*ALTERNATE ENDING*

~~~Twolegplace, present morning

Shocked.

Disbelief.

All of these were etched into the soft lines of Cloudy's face. His blue eyes were as wide as saucers, and his jaws were agape in a silent gasp.

Pity.

Suddenly, it radiated from all of his body, his eyes, his motions. He pitied her! Her, Winter!

Winter snarled in rage, and growled, "Do not pity me! I did not tell you all of that so you can pity me!"

But she knew it was partly her fault. She had meant to censor out much of the story, but she was so caught up in the past she had spilled everything out. Wallowing in self-pity, she had made herself seem in more pain that what should be revealed to Cloudy. Cloudy, of all cats!

Cloudy blinked, and shook his head, but the pity in his eyes did not mitigate. In fact, he reacted to the story as if it were his own.

"Do not pity me," Winter screamed. Her fur fluffed up, and fire was emitted from her eyes in torrents of fury.

Do not look down on me!

Do not look down on me!

She wanted to kill him, to make sure the ears that had heard out her story were ripped to shreds.

"Winter…"

Do not say those wretched words!

"I'm sorry."

Winter screeched, "Don't be! I don't care anymore!"

She unsheathed her claws, and Cloudy's eyes widened. He took a step back as Winter took a step closer. Winter's eyes were wide with fury, while Cloudy's were wide with fear. A fine combination: fury and fear.

"I'm sorry," Cloudy whimpered. Now hearing her past, she seemed even more bloodthirsty, this time with reason to back up her willingness to shed blood.

But Winter, mind crazed with anger, deciphered his strangled apology as pity. Suddenly, Cloudy's face was replaced by Cloud's sneering features.

"I'm so sorry," he sneered sarcastically. His icy blue eyes glinted malignantly.

Frost appeared besides him, youthful once more, white fur glinting.

"You're a failure," Frost hissed contemptuously.

Scourge stepped out from the shadows, his eyes glowing red, crimson stars—or was that blood?—dotting his black fur.

"Pitiful."

"Absolutely pitiful," Cloud echoed.

"Pitiful."

"Pitiful."

Pitiful.

Pitiful.

Pitiful!

Was this a hallucination she created? Or a curse sent from The Hidden? Either way, the result was the same.

Winter lost her mind.

She sprung at Cloudy, claws unsheathed in completely in a horrible set of killing weapons. Her jaws, wide open, and frothing, ready and strong enough to shatter bone, closed around air.

Cloudy had no problem choosing between "fight or flight". He was always the runt of the generation, only good at hunting creatures smaller and weaker than he. Onestar had mentored him in hopes of improving his strength, but fighting wasn't in his blood. He had been a failure in his clan.

Older apprentices teased him, but he never fought back. All his life, he had been fleeing.

And so now Cloudy fled.

Cloudy leapt out of Winter's path of destruction, and fled towards the door, but Winter's claws caught his hindquarter, tearing through muscle and sinew, to the bone.

He let out a strangled wail, and once more attempted to go towards the exit, but he felt Winter's small yet threatening weight on his back.

A crazed killer is worse than a normal, cool-headed killer. A crazed killer does not go for the throat first, for a quick death, but prolongs the pain, forgetting the first goal of killing the victim.

Winter's teeth tore through Cloudy, and her claws sliced his body to ribbons. He never stood a chance. It was like pitting an angry tiger against a lame rabbit; the rabbit will die.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of torture, Winter's claws found Cloudy's jugular. Her razor sharp claws shredded through his throat like a weedwhacker through butter, and blood poured everywhere. It was hard to say who was covered in more blood.

Cloudy gurgled, and blood flowed like water out of his jaws, dripping down his chin and onto the ground. He collapsed on to the ground, a splash of blood fanning out around him.

Cloudy was dead.

A part of Winter died as well. Pain lashed at her chest, causing her to bend over, breathing hard. She looked at her paws. They were red. She looked at her fur. Red, red, red.

Blood.

Something trembled at the edge of her vision. She glanced over with wary eyes, and saw Flicker and Sunny. Her two kits.

They stared at the dead Cloudy with wide eyes. Their whiskers trembled, and they backed away from Winter in fear.

Now, there was more change. Just as one can change for the better, one can change for the worse. Just like that night so long ago with Frost, something changed. Only this time, it was not into a colder being, not a warmer being, but a lost being.

All her positive change vanished—poof! It was gone. The ice from her heart was gone, but her heart no longer radiated happiness or contentment. Now it was all hollow, filled neither by happiness nor anger. She was lost.

Once more she looked at the dead body of Cloudy. His grey fur was barely discernable through the thick layer of blood she had spilled. His glazed eyes were open, but not seeing. On his body were huge gashes, still glistening with blood. The worst wound was on his neck; she could see the mangled arteries and flesh.

Blood.

Once more she looked at the two kits she had promised to raise, she had promised to protect. They were scared of her, their supposed mother. What a mother she turned out to be, killing a cat right before them.

Broken, Winter turned around and padded out of the warehouse. The kits made no move to follow.

The new beginning so full of hope and possibilities was gone. It shattered when it barely started.

A/N: The alternate ending I had in mind when I was plotting everything out. Aren't you glad I posted the other one instead?

EDIT: There seems to be many questions about Cloudy and Cloud. . Sorry I didn't make it clearer, but in this story there are two cats that Winter fell in love with. The first was in her past, a cat named Cloud sent by Scourge, using the alias Cloudy. The second Cloudy comes later in her life, after she has started The Alliance. He is Cloudypaw, a clan cat, and I had meant for him to be Cloud's alter ego, better version, reincarnation, etc. The story starts when Winter starts to assassinate the clan leaders and received Cloudypaw. All the stuff of Scourge and Cloud (the evil one!) is in the past, later explained by her flashback.

I hope that clears everything up.

Also, about that sequel I promised... ." Eh, it will be published sooner or later, but I wanted to plan it out with more detail than I did with The Alliance. I'M SORRY FOR MY PROCRASTINATION! D: And thank you for those who still remember me... 3