A/N

WARNING: This chapter contains implied sexual harassment. Read at your own risk.

Hazelpaw ran through the cattails and reeds of RiverClan territory, trying to flee from the insulting voices that chased her.

"No one wants a pregnant apprentice!" A voice whispered around her.

"Her clan must be so ashamed!" Another voiced sniggered.

"I'm sure the kits are going to be just as awful as their disgusting mother." Another of the silhouettes shrieked.

"Disgusting, dirty, useless filth!" The hisses mixed together, Hazelpaw curling up and sobbing into herself.

A white cat approached her, Hazelpaw looking up at her mentor in sweet relief.

"Snowfall!" She cried out, but his light blue eyes hardened at her.

"I thought you were sweet." He growled. "But you're nothing but a filthy ShadowClan slave." And with those words, he faded away, leaving Hazelpaw to cry harder.

Dirty.

Useless.

Disgusting.

Disgrace.

Filth.

The words burned into Hazelpaw's ears, the young she cat trying to scream, but nothing came out. Sudden pain shot through her belly. The kits were coming, and in an instant, three little bundles of fur were nestled in her belly fur. Hazelpaw felt sick.

Eelscar suddenly towered over her, his filmy eyes glaring down at her. He leaned in close, his rotten breath invading her sense. "Filth." Eelscar whispered, then drew back, cackling.

"Those kits belong to ShadowClan!" Eelscar roared, and suddenly the whole of ShadowClan seemed to appear behind him, like an army, their paws stomping on the forest floor in demand.

"No!" Hazelpaw screamed. "You'll never get these kits!" She curled herself around them, but the trio suddenly vaporized into smoke, and appeared in the hefty jaws of Eelscar.

"ShadowClan thanks you for your cooperation."

Hazelpaw leapt awake, cold sweat trickling down her neck. Her breath came in heavy pants. She stared down at her aching belly. It had been nearly a moon since her incident at the Gathering.

He's never going to get these kits. Hazelpaw stopped her train of thought. Ugh, I'm being stupid. He can't have possibly gotten me pregnant! I won't even entertain the thought. But she already was, and in that moment, Hazelpaw knew.

She was to be a mother.

"Heya, Hazelpaw!" She heard Dewkit's voice, forcing a smile to her best friend.

"Hey," Hazelpaw replied, with less enthusiasm.

"Breezepaw keeps looking over at you." Dewkit said bluntly. Her eyes held that keen sparkle. Hazelpaw anticipated the day that would soon come when her closest friend would join her in training.

"She's what?" Hazelpaw choked on the trout she was chowing down. Sure enough, the she cat's eyes were locked onto her. Hazelpaw looked away, alarmed, especially since Breezepaw was blind.

Dewkit didn't seem to notice the tension. "Well, I'm gonna go play with Fawnkit. See ya, Hazelpaw!"

Hazelpaw gulped down the remainder of a second fish, glancing at Breezepaw and jumping in surprise as she realized Breezepaw was still eerily staring directly at her.

Hazelpaw padded hesitantly over to the older apprentice, her paws numb with anxiety.

"Breezepaw, why do you keep staring at me?" Hazelpaw demanded, now frustrated. The blind she cat's eyes travelled to Hazelpaw's belly.

Is it really that noticeable? Wait, Breezepaw can't even see! Can she…?

"I am blind." Breezepaw suddenly spoke, scaring Hazelpaw back into reality.

"Wh-what?" Hazelpaw stammered, sitting awkwardly in an effort to hide her tender stomach.

Breezepaw's eyes seemed to narrow, though now she was looking over Hazelpaw's head. "I know you are expecting kits. I see your nightmares. It was Eelscar, at that Gathering, wasn't it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hazelpaw lied, gritting her teeth angrily.

Breezepaw growled under her breath. "I've known from your first nightmare. I can see your dreams, Hazelpaw. I may be blind, but i see what others cannot. You're pregnant, Hazelpaw."

Hazelpaw recoiled, her eyes watering, the seven moon old she cat not even bothering to stop her tears from flowing openly. "D-does anyone else know?" She rasped, flattened her ears.

Breezepaw shook her head. "No, but I suggest you stop crying before someone notices." The grey and black she cat draped her tail around Hazelpaw's haunches. "I'm willing to listen about what happened. I can see you've got a lot on your mind."

Breezepaw's eyes may not have met with Hazelpaw's, but she could see the offer and kindness was genuine, and Hazelpaw broke down.

"I-i-it's sort of a blur, but h-he tackled me and dragged me away and-and-and used me! Now I'm never going to be a warrior… Snowfall's gonna hate me… Everyone's gonna hate me." Hazelpaw blubbered, her nose running. She sniffled pitifully.

"No one's going to hate you." Breezepaw assured her friend. "You were supposed to go battle training, weren't you?"

Hazelpaw nodded meekly.

"I'll handle it. You stay in camp today and take care of your kits. They're going to need you." Breezepaw meowed, standing up, giving Hazelpaw a lick on the nose and padding away towards Snowfall.

Is anyone going to be as understanding as Breezepaw? What're my littermates going to think?! What's Snowfall going to think? Oh Starclan, I-I-I hate these kits! I hate them growing inside of me!

Hazelpaw's eyes gazed towards Breezepaw, who was still speaking with Snowfall. They looked over at her every now and then. Hazelpaw wished they wouldn't stare at her so weirdly.

Hazelpaw's eyes went round as she saw Snowfall approaching. "Hey, Breezepaw tells me you can't come training with us. Sorry you ate a funny fish."

A funny fish?! Hazelpaw forced a polite smile. She couldn't think of anything better?!

"Well, I hope you feel better." Snowfall mumbled, his thick tail brushing her nose as he trotted away. Her heart sank.

"Mm-hmm." Hazelpaw sighed after him, nosing her way into the apprentice den and flopping down onto her nest.

Sudden nausea washed over Hazelpaw, her vision dotted. The apprentice stumbled quickly out of the den, racing out of camp from the dirt place tunnel. Her stomach churned, and before she knew what was happening, she retched.

It burned her throat, and the acid taste made her eyes sting. They were now red and puffy with tears. "I hate this!" Hazelpaw sobbed.

Another feeling of illness swept over her, and though she had already emptied her stomach, the acid taste burned her nostrils once again.

"Leave me already!" Hazelpaw pleaded, crying hysterically. The nausea was beginning to fade. "I don't want kits! Not these ones! Please, StarClan, please!" Hazelpaw rolled on her back, burying her face into a mint bush.

"Hazelpaw?"

Hazelpaw perked up at Snowfall's voice, but after realizing there was still the rancid scent around her, she leapt up and sprinted away, ducking behind a garlic patch. She learned it hides scent, and she prayed it would hide hers.

"Hazelpaw?" He called out. She saw him lift his nose and cringe. "Are you sick? You're sick, aren't you? Haze, please! You've been acting really strange!"

"Go away!" Hazelpaw screeched, leaping out from the garlic and heaving herself away from him. She heard him running after her, and in a moment, he had pinned her to the ground.

"You've been skipping training. I know you're sick, but at this rate, you're going to have to be held back in training!" Snowfall growled, climbing off her. She made no move to run again.

Hazelpaw went dead silent, frozen rigid in fear.

An apprentice, pregnant! What will he say? I'm disgusting filth! Hazelpaw felt her vision wavering again, her fur prickling with anxiety.

"Are you seeing someone from another clan?" Snowfall began pacing. He looked he was holding back a flood of tears.

"What?!" Hazelpaw shrieked, crouching to the forest floor. "No, I'm not! I'd never."

Snowfall rounded on her, and while she expected his eyes to be filled with anger, they were filled with sadness. "Well that's the only explanation I can think of since you're tired all the time! You act like a wounded elder!" There was the anger.

"Snowfall, please, just stop screaming at me…" Hazelpaw gritted her teeth, biting her tongue to prevent herself from crying.

"No, I'm sorry, but no." Snowfall snarled. "You're not yourself! You act like a newborn kit in training, it's like you broke a leg when we're hunting, and you refuse to go on border patrol! And it's been going on for a moon, so the only conclusion is you're seeing a cat from another clan!"

"I'm not!" Hazelpaw screamed back. "The only tom I'm interested in, is you, you fool!"

Snowfall stopped cold, his face going blank. A teeny smile could be seen on his lips. "Me?" He asked, his eyes wide in shock.

"Yes! It really hurts you'd think I'd even think of breaking the code like that!" Hazelpaw bawled.

Snowfall slumped down, still at a loss for words.

"And if have to know, I'm pregnant! Yes, you heard me right! I was raped!" Hazelpaw hissed, squeezing her eyes shut.

Snowfall's head snapped up. He didn't say anything at first, only staring blankly at her round belly. His face softened.

"Oh, my… Hazelpaw…" He broke the silence at last.

"Hazelpaw, oh god, Hazelpaw…" Snowfall squinted his eyes in an attempt to contain tears.

Hazelpaw opened her eyes, surprised to see he was not disgusted. Instead, he looked heartbroken and sympathetic. It was almost worse.

"Who did this?' He demanded. His voice was low, but his eyes were dark and vicious. "Tell me. I will not hesitate to make him suffer. I'll tear his paws off and shove them down his throat so he'll have no paws left to touch you with."

"Eelscar." Hazelpaw choked on the word, the image of him popping into her head. She nearly retched again. When he didn't reply, she looked up a bit, seeing puzzlement on his face. "Um, from ShadowClan…"

Slowly, she watched his face contort into one of confusion, to fury, then to horror. "Oh my god… the Gathering… Hazelpaw… oh, my, oh, Hazelpaw!"

"Don't say my name like that, please." Hazelpaw pleaded. "Say something else, just stop it."

"It was the Gathering…" Snowfall stared past the trees, his eyes still slitted with rage but his face was blank. "Oh, why didn't I see it? I did, no, I did and I didn't believe me…"

"It was my fault, somehow." Hazelpaw gulped. "I said something that angered him. Maybe if I had-"

Snowfall crouched down to her eye level, their faces so close she could see the black dots on his nose she didn't notice before.

"This," he said slowly, "is not your fault. It is Eelscar's. You did not cause this."

Hazelpaw lifted her head, sniffling as she tried not to cry, but gave in and darted forward, sobbing into him. "I-"

Snowfall hushed her. "Shh, don't say a word. Just let it out."

He rested his chin on her head gently, and the laid like that for several long minutes. As her crying died down, Hazelpaw heard him humming, and when she perked her ears, she realized he was singing.

"You are not the one to blame

And there is no shame

When these kits come I will stay

And I'll make sure he goes away

I'll make him pay

Because I love you with all of my heart

And there is nothing anyone can do, to tear us apart."

Hazelpaw's heart swelled with love, her sobbing turning to whimpering. For the first since Eelscar touched her, she felt loved, and within moments, her whimpering turned to silence.

A/N

Whoops that was short. Sorry if that was disappointing. I had a brief spurt of inspiration and then it died. If anyone had any plot ideas to further this, I'll gladly discuss it in a PM, if not, this story has to go on a hiatus. My apologies.