A figure stood on the top of a hill.

The figure was a cat, a she-cat, to be more precise. Her tail flicked from side to side as she gazed down the hill. She blinked her single good eye as she stood on the grass. The wind blew, ruffling her fur and causing her to close her eye to keep debris from flying into it until the breeze had stopped.

"It's happening," she murmured, leaving her spot and beginning to pad down the hill.

The tabby she-cat shot through the camp entrance.

Her paws skidded on the damp grass and she almost lost her balance. The weariness she had felt from before was gone, and adrenaline was coursing through her veins. She didn't bother to check behind her and instead raced further into camp, ignoring the curious looks she was getting from the other cats.

She spied Slatepaw across the clearing and sped over. "Slatepaw!" She rushed up to her brother, sparing a glance over her shoulder. "Help me," she croaked.

A greyish-brown cat padded through the entrance. Birdpaw could have sworn her heart was going to stop. She had never been this terrified in her life. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to end up like Thistlefur, her neck snapped by a fellow Clanmate for knowing the truth. Yarrowleaf easily found her, and the apprentice flinched when she saw the body he was carrying in his jaws.

It didn't take the Clan long to see him. They quickly formed a crowd, keeping their distance from the tom and whispering in hushed voices. Thistlefur didn't have any close living relatives – her closest friend was Pebblefoot, and he was out on patrol. All the cats looked shocked, but none of them were wailing in despair.

Ferntail, a grey and white patched she-cat, stepped forward. "What is the meaning of this, Yarrowleaf?"

Yarrowleaf let his jaws go slack and Thistlefur's body fell to the ground. "She was a traitor. She was plotting against Marshstar."

"So you killed her?" Runningstream spat. "Instead of exile?"

The tom's gaze turned on her. "If I let her go, she could have gotten support from outside. We can't risk our leader being harmed. WindClan must stay strong."

"Well then," the pale tabby growled, "if she was plotting, as you call it, she must have been plotting with someone! You can't expect us to believe you just walked in on her talking to herself!"

"I was just coming to that," Yarrowleaf replied, his gaze sweeping around the crowd. Birdpaw's heartbeat quickened and she crouched down even further behind Slatepaw, who gave her a puzzled look. She gazed up at him, silently pleading for him to keep his mouth shut.

"I would like to hear this as well," a voice meowed from above.

All the heads turned to see the familiar mottled brown pelt standing on the Tallrock. Marshstar stared down at the cats, his ears twitching. His face didn't show anything other than genuine interest.

Birdpaw's mouth was dry as she waited for her mentor to speak.

He didn't. Instead, he stepped over the body of Thistlefur and walked briskly over to her and Slatepaw. The cats parted to let him through, and the instant he reached her, he thrust Slatepaw aside and grasped her by the scruff. She shut her eyes tight, waiting for him to break her spine, but instead she felt herself being dragged across the clearing. She didn't make any move to get away. Yarrowleaf might be small, but he was still strong. She wouldn't stand a chance.

They reached the base of the Tallrock and Yarrowleaf placed a paw on her head, shoving it into the dirt. She coughed and managed to get her nose out of the ground so she could breathe properly. Marshstar gazed down at her, but didn't say anything.

Out of the corner of her eye, Birdpaw noticed Slatepaw step forward and open his mouth to speak. She signalled urgently to him with her tail to keep quiet. If he spoke, it would only make things worse. She was going to have to take the punishment.

"I heard her talking to Thistlefur on the way back from the stream, talking about how they could gather other cats from the Clan to overthrow you," Yarrowleaf growled. "We cannot allow these acts to continue. They will only make the Clan weak. Birdpaw is weak enough already, and even the other Clans can see it."

The leader nodded. "I completely agree with you, Yarrowleaf. However, I don't feel like getting my paws dirty just yet." He narrowed his eyes at a dark grey tom with black spots. "Nightspots, would you do the honours?"

"Gladly," the tom hissed. Birdpaw could just see him as he padded over to her. For a brief moment her head was free from the dirt as Yarrowleaf raised his paw, but it was immediately shoved down again by the other tom. His head bent down and he growled in her ear.

"It'll be a shame to ruin such a pretty face," he hissed, "but you deserve it. Get up."

She scrambled to her feet as he took his paw away. He fixed her with his yellow gaze. She tried her best to hold her ground, and then he slashed her across her muzzle.

At first the pain didn't register, but then her muzzle began to sting as if there were flames raking across the wound. She clenched her teeth to keep herself from screaming, trying to be as brave as Hollysong. Nightspots slashed her again, this time on her head. She collapsed on the ground and felt another blow rake her shoulder, and then more fell upon her head. The entire left side of her stung like wildfire, but she didn't scream. She just lay there and let the blows rain down, unable to do anything.

Am I really lifeless?

"Enough!" Suddenly, the strikes ceased and she opened her eyes, blinking blood from her vision. She heard a small thump as Marshstar leapt down from the Tallrock and made his way over to her. Gradually, the pain of her wounds began to register and she whimpered, curling up into a ball like Leafheart had done. By now a lot of the Clan were backing away. Marshstar ordered Nightspots to stand back, and then prodded her sharply with a paw. "Up. Now."

She did as she was told, struggling to stand on her wounded legs. Her eyes were closed and her head was turned slightly to the side, away from Marshstar's face.

"Look at me, Birdpaw."

No.

"Didn't you hear me? I told you to look at me."

Her eyes opened slightly and her head began to turn to face him.

"That's it. Now open your eyes."

I won't be intimidated.

Her eyes opened a little more.

No matter what happens, I won't be intimidated by him.

Now they were fully open.

I won't…

She locked gazes with the leader.

At first, she was able to look into his eyes comfortably. They were intense, but so were most amber eyes. She relaxed slightly.

Then, her brain froze. She couldn't look away. They were like pools of molten lava, burning right into her mind. She could do nothing. Her paws were frozen in place, and she couldn't blink. Her eyes didn't hurt, but she felt if she opened them any wider they would fall out. Birdpaw stared into the leader's eyes. They weren't just plain orange. She could see… things in them. They flickered with emotion and desire. Which emotions they were, she couldn't be sure, but she could be certain that none of them were positive. The desires seemed terrifying and evil – she didn't even want to find out what those were.

She had been so focused on the eyes that when the first blow struck her face, she wasn't prepared for it at all. She stumbled sideways and almost fell over, barely managing to stand up straight. More blood trickled into her eyes and she shook her head to clear it but Marshstar struck again, this time with more force. She toppled over with a strangled cry. Nightspot's attacks were nothing compared to this.

The third blow raked across her eye. She could no longer hold back her screams and she screeched in pain and terror as her left eye was clawed. She squeezed her wounded eyelid shut as blood trickled steadily from the agonizing wound, and her claws dug into the ground. Marshclaw hit her again and sent her skidding across the floor. She heard cats jump out of the way to avoid getting hit by her.

Mud clogged her fur from where she had been slammed into the ground and tossed around. Birdpaw lay there in a daze, watching Marshstar walking toward her. He was taking his time, but she knew from the look in his eyes that he was going to kill her. Inside, she was panicking, however on the outside she couldn't move a muscle. She wanted to get up and run, but her limbs felt as if they were made of stone. Unable to move, she could only stare with her one good eye as the WindClan leader reached her and seized her neck in his jaws. Her mouth opened slightly and a strangled cry came out of it as she felt his jaws begin to close on her throat.

Terror took a hold of her and she began to thrash madly. Marshstar growled and slashed her again to keep her still, but she retaliated and managed to dig her claws into his cheek. He snarled and let her go, striking her forcefully in her stomach, a blow which made her cough as she was thrown to the ground once more. He leaned down and stared into her eyes again. She tried to stare back, but was soon overcome by his gaze.

He snickered and murmured something only she could hear. "You have spirit."

After dealing his final blow, one that shredded her ear completely, he stood up. "Redfeather, take her to your den, but don't treat her," he growled. The medicine cat stared in alarm, then nodded quickly and padded over. Birdpaw felt the footsteps growing louder as she was picked up by her scruff and gently dragged across the ground. It hurt, but she was too numb to care right now. Every inch of her was burning with pain; more made almost no difference. She let herself be pulled across the clearing to the medicine den.

Dimly, she managed to pick out Marshstar talking about how this would happen to any of them if they tried to disobey him. At that point in time, however, she wasn't concerned with it at all. As soon as Redfeather laid her in a nest, she curled up as much as possible and closed her eye to try and sleep. She remembered her mother telling her how sleep was the best medicine, and since Redfeather wasn't treating her, this was the only thing she could do.

She felt a tongue licking her forehead and relaxed slightly. As she fell asleep, she heard the medicine cat speak. "I'm sorry. It's my fault… if only I had said it was him…"

Birdpaw wasn't sure if she was fainting from blood loss or if she was genuinely falling asleep, but she was glad of it either way. She shifted slightly and let the black spots behind her eyelids grow.

The pain was gone when she woke up. She opened her eyes a tiny bit, then widened them once she realised that this wasn't the WindClan camp. She was lying in long grass, the scent of Greenleaf strong in the air.

Birdpaw stumbled to her paws. She knew where she was; it had been almost Leaf-bare in the Clans when she had gone to sleep. She looked up into the night sky and saw Silverpelt glistening above her. Her eyes widened; there were so many stars, more than she'd ever seen in her life. There was barely any dust to block out the twinkling spots, and no other light to interfere with them. She sat down and stared upward, wanting to make sure this stayed in her mind forever.

"Birdpaw."

She turned in surprise at the familiar voice and started when she saw the cat standing there. "Shadeclaw?"

The tom smiled. His dark grey pelt glistened with stars and his eyes were brimming with wisdom that he hadn't had when he was alive. "I'm here, Birdpaw. Don't be afraid."

She rushed forward and pressed herself to him. Despite being almost made of stars, he was still warm and carried the scent of her father she remembered so clearly. "I missed you so much. Is mother here?"

"She is, but you won't be seeing her tonight. Another time," her father added, seeing the disappointment in his daughter's eyes.

Birdpaw looked around again. "Why am I here?" A shocking thought hit her. "Am I dead? Did I die in my sleep?"

Shadeclaw shook his head. "You're not dead, just visiting. If you were dead, your scars would be fading. Look at yourself."

She turned and flinched at how battered she looked. Her wounds were still red and raw; she was glad she couldn't feel pain while in StarClan's hunting grounds. If she found a puddle she would be able to see how bad her face looked, although she wasn't sure if she was ready for that just yet. Although she could see out of both her eyes here, she probably looked pretty bad.

Her father carried on talking. "You may be scarred for life physically – and possibly emotionally, once you wake up – but remember this: your Clan still needs you, even in the state you're in now. Try and live your life even under Marshstar's control." He rested his head on hers.

"But how?" she mewed in confusion. "How can my Clan need me when I'm like this?"

"You're just as valuable as any warrior, Birdpaw," Shadeclaw meowed back. "Maybe even more, as an apprentice. You have the opportunity to become almost anything, unlike a warrior. Slatepaw, too. Don't give up."

She blinked up at him. "What are you saying?"

He smiled fondly at her. "I'm telling you not to shut yourself away." He looked up at the sky. "Our time is up. I must go now, and you have to wake up." He licked her head. "Goodbye, Birdpaw. I hope I'll meet you again soon."

"Goodbye," she whispered, her voice slightly raspy as she felt him fade. She was alone once more, until she lay down in the grass again and closed her eyes.

The first thing Birdpaw felt when she awoke was pain. Pain everywhere, in every inch of her body. She was soaking wet as well; it had clearly rained at night and there were puddles everywhere in the medicine den. However, she was parched and managed to lean closer to lap at one of the nearest ones.

It tasted salty, contaminated with her own blood. She spat it out in disgust.

A cat padded into the den. She expected it to be Redfeather, but when she looked at it closely she recognised Vinepaw, the medicine cat apprentice. He started when he saw her and almost dropped the herbs he was carrying, and then turned away awkwardly. She tried to greet him, but only a croak came out. She needed to drink.

She couldn't stand just yet, but managed to crawl across the ground to a cleaner pool and began to lap from that. After a while her thirst was quenched and she raised her head. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of looking at her reflection in the water.

A whimper escaped her and she flinched away from the cat in the puddle. Instead of its wounded eye being closed, it was wide open and bleeding. Many slashes covered the face, her right ear was torn and the left one was almost gone. A large slash distorted her expression, starting just above her eye and stretching down to the bottom of her chin, pulling her mouth down into a grimace. Her good eye looked dull and haunted. After a few seconds of horror staring at her reflection, she managed to pull herself away and lie down in her nest again.

She curled up and tried to ignore the stinging sensation from her wounds. I'll be like this for life. These aren't the kinds of scars that just go away. They'll stay with me forever.

She felt a twinge of emotion in her stomach. This was who she was now. She would never be the same again.

3 chapters in a row! xD I'm spoiling you. Well there are probably only about 4 people who read this so far… but yeah, the next chapter will take longer for various reasons. Until then, have good lives~