I'm back with a new story! I had this one stuck in my notebooks for a while and I really want to finish this one. Of course, I still wanna finish the others - I actually have a couple interesting endings to most of them (except Silence, haha) - but this one I'm very sure about. Notice the rating, please. I know, "rated T cuz Warriors!" but this one is gonna have some blood. Mild language. I like gore. There's none in this chapter.

I wish I had ended this before this all even started. I wish I never had this power. really, it was never a power; it was a curse.

Cloudfang and I padded back to the WindClan camp with a plump mouse clamped firmly in my jaws, my head held proudly as I dropped my catch into the fresh-kill pile.

"Nicely done today. Not all apprentices catch something on their first day," Cloudfang remarked encouragingly, chuckling heartily. "Go ahead and take a kill; you deserved it. I'll feed the elders for you." I watched as he walked away springily; he was surprisingly fit for a cat his age, and he was nearly an elder himself.

My heart rushed with a warm, liquidy happiness at his praise and settled down at the edge of the camp with a thrush. It was quiet here and was peaceful and relaxing after this evening. I was overall very pleased with today; I was made an apprentice, got assigned to a patient mentor, and caught my first prey (which I nearly missed).

I was sure that my future would be very bright and stable, and suddenly I was worried of where in the apprentices' den sleep tonight. I wouldn't be alone; there were four other apprentices in the den with me. I knew their faces and names, and I disliked two of them.

There was Beetlepaw and Blossompaw, brother and sister who were four moons older than me. I only had two moons with them in the nursery, and I vividly remembered my mother not liking their family. Their mother was arrogant and bossy, the type of queen who wouldn't hear a word against her kits. However, that didn't stop her from criticizing other kits. In turn, her kits turned just like her. Beetlepaw was a dimwitted, unfaithful little scourge. He was never scolded – he was sometimes praised by his mother, Poppyshade for being so clever – for wrapping nests in thorns and "accidently" nicking the younger ones. His sister, Blossompaw, was cold, it seemed that I wasn't apparently worthy of her. Instead, she spent her time at the apprentices' den.

I was more hopeful about Larkpaw and Heatherpaw. They only spent less than one moon in the nursery with me, so I vaguely remembered them. However, they were somewhat popular in the Clan, especially Larkpaw. Although she didn't appear to flaunt it, I heard that she was an excellent warrior and gave help around the Clan. Like Blossompaw, Heatherpaw was quieter, yet she was extremely pretty with her rosy silver tabby fur and stormy eyes. To top my expectations, Stormheart, who was the Clan deputy, was their father. Their mother was very kind and modest – shy, even.

Just when I was about to take my last bite of the thrush, I was stunned to see a black blur of a cat swoop down and literally hork down the remainder of the bird. I looked up, annoyed, only to see that it was Beetlepaw with a stupid grin on his narrow face.

"What in the name of StarClan? You could've gotten one of your own, you know," I said stiffly, my eyes narrowing. I suddenly noticed how big he got. They only had a few more months of being a warrior, and he was already sleek and tall. He wasn't built for combat, but I was just out of the nursery and he was, frankly, intimidating. He turned away and streaked toward the apprentices' den, leaving me confused and disgusted. Someone would think he would have at least learned something about tact. Damn him.

"Really?" I muttered, shaking off the feathers and stomping to the said den. He hadn't changed, at least. There was nothing I could do about him, but maybe I could claim a nest early.

Well, I was wrong about Larkpaw.

But once I stepped into the den, the atmosphere turned around completely. It was full with all four other apprentices in it: Larkpaw, Heatherpaw, and Blossompaw were already in there with Beetlepaw still grinning goofily with them. It was intimidating with such successful and older apprentices right in front of me, and that was when I discovered how irritated I still looked. It was too late to control my expressions, but what was I going to say about it? "Oh, he took my thrush and I'm angry because of that!" Really? I thought again, and keeping my rage contained, I said lamely, "So this is where I'm going to sleep?"

"No. You're going to sleep in the nursery," Blossompaw replied in amusement, offering a cold smile. My eyes narrowed in distaste. She didn't change much, either. I couldn't even tell if she was being sarcastic or not. "Anyway, Beetlepaw did it again, didn't he? He could never control himself. I'm Blossompaw."

"Larkpaw. Dawn, right?" the rosy gray tabby introduced herself rather unnecessarily. I felt shy again. Again, she was respected as an apprentice in the Clan, but I was suddenly startled about how her smile didn't match up to her amber eyes. It was as if all of the warmth the color usually provided had been sucked up and plastered sloppily over her face. "And here's Heatherpaw. Now you'll be sleeping there," she mewed bossily, pointing to a den right beside the entrance with her muzzle.

I stared, dumbfounded. They thought that this she-cat was nice?

"How come you choose where I sleep?" I mewed after a moment, trying to come over my shock.

"It's a matter of hierarchy," she said in equal loftiness, starting to lower her head to sleep. "Goodnight, Dawnkit."

I continued to gape, suddenly outraged. How dare she?

Beetlepaw was snickering silently as I settled seethingly into the nest they had already prepared for me. Meanwhile, Blossompaw too was preparing to sleep while Heatherpaw was cleaning her pelt rather more times than we necessary. She didn't say anything during our conversation, but she glance coldly at me. It strangely enhanced her beautiful features.

I noticed how Larkpaw had the nest closest to the back and I was closest to the entrance of the den. The scent of heather was also stronger where Larkpaw's nest was.

I lied down, still fuming as I stared into the dark, my back to the draft that was coming from the entrance. This nest was so uncomfortable. The opening was small, but the breeze was strong enough to make me shiver. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my leg and jumped out of my nest, biting in a yelp of pain. I heard a muffled snigger, presumably from Beetlepaw.

As I settled more deeply into the nest, I suddenly felt another sharp sensation, digging in from my belly to my side like tiny little rat claws. It made a scratchy, crunching sound as I shifted and to my dismay was an entire tendril of cruel brambles.

I stepped out of the nest gingerly and ripped out the brambles with unnecessary force. The harshness of the movement probably left thorns still digging into my belly, but I didn't care. I peered into the nest in the darkness and found the nest crudely bundled together with brittle plants from the moor. There were even other severe looking thorn springs imbedded in the nest. A particularly large spider sprung out and practically glided out of the den and I leaped back.

There was no way I could get all of the thorns out. I gave up and curled across from the pitiful excuse of a nest, anger continuing to bubble. It shamed me to be there without a nest and give them the satisfaction.

What was wrong with them? What did I do that made them hate me? Beetlepaw I could understand, but Larkpaw. Larkpaw.

Her power is revealed in the last chapter, and I'm really excited for it. Are the bullies irritating enough? They'll turn downright cruel later. Please tell me what you think!