Author's Note: Yep. It's been awhile...

But as you can see, I'm back with a new fan fiction! This one's called Abiding Hatred, and I'm sure that from the title you've probably realised it has a slightly strange plot line. But I don't intend to give anything away: hope you enjoy it! (BTW I'll probably post some allegiances at the end of Chapter Two...)

Oh, and as usual, please RR! XD

Abiding Hatred

Chapter One:

I was lying on the side of the hill when it fell.

Sometimes, my mind has an annoying habit of remembering the most completely insignificant things, whereas it always forgets anything of importance. I recall only a few memories from my kit-hood, and as typically pointless as they are, I look back at them fondly… after all, those early, innocent memories are the ones we usually treasure the most. I remember a warm belly, and a feeling of comfort and satisfaction that has never quite been rivalled. I remember the walls of the nursery, and how they had seemed so massive and daunting, but most of all, I remember her.

Strange that, considering I only knew my mother for a moon before she died.

As a kit, my father, Emberstar, used to tell me that she'd "gone to a better place" and that "she'd be with me again some day". You know, the standard fox-dung. I used to hate it when cats treated me like that just because I was younger than them. Yes, I had still been a kit, but that didn't mean I was a mouse-brain: I knew what death was. And I knew that was exactly what had happened to my mother.

In a way, I sympathise with my father. After all, what would you tell a kit who had just lost their mother? Getting the news across to me was certainly a massive responsibility, and along with the added load of leading a Clan through his own grief, I have always forgiven him for not going to see me much in the nursery was I young.

But then again, an occasional visit wouldn't have hurt.

At least one.

It certainly impacted me when I was growing up. Even when my mother had been alive, I'd always felt different from the other kits, although at the time, I had no idea why. It just seemed that I was far more intelligent, and far more grown up than the rest of them. I had a kind of awareness to subjects far too mature for me that even some of the older warriors didn't possess; for instance, as I mentioned earlier, I knew what death was before my mother had died. A remarkable piece of knowledge for a kit who'd had no contact with it before.

At first, I simply shrugged it off, for despite my advanced state of intellectual prowess, I still had the classic kit naivety about me. But as I became an apprentice, the gulf between myself and the other cats I had grown up with became larger and larger. While I was keeping myself occupied by developing strategic battle plans for every single situation that ThunderClan might have found themselves in under the sun, the other apprentices had just about mastered the hunting crouch (although some of their postures were all over the place). So indeed, there was quite a clear contrast, and compared with my devilish good looks, witty one-liners and seductive charm (modest, too!), I was far and away the most promising apprentice in the Clan.

But, after over forty moons of clan-life, it has come to my attention that nothing in life plans out like you expect it to. I hadn't expected to get into the mess that I did when I was a young warrior. I hadn't expected my reputation in ThunderClan to plummet so miserably to the ground, and I certainly hadn't expected anything to fall out of the sky either.

Although my troubles didn't begin when it fell, they were given a sharp kick-start when it did. I can describe it like a waterfall: all it took was one push to send me spiralling into the watery grave below.

So, what has my unreliable and occasionally defective mind managed to recover of the incident? How many of the horrors of that fateful day do I recall? Practically nothing of what occurred beforehand, but the incident itself I remember surprisingly clearly… one of the most beautiful Greenleaf days I have ever seen springs to mind. Imagine the sun beating down relentlessly from the clear blue sky above, illuminating everything in a brilliant, golden glow. Imagine soft, lush green grass beneath your paws, that covers the earth like a big, emerald blanket. Imagine the serenity and peacefulness of the scene around you, but most of all, try and picture the lake. The bright sun reflects of the pristine water, shining so brightly it almost blinds you, and a gentle breeze whips up the smallest of ripples along it's untouched surface. Everything around you is so soothing. What could possibly pose any threat amongst such beauty?

Those were the exact kind of thoughts that were rushing through my head at the time. Slowly, I lay down on the side of the hill and closed my eyes, breathing in the Greenleaf air. A relax was exactly what I had needed after having such a stressful few days, what with the whole business about-

No, I told myself, trying to clear my mind of any unwelcome thoughts. Thinking about it was not of my concern at that moment. All I wanted to do was lie back, and enjoy Greenleaf in all it's glory.

So you can imagine my surprise when something unimaginably large smashed into the side of the hill.

I didn't even notice it until it was far too close for me to react. This was partly because of how quickly and how abruptly it fell, but also because I was too caught up with the pretentious harmony of the scene around me that I failed to take note of the fairly obvious clues. The first detail I should have payed more attention to was that was a kind of burning smell in the air. Like smoke. For a moment, I thought something in the forest was on fire, but it was too faint for that. Without even opening my eyes, I disregarded it completely.

Mousebrain.

The second detail I should have payed more attention to was that I could hear an incessant buzzing noise in my ears, reminiscent of the sound a wasp makes.s Except it wasn't high enough to be a wasp. It was a much deeper sound, and apparently, it was slowly and steadily getting louder. But still, I continued to ignore it.

Sometimes, it amazes me that despite my superior level of intelligence, I still have the common sense of a deranged badger.

The noise continued to increase until I was finally curious enough to open my eyes, and since I was looking straight up, I saw the thing that was heading for me almost immediately. One thing was for certain: it definitely wasn't a wasp. Shocked, I started to get to my paws, but it was already too late. The thing smashed into the side of the hill with a deafening crash, spraying grass and dirt in every direction.

The force of the impact knocked me straight up into the air. For a moment, I had no idea what was going on. My whole body felt numb with terror. After all, a huge object falling out of the sky is not the kind of thing a clan-cat expects to see on everyday basis. I closed my eyes, and wondered if I was in StarClan.

But I was assured of the fact I was very much alive when my body dropped back down to the earth like a rag doll. The impact knocked the wind of me, and I rolled several more fox lengths down to the foot of hill before coming to a stop. All the fur along my back stood on end, and my eyes had diluted to the size of moons.

I didn't want to look back at the hill. I was too terrified to do so. My heart was beating like the wings of a trapped bird. Exhilaration rushed through my veins- the edges around my vision were blurred and distorted.

Slowly, I tried to get up again, but my paws buckled underneath me; my whole body had gone limb.

'This must be a dream,' I muttered under my breath. My eyes were still screwed tightly shut. 'There's no way this is real.'

Suddenly, the faint scent of cat wafted into my nostrils. I couldn't make out what Clan the scent belonged to, or even whether it was a tom or a she-cat. My ears were ringing too loudly for me to hear anything clearly, but somewhere in the distance I could hear someone calling out.

'Oh StarClan! What the- oh foxdung. Are you okay?!'

A few seconds later, I felt paws touching my flank. Slowly, I managed to twist my head around to see a white tabby she-cat leaning over me. Her amber eyes were wide with panic and confusion. 'What in StarClan's name happened? Are you alright?'

My voice was low and raspy, like I'd just been choked. 'Yeah, I'm-' I coughed mid sentence, before finding my voice again. 'Yeah, I, I think I'm okay.'

I had no idea what divine power had fuelled me with the ability to speak again, since I was far too overwhelmed to have spoken on my own. The she-cat pulled me up onto my haunches so I could breathe properly, and I let out a long breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding. She continued to shower questions at me, but I wasn't listening. My eyes had finally settled on the destruction that had taken place behind me.

I shivered in fear. 'Oh StarClan…'

The hill was in ruins. Huge chunks of earth had been fired up into the air due to the impact, and right in the centre of the hill, close to the top, was a large crater. Everything within five fox lengths of it had been burnt, forming a blackened ring around it's centre, but whatever had fallen had buried itself so far into the ground that I couldn't see what it was at first. Both me and the she-cat, who had since fallen silent, stared at it with a mixture of horror and amazement.

The silence between us prevailed like a spell for several minutes, before finally, the she-cat managed to find her voice again. 'What was it?' She murmured, quietly.

I'd only caught a glimpse of it when I opened my eyes, but I still had no clue what had apparently fallen from the sky, and since she clearly had no idea what it was either, I simply shook my head. The she-cat went quiet once more.

Now that my original panic had subsided, and my senses had returned to normal, I could finally scent what Clan she came from. ShadowClan. She must've emerged from the pine forest on the other side of the hill. Both ThunderClan's and ShadowClan's territory halted when it reached the foot of the hill, which was separated from the forest by an open plain. Although I had discovered in the past that if you cut across the plain you could reach the Moonpool a lot quicker than you would by means of the usual route, no one in my Clan really knew about the hill and if they did, they never went there. It was one of the single places of solitude I had found in the whole of ThunderClan's territory.

The thought of my Clan's territory reminded me of the usual rivalry between my Clan and her own. If it had been any other normal situation, I would've been far more apprehensive and hostile towards the ShadowClan she-cat, for more reasons than one. But this was quite obviously not a normal situation, and besides, I wasn't thinking straight at that particular moment in time. My entire ego had melted like ice in a fire, and it seemed much the same for her as well.

The she-cat's voice, which I now know if it had not been edged with fear would be soft and gentle, awoke me from my day dream. She spoke the question which had been on both of our minds. 'What are we going to do?' She whispered.

I didn't answer, but a thousand different possibilities were rushing through my head. None of them were flawless and only about two of them were actually possible. One of those were running away and forgetting that it had ever occurred, but I quickly discarded that idea because huge objects falling from the sky were not easy to forget. And besides, if we abandoned the scene it wouldn't be very long before another unfortunate Clan-cat stumbled upon the huge crater and started asking questions.

The second, and final plausible option, was to first of all find out what had apparently fallen from the sky, and second of all, go and get help.

The latter of these two ingenious ideas was clearly our best option, although running away and forgetting it had ever happened certainly seemed the most attractive of the two at the time.

Quickly, I relayed my idea to her, and after a short argument over who would approach it first, we eventually decided that we do it together.

The ShadowClan she-cat managed to help me up onto my still trembling paws, even though she wasn't in a much better physical state than I was. And then the two of us engaged in a pathetic and equally ungraceful attempt at the art of walking, although now I am a little ashamed to describe it as this, considering that in truth it was a crude kind of stumbling in which both of us were doing the best to prevent the other from falling over.

Either way, we managed to drag ourselves up the face of the hill until we were level with the blackened ring, at which point we both stopped. Neither of us were willing to make the final few steps towards the crater. After all, anything could have been in there. What if it was dangerous? What if it was alive? Let's just say our imaginations were running wild; but having said that, it could also have been perfectly harmless.

No matter if it was harmless or not, we were not going to take a chance.

I gulped, before turning to look at the she-cat. Her white tabby pelt was ruffled and matted, and her deep amber eyes were darting worriedly from side to side. It struck me that my own pelt was probably in a worse state.

All the while, the boiling sun watched teasingly from above, without saying a word.

I still don't know to this day how I managed to summon up the bravery to approach the crater first, since in truth I was more terrified than I had been in my whole life. Perhaps it was some foolish note of masculinity within me that gave me the courage; a sexist part that refused to be shown up by a she-cat, especially a ShadowClan one at that. Or maybe it was my own curiosity that got the better of me… but for me, curiosity is probably better described as arrogance and fool-hardiness, for those two terms were something that I was definitely not unfamiliar with.

Or perhaps, in the end, it was simply my own tom nature. Since the dawn of the time, the male has always strived to impress the female more than his rivals: maybe that old, feral instinct was up to his usual tricks once more. For although I did not notice at the time, and cared less, the she-cat was actually one of the most splendid specimens of feminine beauty that I have ever had the pleasure to come across.

Whichever motive was responsible, it was I who made the first paw steps towards the crater and peered inside, whereas the ShadowClan she-cat watched, mesmerised, from behind. The blackened ring that surrounded the crater was larger than it had looked from the bottom of the hill, and because of the state of shock my body was in, it took a lot longer than it usually would have done for me to reach the out fringe of the crater. In fact, it took even longer for me to actually look into the crater, for the whole time I was taking into consideration that I could have well been gambling my life.

So in truth, it was a bit anticlimactic when I discovered that the cause of all the destruction was in fact, a large rock. Burnt, covered in dirt and soot, but unmistakably, a rock.

For a few moments, all I did was stare at it, confused. I'd expected something much more dramatic than a rock to be inside the crater, but mostly I was just confused as to how a rock had managed to fall from the sky in the first place! They were usually stuck quite firmly to the ground, after all.

'Well?' The she-cat's anxious voice echoed from behind. 'What is it?'

My eyes narrowed, before blinking for a few moments, just to check that what I saw before me was actually real. Then, I shook my head and turned to face her. 'It's a rock.' I stated, matter of factly.

The she-cat seemed to think I was joking. 'Look,' she snapped, impatiently. 'This is not a time for-'

'I'm not messing with you,' I interrupted, before settling down on my haunches. My paws had now ceased their trembling. 'It's a rock.'

She opened her mouth, preparing to send back a sharp retort, before noticing the serious expression on my face. After which she just looked at me incredulously.

'You're telling me,' she said, after a long pause, 'that the thing inside that crater is a rock.'

I looked back over my shoulder to double check. When the she-cat put it like that, it certainly seemed ridiculous that a rock had fallen from the sky. But nevertheless, it was true. I nodded and waited for her reaction.

The she-cat shook her head, and muttered something under her breath that I couldn't hear, before padding over to me and peering into the crater. Her eyes widened when she saw that I'd been telling the truth, before turning to face me, her mouth agape.

'Wha- but… um…' She stuttered, overwhelmed. Her eyes were full of complete and utter disbelief, and despite my slightly calmer tone, a wave of nausea was passing over me. The aftermath of all the shock and exhilaration was finally taking it's toll. My mind was struggling to comprehend the sudden and life changing event that had taken place right in front of my eyes. Within a few minutes, I had become aware of how little I knew about the strangeness and sheer enormity of the world around me.

Slowly, I turned around with my body hunched over, suddenly feeling very, very small.