Dawn light seeped through the holes of the run down den and Raven wanted to shift over so that it only pressed against her back. Her muscles ached from last night and her mind was fuzzy. She still felt that churning in her stomach from last night as she stared down at Ember's motionless body. It continued to bother her, she didn't understand it, and it even was spreading to her heart. She felt it touch each vein and make it feel the emotion. She was turning it around for the rest of the night until she was able to finally close her eyes, but it also haunted her dreams. She was standing in a river of blood, a trail of dead bodies behind her. Two specific bodies caught her eye, Ember and Scarlet. They were lying mangled and crippled at her paws, staring cloudy-eyed up at her. Their faces twisted in a silent yowl of pain, along with the other bodies.

Raven suppressed a shiver and reluctantly pushed herself to her paws, her muscles seemed to let out a defiant hiss and sent pain through her body. She growled in frustration and stalked toward the entrance, she could push past the pain because either way she needed to be awake. Shard said that he wanted her to fight today and she needed to be prepared. Though, as she slipped past the tendrils she noticed a large circle of cats by the dumpster. It was obvious she was last to wake. She had no time to stretch out her muscles and relax them, or practice. She was going to be thrown into a fight with weary bones.

"Raven, nice to see you finally got up!" Shard greeted her with a sneer and snickers arose from the group of cats, she held back the angry snarl that began to bubble in her throat and she dipped her head at her father in greeting. In all honesty, Raven thought she deserved pleasant greetings from her Band-mates, not bitter laughs, especially from her father. She killed one of the 'nuisances' in his life and she gets a good-morning sneer.

"You are going up against Slash," Shard motioned his tail over to the dark gray tom who was planted beside Frost. The tom's green eyes lit up at the mentioning of his name and when he turned to Raven his eyes instantly turned cold.

"Hope you've come prepared, little-bird," Slash's bitter hiss mixed with the hostility in his eyes made Raven slightly flinch, his long claws scraped along the concrete as he made his way over to her and she felt her fur begin to bristle. She always won the fights and she was never like this, she was never afraid.

Raven unsheathed her claws and curled her lips back in a menacing snarl, the tom merely sneered before lunging forward. Raven ducked forward under his outstretched paws and leaped into his stomach. The gray tom gasped as the two landed on the ground with a THUD! Slash lay breathing deeply trying to regain his breath while Raven stood over him with burning muscles, her teeth gritted as the burning sensation coursed through her.

"Come on, Raven!" It was the irritated hiss that came from Shard and she didn't realize in time that Slash had regained his breath, he managed to throw her off with a shove of a few paws and she scrambled backwards, trying not to lose balance.

Raven was about to get back at Slash but she felt his claws dig into her pelt, his weight knocked her downwards and she felt her muzzle being pushed down onto the concrete while claws dug into her neck. She struggled and for the first time felt helpless, her body was failing her. She seemed like she couldn't fight back. She could hear the disgusted snorts coming from Slash as his claws sliced deeper. If he goes deeper, he might end up killing me. The thought flooded her mind and she felt her paws flail in front of her, she desperately searched for something her claws could latch onto.

"You are weak, little-bird," she felt Slash's breath tickle her ear and she felt her claws find his neck, she let out a screech and began to claw fiercely at his skin. She felt anger bubble up inside of her, she couldn't be weak, and she wasn't weak!

Raven ignored her tightened muscles as she shoved her paws into his belly, she surprisingly managed to haul the tom off of her and she heard an angry growl rise in the tom's throat.

She lifted herself to her paws and faced the tom, pain was now all over her body and she could feel her blood ooze out of her scratches and down through her fur. Her muscles were burning like fire now and her breathes were rapid as she stared at Slash. The tom stared at her with pure hatred glittering in his eyes and his lean muscles rippled underneath his pelt, preparing to continue the fight.

"Stop," Shard's voice broke the silence and the dark gray tom leaped gracefully down from his position on the dumpster, cats crouched in respect as he passed by them and Raven could see the pride glimmering in his cold, blue eyes.

"It's clear that we have a victor," Shard beckoned his tail to Slash and yowls of triumph escaped from the other band members, Slash lifted his chin pride-fully and Raven could see him staring at her out of the corner of his eye, she could see the cold and disgust passing through them.

"And it's clear we have a loser," the cheers died down as Shard turned to Raven, he glared down at her with angered, narrowed eyes. She crouched lowly to the ground feeling her father's gaze harden on her. Disappointment was also seen in his eyes, which made Raven feel ashamed. Of course, she loved making her father proud of her and seeing that pride glow in those blue eyes. But today, they were cold and full of disappointment. He must have lost all pride for me after this fight. I wonder if he's even still happy that I killed Ember for him…

I am weak. I need to make him know that I'm strong. I don't want to end up like Ember. Today was just a lesson, tomorrow is a new day. I'll work every tooth and claw to make him happy. I made a mistake today, and tomorrow I'll clean it up. I'll make everyone respect me again. I will make Shard happy at any cost...

I promise I'll add more of the other cats in the next chapters! ^^;

Also, continue to submit more cats to the Clans, it is greatly appreciated! :)