Jaggedscar was grumpily hunting a mouse. Her body lowered in a hunting crouch, a sour expression on her face. Finally, she leapt at the defenseless mouse in front of her, killing it quickly with a bite to its neck. She sighed as she batted it around in her paws. Even killing a creature didn't help her mood.

"Nice catch, Vixenshade!" A gleeful she-cat exclaimed. That was why Jaggedscar was in such a mood. Her dumb new name!

Jaggedscar had padded straight into ShadowClan territory the other day and even made it all the way to camp without running into a patrol. Once there, she told the leader, Owlstar, that she heard ShadowClan was the fiercest Clan around and she wanted to join. After a display of her fighting skills Owlstar welcomed her into the Clan. The leader asked her what her name was and she said her name was 'Jaggedscar' and she named herself because of the scar on her face. Owlstar seemed to completely disregard everything Jaggedscar had said and renamed her as 'Vixenshade' for her dark calico pelt.

"The dumb mouse was almost begging to be caught," mumbled Jaggedscar. She didn't care what this ShadowClan called her. She was never going to be Vixenshade.

"Yeah, the mice are especially fat and lazy this greenleaf," purred the ShadowClan warrior – whose name Jaggedscar had learned was Magpiefur. "Helps us keep our fresh-kill pile stocked though!" The scarred she-cat nearly rolled her eyes. Magpiefur was too happy-go-lucky for her liking.

"Look what I caught!" Another ShadowClan she-cat appeared from the bushes. This one was an apprentice with violet eyes. She was carrying a large lizard in her jaws. It made Jaggedscar's mouse look like a dwarf.

"Very good, Violetpaw!" Magpiefur chirped. "With hunting like this you'll be a warrior in no time!"

"Really?" The black and white she-cat smiled wide. Jaggedscar looked away from the apprentice, memories threatening to resurface in her mind. Never again, she thought to herself.

"We should get this prey back to Jaybreeze," the black ShadowClan warrior suggested. "She's due to have her kits any day now." Jaggedscar was already slinking away. "Are you coming, Vixenshade?"

"I'm going to do some more hunting." No way would she be upstaged by an apprentice. And besides, she wasn't exactly thrilled about traveling back to camp with the two gleeful cats.

"But-" Magpiefur's voice drowned out and the calico warrior ran off.

It was getting dark, Jaggedscar noticed as she looked at the sky above. But she preferred it that way. Hunting was easier in the sparse landscape with her dark pelt. The prey never saw her coming.

Jaggedscar caught whiff of a toad nearby and dropped into a crouch to approach it. Her favorite! She licked her lips as she edged forward through the sparse undergrowth. She finally saw the creature, sitting there unaware of her presence. She was about to leap when another scent entered her nose. A rogue!

Staying hidden in the darkness, Jaggedscar remained utterly still. She was downwind, the intruder would be unable to scent her. Her ears twitched as she heard light pawsteps and then a large dark figure leapt at the toad in front of her. The rogue began tearing into the toad like he hadn't seen food for a moon. Judging by how skinny his gray pelt looked, that may have been the case.

Jaggedscar suddenly jumped at the rogue, unsheathing her claws midair. Her claws sank into his skin as she pinned him against the ground. "What are you doing in ShadowClan territory, rogue?" she hissed.

The rogue didn't fight back. "Ah, you're a new one aren't you? Tell me, what is your name, fearsome one?"

The calico she-cat refused to reply. No way was she going to tell him her name was Vixenshade. "When I release you you're going to turn tail and run out of ShadowClan territory is that clear?" She barred her teeth at him.

"You wouldn't be the first Clan cat to order me about," the rogue said in reply. Then, without warning, the tom slipped his back legs from Jaggedscar's grasp and kicked at her stomach with impressive force for his frail body. The ShadowClan warrior gasped as the wind was knocked out of her but she dug her front claws harder into his shoulders. "Oh? Not enough to make you give up? Pity, I might have let you live." His paws hit her stomach again, this time ranking down her exposed belly.

The pain caused Jaggedscar to loosen her grip slightly. That was enough for the rogue to force her off him and the calico she-cat rolled into the dirt. As she composed herself, the rogue stood and licked his wounds quickly. The moonlight shone off of his gray pelt – making it almost seem white. She could now see several battle scars crisscrossing his body.

Jaggedscar could feel droplets of blood falling from her belly wound. She knew she had to end this quickly because the injury would soon fatigue her. She leapt at the rogue again, expecting it as he side stepped her halfhearted attack. She twisted in the air so that her claws collided with him in his new spot. Or, they would have had the rogue not chomped his fangs down one of her front legs. The big tom then tossed her aside like a piece of prey.

She grunted as she hit the ground again. Just how strong was he? From appearance he looked like he was next to death.

The tom sighed and shook his head. "Just like you clan cats to not know when to give up." He flexed his claws. "How would you like to die? A few more slams ought to do it or-"

"VIXENSHADE!" A cat's scream caused panic to flare within Jaggedscar. She tried to shout 'no!' but was too late as the black and white apprentice launched herself at the rogue. Violetpaw managed to get in a couple of scratches into the tom's back before he catapulted her off.

Jaggedscar scrambled to her paws, forcing herself to stand on her injured leg. She wasn't going to let an apprentice get hurt, not again.

"Oh, another one," the rogue said, seemingly unimpressed by the apprentice. "As much as my paws are always itching for a fight – I'd rather not fight two cats."

"Yeah!" Violetpaw growled. "Get out of here, Rune!" The young cat's fur bristled as the rogue turned and ran off towards the border. "I'll make sure he's gone!"

"Violetpaw-!" Jaggedscar tried to stop the apprentice but she was already gone, chasing after the scraggly gray form. Ignoring the pain, she found the strength to dash off after them. Soon enough, she reached the ShadowClan border. Rune was no where to be seen but Violetpaw was reinforcing the scent markers.

"Vixenshade!" The apprentice exclaimed when she saw her. "I had it handled, you didn't need to come too!" Jaggedscar shook her head. The rogue was dangerous – surely he could have killed both of them if he really wanted to. "Rune's just a nuisance; he's a coward who never fights more than one cat. That's why Owlstar decreed that cats must go out in pairs. He's strong though, so no one's ever been able to get the upper paw and kill him."

"We should get a patrol together and track his scent," Jaggedscar suggested. "He can't be allowed to keep hunting in ShadowClan land!"

"We've tried that," Violetpaw told her. "But he's sneaky, he knows how to hide his scent. We tracked him all the way to twolegplace once before his scent became mingled with kittypets." Her nose scrunched.

"You should-" Jaggedscar grunted as she was beginning to feel the pain in her belly and leg, the adrenaline disappearing.

"Oh you're hurt!" The black and white she-cat exclaimed. "Let me get some cobwebs and then I'll help you back to camp so the medicine cats can take a look at you!" The warrior wanted to bite back some remark that she would be fine but the pain was flaring up, forcing her to clench her teeth and stay silent.

As the apprentice pressed the cobweb onto her wounds, a memory resurfaced in Jaggedscar's mind. Of dark paws pressing soaked cobwebs to deep wounds, of labored breaths and then a still body on the forest floor.

Jaggedscar shivered as she pushed the memory out of her mind again. Never again.