Has anyone thought to look deeper, beyond our appearances? I am small, deemed weak, but no one sees the power inside. My eyes they say, are only of one cursed by the Dark Forest. They say I have captured a soul and kept it as my own, and that's why I look so different on either side. But no one understands. I have feelings too you know, and none of you listen. Sure I may be different but aren't we all the same?

SHATTERED: Split

Chapter 1- Sunlight In The Shadows

"Come on, Leafkit, open your eyes. They'll see past your pelt, I promise." My mother had urged me, her voice strained. And so I did.

A scream came out of my mother's mouth, and every cat rushed in to help her. One of them looked at me, my mismatched pelt and eyes. "It's the devil!" The cats looked at me, and I saw fear in all of their eyes as they looked at me. Even my voice was somehow wrong. I mewed for my mother, hungry. But they all took one step back.

"This kit has been touched by the Dark Forest." I heard somecat whisper, and there were nods.

A tom pushed through the crowd, and looked at me, his eyes aghast. "We have to get rid of her. This... thing, will kill us all." I mewled again, but no one even bothered this time. There was a sharp pain in my tail, and I fell into darkness.

I saw the moon in the sky, high above me, and I was being carried by the same tom that had ordered to get rid of me. "I'm so sorry, daughter. If I tried to keep you, we would both be dead."

Sensing this was bad, I wailed, my quiet voice loud in the silence of the forest. "Hush. I was supposed to kill you already, but I'm going to leave you by the border, okay? Maybe somecat'll take you in."

If I had known, I would have tried to tell him to just kill me. Maybe I would have gone to the stars instead. But instead he left me to a much worse fate.

It was nearly three sunrises later, and I was nearly dead. No cat had come to save me, and I was lying there, dying. How was I supposed to care for myself? I was only a kit. I had wailed until I had no voice left. Then I had cried, until there were no more tears. I had tried to crawl towards any cat, anything but my legs had given out, from nothing to nourish me. The vultures had been circling me, but had not swooped down for the kill yet. I had already learned what I needed to know about life in just a few days of my life. That life was cruel, and I couldn't trust any cat, they would just leave me to the vultures. Finally, on what I was sure was my last hour, two cats came into the clearing. I hissed, having no words to tell them to go away. "No, no, no!" The she-cat cried, running to my side. "Who could have left this kit here to die, who could be so cruel!" She exclaimed.

The tom's eyes were wide, but he was calm. "We need to get this kit back to the camp." I thought they must not have seen my eyes yet, and so I closed them, tightly. "Now."

I felt them carry me in their jaws, but there was nothing to listen to but silence. I soon fell gratefully back into the darkness.

I woke up, next to what I thought was my mother, and I immediately went to eat, starving. I kept my eyes closed, maybe they wouldn't abandon me this time if I didn't open them. "She's awake, is she?" I heard the tom's voice again.

"Thank the stars." The she-cat who had saved me, sighed with relief.

After I was done eating, I went to sleep again.

This was the same thing for three more days, eating, listening, sleeping.

Finally, I thought I was alone, and opened my eyes to properly examine my surroundings. Instead, I met with two green eyes, and I knew I was done. I stumbled forward, running, thinking that this time, they would kill me. But I didn't get far. I collapsed at the entrance of the den. I felt jaws pick me up again, and I wailed, swinging around, trying to bite my captor. "Don't kill me this time!" I screamed, tears running down my face as I knew it was hopeless.

The tom sat me back down in the middle of the den, and I immediately ran for outside, thinking he was getting ready to kill me, and the vultures would have a meal this time. I fell at the entrance of the den, and froze to see that cats were everywhere, and I was in a huge cave system. I scanned my surroundings to see the light came from a hole in the ceiling, too high for me to reach. I hid around the den's entryway, in a little hole. I curled up there, hoping I could hide. "I'm not going to kill you. It's okay. I won't hurt you, and I won't leave you either." I heard the tom say, calmly, and I crawled out, knowing there was no where to escape to anyway. He was my only hope.

"They'll see!" I mewled frantically, my heart pounding as I felt all of the cat's eyes on me. I closed mine, and hoped for the best. He carried me back into the den, and sat me down again.

"What are you so afraid of?" The tom whispered in my ear.

"They said I'm the devil, and they were going to kill me." I whimpered.

I opened my eyes to show him them, thinking that I was dead anyway, why not show him. He stared back at me, and I actually saw him this time. He was a light gray tom with two green eyes. "All because of your eyes?"

"They said it was my pelt too."

"Heartless pieces of fox dung." He spat. "Come look at yourself, over here, in this pool. I bet you haven't had the chance yet, have you?" He smiled at me encouragingly.

I padded over to him, and looked at myself in the small pool. My eyes widened. I saw myself there, and frowned, my heart sinking. "I'm there too. They were right. I am broken."

The tom looked confused. "Any cat can see themselves there, because it's reflective. I can see myself too. It's okay. You aren't broken."

"But I am. You don't understand. There's two of me." I had finally seen what they meant. I saw two of me there, one side orange with a green eye, and the other black, with a blue eye. The only thing that was the same was my nose. And it was pink, unlike the tom's.

"There isn't two of you, you just look that way," The tom explained.

"Then why did they try to kill me?" A sharp feeling bubbled up in my stomach and I wanted to lash out at something, anything.

"Some cats are superstitious, and their beliefs can lead them to stupid things." If I had only understood how much it could hurt.

"Are you superstitious?" I asked worriedly.

"No, no. I'm probably one of the least superstitious cats you'll ever meet. Hey, you haven't told me your name yet. Mine's Sun." I smiled at the tom, Sun.

"My name is..." I hesitated, wanting to hide away my old name lest some cat try to hurt me for it later. I had already felt so much pain, in the short life I had led so far. I thought about what I had already gone through, only a kit. "Splitkit."

Sun looked at me, a bit concerned, but looked away almost immediately, as I looked at him. "So about five moons until apprenticeship. You're an advanced kit, you know."

I looked at him. "I'm not as young as I look, and I felt all of that. I haven't shut that all out, and believe me, I would love to. But it may matter one day, and I may die if I do not have the memory. I am two moons old. I opened my eyes late, and look where that's gotten me. Maybe I should've never opened them at all." My two mismatched eyes stared at me in the pool of water on the floor.

"But then, you wouldn't be here, where you don't have to worry about your eyes and appearance everyday." Sun smiled at me, but I only nodded.

"True."

Differences set us aside from others,

Similarities only bring us closer,

But we cannot judge by the outside,

Only by the inside.

-The Darkness Within