I'm alive (; I've been promising this for a while. Broken, the story of if Scourge left a son to the Clans. Enjoy. This isn't the best chapter, but still. It gets better...
"But…"
"Shut up."
Shardpaw lowered his head.
"Yes Skytalon."
He continued to frown down at him. "Well, you heard me you little idiot. You catch three rabbits and you can come back."
Glancing around at the barren leaf-bare landscape, Shardpaw bit his tongue to keep from talking back. "Three rabbits. Right."
He turned and padded into the undergrowth. When he heard his mentor's footsteps fade away, he wailed.
"Why?" He whispered, staring up at the darkening sky. "Why did they have to do it to me…death can't be much worse than this…"
He burst into a sprint, heading to the only place he found peace in. The stream marking the end of ThunderClan and the beginning of ShadowClan. His stream.
Leaning over the freezing water, he lapped it once then stared down at his reflection, distorted by the quiet rippling.
"I did nothing wrong. Why the Mark?"
He touched his nose to the water, ignoring the searing shock that jolted through his body. Across his nose was a straight scar, rippling in the altered image staring up at him. The Mark.
His Mark.
He closed his eyes. What had he done to deserve this?
"Are you going to freeze your nose off?"
His head shot up, water on his nose spraying across the stream. Standing across from him was a white she-cat with golden eyes staring at him with a small smile.
He stood up, glaring at her. "What do you want? Aren't you scared of me, like everyone else?"
She tilted her head, looking a bit hurt. "What are you talking about?" She questioned. "The only thing I might be scared of is the fact that you were talking to yourself." The white she-cat paused, then added, "My name's Snowbliss."
"Hi," He replied softly. She wasn't scared of him. Someone that wasn't scared of him…He narrowed his eyes.
She probably didn't even know. "You should be scared," He whispered, looking at the ground.
A concerned look flashed in her eyes, but she stayed on the other side of the stream. "Why's that?" She asked after a minute.
He closed his eyes.
"My name's Shardpaw."
She stared at him, eyes wide. "W-what?" She whispered softly, as if thinking he was kidding.
"Can't you see?!" He shouted at her. He stood up. "The Mark! The Mark! They gave it to me." He felt tears pricking in his eyes. "They gave it to me, to help them remember that I'm someone they should never trust."
He glanced at her and his eyes widened. The she-cat had crossed the stream and as he had looked up, they had touched noses.
She pulled away and looked at the ground, eyes wide as well. She looked embarrassed. "Sorry," She murmured.
He took a step backwards. "Are you going to run now, like everyone else?!" He yelled at her, eyes narrowed.
She moved closer to him and looked him in the eye. "I'm not going to run," She whispered at him. "You could be the son of anyone," Snowbliss told Shardpaw softly. "That doesn't make you anything."
She backed up, into the stream, ignoring the freezing water. "You decide what you want to be." She backed into ShadowClan territory and turned.
Glancing over her shouder, she murmured, "Kin can't change anything." And then she ran off, leaving the black tom all alone.
Shardpaw lowered his head to the ground until it touched the dead leaves rustling in the winter breeze.
She doesn't care who I am.
"Look who's back," Skytalon sneered. Shardpaw glared at him but said nothing, dragging the rabbits onto the fresh-kill pile.
He turned and padded into the apprentice's den. When he settled down in some moss, the cats near him stared at him with disgust and moved away.
He unsheathed his claws and dug them into the ground. Everyone was so unfair to him.
Shardpaw recalled the white she-cat and sighed. Snowbliss…that had been her name…
He closed his eyes.
The next day he went out hunting upon order from Skytalon and found himself near the stream. He looked across the clearing and saw Snowbliss lapping softly at the water.
He padded forward and was looking at her with his head tilted when she looked up.
At first she was surprised to see him standing there, then she smiled. "Look who came back," the white she-cat teased him.
He looked down. "Yeah," He muttered.
She watched him for a few moments, her expression changing to that of a sad one. "You've never been loved, have you?" She whispered.
He stiffened, but didn't say anything.
"Snowbliss! Where are you?"
Her eyes widened. "Oh no, I forgot!" She jumped forward and touched noses with Shardpaw. He blinked in shock, but shook it off as she darted back into the undergrowth without another word.
Later that day he heard Firestar calling from the Highrock. He stood up and padded out of the den.
"There has been an apprentice who has been working hard for many moons that is ready to become a warrior," He began. Shardpaw snorted. Of course, they all worked so hard.
"Shardpaw, please step forward."
The black tom froze. His warrior ceremony…now? Skytalon was staring at Firestar, his face twisted in rage.
He slowly made his way to the front.
"I, Firestar, leader of ThunderClan," The leader began, "call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend him to you as warrior in his turn. Shardpaw, do you promise to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
Shardpaw took a deep breath, pushing away his doubt. "I do."
"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Shardpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Shardscar."
Skytalon sneered at him as he stood in shock at what Firestar had named him.
"Serves him right," He snarled. "The traitor…"
Shardscar suddenly felt a deep anger bubble up from within him.
Kill them, A voice whispered into his head, and his eyes widened.
What do they deserve?
"Shardscar!" Skytalon laughed, and others joined in, jeering insults at him.
Skytalon smacked him across the ears. "A good name for a traitor like you," He hissed with a grin.
And something inside of Shardscar snapped.