mother awaited him, bristling and baring her fangs.

"Where have you been?" she growled.

"Here." Lionkit told her, his ears back. Be assertive, Tigerstar had said.

"Lies. Tell me where you went and why you're all scratched up." Leopardcry demanded. She knew, she just wanted the kit to admit it to her.

"I was here!" Lionkit snapped, swiped a paw at his mother's muzzle. Her flesh parted and blood flowered from the fresh wound in a stream. She hissed and smacked him back, three claw marks turning Lionkit's fur red. He hissed in defiance. Be aggressive, Tigerstar had said.

Lionkit reared up on his hind legs and slashed at his mother's eyes, turning them to two piles of mush as his mother screamed bloody murder. She was backed into a wall, and couldn't find her way out. Show no mercy, Tigerstar had said finally.

Lionkit went in for the killing bite, not realizing exactly what he was doing.

"Really bite down on her neck. Make her suffer for all the pain she's caused you." Tigerstar's voice whispered in the kit's ear. He hissed and followed the order. Soon his mother's screams ceased and she fell over limp- dead. Lionkit finally let go and blinked, looking at what he'd just done.

"No." he whispered. "No... Mom... Mom, please..." Lionkit begged, nudging his mother. "Mom...?" He prodded her. Tears began to stream down his face, which he buried into her bloody fur. "Mom, please... I didn't mean to... Just come back, please..."

He knew his attempts were futile, but he kept trying anyway.

"Just let her go." Tigerstar's voice growled harshly. Lionkit jumped away from the origin of the voice and buried himself in his mother's belly fur.

"MOM!" he screamed in both fear and regret as most of his world crashed down on him.