A/N: Hello again! Well, I just realized that the name Gorsetail is taken by not only one but two cats in the warriors series. *Long sigh* Whatever, in my version it's a he and he is a jealous murderer.

TheRealOwleyes: Thanks for your review! Glad to see that people are enjoying my one-shots. Of course, you can use Sundapple. I don't mind ^^

*In this story, I am in no way encouraging animal abuse or any type of abuse to young children or cats.*

Abuse

The small kit awoke the a familiar cold on their skin. They curled into a tighter ball of fluff, shivering. But they couldn't get back to sleep. She yawned and opened her bright blue eyes. The gray kit lay curled up, alone, on an old rag. A gust of freezing wind blew inside the structure that the kit was in. More shivers racked her body.

Hunger clawed at the kit's stomach, and she brought herself to stand up. Her gaze settled on a gray tabby cat's resting body in the corner. She stumbled over to the cat, desperate for a meal.

"Mama?" The kit mewled, standing right beside her mother. No response. "Mama!?" She mewled again, louder. The cat flicked it's ear in it's sleep.

"MAMA!" The kit squeaked, prodding at the cat's side firmly until it stirred. The gray tabby cat opened it's eyes to glare at it's kit.

"Go to sleep." She murmured, then shut her eyes again. But the small she-kit was starving. Her stomach felt emptier than it ever had before. She narrowed her eyes with determination as another gust of wind blew inside.

"But I'm hungry!" The kit squeaked, prodding at the she-cat again and again.

The gray cat's eyes opened again, this time in a more stern glare. It felt colder than the icy wind. The kit stumbled backwards at the icy cold look that her mother gave her.

"Go to sleep by your siblings. Now." The gray cat ordered, and then closed her eyes and rolled over. The small kit beside her felt the urge to continue bothering her mother, but it was no use. She gave up and stumbled back to the rag where she had been sleeping. She noticed kits about her size, three of them, curled up against each other a little closer to her mother.

The small kit stumbled over and curled into them, purring at the slight warm sensation that met her skin. She noticed her mother beginning to get up and about to scold her for joining them, yet the gray she-cat decided that she was too tired and settled back down into her old blanket nest.


Shiver felt the chilly air on her face. The land outside was covered in a thick blanket of white, everything bright and cold. Small white flakes fell from the sky. Sometimes slowly, floating down peacefully. Sometimes they came in a flurry, swirling around in the wind. She gasped suddenly as something latched itself onto the end of her fluffy gray tail. Shiver spun around to see her tiny white sister with holding her tail in her mouth.

"Snow! Stop it!" Shiver mewled, and pounced on his sister. She squeaked and they both wrestled around on the ground.

A black and white kit leaped into the blur of fur and tiny claws, joining the battle. He was Snow and Shiver's brother, Blizzard. The three squirmed and mewed and squeaked, causing their last sibling to stir in their sleep. She was a gray tabby kit named Ice. Ice blinked open her eyes, and noticed her littermates playing. She jumped up with excitement and launched herself into play-battle too.

Shiver pinned Snow to the ground, holding her down as she struggled. Blizzard leaped onto Shiver and knocked her off of Snow, and the two proceeded to wrestle once more. Ice pounced on Snow after barely giving the small she-kit time to get up.

All of the noise caused their mother, the gray she-cat, to turn over in her sleep. The tussling kits didn't notice. They continued their loud play until their mother awoke suddenly. She got up padded towards the kits abruptly, eyes narrowed to slits.

"Won't you all shut it? I'm trying to get my rest here." She spat, her words sweeping silence over all the kits. They froze and looked up at their mother.

"But mama, we're just playing!" Shiver pouted. Her siblings looked at her with expressions on their faces that were warning her not to say another word. After all, none of them wanted to upset their Mother.

Too late. The gray she-cat glared at Shiver, that ice-cold glare that she had seen when she was a kit. She grit her teeth in frustration and annoyance. Her claws silently unsheathed, and Shiver noticed them shimmering in the glow that came from outside.

"Did you just talk back to me?" The she-cat hissed. It was less of a question and more of an accusation.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Shiver stuttered. Her siblings stood frozen in their places, afraid to even move.

Shiver's own mother then raised her paw, claws glittering in the glowing sunlight, and brought it own on Shiver. She felt sharp claws tearing through her flesh and fur, and pain rocketing through her body. She squeaked in terror as her mother raked her claws down her back and flank. Blood began welling and leaking from the open wound. The gray she-cat's claws were tainted with her kit's crimson blood. She then cleaned her paws and stalked away, curling up and going back to sleep. Shiver stood, trembling, in shock. Had her mother just wounded her? Just sliced her back and flank open to the cold?

Ice, Blizzard and Snow stared in shock. None of them said a word. The blood had begun to stain Shiver's fur. Her examined the wound, still horrified for what had just happened. She slowly began licking the tender wound. Each swipe of her tongue stung so much she had to wince. Her own blood tasted metallic and terrible. Eventually the bleeding began to subside. Shiver saw that her siblings had settled into their nest made from an old rag, and were trying to close their eyes and force themselves to sleep. The gray she-kit slowly limped over to the rag, wincing in pain every step, and then laid down against her littermates. She lay against them and stared at the white outside until sleep came.


Another day. Shiver woke up and stretched out. Her gaze settled on the long scar down her back and flank. It had been a while since her mother had given her this injury. Each time she looked at it, she was reminded how cruel her mother was. How heartless. How badly it had hurt, not only the sting on her pelt but the way her mother had glared at her with ice in her eyes.

The gray she-kit got up and padded around. She had grown a bit since then. Her legs were longer, she had lost a lot of her kit-fluff. It was still cold, and the white was still everywhere. She had learned that it was called Snow, like her sister. She had been told it would get warmer, soon. Soon.

Shiver noticed that Snow herself was not present in the shed, which was what the place she lived in was called. Her two other siblings were still snuggled beside each other, asleep. And her mother. Since Shiver had gotten her scar, she had not dared to speak to her mother. She and her siblings had behaved. They didn't wrestle or make noise anymore. Sometimes, when they were hungry, they would head out and hunt for mice in the shed. They barely ever caught any. Their mother would hunt at night and let them eat in the day, but only sometimes. Sometimes they would go days without their mother feeding them.

"Blizzard? Ice?" Shiver whispered as she prodded her brother and sister, careful not to raise her voice. The two woke up almost immediately.

"What is it?" Ice asked, glancing up at Shiver.

"Snow is gone. I can't find her anywhere around the shed, do you know where she went?" Shiver replied.

Both Blizzard and Ice shook their heads. "I haven't seen her since yesterday, before we went to bed. Funny, she never curled up with us either..." Blizzard trailed off. The three were both confused and concerned.

"Should-should we wake Mother?" Ice asked. Shiver shuddered at the thought, glancing back down at her scar.

"Don't worry Shiver, we would do it. We won't let her hurt you again." Blizzard told his sister. That comforted her a little. Shiver watched her siblings walk over to the sleeping gray she-cat.

"M-mother?" Blizzard whispered, his voice fearful.

The she-cat yawned and looked at him. "Why did you wake me?" She spat, ears laid back. "You better come up with a good explanation quick."

"Snow's gone." Ice blurted. Their mother looked at the two of them silently. Her eyes weren't filled with hatred or annoyance this time. This time they looked normal for once, yet showed no emotion. Blank.

All four of them silently padded out into the snow. It felt cold as it touched Shiver's paw pads, and she flinched. They continued on through the thick, white cold. Shiver noticed all of the sudden that they were following a trail of pawsteps step in the snow. There was a faint, cold scent to match them. Snow's scent. Shiver wondered where she had been going and why, and where she was. She hoped her sister was okay.

The gray she-cat had quickened her pace and gone ahead of the group. She suddenly stopped in her tracks, ears pulled back as if in shock. The three siblings hurried to catch up with her, and gasped at what they saw.

Laying in the thickset white was the lifeless body of Snow. Her white fur matched the shade of the cold, white flakes beside her. Her eyes were closed. Frost clung the her eyelashes, whiskers, fur and face. Shiver immediately turned to look accusingly at her mother. Did she do this? Murder her own kit? The gray she-cat met Shiver's gaze, eyes narrowing.

"I didn't do this, furball." She spat, yet did not come off as harsh as usual. Her voice was slightly stricken by grief that she was trying to hide. "She died from the cold. Froze to death. It's obvious, there are no bite marks anywhere on her body."

Shiver leaned down to touch her nose to Snow's fur. Her body was cold. She had died long before they had gotten there, most likely in the freezing night. Suddenly Shiver noticed something else laid almost underneath Snow's head.

A mouse. The tiny gray body of a mouse. It had frozen, dried blood around it's neck. The other three cats gathered around to examine Snow.

"She... she was trying to hunt... for us." Ice was choking back tears. She nuzzled the cold body of her sister.

Shiver sat beside Snow and felt tears welling in her own eyes. She let them drip down her cheeks, leaving icy traces behind on her cheeks. The wind and snow swirled around them as they sat and mourned for the loss of their youngest sister. Even Shiver's mother seemed saddened. Silence was heavy between the cats.

The gray she-cat was the first to walk away, in silence. Blizzard eventually decided that it was too cold and persuaded a sobbing Ice to come with him back to the shed. Shiver sat alone, feeling an emptiness in her heart.

"It was all her fault." She decided, speaking to the lifeless form of Snow. "That heartless she-cat wouldn't hunt for us enough. Snow felt like she wanted to help. She wanted to feed us, she wanted to provide, unlike our mother. And now she's dead. Gone forever..." Shiver broke into sobs after the last words, shuddering at the cold and the thought of living without Snow.

But life went on. So with a final goodbye, Shiver too padded alone back to the shed. At that time, her scar hurt more than ever.

A/N: There it is! This one's sad, I know, but I thought it would work for the theme of Abuse. Also, each time there is a line break in the text means that Shiver and her siblings age a little. Before the first break, she and her brother and sisters had just opened their eyes. After the first break and before the second break, she was about 3 moons old. And in that last segment, they were around 5-6 moons old.

Also, to clear things up, Shiver's mother DID NOT murder Snow. Snow went out at night to try and hunt for her family. She caught the mouse and on her way back, she passed out in the snow. She died from hypothermia an hour later. Come on guys... I'm not that dark. This was a pretty dark chapter though. More to come! :D

Anyway, reviews are always appreciated, I will respond to them all. I'm thinking I'm going to make Shiver an official oc of mine. Her backstory is sad and traumatizing, so why not? Okay I'll stop talking now.