Lily's life was never easy.

Lily was a rogue, a loner. She had no home, and both of her parents and all of her littermates were dead. Any place she went, she was immediately chased away and never seemed to be able to find refuge. Nothing had been right for her since her mother had died.

Lily had been born to two strong and loyal cats. Flower, her mother, was the daughter of Bone, who had helped lead BloodClan to victory. Because of this, she was given the best treatment for all of the cats that lived in the twolegplace. Flower didn't have to hunt for herself, but she was fierce and brave enough to do so. She had the perfect life.

Bone was protective of her, rarely letting her out of his sight. When he had to leave her to do things for Scourge, he would leave someone trusted to watch her and make sure she was all right. Flower was never exposed to any of the dangers and cruelty of being a BloodClan cat. She was only shown the soft sides, and Bone shielded her from everything else.

Bone often told her to choose a mate. He would not choose one for her, but strongly encouraged her to choose one for herself. Flower planned on, but had never seen any cat that appealed to her. Any who seemed strong and honourable had difficult personalities, and those who were sweet and intelligent were weak and low ranking. Flower wondered if she would ever find any cat to her liking.

And then, one day, Flower saw him. The tom had dark reddish-brown fur and bright blue eyes, which were staring right back at Flower. He was handsome and strong, and Flower could tell just from looking at him that he would be kind and caring. Flower loved him before she even knew his first name.

The tom's name was Cedar, and he could not have been a better match, as far as Bone was concerned. Cedar had been an excellent fighter, more skilled than any other except perhaps Bone and Scourge. Cedar had been fighting with Bone for a long time, and had become one of his most trusted advisors.

Flower had her first and last litter of kits three moons after meeting Cedar. Their father could not have been more proud, nor could Flower or Bone. The two toms grew quickly, and Bone and Cedar both trained one. Their names were Blizzard, for the first tom's pure white fur, and Ash, for the second's shadowy appearance. The she-cat, Lily, a small white cat, was not trained, for it was not customary for BloodClan cats to train she-cats, and even when they were trained, it was later in their lives.

So when Scourge came to ask if Bone and Cedar would fight with him, Flower eagerly volunteered her kits for the fight. Although the two toms were only eight moons old, they were good fighters, and Scourge seemed to think that the battle would be an easy win. If that was the case, there was no point in keeping Blizzard and Ash away from it. Besides, they'd have their father's help, as well as Bone's.

When the four cats left, Flower couldn't have been more proud. Cedar promised her to bring his kits back winners, and seemed assured that no harm would come to them. Bone was proud of the two toms as if they were his own kits, since he had never had kits of his own that he had brought into battle before. Flower had been assured that nothing would go wrong, that all would be well.

Flower waited back in her home, eagerly awaiting the news of victory to be brought back to her. She expected Cedar to walk in proudly, their two sons walking beside him, glowing with pride. Flower waited for Bone to come and announce proudly that they had defeated the Clan cats, and they would soon be living in a forest with more food.

But none of this ever happened, because only Bone returned.

Bone was soaked in blood, and he looked horrible. His face was covered with the defeat, which confused Flower, because she had already seen cats returning cheering with joy that they had won. Flower didn't speak for a few moments, looking at the cats returning to see if she could spot Cedar, or one of her kits. None of them were there.

"Bone… What's wrong? Where are Cedar, Blizzard and Ash? Why did they not return with you?" Flower asked. Even though she was concerned, she had never expected what Bone was about to say, and wasn't prepared to hear it. Cedar was so strong and brave, and Ash and Blizzard so young, but so skilled.

"Dead," Bone spat. "All dead. Ash was fighting a tom twice his size, and he was about to be killed. Blizzard and Cedar swept in to kill him, but the cat must have had a few friends, because suddenly they were fighting three cats. They lost."

Flower pulled Lily closer. Her daughter was already eight moons old, but Flower held onto her like she was a kit, and Lily clung to her mother as if she was a small kit again.

"They're… Dead?" Lily asked quietly.

"Yes, sweetie," Flower murmured softly. "Gone."

In the next few moons, things changed drastically for Flower and Lily. Bone was still in control of many cats, and the victory had drawn even more cats to them. But Flower and Lily didn't act the same. Bone was cold and heartless, but Flower and Lily both felt the loss in its entirety.

Bone taught Lily to fight before long, making sure that she could hunt for herself and defend herself if the need ever arose. Flower was distant and cold now, but Bone still had hope for Lily's future. If she could learn to be as fierce as Bone, then she would have a real future in BloodClan.

Flower's health decreased and decreased, while Lily grew stronger and stronger. Bone worried for his daughter, but he was concentrating on Lily's training. She was getting stronger and stronger, and she would soon be able to take care of herself, if she had to.

But one day Flower died. And everything changed.

Bone had cared deeply about his daughter, even if he had forgotten in the past few moons. Driven by grief and anger, he kicked Lily out of his home, and didn't let her help bury her mother. With no one left to go to, Lily had to try to survive on her own. But with Bone's strong influence over the twolegplace, there was almost nowhere to go.

It took two moons, but Lily finally found somewhere where she could live. An abandoned twoleg nest soon appealed to her, for there was an overgrown garden in the back. There was a small bush there, barely big enough to shelter Lily. But it was a home nonetheless, and it would allow Lily to hunt.

Hunting in the twolegplace was difficult, especially in a neighbourhood like that. Left over food from the twolegs helped to feed her, and she would occasionally steal food from kittypets and hunted any wild prey she could find. But it was not an easy life, and it was difficult to survive under such circumstances.

And so, one day, Lily decided to leave the twolegplace. She had heard rumours of a nearby forest, where there was plenty of prey and many separate groups of cats that lived easily in their home. Lily knew that they rarely accepted outsiders, but if she was lucky, she might be able to convince someone to give her shelter.

Lily had no idea what awaited her in the forest.