Silence. Complete and utter silence. All is dark. A sense of terror lingers in the still air. A look around shows no possible escape. I feel my way to a wall- a cave wall. I circle, searching for relief from this awful loneliness, silent fright. No use. I collapse.

My eyes open to a brightness I have never before seen. Not that I've ever seen anything, anyway. I look around, drinking in my first sights, first memories of what the world is.

I see a pretty, furry mass to one side. A pretty color. My mother, I think, She is so pretty. I continue my gaze, and see three bundles- My siblings. I mew, and my mother stirs. I mew again, wanting to see more, but unable to with her back to me. She wakes, and stretches. She turn to me, and a smile breaks across her face. She bends down.

"Hello, my sweet. Your eyes are open, at last." She licks my ear. She flicks her long, sweeping tail across the ears of my sibling. "Wake up, darlings." she crows. Slowly the other kits open their tired eyes and turn to us. All three immediately are alert.

Welcome to AshClan, my kits. Doe, Flame, Cloud, Barkkit. Den. I look again at my siblings. Barkkit is very small, and dark brown. His eyes are green. I wonder what mine are. I watch as my sisters assess me, while my only brother sits, looking at the ground. "Do you want to go outside?" All of us nod at our mothers words. She grins, and stands. She leads us out.

"Hello, Rabbitleap." She says, nodding to a golden tom. He simple nods. "Flower." he says curtly. As we walk away, Doe asks Flower, "Why was he so grumpy? Sunnygrass was nice when he visited us." Flower stops, and Flame walks into her, before falling on his tail.

"Well, Doe, we are she-cats. We are their slaves. We do as they say without question. We must be polite, however rude the toms may be. Barkkit, however, you will grow into one of them. You may choose a personal slave, and all must obey you. In RainClan, it is the she-cats who rule, while the toms must be enslaved. If you disobey, you are punished. But if you do something good for the Clan, a she-cat may become an apprentice, and have the chance to become a full Clan member."

I finally speak. "Why? Why can we not be equal? Why must one be superior to the other?" I am amazed by my voice- soft, pretty.

Flower, smiles sadly. "I have no way of knowing, and know intention of lying about it."

She gives us a tour of the slave quarters, and even lets us peer out into the beautiful main camp. We lay back in our nest. Doe, Flame, and Barkkit have drifted into sleep. I ask my mother one last thing.

"Flower, what do my eyes look like?"

She smiles at me with her eyes shut. "They are the most wonderful eyes, unique and mysterious. One eye is the brightest of green, and the other is the darkest of blues."

I try to lie awake and contemplate, but soon the sleep takes my mind over. I dream of myself, with my mother, on the edge of a cliff. I watch, stranded, as she is blown off. I shriek, and wake abruptly. I soon fall back under and have nightmares all night.

A/N: So the first chapter is really boring, but it introduces Cloud's inquisitive side. It's also really short, but hey, two chapters at the same time, so. Please review, etc, etc. Thanks!

Fallen Goddess of Rome~