These chapters are going to be short, mind you- only about 500 words a chapter. This isn't really a full story, but more of a... novelette. I dunno what the correct term is.

Chapter 2

I wheeled around, willing my claws to unsheath. There stood a middle-aged light gray tom of about thirty moons, with his paws tucked between his vast shoulders and his blue eyes glinting with mischievousness. "Good way to get rid of a troublesome 'friend.'"

"I suppose," I replied stiffly, regaining my posture. "Wait, get rid of?"

The tom looked amused. "You really don't know that you just murdered your fellow kittypet friend?" He padded up to me casually, not taking notice of my unsheathed claws. "So it is true. I have found a murderous kit wandering in the forest right next to a cliff. Interesting."

"What's your name?" I asked unexpectantly, more hesitant now that apparently I had just 'murdered' someone. "I'm Mary Sue. You can call me Mary for short."

He studied my face closely. "Nice. I'm Blizzardfrost. Born in leaf-bare and stuff, but it makes me sound like a rather cold cat. But I can be quite loving when I wanna be." Blizzardfrost took a step back. "Look, I really should be going. My patrol-"

Suddenly, the bushes behind him rustled as several more cats stumbled into the clearing. One had nearly the same light pelt color as Blizzardfrost, so I decided that she might be his sister. "Blizzardfrost!" she scolded. "What are you doing with a-"

She glared at me, finishing her sentence as she did so- "kittypet?"

Blizzardfrost looked frozen for a moment, then finally bowed his head. "I am sorry. I was hunting a thrush when I heard a commotion coming from the cliffs, so I came here to find this treacherous kittypet push off a fellow Twolegplace cat. Oh, her screams!" He shot me a look.

The she-cat sighed. "Look, we don't have time for your stories, Blizzardfrost. This kittypet is scared. Look at her!" She flicked her blue-gray tail in my direction. "Stop traumatizing her."

"Yes, Swiftfeather," Blizzardfrost sighed. Swift as in the bird, not the adjective. "I understand... but we do have to do something about Mary- her name," he hurriedly explained as Swiftfeather glanced at him suspiciously. "She told me."

Swiftfeather rolled her eyes, padding toward me cautiously. "Do you know where your Twolegs are?" she asked.

"No," I answered, even though I had the entire Twolegplace mapped out in my mind; I wanted to find out more about these mysterious cats- perhaps they would take me with them. "I... I need your help," I continued, trying to sound helpless. "Shelter, food, a place to call home..."

"Soon," Swiftfeather promised, sighing. "You can stay with us for one day and one night. Tomorrow, we need to get you back to Twolegplace." Some of the other cats in the patrol looked less than ethusiastic, but none of them spoke up.

"Why did you tell the truth?" I hissed quietly to Blizzardfrost when we began padding back to what would be their 'camp.'

"Sometimes, the truth is the one that's hardest to believe," he replied, staring straight up ahead, "and to remind you to be guilty of what you've done, intentional or non-intentional."

I still couldn't believe that Hera was just... gone. But Blizzardfrost still refused to look at me.