I grimaced as the kits tried to come out. The time was very inconvenient and it was in the middle of a battle. How I longed to be out with my mate, fighting the invaders. Not stuck in the middle of a dead thorn bush. I was a rogue. The invaders were just some random other group of rogues that decided to invade. My mate, Ice limped through the branches, his crippled foot buckling with every step. "Olive." He said. His wide shoulder frame opened the bush enough so that she could see the battle. My sister Ember was on the ground, creeping towards a curly-coated cat. The bush shivered as Ice finished coming in, his fluffy white pelt stained with the blood of intruders. I gasped. This kit was my first! It was a big white and ginger tabby she-kit. The next was a tortoiseshell tom with red paws, a red tail, and red ears. The last two were small white kits. A tom and a she-kit. The she-kit had died. Ice finally spoke. "How about Swift for the white she-kit? For her swift death." I was too sad to speak and nodded. "Can the white tom be Cloud? And the other tom Red?" I asked, thinking deeply about the she-kit. Ice suddenly looked at me. "Can the she-cat be Flower?" Of course. His first mate. She had died of kit birth. Their son, Beetle, had died later because he was trying to kill Ember. That was the only reason Ice would never forgive me. His eyes clouded as he realized what I was thinking of. "He was to arrogant. Don't worry." His comment about Beetle startled me. I looked into his big, amber eyes. "Like his father." Ice looked up. "And his mother. She was lovely." I pushed my newborns farther into my stomach. "She's not here." I snapped. "I am. Leave the past, Ice! Think about someone but her for once!" I managed to push my kits out of the thorn bush, on the side away from the fighting. I did what a normal mother would. I hid them in a small cave. The battle still raged on. All I wanted to do was fight beside my sister. As I raced to the battle, I thought of Ice. Something popped into my head that I had never realized before. Ice had pushed me out of the way when the monster came to get me. He had learned his lesson after he didn't save Flower from a monster. If he didn't love me as much he could've just left me. He let his back paw get run over so he could save me. Me. I ran into the battle and jumped on the same curly-coated tom that Ember had tried to tackle. His eyes shone with fury. I bit down on his ear, only to find a light ginger she-cat with a curly pelt, who looked no bigger than a kit, bite down on my tail. "This is not your battle." I hissed. "You dare challenge my daughter?" The curly-coated tom looked at me. The battle stopped. The rogues went back to their own group. My group's leader, Rain. The curly-coated tom, who I now knew was the leader, stepped forward. "Rain." His eyes shone. "You let me take our daughter, but you left me. This isn't over." Rain's eyes showed sadness. "Jasper, I wish that never had happened. Sand is still yours." The young she-cat spit her fury at Rain. As Jasper's group retreated, Rain looked sternly at all the cats. "This never happened." Her icy blue gaze rested on me. "Don't you have kits?" Ice nudged me. "I'll help." I nodded and showed him where the kits were. As we carried them back, I heard noises. They weren't like any I had heard before. "We need to get back!" I yowled as winds started to pick up. We ran back to see all the cats in trees. Ice soon found a hollow tree and we climbed up the inside, kits still in our mouths. There was a hole farther up in the tree that I poked my head through. I covered the hole up and we found a small ledge in the thick tree. We sat on it, the kits mewling for milk. I laid down, letting them eat their fill. My stomach clenched. A screech of agony came from outside. Ember. I jumped off the ledge and into the clearing. Ember was on the ground, a group of cats around her. They had collars, but Ember was bloody, so they were good fighters. My yowl split the air. I saw Ice sprinting into the clearing, Rain and his sister Mouse behind him. The group of cats laughed. There were about ten of them. The rest of our rouge group had fled before Ice and I had returned. A plump white she-cat with a rainbow collar padded forward and sneered. No one moved, but a speckled gray tom snarled. "Just attack them Talia!" The white she-cat whisked around, the blood on her paws flinging off. "Harley! That is for me to decide!" Mouse scented the air. "Milk." She whispered. I soon found where the scent was coming from. A bright ginger she-cat was staring at the rogues, her eyes wide. The tom next to her, a black tom, noticed the rogues were uncomfortable. "This is not our battle. We will leave you in peace." Ember sighed as the cats left, though it obviously hurt her. A while later the black tom came back. "I am sorry about Talia. She lives to torture." The bell on his red collar jingled. "I'm Jumper. The least I can do is help her." He dropped some reddish pulp and placed it on her injuries. My sister sighed with relief. The voice of Talia called through the trees. "Jumper!" Her voice was shrill, as if she wasn't sure what to do. Jumper's eyes clouded. "The females choose their mates whenever they are ready to have litters. Talia chose me. It may be different every time." He sprinted into the forest. Ember looked up at me. "Poor Jumper." All the cats nodded. More of the rouges crept into the clearing. A she-cat named Night looked sharply from Ember to the black shape moving quickly through the gorse. I opened my mouth to explain. Ice stopped me. "Olive, let me explain." I hissed slightly with annoyance.