The bitter cold cut to Ring's skin through her kit-soft fur. She was barely a moon old as her mother led her through the forest. The older molly's brown tabby tail rested on Ring's shoulder, guiding her forward. In her jaws, she carried Ring's sister, Echo, lifting her head high to avoid sweeping her kit's soft brown-and-white paws against the ground.
"Are we there yet?" whined Ring. "My paws hurt."
In response, her mother whipped her tail against Ring's ears. It didn't sting, but she understood what her mother meant, even if she couldn't speak: be quiet and stop complaining. Ring snapped her jaws shut.
As they walked, the forest around them changed. The bare twiggy trees above shifted in dark, foreboding pine trees. Their dark needles pointed at Ring accusingly. She tried to hide underneath her mother, but she couldn't stay there and keep moving forward.
"Halt!"
Ring's mother stopped, and Ring squinted to see who had meowed at them. Up ahead, a patrol of several cats ran towards them. Even though it was the coldest part of leaf bare, their muscled rippled and their pelts were sleek.
A molly stepped forward and sniffed at Ring's mother. The cat was a huge, long-furred dark tabby, with one white paw. She swung her head around to examine Ring, who shrunk back when she saw the cat's eyes were milky and sightless. Still, her power could not be denied. "What do you want?" she meowed, her voice rough. "You're intruding on ShadowClan territory. I should chase you out, but I know better than to risk hurting two defenseless kits."
Ring's mother rested Echo on the ground and dipped her head in respect. "Please pardon my intrusion," she rasped. "I want to speak to your leader."
The cat looked at the others in its group, as if seeking advice. She flicked her bushy tail in agreement. "Very well. Come with us; we'll carry your kits for you."
A gray cat flecked with small spots scooped Ring up in his jaws, and before she could even open up her jaws to complain, started off in the direction of the big blind cat, who carried Echo above the floor with ease. She made each step without pause or hesitation. Had Ring not been so distressed, she would have been impressed.
After what felt like eons of traveling, the scents of unfamiliar cats flooded her nostrils. The gray tom put her down, and she scampered to join her mother and sister. They had come to a clearing, filled with strange cats, all of whom carried themselves with strength and confidence, despite the barren weather. Several of them had been eating or talking amongst each other, but they all stopped and stared as Ring and her family arrived.
"What is the meaning of this, Briarstreak?"
Ring looked around until she saw a speaker: a thickset, black-and-white molly limping towards her. Ring shrank away from her. Despite the limp, caused by a large, glaring scar running down her flank, the fierceness of her yellow gaze made the blind molly seem like a kitten in comparison. This must be their leader.
"I found them wandering about our territory, Berrystar. The molly claimed she needed to talk to you."
Berrystar turned her gaze towards Ring's mother. Though haggard and small compared to the supple molly, her mother didn't flinch under her gaze. She lifted her chin and mewed, "I come to you because I have heard that the warriors of the Clans are noble and proud cats. I beg you to help a poor mother and her kits. I can barely hunt for myself-" she interrupted herself with a hacking cough, before continuing, "and I'm running out of milk for my kits. Please, let us into your Clan. Or, if not me, then take in my two daughters and raise them as your own. Don't let two defenseless kits die. Don't let their blood be on your paws."
Berrystar gazed at Ring's mother for a long silence that seemed to stretch into forever. She snorted. "Their blood, on my paws? I'm not the one who thought it would be a good idea to have kits all by myself in the middle of leaf-bare."
Ring's mother didn't flinch. "Please-"
"Don't interrupt me," Berrystar snapped. "You intrude on our territory, you disturb our hunting patrol so that they cannot bring back freshkill for their Clanmates, and you demand that we welcome you and your kits with open paws? ShadowClan has enough mouths to feed as is. We cannot possibly take in any more. Leave me."
Ring looked around the clearing. Surely someone would convince the leader that she was wrong? But everywhere she looked she saw stoic faces. On the far end of the clearing, she saw a small tom with thin brown fur, barely out of kithood himself, whose amber eyes were filled with horror.
"Berrystar, wait." A meow not belonging to the amber-eyed tom rang through the clearing.
Berrystar, who had started to pad away, turned around. She fixed the cat who had spoken with a rock-hard stare. "What is it, Ratpelt?"
The cat, who had legs so long that Ring felt she had to crane her head back to see all of him, dipped his head respectfully. "Isn't it against the warrior code to turn away a kit in need? Yes, ShadowClan is big now, but who knows what may happen? And surely having fresh blood running through our Clan would be good?"
Berrystar stared him down. "No." She turned away again. "The warrior code is for warriors, not rogues and loners. Briarstreak, lead these three out of camp. Don't hurt them, but make sure they know not to come back."
Ring pressed against her mother. She stroked her tabby tail against Ring's side. "Don't be scared," she murmured. "We'll be okay, you'll see. It'll be a hard leaf-bare, but we'll make it through." She coughed again, and for the first time Ring saw her how these other cats must see her: her fur dull, her ribs jutting out against her patchy coat. Her eyes were clouded over and her gaze was feverish with its vacant stare.
Briarstreak nudged Ring's mother to her paws. "It's time for you to go."
Without a word of complaint, Ring's mother grabbed Echo by the scruff. This entire time she had been lying down, seemingly unaware of her surroundings. She mewled pitifully as her mother picked her up, her pink paw pads flashing as she scrambled at the air.
Ring followed her mother out of camp; she didn't look behind her as she left. She didn't want these Clan cats to think she was weak. She'd prove them wrong!
By the time Briarstreak had led them to the edge of the territory, Ring's mother was heaving for breath. At one point, she almost dropped Echo from an intense coughing fit. Without a word, Briarstreak had picked up the mewling brown-and-white kitten and carried her the rest of the way.
Eventually she had set her down next to Ring. "You must go," she urged. "And don't come back. Berrystar will not be as forgiving if you intrude again."
"She wasn't very forgiving this time," hissed Ring's mother. She swept Ring towards her side, picked up Echo, and strutted into the forest. She held her head high, even when another coughing fit racked her entire body.
Memories of that bitter leaf-bare tumbled around Ring's head as she trekked her way through sections of mud that sucked up her paws until she could hardly move. The rain that had plagued the forest for days and days had finally let off.
Which meant Ring could finally go on the move. She was, against all sense, heading back to ShadowClan. But she was out of sense, and out of time.
Her mother had barely made it through leaf-bare, and her sister, always the weaker of the two of them, was not far behind. Desperate and running out of options, she had no choice but to turn to the only cats who stood a chance of help.
However, when she approached the border and that familiar, musky ShadowClan stench filled her mouth, she pulled back. She toed the line, unable to forget Briarstreak's last words. If she crossed into their territory, would they kill her on sight? Maybe she should wait here. Maybe respecting their boundaries was the secret to getting their help.
She sat down by the border to wait. Her haunched immediately sank into the muddy, mossy ground and soaked through within heartbeats. But she sat, and she waited. And waited.
Just when she thought she couldn't possibly wait any more, she smelled another cat approaching.
A thin-furred, brown tabby with glowing amber eyes stepped into view. He was carrying a small clump of plant stems in his jaws. He eyed Ring, dropping the bundle of stems in his jaws with surprise. "It's you."
Ring realized she recognized him, too. "My mother is sick; she is dying. My sister, too. I need help."
His amber eyes grew wide. "Then you came to the right cat. I'm Amberpaw, the medicine cat apprentice."
Ring leapt to her paws. "Surely that's a sign! Please, come help us. Anything, anything to help. Please."
But he wasn't listening; he stared right through her, and when he spoke, his meow was distant and hollow. "Are you the stranger?"
Ring lashed her tail. "What are you talking about? I'm not a stranger; you've met me before!"
Amberpaw shook his head, as if clearing it. He took a step towards her, then hesitated. "I can't," he meowed. "ShadowClan is plagued with greencough. I was sent out to search for more catmint," he pawed the stems, "and I couldn't leave my Clan to go tend to your kin, as much as I want to."
"You don't have to leave!" begged Ring. "Just give me some of your herbs. I'm sure it would help! Anything would help!"
Amberpaw glanced at the small pile at his paws. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I can't. My Clan needs this. I'm only a medicine cat apprentice; I'm not supposed to go against the wishes of my Clan. I'm not allowed to give up the only catmint we have left to a rogue."
Ring unsheathed her claws. "Then my mother, and maybe my sister, will die. And their blood will be on your paws."
Amberpaw looked away. "That's a chance I'll have to take. I'm so sorry."
Ring growled, the fur along her spine raising. "My name is Ring," she hissed. "Remember that name. Because when I die, I'm going to haunt you, and I'm going to make your life a living hell. You and the rest of your Clans."
Amberpaw said nothing. He let her leave, watching with sad, brilliant amber eyes.
Echo stared blankly at the cold, unmoving body of their mother, the fur rising along her spine. Ring pressed her nose against her sister's cheek. "Come on," she murmured. "She's not here anymore."
"Where do you think she went?" Echo's voice was so soft that Ring could hardly hear it over the birdsong overhead. She could have been lying at Ring's paws, too, but her younger body had been able to overcome the sickness when their mother's had not.
Funny, that. How Ring's world as she knew it had ended, but the world kept moving like nothing had happened. How small was she and how big the world, that this catastrophe meant nothing to it?
She frowned and turned away from the dead body lying on the ground. "Nowhere, I guess. We have one life, and she isn't in it anymore."
"Mom said that the Warriors believe in a life among the stars."
"Pull the fluff out of your ears, Echo. You're not a kit anymore."
The brown-and-white molly cast one linger looking before following after her sister. "I know. You're right."
They left her body for the crows.
Ring could hunt, but barely. She and her sister roamed the woods, eating meager mice or shrews when they could catch them, and half-rotten carcasses when they couldn't. One time they wandered into a twolegplace, and a band of cats had chased them out; they had been lucky to escape with only minor scratches. Maybe later they could try again. But for now, they stayed in the woods.
Perhaps custom said they should have split up, but by an unspoken agreement, they didn't. Neither of them could leave the other. They were bound for life.
New-leaf turned to green-leaf turned to leaf-fall. Ring shuddered at the browning leaves falling at her paws. She knew what came next.
But leaf-bare was mild. Her sister, always the weaker one, had fought off a mild cough at the first frost and then was healthy for the rest of the cold season. The two of them practiced hunting and stealing from crows.
With the promise of new-leaf soon on the wind, Ring padded through the forest on the search for a meal. She and her sister had split up; they would meet up again at sundown to share anything they found and nest together underneath a tree for warmth.
The scent of fresh blood hit Ring's nose. Freshkill. Ring's mouth watered as she raced towards the smell.
She stopped just before she reached it and peaked out behind a tree, eager to see who her competition was today. She had chased off crows before, and on one occasion, a dog.
It was a cat, with lanky brown legs and dark brown fur that made him stand out like a sore among the melting snow.
Ring smirked. This was the first time she'd seen a cat in a while. She'd relish the opportunity to steal from this one. She watched him tear into his catch - a rabbit, and surprisingly plump for this time of year. Ring settled onto her haunches, tracked the distance between them, and pounced.
The cat spotted her a heartbeat before she landed square on top of him. He yowled and pulled his catch back, swiping at her with his claws. He batted her across the face, causing her to lose her balance and tumble to the ground.
Ring hissed and leapt to her paws. She glared into the brown eyes of her attacker.
Wait a moment.
"Do I know you?" the tom asked. He straightened up, examining her. His tail curled over his back in pleasure as he mewed, "Yes, I remember you! You're that little kitten who wandered into ShadowClan camp so long ago. And look! You survived!"
Oh, yes, She remembered him. He had tried to let her and her family stay. Despite herself, Ring felt her fur flatten along her spine. "Some of us. My mother didn't make it."
"I'm sorry to hear that." The tom's eyes glintened with sorrow. "I had wanted you to stay. Truly, I did."
"I remember. Why are you out here, anyways?"
The tom shrugged. "ShadowClan and I had our disagreements. I thought it was best if we parted ways. But oh, where are my manners! My name is Ratpelt. And please, help yourself. You look like nothing but skin and bones." The tom - Ratpelt - pawed his rabbit in her direction.
"I'm Ring," she murmured, as, without thinking, she tore into the rabbit's haunches, moaning out loud as its fresh blood hit her tongue. Fresh kill! How long it's been since she's had a good piece of meat!
She ate as much as she could, but her stomach was so small from hunger that she could only eat half of it before she couldn't take another bite. "Thank you," she meowed, swiping her tongue around her jaws. "I can't remember the last time I ate something fresh."
"I could tell." Ratpelt's eyes twinkled as he watched Ring.
Reluctantly, Ring rose to her paws. "But I need to get back to my sister,"
"Of course! But please, let me come with you! There's safety in numbers. I could give your sister the rest of this rabbit. As an act of good faith."
Ring resisted the thought of allowing a stranger to join her and her sister. It had always been the two of them, which worked because they knew each other inside and out. But Echo would love a hunk of that rabbit…
"Okay," Ring conceded. "You can come. But if Echo or I tell you to go, you have to go."
"Of course. You'll be in charge." Ratpelt dipped his head, then picked up the rabbit and motioned for Ring to lead the way.
Echo leapt to her paws when she saw a stranger follow Ring to their nest, but her cry of alarm died in her throat when she saw the rabbit Ratpelt was holding. He tossed it at her paws, and without a word, she tore it up, gulping down huge mouthfuls.
"Careful, or you'll get sick," Ring ran her tail down her sister's side. "Echo, meet Ratpelt. He used to live in ShadowClan. He's going to stay with us for a while, if that's alright."
Echo paused in her meal to eye the tom. "I remember you," she said at last. "Alright, you can stay. But you have to promise to catch more rabbits."
Ratpelt's eyes gleamed. "It would be an honor."
"I have an idea," Ratpelt meowed one warm night, lying on his back and watching the sky from the side of the hill, trying to pick out fireflies from stars.
In the moons since he had joined them, Ring and Echo had filled out. Echo always found something to purr at wherever she looked, and Ring's normally dull coat had started to shine up.
"Oh, yeah?" meowed Ring. She wriggled into the greenleaf-rich grass.
"We should grow our group. We need more cats. More young cats."
"I don't know," Echo squirmed in her spot. "I like our group with just the three of us."
"But think about it," urged Ratpelt. "With more paws, we would have more cats to hunt for food!"
"But we'd have more mouths to feed," protested Ring.
"If there were more of us, we could take the food we wanted instead of hunting it," Ratpelt declared. "Steal it right from other rogues and strays. We'd tell them, join us, or give us your food. They'd be unable to fight back against all of us, and they'd give in."
"I don't know," The sound of that didn't sit right with Ring. A starving kitten stealing food from dogs and crows was one thing. So was stealing from another cat, if she was desperate enough. But systematically stealing from cats? Regularly?
"Hey," Ratpelt's voice turned silky smooth, as soft and light as sunlight dancing on water. "You trust me, don't you? I haven't let you down yet. I've fed you, and kept you warm. Without me, who knows where you'd be right now? You need to trust me. This idea will work. I know it."
Echo turned and glanced at Ring. What do you think? She asked, without words.
Rings sighed. She supposed Ratpelt had a point. He had done so much for them, after all… "Alright. Let's do it."
Ring's fur tingled as she watched Ratpelt batter the large ginger-furred molly's underside with his hind paws. The molly yowled and with a huge effort, to roll over, throwing Ratpelt off of her, but in a heartbeat he was back at her again, snapping at her scruff with his sharp fangs and clawing at her sides.
Echo shuffled her paws as the ginger molly cried out. "Are you sure this is the way to go about doing this?" she whispered. "Letting Ratpelt bully all of these cats into joining?"
"Well, he's a better fighter than either of us are." Ring flicked her ear.
"That's not what I meant," muttered Echo. She flattened her ears against her skull and looked away.
But Ring was fixated on the fight in front of her. Oh, how she wished she could fight with the grace that Ratpelt did! Every muscle in his body was primed for the fight. She had begged him to teach her, but he had always refused, saying that she was prettier without battle scars.
The ginger cat strained against Ratpelt's stone-hard grip, then collapsed undrneath him. "I yield!" the ginger cat grunted.
Ratpelt grunted and tossed her to the ground. He sat down and started to lick one of his paws, running it over his face to smooth down his fur. His brown fur glistened in the soft twilight.
Ring examined the molly lying in a heap on the ground. She fought to catch her breath; she had been battered and worn down, but not permanently harmed. That was the beauty of Ratpelt: he could claw a cat up all day without actually injuring it.
Her ginger fur, now ruffled and dirt-stained from her scuffle with Ratleap, parted over a large scar running down her spine and ended abruptly at a stumpy tail. Ring paced around her, watching her yellow eyes track her as she moved.
"What's your name?"
"Sparky," the molly responded, struggling to move into a sitting position.
Ring nodded. "I'm Ring. That's Ratpelt, and my sister, Echo. There's more of us back at the camp, and you'll meet them later. Well fought, Sparky. You held up well against a cat trained in the way of Clan fighting skills."
Sparky eyed Ratpelt. "You're a Clan cat? That explains a lot. On all my kin's lives, I wouldn't have resisted had I known that."
Ring perked her ears forward. "Really? Why's that?"
"Because the last time I got in a scuffle with a Clan cat, I got this," Sparky flicked her stump of a tail. "Clawed me up pretty badly so, and I quote, I'd think twice before hunting on their territory again. Stupid foxhearts. The wound got so infected that leaf-bare that I had to gnaw my tail off myself."
Ring winced in sympathy. Ratpelt made a rumbling sound deep in his chest. "Foxhearts is right," he growled. "You're not alone, Sparky. Those Clan cats are idiots. They exiled me from ever setting paw on their territories, just because I got friendly with a few of the apprentices! Being friendly with a younger molly is a crime now, is it? Ring and Echo are younger than me and they don't have a problem with me. Don't you?"
Ring didn't answer, too caught up in her thoughts. She kept pacing around Sparky, her mind struggling to put together the pieces. There was something here, if only she could see it. Something that had been jiggling in the back of her mind for moons now, but only came into light when Sparky mentioned the Clans.
Of course! Ring jumped like she had been hit by lightning. Echo leapt forward, her tail fluffed out to twice its size. "What is it?"
We've been scorned by the Clans," Ring's eyes stretched wide as she turned around to face Echo. "If it weren't for them, our mother would still be alive now."
Echo opened her jaw, like she wanted to protest, but Ratpelt nodded. "Yeah. That's right. We had more than enough food to take in two kits and a half-starved queen. But instead we threw them out, and why? Because of warrior pride ?" he scoffed.
Ring turned to face Sparky. The ginger molly eyed her with apprehension. "That so-called warrior almost killed me. I would do anything to get back at him."
"You will," meowed Ring, her tail tip flicking from side to side. Yes, this was it. This was what she had been missing. "We all will. The Clans are the bane of all of our problems. If they stopped thinking they were better than us, all of our problems would be solved! We'll create our own Clan, you'll see. A better Clan, without that stupid, limiting code that they follow. we'll make those pathetic excuses for warriors respect us."
"I'd like that," admitted Echo.
Ratpelt's eyes gleamed. " Yes ."
Ring rolled over on her side, basking in a warm patch of sunlight in the middle of their camp. More than one greenleaf had passed since she, Echo, and Ratpelt had started expanding their ranks. She had more than enough cats to bring her food, patrol her territory, and even find more recruits. Life was good, even easy.
Echo lay sprawled out next to Ring, snoring quietly. Ring gazed at her fondly; she had never filled out quite like Ring, who was now so round she was almost fat, but she had come so far from the stunted, tiny kit she once was so many seasons ago. Her days of flirting with death were long gone.
The entrance to their makeshift camp rustled, and Ring flicked her ear as Slate padded in, dragging a large squirrel with him. At his paws were Sparky, a small tortoiseshell molly, a young white long-furred tom still growing into his paws and tail, and a thickset black cat who was neither male nor female.
(It had taken Ring a moon or two to understand how that worked, but Echo had pulled her aside one day and explained to her the proper way to address them. After that, they no longer bristled when Ring stumbled over whether to call them a tomcat or molly, sensing both were incorrect but unsure what word to use instead.)
As helpful as all of the extra paws were, Ring couldn't help but be uneasy. With so many cats, she couldn't know all of them as deeply and personally as she knew Echo and Ratpelt. More than once, Echo had had to reign her back from chewing out a newbie who had made a mistake, and Ratpelt constantly chastised her for being paranoid.
But today was lovely, and sunny, and fear was the last thing on her mind. Ring was glowing.
Slate dropped the squirrel at Ring's paws. "Hungry?"
"How did you know?" Ring leaned forward and pawed the squirrel towards her. At her side, Echo shifted in her sleep; she'd be awake soon too, and could share the squirrel with her.
"It was an easy guess. You've been eating so much lately you've doubled in size!" the large gray tom joked.
Ring glared at him. After a few heartbeats, Slate shuffled his paws and walked away.
Ring nudged her sister's white shoulder with her nose. "Echo, wake up. It's meal time."
Her sister blinked her blue eyes and blearily lifted her head. "Didn't we just eat last night?"
"That was yesterday! I'm starving. Aren't you?"
"You've been eating a lot lately," meowed Echo, but she took a bite out of squirrel to please Ring.
Ring bristled. "Are you calling me fat?"
Echo glanced at her sister's round belly, then back at her face. She didn't respond.
Ring growled and batted the squirrel towards her sister's brown cheek. "Have it all, then. I apparently don't need it, since I'm so fat ."
"I didn't say that." Echo's eyes grew round with concern.
"You didn't need to." Ring struggled to her paws and stalked out of camp. Her tail lashed back and forth as she walked. The warm air, the hint of leaf-fall on its way but not here yet, did little to sooth her nerves.
"Ring? What are you doing out here, so far away from camp?"
Ring looked up to see a familiar brown pelt padding her way through the underbrush. She grinned, all of her annoyance melting away like snow in the sun, and trotted up to Ratpelt. She purred and rubbed her face against his. "Hi, you."
"Hi," Ratpelt pulled back, concerned. "I'll say it again: why are you out so far away from camp?"
Ring flicked her tail. "I needed some air. Echo and Slate called me fat."
"Really?" amusement tinged Ratpelt's mew. "That's funny. It's very obvious that you're not fat. You're expecting."
Shock chilled Ring down to her paws. She felt rooted in place. " What ?"
"You hadn't realized?" Ratpelt asked. He twitched his huge ear, clearly shocked.
"N-no," Ring stammered. "How did you know?"
Ratpelt shrugged. "Oh, you know. Back in ShadowClan I saw my fair share of queens-to-be."
"Are they- are they yours?"
"Is there anyone else's they could be?"
Ring blinked. "I mean, no, but goodness, I hadn't realized-"
Ratpelt purred. "Calm down, my dear. There's no need to be so alarmed. This is normal for a lovely young molly such as yourself! I'm so happy for us." Ratpelt circled around Ring, trailing his tail along her sides in a way that made her shiver. "See, this is the way you should look. Not battle-scarred and worn, but flushed with the glow of an expectant mother."
"I don't know." Ring's heart hammered in her chest. "I just- am I ready to be a mother? I barely had a mother of my own. What if I don't know what to do? What if my kits hate me? What if I roll over and squash them in my sleep?"
"Calm down," Ratpelt's brown eyes twinkled. Ring felt herself bristle that he was taking this so lightly, but his silky smooth meow calmed her down, same as it always did. "You'll be fine. You took care of your sister for moons before I showed up, didn't you? You'll be a wonderful mother. And there are other queens to help you. We could send out a party to specially recruit some more queens, if you want."
Ring shook her head. "No, I- I just want to know that you'll be here to help me."
"I've been helping you all this time, haven't I?"
"Yes, but you'll still be here when the kits come?"
Ratpelt purred. "My dear, you'll have the entire Stormcloud at your beck and call."
"Do you need anything, Ring?"
The gray molly lifted her head enough to glimpse her sister as she ducked underneath the bush and into her den. The Stormcloud didn't have set dens, just a few nests constructed underneath bushes. Ring used to sleep with Ratpelt, but ever since she gave birth, he insisted that an experienced queen stay with her, to help her raise the kits. He slept in a den with Echo and a few other cats, though Ring missed both of their company horribly.
She flicked her tail and beckoned Echo closer. "Seeing you is enough."
"How could I miss out on an opportunity to see my new kin?" Echo crouched down next to Ring, gazing down at the young kitten, now almost two moons old, buried against her belly. "Someone tired themselves out playing games with Brindle." Brindle was the queen living with Ring. "I only wish she had a littermate to play with, like we did. It's a shame your other kit was stillborn."
Ring shuddered at the memory of her poor dead kit. She hadn't dared to name him. She ran her tail along her sleeping kitten's spine and sighed. "There will be more coming eventually. I'm sure of it."
"Really?"
"Oh, yes. Ratpelt will insist on it, I'm sure. You should see how he dotes over his little daughter. Calls her his pride and joy. I have to keep prying him away so that she can rest or eat!" Ring purred.
Echo nodded and rubbed her face against Ring's cheek. "She looks so much like Mother," she whispered. "She has the same tabby fur."
"But she has your round ears and face, and the same yellow eyes," mewed Ring. "My little Glimmer. She's perfect."
"You're an amazing mother. She and any other kits you have will be lucky to know you."
Ring's ear tips burning from the praise. "Being a parent suits me. I was always taking care of you, you know, and now that you don't need me anymore…"
"Oh, shush!" Echo purred in amusement. "I'll always need you. You're my sister."
Glimmer was barely old enough to start hunting for herself when Ring became pregnant again. She was older, not as young as she used to be. The birth was long and arduous, and more painful than the first time. For a heartbeat, Ring thought she saw her Mother's ghostly outline watching over her, and feared she was going to die.
But dawn found her curled around another kit, alive and well. This one was imperfect, not like her darling Glimmer. Something was wrong with it - him - them. But she couldn't care less. All that mattered was that they were both safe and sound.
Ratpelt waited outside the den during the kitting, and poked his head through briefly after Brindle had told him he could come in. He glanced over Ring, her body sweat-soaked and shaky. He looked at the kit. "Just the one?"
Ring nodded, too bone-weary to speak.
Ratpelt flicked his ear. "Is it a molly or a tom?"
Brindle, who was resting after a long shift helping Ring come to term, grunted. "We're not sure."
"How can you not be sure? Aren't you supposed to check for that sort of thing?"
Brindle's tail twitched. "It's not always that easy."
Ratpelt eyed the kitten with a guarded expression. Ring drew her body around her kit. Molly, tom, or none of the above, it was still her kit . And Ratpelt's, for that matter. No one should look at her kit like that.
Ratpelt blinked, and when he next spoke, his mew had regained its familiar silky smoothness. "You look tired. I'll let you rest."
Ring closed her eyes, because he was right - she was tired. More tired than she had ever been in her life.
Later that day, after she had rested, Echo and Glimmer came in to meet their new kin. Glimmer wasn't yet a year old, and still looked awkward around her new younger sibling.
They were both tabbies, Ring thought, but already so different - Fawn was lighter in color, and already she could tell they had their father's large ears and his lanky legs and tail. Glimmer's short, compact body looked much more like Ring's own.
"Can I go now?" Glimmer asked, after sniffing at her sibling's fur once or twice.
"Sure, dear," Ring mewed.
Glimmer blinked at her mother before scrambling out of the bush and towards a small gathering of young cats to join in their conversation.
Ring turned her gaze towards Echo, who was watching her with anticipation. "So? What do you think?"
"They're beautiful," Echo shifted her paws. "But I have something to tell you."
"Yes?" Ring's ears pricked forwards. "You can tell me anything."
"I had Brindle check me earlier, and… I'm expecting kits."
If Ring didn't have a kitten latched to her belly, she would have leapt to her paws in surprise. "What? Echo, that's amazing! But who's the tom? I hadn't noticed anyone…"
Her sister looked more than embarrassed. "It's Ratpelt."
The words were barely a whisper, but they stilled Ring's heart like a steely wind. Her fur bristled; was her sister conspiring to take the Stormcloud out of her paws, by conspiring with her mate? Her sister, who she had done nothing but love and care for her entire life?
No, no. Ring took a deep breath and smiled. "I'm happy for you."
Echo flicked her tail in shock. "You're not mad?"
"No. I understand. Ratpelt is the closest either of us have ever been to another tom. Of course it's Ratpelt. Besides," she glances at her kit. "Our kits will be even closer, because of that. Isn't that wonderful?"
Echo purred. "It is."
"Ratpelt."
The dark brown tom looked up from where he had been sharing tongues with Echo. His eyes narrowed as he watched Ring approach. "Should you be out of your den, Ring? What about your kit?"
They're your kit too . Ring met his gaze evenly. "Brindle is watching them. Can we talk?"
"Certainly." Ratpelt motioned with his tail for her to come closer.
Ring held her ground. "Can we talk outside of camp ?"
Ratpelt hesitated. For just a fraction of a heartbeat, but it was there. Ring knew Ratpelt inside and out, and her eyes missed nothing. Then he dipped his head. "As you wish." He nuzzled Echo, who mumbled something before closing her eyes and taking a nap. These were the last days before the sunlight shortened and leaf-fall approached, and she was taking advantage of the warmth.
Ratpelt followed Ring out of camp without a word. They walked past their usual hunting grounds, past their unofficial territory markers. The Stormcloud didn't have borders, officially; they wandered where they pleased. But this was far past where any other Stormcloud cat would normally roam.
"What has gotten into you?" Ratpelt hissed, after he had had enough silence.
Ring turned around to face him. "You've been avoiding me."
Ratpelt eyed her. "So? I've been spending time with Glimmer, who you're too busy to pay attention to because of your other kit. And I have to make sure that Echo is well-fed. She is pregnant, in case you haven't noticed."
Ring's fur bristled at the implication that she didn't care about her daughter. Of course she did! She was the one that gave birth to her, for crying out loud! "I am also taking care of your kit, and I would like to get some recognition for it." Ring's expression softened. "If not for me, then for Fawn. Do you want that kit growing up not knowing who their father is? How come Glimmer gets to spend time with her father, and not Fawn?"
Ratpelt grunted. "You're not the only one avoiding responsibilities."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ring bristled.
"I've been telling you for moons that we need to move camps. We've already recruited all of the loners here. How else are we going to expand the Stormcloud and gain the respect of the Clans?" Ratpelt growled and paced around Ring.
Ring flattened her ears. "I'm still committed to our mission! But that was before I got pregnant. I can't up and move everyone when my kit is barely a moon old. Not that you would know, since you never visit."
Ratpelt glowered. "Look, it's not my fault."
"How is not visiting your kit not your fault?" Ring lashed her tail back and forth.
"Because of you."
Ring's fur bristled. "What?"
Ratpelt's eyes flooded with sympathy. "You couldn't help it, I know. But after having two litters of kits, your body just isn't the same as it used to be."
"What does that have to do with anything? No one else cares about that! I can hunt and fend for myself just as well as the rest of the Stormcloud. I'm also a mother now."
"The rest of the Stormcloud doesn't know you the same way I do." Ratpelt's silky words swirled around Ring's ears. "When I see how different you look now, how tired and old, I feel sad. Wouldn't you rather I remember you as the beautiful molly you used to be?"
"I… I guess."
"I know you do. we'll have to limit our contact. I wish I could see more of you, I really could. But in order to keep my memories of you pure, I cannot tarnish them with how you look now."
Ring looked at her paws. "I understand."
Ring shuddered as the cold leaf-bare wind whipped through the camp. She huddled closer to her sister's brown-and-white spotted side. She had insisted her sister join her in her den with Brindle. It was cramped, especially with her sister's large belly taking up so much space, but Ring refused to let her sister kit in the same den as three other toms.
"I made the same mistake as Mother, thinking it was a good idea to have kits in the middle of leaf-bare." Echo shivered gazed wide-eyed at small flakes of snow as they whipped around outside.
"You're not alone like Mother was," soothed Ring, touching her nose to her sister's ear. "You have us. You'll be fine."
"Promise?" squeaked Echo.
"I promise." Ring squinted out into the darkening empty camp, then back at the den. "Huh. Where's Glimmer?"
Brindle shifted in her nest. "Ratpelt said he wanted to take her out hunting."
"Hunting? In this weather?"
Brindle shrugged. "I had assumed it was some old Clan skill he wanted to teach her. I didn't question it."
No, she wouldn't. No one questioned Ratpelt. He was one of the unofficial leaders of the Stormcloud, after all, along with Ring and Echo. And since he was the one who had personally bullied most of them into joining, no one would lay a claw against him.
Ring's tail twitched. Something didn't sit right with her. Why was Ratpelt out in the beginnings of a snowstorm with her daughter? If Brindle was right, Why did he care about teaching Glimmer these Clan hunting moves, and won't even give Fawn the time of day? Why did he dote over Glimmer and Echo and not Fawn or herself?
Oh. Oh, no.
Leaving the camp? Right before a storm, making them almost impossible to track?
The foxheart.
"I have to go."
"Now?" Echo exclaimed.
Fawn pawed at her, mewling wordlessly. Even Brindle looked dubious. "I won't tell you what to do, but it's only going to snow harder."
"Exactly." Ring's mind whirled as she struggled to think of an excuse. "Maybe Ratpelt didn't realize that it was going to storm when he set out. He might be fine toughing out the weather, but Glimmer is still young and much more delicate than he is. I have to find her and bring her back."
Brindle nodded, and Echo nuzzled Ring. "Be safe. I'll look after Fawn while you're out."
"Thank you." Gratitude flushed through Ring, followed by a wave of disgust as she thought about Ratpelt again. She struggled out of the bush and bounded out of camp.
Ratpelt and Glimmer's scents were faint, but she knew them like the back of her paw, and could follow them through, well, a snowstorm.
She tracked them past the boundary of their usual hunting grounds, past the spot where she and Ratpelt had talked a moon ago. The snow stuck as it landed, now, and every now and then she saw a paw print in the fresh snow. I'm getting close!
Voices up ahead. Ring slowed down. She hid behind a bush and peaked out to watch.
Ratpelt pressed his lanky self against Glimmer as the two of them strolled through the woods, acting without a care in the world. Glimmer was almost a year old, and fully grown, but she still looked kit-soft next to Ratpelt's lean muscles.
The two of them looked innocent, charming even, except for the way that Ratpelt brushed his tail against his daughter's side, exactly the same way he used to do to Ring, and then Echo after her.
Glimmer laughed, and Ring leaned forward, straining to hear.
"You really won that prey-catching contest? You're not joking?"
Ratpelt puffed out his chest. "Of course I did! You should have seen Berrystar's face when I dragged that hawk into camp. She looked like I had sprouted an extra head! I'll never forget how shocked she looked. And the elders, they'll be telling that story to kits even now, I bet, long after I've left."
Glimmer gazed up at Ratpelt in awe. "Why did you leave ShadowClan, Dad? You always tell so many stories about your time there."
Ratpelt sighed. "I may speak fondly of old times, but truth be told, every problem I've ever had was because of the Clans and their stuck-up rules. ShadowClan and I had a…disagreement, you could say. It was a matter of values. I'm much happier here, really." He touched his nose to Glimmer's dark ear. "I got to meet you."
Glimmer giggled.
With a snarl, Ring leapt out of the bush. Both Ratpelt and Glimmer whirled around to face her, surprise etched into their faces.
"You!" Ring growled. "What are you doing, taking my daughter out of camp in the middle of a snowstorm?" the snow whirled around her, settling at her paws in large, fluffy flakes.
Ratpelt flicked his tail dismissively. "She's my daughter too, you know."
"I think you should go."
"You're being unreasonable."
"I am not!"
"I can't talk with you when you're like this. Come on, Glimmer, let's go. We'll have fun on our own, away from this grumpy cat who thinks she can tell us what to do."
Ring glared at him, and she didn't miss the way Glimmer pressed into him. Or the way Ratpelt wrapped his tail around her protectively.
With a yowl, Ring flung herself at Ratpelt. His eyes widened in shock, but he still surged forward to meet her attack, meeting her flailing claws with a well-placed kick in the belly. She groaned and dropped down. She rose to her paws and tried again.
Ratpelt had more practice than Ring ever had. The only things she had ever attacked were her prey and the occasional scavenger. Ratpelt, on the other paw, had been trained to fight from his very first breath.
But he hadn't been trained to kill.
And Ring knew nothing but survival of the fittest.
Blood flooded Ring's jaws as she clamped down on Ratpelt's throat. He struggled and pushed at her chest, trying to escape, but she only bit down harder.
He stopped moving.
Ring spat his limp, lifeless body onto the ground. She stared at it in disgust. A fitting end for a monster. She only wished she had figured out what was going on sooner.
She licked her lips. No dread or horror filled her as she examined Ratpelt's corpse. None of those feelings of defilement that he always insisted would dirty her to when making excuses for why he wouldn't teach her battle moves.
What a filthy liar.
Something squeaked.
Ring twisted around and saw the trembling form of Glimmer, her jaw hanging open as she stared in horror. "Y-you killed him," she squeaked.
"He was going to hurt you," meowed Ring.
"He said he loved me."
"He lied."
"I… I…" Glimmer swallowed thickly. She glanced at Ring. "I want to go home," she mumbled. "I won't tell anyone. Can we go home? Please?"
Ring blinked. She stared at Glimmer, her only daughter, her beloved. She would never be able to look at her again without remembering how Ratpelt had corrupted her and tried to steal her away. And Glimmer would never be able to look at her without remembering that her mother had killed her father in front of her eyes.
No. She had a better idea.
Ratpelt's death had been a crime of passion. But she wasn't motivated by rage now. No, she saw her entire life, spread out before her. This was the only option. Time seemed to stretch as she lunged forward.
She saw with perfect clarity as she tackled Glimmer. The molly let out a strangled yowl, but was barely strong enough to resist as Ring pressed down on her throat with her claws. "It'll all be over soon. I love you."
The small tabby thrashed underneath her weight, but couldn't free herself. She stared at Ring, wide-eyed, and gurgled.
She fell still.
Ring stepped off of her. She nuzzled her cheek. "It was for the best."
She left their bodies to stiffen in the snow. She started the long trek home, as the snow poured down in silent waves, covering her tracks and the two still bodies of her family.
"Did you find them?" Echo asked when Ring dragged herself back underneath their bush towards her nest. The snow was coming down as thickly as ever. "I didn't see them with you when you entered camp."
"Ratpelt left," Ring declared. "He told me he couldn't stay anymore. He won't be coming back."
Echo's face fell. "He didn't even say goodbye."
Ring nuzzled her. "Don't worry. You still have me. And soon, you'll have your kits."
She curled up in her nest, and purred when Fawn climbed in to join her, rubbing their small paws against her belly. "Where's Glimmer? Did she leave, too?"
Ring frowned and pulled Fawn closer with her tail. When she spoke, she meowed so quietly that no one but Fawn could hear her. "Who's Glimmer?"
Fawn pouted. "My sister!"
"You don't have any sister. Stop playing pretend, Fawn, it isn't polite." She pressed her nose to Fawn's head, cutting off any complaints they might have had. "The only siblings you have are the unborn ones in my sister's belly. You never had any other siblings. Certainly never one called Glimmer. What kind of name is that?"
"But I thought-" Fawn hesitated. "Okay," they said at last. "Will I get to play with Echo's kits when they're born?"
"Yes," purred Ring. "Always."
They will play with their siblings, free of harm. A plan formed in Ring's mind.
Berrystar's refusal that denied her and her family safety, then the betrayal by that skimpy medicine cat apprentice that resulted in her mother's death. Now, Ratpelt's deception, and the death of her mate and daughter.
The Clans were the cause of everything bad that had ever happened to Ring. And they would pay. She had grown lax in her ambitions to grow a force big enough to earn the Clans' respect. No, respect would no longer satisfy her.
Nothing less than their blood running at her paws would calm the fire burning in her soul.
How would she accomplish such a feat? Her Stormcloud was not small, but they were dwarfed in comparison to the five Clans. She would have to recruit others. Surely there were other cats that had a gripe to settle with the Clans. If not, she could convince them that they did.
Imagine the Stormcloud, large enough to rival the entire Clans in size! It would be a feat to control such an army.
But she could do it. With Echo at her side, she could do it. As long as she had the love and support of her sister and Fawn - her only kit, the only one she's ever had - then she could accomplish anything.