Shattered v.1

"Slow down!" Lark-kit panted, her stubby legs moving rapidly. "I'm not as tall as the rest of you guys!"

Adderkit laughed loudly, ignoring his sister and bounding up ahead. "Gonna have to become bigger, eh?" he taunted.

"Adderkit!" Meadowkit whined. The ginger tabby she-kit wasn't as slow as Lark-kit, but her long fur made it easy for Meadowkit to get caught on small twigs or leaves. "This isn't fair! You didn't even give us a warning before you started running!"

"Losers whiners, winners braggers!" Adderkit sang. The dark brown tomkitten bounced all the way to the fresh-kill pile. "I win!" he yowled as he made the final spring to the fattest mouse ever.

He didn't make it.

A pale ginger form threw itself into the side of Adderkit, sending them both sprawling. Adderkit got to his paws in a flash, spitting in anger.

"Heatherkit! I thought you were on my side!"

"Losers are whiners, winners are choosers!" Heatherkit mocked his brother. The ginger kit pinned his brother and yowled, "Lark-kit, Meadowkit! Save me a few bites!"

"Alright!" The two sisters ran the last few mouse-lengths to the pile of food. As Lark-kit passed her two brothers, she turned her head and stuck out her tongue at Adderkit. Adderkit practically glowed with bubbling fury.

Heatherkit bared his teeth in mock aggression. "Never trust a peacekeeper," he advised, letting his brother get up.

"You, a peacekeeper?" Adderkit snorted. "Don't make me laugh."

SHATTERED

PART 1: Adderpaw

After Heatherpaw's so-called 'accidental' death, however, Adderpaw understood how much of a peacekeeper his brother had been. It wasn't too hard to see why. Heatherpaw had been a ray of sunshine, the neutral one out of a competitive bunch. He was the one who played fair.

The clan had loved him for that, and Adderpaw had, somewhat unconsciously, loved Heatherpaw for the same reasons. Even with all their bickering, Heatherpaw had been Adderpaw's best friend, his brother, the best competitor he could have ever asked for.

Adderpaw didn't admit this to Meadowpaw or Larkpaw, but Heatherpaw's death had been like the sharpest of stones, piercing his heart. The fact that there was no longer anyone who would be able to hold him back when he got out of control… it was scary. Adderpaw was scared that his emotions and actions would go further than he meant them to.

Terrified.

He didn't want Brindlepaw or Leafpaw or Birdpaw to think of him as some kind of uncontrollable wildfire when he'd just earned their friendship and respect.

Heatherpaw had been his head, telling him his limitations and where and when he had to stop. The safety line, the borders. Now it was all gone; just wild territory, left unexplored. That was all that remained. And he was going to somehow head through all of that.

SHATTERED

PART 2: Meadowpaw

Meadowpaw had never expected Heatherpaw to go like this. He'd been so good, the stickler to the rules; what happened to all of that? He was there one moment; alive, well, giggling about something-or-the-other with Larkpaw; then was gone like a flash. So that was that.

Meadowpaw didn't want to tell this to the rest of the family. But she was kind of relieved about all of this. She'd been overshadowed in Heatherpaw's presence.

"Oh, you caught a mouse? Nice job!" She swelled in pride at those words, but they were empty comments when she saw Heatherpaw with a rabbit. She'd spent days wallowing over this and all Larkpaw asked was what the big deal was all about.

So what if she was able to perfect the front-paw slash? Heatherpaw could always do the leap-and-roll. Jealousy had stung her lungs, her heart, her paws.

Meadowpaw shuddered. Why was she thinking about this? It didn't matter anymore. Why? Heatherpaw was dead. He wasn't here to be the best of the best.

So now what?

To be entirely frank, she thought that she'd be replaced as the clan's most favored. Meadowpaw, the star apprentice of MazeClan. It had a nice ring to it, didn't it? But she'd have to work her way up to that, the way everyone else did. And Meadowpaw was ready.

She found that it wasn't just relief that was washing through her right now. It was also the raw ambition that she'd stored away for moons.

SHATTERED

PART 3: Larkpaw

The moment Heatherpaw died, Larkpaw's life was broken. Her brother was the best of the best; how could he just go like this? It was unacceptable. She wouldn't accept it. No. Never.

Her confidence booster and her best friend in the entire world was gone. Who would she hang onto now? Who would be her lifeline? Larkpaw was in the dark. And it was dark. There was no way in the name of Heaven and Stars that she'd actually be able to become a warrior like this. With all that competition and cheating? No way.

That was the major reason she agreed to Risingsun and became a medicine cat. No one would ever expect her to do something great. She'd just have to live up to her own expectations. …Okay, Risingsun was in there too. But he didn't matter as much, seeing as he was just content with her becoming his apprentice.

She felt guilty about this. Heatherpaw's dream had been to become a medicine cat. He was supposed to be here, in her place, happily learning how to help the clan in a different way.

This had been a desperate choice of hers. And, thinking deeper, probably the desperate choice of Risingsun's as well. A small smile attempted to crawl across her face. She was desperate, guilty, and most of all, miserable. Miserable that she was living someone else's life, miserable that she would never be able to chase her true ambitions. Miserable that she was not living up to her own expectations. But most of all, miserable that she had lost her brother.

SHATTERED

PART 4: Risingsun

He had been Risingsun's son. But he'd also been the lamb sacrifice to the Stars. They were hungry for blood, and Risingsun had delivered.

He discovered that he couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the face of Heatherpaw. The face of betrayal, shock, fury shooting across his features as the ginger tomcat sailed down, down, down to his death.

But there was nothing regrettable about following heavenly orders.

Nothing.

Nothing…

Was as regrettable as killing his own dear son…

A/N: To go break down Heatherpaw's relationship with each of the characters and why they react this way:

Adderpaw: Adderpaw as a huge temper. He'd lash out at anyone and everything unless someone else controls it. That someone was Heatherpaw during the time he was alive. Due to the loss of reins, Adderpaw is currently terrified that he might overreact or let his heart rule his head.

Meadowpaw: Meadowpaw always craved Risingsun's attention. But that attention was always captured by either Larkpaw or Heatherpaw. So Meadowpaw turned to the attention of the clan, only to find that Heatherpaw had already taken over the hearts of MazeClan. Now that the only obstacle in her way is gone, she thinks that she'll be able to take all that attention or herself.

Larkpaw: Larkpaw and Heatherpaw's bond were stronger than the rest. Mostly due to Larkpaw's small size, she wasn't very noticed. The only cats who did pay a lot of attention to her were Heatherpaw and Risingsun, and between the two, Heatherpaw did a lot to boost his sister's confidence.

Risingsun: If you read A Cloudy Rift, you can find that Risingsun is the one who killed his son, and the reasons were vague. The reasons have been explained here. The most important thing to take into consideration is that Heatherpaw respected and hung onto Risingsun's attention for him: Risingsun knew this and used it to follow orders.