My heart spun out of control. It was a nightmare, yet a beautiful one. I prodded him with a paw, feeling dizzy. Was this our kit? I didn't even want a mate...much less a forbidden one.

I stare at the tiny, white tom-kit, horrified. What have I done? I'm usually a perfect cat, the sweet, ginger RiverClan she-cat who everyone looks up to. Mothers tell their kits, "Why can't you be as nice as Appleblossom?". I wasn't the cat who would go off and have a kit with a forbidden mate. Suddenly, my mate, Whiteblaze of ThunderClan, steps out of the bushes.

He looks at our kit with green eyes full of love. "Isn't he beautiful?" he asks. I have to admit, he is. He looks exactly like Whiteblaze, with a bright white pelt and perfectly proportioned features. His little eyes aren't opened yet, but I'm sure that they'll be amber, just like Whiteblaze's.

"What do we name him?" he whispers, careful not to be heard by any cats who would just happen to be stopping by the bushes surrounding ThunderClan territory in the middle of the night.

"How about a bird name?" I ask. "Maybe Hawkkit, or Robinkit?"

Whiteblaze shakes his head. "Too cliche. How about Talonkit?"

This is one of the things that I love about Whiteblaze. He's never afraid to tell me his opinions. "Sure." I say. "And Whiteblaze, we need to get out."

"That's fine." he says. "You go to RiverClan, and I'll go back to ThunderClan. Can you take Talonkit?"

I consider the two options. I would be disgraced, my perfect reputation ruined. I could even be thrown out of RiverClan. But I'd get to be with Talonkit, and raise him. I would watch my kit grow up, and someday, people just might forget about this whole thing.

"Fine." I finally say. "Goodbye, Whiteblaze." I know that I might never see him again, and it hurts. I feel so bad.

"Goodbye, Appleblossom." he says in his warm, comforting voice. As I walk away with Talonkit in my mouth, he licks me affectionately on the cheek.

The next few days are pure torture. I don't hide that Talonkit is mine. The entire Clan ignores me because of it. My best friend, Ripplestep, stays far away from me. Talonkit's eyes finally open, and they're amber just like I thought.A week and a half after I come back to RiverClan, there's a Gathering. Somehow I'm invited, and Ripplestep is forced by our leader, Otterstar, to watch over Talonkit for me.

As I arrive at the Gathering, I see Whiteblaze standing with the rest of his Clan, sharing tounges. I feel no anger, just sadness. Finally the cats quiet down, and the leaders start to talk. Otterstar goes second, after the WindClan leader, Brightstar. I zone out for most of his speech, except for one part.

"Three beautiful kits were born in our Clan this month." he announces. "Two female kits, Mistkit and Spiritkit, and one male kit, Ravenkit."

I wait for him to correct himself and add Talonkit to the list, but he just keeps talking. Something needs to be done. I walk over to Whiteblaze. "Meet me outside Thunderclan territory at moonhigh." I say. He says nothing, only nods.

That night I meet him as promised. I have Talonkit with me. He knows what we need to do, but I tell him anyway.

"We need to leave the Clans for good." I say. "We won't be judged anymore. We can start a family, have a good life. And if our kits want to come back someday, that's fine."

"All right." says Whiteblaze. "I know of an abandoned den near the ocean. Let's go there."

It's a long walk, but we finally make it there. Home at last.

~EPILOUGE~
Moons later,we have a beautiful little family. We train our kits to hunt and battle ourselves. Talonkit is now Talonheart, and we have three other kits, Tawnybird, Nightflame, and Fawnpaw. Our life is perfect now, and it's hard to think that this came from a nightmare. But maybe some nightmares aren't nightmares in the end. This one turned into a beautiful dream.