CHAPTER ONE

The Eye

SHIMMERDAY

The Mad Cave

It was getting tiresome, even for her, and Shimmerday could hear Hailstripe's shortness of breath, but stopping wasn't an option for anyone.

Whiskertail had woken up moments ago.

He hadn't stopped wailing since.

It had only taken those few seconds for Shimmerday to become agitated. The golden she-cat was known for her temper, and a wailing, bloodied up tom-cat who could be crazy wasn't helping.

Not to mention the fact that she was going with Ashwing and Hailstripe.

Particularly the latter one.

She had to admit, Ashwing was a good cat to bring along if you wanted protection, despite the fact that she hated him. But Hailstripe? He was useless. All he did was make jokes to annoy her and bother her with his knowing glances and his easy going nature.

"Take it easy, Shimmerday," Hailstripe mewed over the wailing as he padded on the other side of Ashwing. Shimmerday gave the tom a glare. Hailstripe's tail motioned to her jaws wrapped around Whiskertail's neck fur. "You're making him bleed more." He explained. Shimmerday let out a squeal, nearly dropping Whiskertail. Luckily she managed to regain her grip. Hailstripe snickered, but didn't say anymore. She let out a snort. That's why I can stand him, he's always laughing at things that aren't funny!

She closed her eyes for just a second to clear her mind. She needed to focus on getting Whiskertail to the den she planned for them all to stay at for a while.

"You know, we're going with you to this den, but we don't even know where it is." Hailstripe mewed, padding a little farther ahead of them, he looked back at her with amusement in his eyes, to which Shimmerday snarled at.

That, however, did nothing to shut him up.

"It could be a fox's den, or a badger's den,"

Shimmerday hissed through the tom's fur.

"You're right, you'd know, you're a good smeller." Hailstripe purred, and Shimmerday was slightly surprised at his compliment. Ashwing glanced at her worriedly, and she almost let out a mrow of amusement. Ashwing was probably worried that she'd begin to fall for Hailstripe's charm. As if, she thought, that tom would have to have Starclan on his side to get me to fall for that.

Her eyes flicked towards him as he chatted aimlessly on about something or another. She briefly heard the words 'squirrel versus rabbit' mentioned, but by then he was on to some other topic about monsters, and two-legs, and fish faced Riverclan cats.

She'd always known Hailstripe to be a dreamer, he rarely used any sense. As kits, he'd make up the best games, and although he could never play them he'd gladly make one up for you.

For the best price that is.

Perhaps next time you got prey, he'd get half. Or maybe you'd take the blame for something he did. Whatever the price was, you always paid it, or else you'd be in real trouble with him. Shimmerday hated to admit it, but Hailstripe could be a formidable opponent when it came to games of the mind.

Shimmerday cast a glance around the forest, taking in the bright light shimmering through the green leaves on the trees and the soft, moss-covered ground underfoot. The forest is beautiful in New-Leaf...She was still thinking about her home when she noticed the cave-like rock that she'd remembered from a kit age. The memory made a part of her heart begin to beat louder, but she forced herself to calm down. She pulled gently towards the boulder, which on the other side held an opening large enough to hold the four of them and maybe one or two more. Ashwing followed her without pause, but his brother stopped, staring at their destination with a look of annoyance, which was quickly turning to anger.

Shimmerday gave him a look, as if challenging him to argue. He didn't. Only continued forward, although his paws and tail dragged across the dirt underpaw. Shimmerday wanted to smirk, but a part of her kept her from it. She tried to shove the emotions that fought to rise in her at the many memories she had of the cave, but as she got closer it got harder and harder. When Ashwing and her had pulled the wailing tom into the cave she let the memory wash over here.

FLASHBACK:

Shimmerkit bounced through the forest, leaping over branches and twigs, her eyes wide as she took in the forest around her. "It's beautiful out here! I can't believe this is our forests!" She paused a moment to let her friend catch up with her, and when he did, she noticed his head was lowered and his ears were flattened. His tail drooped and he was panting, but he looked as if breathing caused him pain. Shimmerkit pressed up against him, hoping to give him some strength from her pelt. "How about we find a place to rest?"

Fearful of hurting his pride, she added, "I'm gettin' kind of sleepy." He gave her a grateful look as she searched the area around them for a place to rest.

A few tail lengths away she spotted a large rock with a huge opening that could surely fit herself and the other kit.

Moving slowly, she led him towards it.

"Let's sit here, eh?" She said, waiting for him to plop down unto the smooth rock before she did. She pressed her fur to keep him warm. "Feel any better?" He nodded enthusiastically and she let out a mrow of amusement. She pressed her shoulder against his, a purr rising in her throat.

"This is fun." Her friend purred, a glow in his eyes, but they soon darkened. "It's nice to...get away from all the others..." A tinge of sadness appeared in his voice and Shimmerkit found annoyance sparking the fur on her pelt.

"It's not right for Flamekit and Whiskerkit to treat you that way." She snapped, her tail lashing angrily. The little tom shrugged, his eyes on his shuffling paws.

"What other way should they treat me? I'll never be a great warrior, not like the rest of you." The tom's voice grew sadder, his ears flattened and his shoulders slouched in defeat. Shimmerkit snorted indignantly. She wouldn't take this from him! He was meant to be her deputy one day! He always was in every game they played...that is until Ashwing appeared and took over...

"Don't speak like that! A true warrior isn't afraid of taking chances! Besides! A real warrior looks at failure in the eyes and say: "Give me your best shot!"" In the middle of her pep talk Shimmerkit had jumped to her paws. She pranced around him, giving her words emphasis, wanting him to get them in his head. Defeat was not acceptable. She'd once heard that from her mother, Violetstar and the she-kit believed it. She would never admit defeat.

I'll always be the last one standing, She promised herself.

"I want you to say it." She told her friend, and he glanced up at her in surprise. He'd listened to her words in sullen silence, but Shimmerkit still refused to let him pity himself. He wouldn't be a warrior unless he believed it, and Shimmerkit would make sure that he did. The golden striped kit scuffled his paws across the ground absentmindedly.

His words came out as a soft whisper, "Give me your best shot..." Shimmerkit saw this utterance as unacceptable and immediately jumped in front of him to challenge it.

She yelled loudly in his face, "I didn't hear you!" Startled, the tom scrambled back, but as she looked at him with an unwavering sapphire gaze, he began to speak.

"Give me your best shot." He said, a little louder than before. Shimmerkit let her belief shine in her eyes as she took a step forward to say it with him.

"Give me your best shot!" She meowed loudly into the cave, her voice echoing around the stone structure. The golden tom laughed, standing up to join her yowls.

"Give me your best shot! Come on, bring it!" He bounced on his toes and Shimmerkit purred out a laugh.

"Yeah that's it! You have to believe it!" She gave him a spur of the moment lick on the ear. He blinked at her, surprise reflecting in both of their eyes.

Shimmerkit blinked, looking away a moment, her ears hot with embarrassment. She was about to apologize, but was interrupted by a loud purr from her friend. He placed a paw of hers and she could hear the amusement in her voice, "You know what, Shimmerkit?"

"Hm?"

"If you believe in me, then I'm certainly going to be a great warrior one day!"

Shimmerkit let out an awkward stutter, "You think way too highly of me...I'm just doing what bestfriends do. Believing in each other."

There was a pause, and Shimmerkit refused to look at him, afraid of what she might see in his ice-blue depths. He was the one to break the silence.

"How about this Shimmerkit, I'll make you a promise."

"Uh...okay."

"I will always believe in you. No matter what! We'll always be friends! I've got your back and you've got mine. We'll be...be...the best of friends! Promise?" The genuinity in his voice made Shimmerkit finally bring her gaze to his. He purred out her, obviously happy that she'd gotten over her momentary shyness. Shimmerkit nodded, bringing the warmth back into her eyes.

"I promise too. I'll always believe in you, and I'll never let you down."

"Shimmerkit?"

"Yes?"

"I wanna be the best warrior ever."

"Hailkit, you can be whatever you want to be."

"Do you really believe that?"

"Trust me," She purred in laughter, "If there's any cat more stubborn than you are when want something, I'd be having a lot more trouble getting the vole from the fresh-kill pile."

"Hello? Shimmerday? You back from the moon?" Hailstripe's blue eyes were close to Shimmerday's face, and she sputtered, jumping back and nearly ramming her body into the side of the den. She spotted Whiskertail lying at the deepest part of the den, his stomach slowly rising and falling steadily. She could smell Ashwing outside of the den. He was guarding them.

"Why aren't you out there with your brother?" Shimmerday snapped, her eyes narrowing in annoyance as she straightened her fur and gave herself a few embarrassed licks. Hailstripe shrugged, his blue eyes gazing momentarily out the entrance.

"He doesn't need me. He never has." His strange tone of voice caught Shimmerday's attention and she looked up at him mid-lick. He wasn't watching her, or Ashwing anymore. Instead his blue gaze was on the sleeping Whiskertail.

"When did he start sleeping?" Shimmerday asked cautiously, coming to stand beside the striped tom. Hailstripe casually rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. Against her will, Shimmerday noticed the way his fur rippled over strong muscles. He's so different from that tiny kit that could barely jump three pawsteps in front of him...

Hailstripe's eyes moved down to her and he caught her staring. She coughed suddenly, looking away and fighting for nonchalance. Hailstripe let out an amused snort, but said nothing about, instead giving a sharp nod in the direction of the sleeping white tom.

"He fell asleep as soon as we dragged him over there. It was weird. His annoying wailing stopped like it'd been cut off mid-cry. I thought he'd died, but...no such luck."

Shimmerday gave him a warning glare for his crude words, but he only gave her a smug look.

"You don't have any right to call anyone annoying." She mewed as she took confident steps towards the opposite side of the cave, purposefully trying to escape him. She hoped he wouldn't notice, but she could tell by the looks he was giving her that he had.

"Still playing that "I'm much too cool to talk to you game" huh, Shimmerday?"

"It's not a game. And I'm not playing. I just...don't want to talk to you."

"Then just ignore me, you won't be the first."

Shimmerday snorted, but found herself stuck on his words, "It's not that easy."

"Oh really? Is it my muscles? I can tell they're keeping you distracted..." He gave a low purr and Shimmerday hissed in annoyance.

"Shut-up will you? I wasn't look at your muscles! There was a leaf!"

"Mhmm, of course there was, that's not proper, staring at me like that." He responded mockingly.

Shimmerday sneered, "Not like they were that big in the first place! Especially not compared to Ashwing's..." She trailed off, unsure whether or not to be proud of her low blow. Silence greeted her words, but she wasn't happy about the words she'd said. She'd thought she'd quieted him for good, but a moment later and he'd continued. Shimmerday let out a sigh.

"Course they aren't, Ashwing must've found a herb for that!"

"You're...you're something else, you know that?"

Hailstripe let out a purr, "What kind of something else?"

"It's a phrase, does it matter what kind?"

"Sure! I could be a funny kind, or a handsome kind, or a...charming kind." Hailstripe droned, listing his imaginary 'kinds' with a tilt of his head to one side, back and forth. Shimmerday growled and rolled her eyes, standing up and turning around she she could lie facing the wall.

"Shut-up Hailstripe! I don't have time for your words!"

"You want a nap? You want to sleep with a crazy tom lying over there? Who could go all Tigerstar on you at any moment?"

"'Go all Tigerstar on me'?"

"It's phrase, Shimmerday, get with the times!"

Shimmerday's tone was bored, "Whatever."

"Look, I'm just saying that taking a nap with a crazy cat who ripped his own eyes out isn't necessarily the best sort of idea." Hailstripe reasoned, but Shimmerday ignored him with a huff.

However, soon she heard another voice call out into the cave. "You think I'm crazy?"

Instantly, Shimmerday was on her paws and facing the back of the cave, her eyes came to rest on the eye and bloody socket of Whiskertail.

"I can assure you..." He mewed enthusiastically, nodding adamantly. "I'm not crazy...I'll prove it to you...I...I can show you...so you can see the eye too..." Shimmerday could see the crazy look in his eyes and she felt her stomach churn. She tossed a look at Hailstripe.

"We can handle this..." He said, although it sounded more like a question.

Shimmerday turned towards the entrance to the small cave, her voice echoing against it's walls, "Ashwing! We're gonna need your help!"

Hailstripe nodded in defeat, "Yeah! And make sure you watch your eyes! I think this cat is a collector..."

...

.Shimmerday backed into the corner of the cave, searching wildly for an escape route of some kind and finding none.

In all of the moons she'd known him, she'd never seen Whisketail fight like she was seeing him now. Whiskertail was studying her with the strangest sort of look in her eyes, as if she was the prey and he was hunting her. She felt her back legs press up against the cave and she knew she couldn't move away any more. He was blocking all her angles. Escaping to his side would give him an open shot at her flanks and stomach, and that would be too dangerous of a move. Same for jumping over him, her stomach would be in perfect range. No, the only thing she could do was hope that Ashwing would be able to help her. Although, at the moment, he was lying ominously still next to the farthest wall away from her..

Which left... Hailstripe. She nearly let out an audible groan, but contained herself for the moment's sake. Now was not a time to be picky about who was to come to her rescue.

Again she tried to think of a plan of escape, but nothing came. Whiskertail moved closer and closer until his nose was nearly pressed to hers.

I could hurt him, that would buy me some time...

But no, she couldn't hurt a clanmate...even if he was crazy...

"You have pretty eyes..." Whiskertail whispered, and his breath against her nose made her shiver in a way she didn't like. This close, she could see his bloodied eyes and seeing the details of it was grisly. The fur on her neck stood up and her ears flattened against her head. She let out a warning hiss, pointing her face away from his in an attempt to shield herself from the horrid sight before her.

Whiskertail shook his head and a dissappointed look appeared in his hazel eye. "No, no...no need for that...we're all friends here...right?"

"Sure..." Shimmerday murmured, still looking for an escape, but finding nothing. She let out a loud sigh of annoynance.

"Is something wrong?" Whiskertail asked, his voice sounding strange and peculiar to Shimmerday's ears, as if it wasn't his voice but another voice all together.

Oh great, now you're imagining things...

"I just...would like to get passed you..." Shimmerday meowed, attempting to slide to the left, but Whiskertail didn't budge. He had muscles from being raised as a warrior, and Shimmerday new for a fact that he was a strong opponent. She couldn't defeat him without injuring him as well as herself, this she knew for a fact.

"Why? Do you not like my company?" Whiskertail questioned, his voice growing cold as his eyes narrowed in accusation. Shimmerday's eyes widened, panic making her heart speed up and her fur to fluff up even more.

"No! No that's not what I meant! I-"

"She just needs some space," Hailstripe's voice came from behind Whiskertail, and although the white tom did nothing his ears swiveled in Hailstripe's direction. Shimmerday could see the tabby tom past Whiskertail's ear, and by the looks of it he had a wrenched shoulder and a line of blood was tainting his fur as it slid down his cheek. She assumed it was from Whiskertail when he shoved Hailstripe roughly against the wall. "Besides, if you take a step back, you can further appreciate her beauty..." Hailstripe made a face, as if he could barely believe the words coming out of his mouth.

Whiskertail nodded thoughtfully, then after a moment he took a few pawsteps back, giving Shimmerday room to breath. She let out a breathe she wasn't aware she was holding and closed her eyes peacefully for just a second. She gave Hailstripe a grateful look and he shrugged.

He's improvising, she thought as she watched him limp slowly closer. With that injured leg he won't be able to fight...

Shimmerday saw a flash of movement on the other side of Whiskertail's head. She spotted Ashwing slowly getting to his paws and turning around to face her and the white tom. He looked at Hailstripe, and she watched as the two brothers had a conversation in simple gazes. She was amazed at how close they were, able to talk in glances. She'd never been that close to her brother, Flamespin...the tom had always loved himself more than his kin. Momentarily distracted by thoughts of her self-centered brother, she didn't notice Whiskertail's paw raising slowly towards her eye.

She was alerted by Hailstripe, "Oh no! Wait Whiskertail!" The golden tom jumped forward in panic and then winced, picking his injured up off the ground with an agonized look in his eyes. Shimmerday almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

Ashwing took a cautious step towards Whiskertail as Hailstripe began to talk again, "Do you really want Shimmerday's eye? I mean...sure it's pretty but...it won't match your...others..." He stalled, obviously making it up as he went along. But Whiskertail couldn't see him, and could only hear the confidence of Hailstripe's words.

He's a good actor, Shimmerday thought, then shoved the praise away and scowled inwardly.

"True but...I like it...so much..." Whiskertail whispered, and Shimmerday squirmed as he raised a paw to her eye and tried to reach for it. She resisted to let out a squeal, as his claws were still sheathed.

"But think about your collection! It needs to match, otherwise it won't look as nice, don't you think? The...uhh...other eye is red, and your eye is hazel. You need a brown eye...or another hazel eye...or even amber. Not blue. Blue doesn't match. It would ruin everything."

"You're right...blue doesn't match," Whiskertail gave me a scathing glare. "You ruin everything." I blinked, biting by a rude retort. So sorry blue doesn't match your bloody collecton of ripped out eyeballs!

"She really does, doesn't she." Hailstripe said, and she gave him a glare at the truth in the voice. There was a smug look in his eyes, but by this time, Ashwing was almost right behind Whiskertail, so she let his smugness slide and decided she'd get him for it next time.

Ashwing crouched, catching Shimmerday's gaze. She gave an almost impercievable nod while Hailstripe continued to whine about all of Shimmerday's flaws.

"She like, flirts without meaning too. Her mother's the clan leader. She uses that to her advantage..." Shimmerday rolled her eyes and forced his words out of her head, she needed to focus on when to jump out of the way so that Ashwing could attack Whiskertail. Shimmerday watched as Ashwing's muscles gave one final twitch of tension.

1...2...3...

She leapt, her strong legs taking her right over Whiskertail, but she stumbled, falling, and her momentum caused her to roll until she rammed into Hailstripe, sending them both sprawling across the floor.

She could hear Whiskertail struggling, but when she looked over she could see that Ashwing had it handled. He was sitting firmly on Whiskertail's head, and with Ashwing's greater weight, the smaller tom had no chance of escaping. Shimmerday let out an exhausted sigh, relieved that the moment was over.

Suddenly Hailstripe exclaimed from beside her, "Oh! And she likes to knock you down. Like a lot. Both literally, and non-literally!"

"Shut-up!"

"And she yells shut-up. Alot."

Shimmerday let out a hiss, but Hailstripe only purred.

It'll be a long day...

7