A white she-cat with yellow eyes raced after a patrol that had crossed her borders. She was leading a patrol that consisted of four other cats.
"Careful Whitefall! The thunderpath is up ahead!" One of them called. She flicked her tail in acknowledgement. Whitefall felt adrenalin rush through her as the patrol of cats suddenly stopped running and turned to fight Whitefall and her clanmates.
"You should give up now before we rip you to shreads!" Snarled Heatherstream. She looked at Whitefall for the signal to attack. Suddenly, the tables turned as dozens of warriors from the trespassing cat's clan slinked out of the shadows. Whitefall knew they were outnumbered and yowled, "Retreat!"
They ran away as fast as possible. She flicked her tail to the apprentice in the small patrol to go and get help. She and her patrol skidded to a halt as they reached the thunderpath. The opposing clan snarled and hissed, making Whitefall's patrol slowly back up. Snowfern, the white she-cat's mother, yowled a warning as a monster was speeding up the thunderpath towards them. The patrol got away in time, almost. Whitefall wasn't lucky. She yowled in pain as she was flung into a tree.
The other clan decided to ise the moment of distraction to their advantage and advanced on the patrol. A yowl rang out through the forest as more cats than any of them could imagine flooded out. The enemy cats panicked and ran off into their territory.
A pale she-cat with green eyes woke up suddenly, gasping. She looked around her and sighed when she realized it had been a dream. Her dreams had been infected by nightmares like these. Nightmares of the day her daughter had been crippled. She shuddered as the scene replayed in her head, over and over again.
"Are you all right Snowfern?" A brown tortoiseshell she-cat asked.
She answered, "Yes. I just had an exhilarating dream, that's all." The other she-cat nodded but looked worried. Snowfern herself was worried. How long will it take before the clan thinks I've gone nuts? she thought. And why couldn't Starclan stop what had happened?
Lately, Snowfern had been doubting Starclan. She couldn't believe that they hadn't done anything about her daughter. Whitefall's legs never healed, she never avoided the monster, and Snowfern could never hunt with her again.
The she-cat shook her head and heaved herself out of her nest. Stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it...
She walked out of the den and into the camp. Ever since Whitefall had moved to the elder's den, nothing had been the same. The loss of her mate had been terrible, but her only kit not being able to stay a warrior was even worse.
"Snowfern, Duskfire, and Willowpool will be going on border patrol." Nightfrost, the deputy called. Snowfern shook her head sadly. Whitefall would never be able to go on a border patrol either.
Duskfire took the lead and headed out of the camp. Snowfern's heart ached as she thought of Whitefall. When the patrol reached the border, everyone stopped. Fresh Marshclan scent could be smelled in the warm breeze of green leaf. The only problem was that it was over the border.
Snowfern's heart thumped. She partially blamed Marshclan for the accident.
"Who's here?" Willowpool called out. A rustle answered. Snowfern swung her head around and saw a gray tabby tom creeping through the undergrowth.
"There!" She called. The patrol raced after him until he was trapped by a boulder.
"What are you doing here?" Duskfire demanded. The tom replied, "Scouting your territory. Or maybe I'm hunting." Duskfire bared her teeth and the tom quickly said, "I was just curious." Willowpool, Duskfire, and Snowfern stepped back, realizing that he didn't mean any harm.
"Well then," Snowfern began. "You should go back to your territory." The tom sighed and answered, "I came to apologize for what happened to Whitefall."
After the encounter, the tom had ran back, and they marked their borders. But it was something that would change Snowfern forever. He had said sorry for what happened. Sorry. She now knew that it wasn't Marshclan's fault at all. It was someone entirely different.
"Snowfern! I caught you a juicy mouse! Do you wan't to eat it?" Shadepaw asked. Snowfern shook her head. The apprentice pushed the mouse forward.
"Are you sure? For Starclan's sake, just eat it! You need food!" He exclaimed.
Snowfern hissed, making the apprentice step back. "Don't ever mention Starclan again!"
Shaking with anger, Snowfern stomped out of the camp and into the forest. Whitefall would still be a warrior because of Starclan. And to think I believed in them! She thought disgustedly. She yowled as loud as she could, releasing her anger, sadness, and feelings of betrayal.
"Why?!"
Epilouge
Whitefall buried her nose in her mother's fur, grief overtaking her. Her mother had died from an unknown sickness, but she could guess what it really was. It was my fault. I had made her so sad she wanted to die. But what also puzzled Whitefall was that a few days before Snowfern's death, she hadn't seemed as grief-stricken. Her emotion was more like an empty sky, full of nothing.
"I still don't get why you left me." Whitefall muttered. If only that fateful day had never happened...