A/N: Hello lovely readers! Welcome to this story.

Just a warning, there is murder and suicide in this, so please reader discretion is advised. (I've always wanted to say that xD)

Anyways, I hope you enjoy and please review with any comments, questions or concerns, and remember! Constructive critisism is always welcome. :)

Also, if you haven't already, pleasecheck out my other stories, as well as yaoyan 's stories.

Thank you for reading and please review!

~Jay

Revenge Isn't Always Sweet

Ravenstar always liked to think of himself as a good leader for his Clan. He was kind-hearted and fair, he didn't punish needlessly and he almost didn't hate any cat – not even the rogues that were sometimes caught stealing prey – there was, however, one exception to his 'hate no one' philosophy; Snowtail.

Snowtail was a smaller she-cat with kind amber eyes. Her pelt was white as snow – quite the opposite of Ravenstar's own sleek night-black fur. She was the fastest cat in the Clan and she used that to her advantage. She could catch even the fastest of rabbits and she could dodge every attack. Snowtail was kind to every cat – young and old, Clanmate and rogue – and she never put a whisker out of line. She was perfect – too perfect. And that was why Ravenstar hated – and loved – her.

But Snowtail had a secret; a secret only she, her littermate and parents knew. She was not a Clanborn cat – no, she was born a rogue and found half dead in the snow when she was just a kit. If it hadn't of been for Flamepelt, her adoptive father, who had heard her pitiful meowing while guarding the camp entrance late one night, she'd have been dead. He had found her in the snow and brought her back to his mate, Nettlefur – who had recently kitted – to be taken care of. Snowtail had been raised with her adoptive brother Bramblethorn and they were always the closest littermates in the Clan, no matter how old they were. No one else knew of her secret.

As Snowtail developed more and more respect within the Clan, she befriended a dusty white tom with glowing green eyes named Icefeather. Icefeather was Ravenstar's closest friend, but Snowtail didn't know that. She grew close to him and he even helped her train her first apprentice. They created a very strong friendship – the kind where you can tell the other anything and know they will keep your secret. The two were nearly as inseparable as Snowtail and Bramblethorn.

One day, the white she-cat made a very rash decision; one that could easily have become her fatal mistake. She had just finished her border patrol with her newest apprentice – Snookpaw – Icefeather and Stormshadow. She told her apprentice to go back to the Clan with Stormshadow and turned to Icefeather.

"Icefeather, I – I have to tell you something," she said.

"Yes? What is?"

"You must not tell any cat. Swear on StarClan that you will tell no one."

"I swear on StarClan that I will keep this secret until the day I join their ranks," Icefeather promised her with sincerity.

Snowtail nodded and took in a sharp breath before speaking, "I wasn't born in this Clan, nor was I born in any other. I was born a rogue. My mother abandoned me when I was barely a quarter-moon old. Fortunately, Flamepelt found me and brought me back to the nursery. No one knows this, not even Ravenstar. Please – can you see why no cat must ever know?" Icefeather stared back at her, a look of disgust and incredulity on his face. Snowtail lowered her head in a sign of defeat; she knew she had made a mistake in telling her secret.

"I always knew there had to be something wrong with you; some kind of flaw. I never imagined it would be that you were a rogue. How grand, Snowtail, the perfect cat, respected by all, loved by all would turn out to be an imposter. Ravenstar will love this," Icefeather told the she-cat, malice glistening in his beautiful green eyes. Snowtail looked up at him surprised.

"You wouldn't dare!" she hissed, "After all we've done for each other, all we've been through. I – I thought we were friends. I must have been mistaken."

"We were friends, but that was before you told me you were a rogue. I am a loyal cat, you see, so I must report any intruders to the Clan leader," he said smugly.

"Why don't you just kill me yourself?" Snowtail asked him defiantly – she knew he would never be able to land a blow. He was big and strong, but he was slow, whereas she was the fastest cat in the Clan. He gave her one long, piercing look before turning tail and running back to camp.

Over the next few days, Snowtail was withdrawn from everyone around her. She barely spoke – save a few muttered 'hellos' here and there – and she was not seen laughing and joking with her 'brother'. In training, she was distracted. Even her apprentice – the newest in the Clan – was able to tackle her to the ground. She barely caught anything when she hunted. All she could think about was how much trouble she would be in once Icefeather told the Clan about who she really was.

It got so bad, so noticeable that Ravenstar called her into his den to speak with her.

"Snowtail, you've been falling behind in your duties lately. Is everything all right?" the Clan leader asked her.

"Yes, everything is fine. Icefeather and I have just had a falling-out, that's all," she answered. Ravenstar gave her a look that clearly said he didn't believe a word she had said. There was obviously more to her story than what she was letting on.

"I know you, Snowtail. You wouldn't let something as small as a falling-out set you back in your duties. There's more, isn't there?"

Oh no. What will I tell him? If I lie, he'll be able to tell right away, but if I tell him the truth he'll have to banish me from the Clan, or worse – kill me, she thought to herself. She decided to be truthful; after all, Ravenstar was known for his kindness.

"Well, we did have a falling-out, but it wasn't over something trivial like whose apprentice was better. No – it was over something much more serious," here, she paused, figuring that if Ravenstar had heard enough to convince himself that everything was fine, she wouldn't need to tell him she was a secret rogue. Unfortunately, he nodded at her in encouragement, so she took a deep breath and continued. "I'm not Clanborn. I was born a rogue and abandoned when I was only a quarter-moon old. Flamepelt saved me and had Nettlefur raise me as one of her own kits. I was raised by the Clan almost my whole life. I would never do anything to betray the Clan. I grew up learning Clan morals; living in a family like this is all I know. Please, Ravenstar you must see that I would never do anything to harm any cat," she pleaded.

Ravenstar didn't so much as twitch for what felt like hours. Snowtail was sure he was trying to debate the best way to tell her of her banishment; but when she looked up at him, his expression was not that of thoughtfulness or pity, as she would have expected, but one of softness and love – and he was looking right at her.

Snowtail gasped in shock at the look on her leader's face; it was a known fact that he didn't seem to have love for anyone – at least, no more than as a friend. And to see him looking at her like that, when she had just told him about how she was a rogue… It was everything she could have asked for. She had fallen in love with him a few moons back – when all he had done to a cat that had stolen prey and herbs was imprison it for a few days before releasing him with warnings of what would happen if he were to return. He was always so gentle and so kind, obviously she would love him. But why would he look at her that way?

"Snowtail, thank you for telling me this. But why would your birth have anything to do about your strange behaviour lately?" Ravenstar asked her gently, while he wrapped his tail around her for comfort.

"Well, as you may have noticed, Icefeather and I were becoming really close. So, I thought I could trust him to keep my secret and I told him. He – He said he would tell you, and I know what the punishment is for trespassers. I've feared for my life during the past few days. I thought either he would kill me in my sleep, or that he would announce it to the Clan and they would all come after me," she confessed, feeling a sudden comfort at being alone with her leader.

"He would never do that. I assure you." Ravenstar told her as his gorgeous yellow eyes hardened into a glare, almost as if he was daring any cat to try and attack Snowtail.

"Thank you," the she-cat said before walking out of the den.

Ravenstar sighed in contentment as Snowtail left his den. He could no longer hate her for being too perfect. She did, after all, have a flaw. And he loved her all the more for it. But something was troubling him – the fact that his best friend, Icefeather, had threatened her. How someone could ever threaten a cat as kind and gentle, as sincere and compassionate as Snowtail was beyond him. He would, however have to resolve that little problem.

"You wanted to see me?" Icefeather asked coming into the Clan leader's den.

"Yes, I did," Ravenstar said, looking into his best friend's eyes with a bit of a glare. "I spoke with Snowtail earlier and she told me why she was upset. I don't want you bothering her about it anymore. In fact, I want you to apologize to her. Is that understood?"

"Of course it is. But she did tell you everything?" when Ravenstar nodded, Icefeather looked taken aback. "Then you know she's a rogue. How come she's still allowed to be here? She's a trespasser! An imposter!" The black tom sighed; sometimes his friend was oblivious to what was most obvious.

"Because I love her." Ravenstar answered simply. At this point, Icefeather looked like his eyes were about to jump out of his skull, while his mouth was practically hitting the floor it was opened so wide. Ravenstar rolled his eyes and twitch his tail in a sign that told Icefeather he was dismissed.

It was a nice and warm sunny day, and training was done, so Snowtail decided she would take a short walk on her own to clear her head and process the recent events of the last few days. It was hard to imagine that it had all actually happened; first she tells her secret to one of her closest friends only to have them turn around and practically hate her, then she had to explain to her leader why she was so distracted as of late, and finally the friend that had started hating her turns around and apologizes.

It was enough to give any cat a headache, so Snowtail decided on some well-deserved alone time.

It was quiet, with only the occasional sound of birds chattering in the trees. The perfect setting in which to think.

Suddenly, Snowtail heard a twig snap! and she spun around to look for the source of the noise. When she saw nothing, she relaxed; it must`ve been her imagination. She kept walking.

Then, a heavy weight landed on her back and she was forced to the ground. Her attacker rolled her over and she was shocked to see that it was Icefeather. She struggled and squirmed for a bit before realizing that was hopeless – he was at least twice her strength.

"H-H-Hello, Icefeather. Why did you attack me?" she asked.

"Shut it, you filthy rogue. I'm here to warn you," Icefeather snarled back at her.

"Warn me of what?"

"Warn you that unless you leave and never come back, I will kill you," The dusty white tom said maliciously.

"Why don't you just kill me now then?" Snowtail asked pointedly.

"Because that would hurt Ravenstar too much, he would never be able to love again. But if you were to leave the Clan and never return, it wouldn't be so bad. Sure, he'll be sad for about a moon but he will get over it. And get over you," Snowtail gasped as the realization hit her. Ravenstar was in love with her. Her. Of all the cats in the Clan, it was her he loved. Then she felt saddened when she realized that the only way to protect him was for her to leave. She would never get to see him again.

She felt claws tear through her cheek and slash her shoulder. She blinked rapidly and came out of her thoughts.

"You leave now or you die, it's your choice," warned Icefeather, his eyes glaring coldly into her own. She nodded in understanding and mumbled that she would leave. The tom jumped off of her, all the while eyeing her warningly. She gulped, turned and ran as fast as she could toward the edge of the Clan's territory.

She would live from that day on as who she truly was – a rogue. She would hunt in the parts of the forest and moorland that didn't belong to any Clan. She would treat her own wounds with herbs she found on her own, even if she had no idea what she was doing. She would lead a lonely, solitary life until the day she died.

And that is exactly the way she lived until one night, when she had a dream of Ravenstar sitting in the nursery next to a queen looking down proudly at three newborn kits. Snowtail felt a swell of disappointment. He really had gotten over her, hadn't he? She looked closer at the she-cat to see if she could recognize who it was. She started in surprise when she did; the queen – it was her. She had given birth to Ravenstar's kits!

Snowtail jerked awake and jumped happily to her feet. She didn't even bother to lick her pelt before sprinting off in the direction she remembered her Clan's territory to be in. Oh, Ravenstar would be so happy when she returned!

She had just jumped over the small creek that marked the border when she heard a loud crashing sound. The bushes to her right trembled and she heard a voice she recognized shout, "It's just a rogue. You two carry on with the hunt; I'll chase it off," She was chilled to the bone when she recognized the voice.

Icefeather.

She crouched to jump back over the creek and race off into the distance, but before she could move, the tom that haunted her nightmares burst through the trees and landed, once again, on her back. He flipped her over just as he had the time before and his eyes glinted with happiness as he realized who, exactly, he had pinned.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the love-struck rogue. Come back to steal the prey of your old Clan, have you? Or are you here to steal something bigger? The heart of Ravenstar, perhaps?" he said in a cold, hard voice. A voice that sounded pure evil. Snowtail shivered involuntarily.

"No, I'm not here to do any of that. I was running away from a dog and jumped over –" Icefeather cut her off before she could finish talking.

"You know, you're a really bad liar. On another note, I do have to kill you now. Such a shame, I really hoped I wouldn't end up disappointing Ravenstar by doing this. Oh well, he'll never know it was me," he said maliciously. Snowtail tried desperately to wriggle out of his grasp – if only she could free herself, then she'd be able to run and she could easily outpace the tom.

Unfortunately, the best she could manage was freeing a leg. She thought, perhaps, that if she could injure him he might be startled into loosening his grasp. So, she swung her free paw, lightning fast, and cut open Icefeather's cheek – just under his eyes. It wasn't a deep cut, but deep enough to draw blood and deep enough to leave a tuft of fur under Snowtail's claws.

"You insolent rogue! How dare you defy me!" Icefeather shouted in her face, his voice filled with rage. He stared icily into her eyes, a vicious snarl gracing his lips. Before Snowtail could blink, he bent his head over her throat and ripped out her jugular. The last thing Snowtail saw before entering the land of stars was Icefeather standing over her dying body, looking down at her with a triumphant glint in his eyes.

Ravenstar gasped as a sharp pain stabbed through his chest. The feeling was almost as if his heart was being torn to millions of tiny bits, before finally being ripped out. He was confused for a moment; he hadn't done anything to injure himself in that area, so why was he in such pain?

It hit him when an overwhelming sense of loss took over his thoughts.

Snowtail was dead.

No, no. That can't be it. She left the clan two moons ago to be safe. There's no way she could have died, he thought to himself. The thought had reassured him slightly, but he still had a spec of worry about his true love's safety. A small part of him couldn't help but wonder, What if?

He shook off the pessimistic thoughts and decided that a hunt should calm him down. He would hunt by the border-stream where there was the most prey this time of Greenleaf.

He quickly jumped out of his nest and ran out of camp. The sooner he got to hunting, the sooner he would forget his strange thoughts of his one love being dead.

The grass whipped his sides, the occasional bramble tearing through his sleek black pelt, but Ravenstar made no sound as he carefully stalked his prey. Just a little closer, a few more careful steps and he could pounce.

Suddenly, the wind changed directions and blew the hunter's scent to his prey; however, Ravenstar wasn't paying attention to his prey anymore. He had caught a scent he knew all too well. It was her.

Ravenstar turned tail and sped off in the direction of her scent. He needed to see her; he needed to reassure himself that she was fine. Of course, he knew she was, he just needed to see it with his own eyes. He followed her smell until the trail ended. Ravenstar was confused for a moment—her scent was so strong, she had to be there—until his paw rubbed against something soft and fluffy. Looking down, he saw it was a white cat, lying by the creek bed, dead. Unmoving. Eyes empty and staring wide open at nothing.

It was Snowtail.

Ravenstar let out a loud yowl of remorse and grief before lying down beside his true love. He started grooming her snowy white pelt one last time, making sure she was perfectly clean when she made her journey to StarClan.

He had just finished grooming Snowtail's unmoving form when something caught his eye; there was a tuft of light grey fur under her claws. Ravenstar carefully pulled the tuft of fur out with his teeth and was both surprised and so angry he was murderous when he recognized the smell as that of his best friend, Icefeather.

He finished what he was doing with Snowtail's body, said his last goodbyes and then left her behind, a plan of revenge forming in his mind.

Instead of heading directly back to camp, Ravenstar left his Clan's territory and found a fresh fox den. Then, he waited until the fox left before walking through the den and rubbing up against the walls, making sure he smelled strongly of fox.

Finally, Ravenstar walked back to the camp. He searched for Icefeather, finding him by the fresh-kill pile. He caught his friend's eye and beckoned him over.

"Whoa! What is that disgusting smell?" Icefeather asked once he was standing next to his Clan leader. Ravenstar had to force himself to look worried and not murderous when he looked into the pale grey tom's eyes.

"There's a strong smell of fox by the thunderpath border. I want you to come with me and help me investigate. There's no cat I trust more to watch my back," Ravenstar told him, the lie slipping out of his mouth naturally, like water flowing down a stream. Icefeather nodded his head and together, the two set off towards where the fox den supposedly was.

Ravenstar stayed one step behind on the entire walk, blocking the path back to the camp in case Icefeather figured out the ruse.

Finally, they reached a location that Ravenstar deemed far enough away from camp and close enough to the thunderpath. He purposely stumbled and cried out in pain.

When Icefeather turned around and came to ask whether or not Ravenstar was okay, the latter leaped up and in one swift, perfect motion, he mercilessly slit his throat.

"That was for killing Snowtail," Ravenstar sneered down at Icefeather. "You fool. You really thought I wouldn't find out that my true love was dead? You really thought I wouldn't learn it was you who had killed her, murdered her? But I did find out. And now look at yourself. You're no better off than she is. And no one will ever know who killed you, because no one will ever find me."

With those last words, Ravenstar turned tail and ran in the direction of the thunderpath.

H waited at the side until he saw a monster coming, then he jumped in front of it. It hit him square in the chest and he felt his rib pierce his lung as his body was carelessly tossed across to the opposite side of the thunderpath.

With his last breath he mumbled, "Finally Snowtail, we can be together."