Hi, everyone. Just wanted to say that due to technical difficulties I won't be able to make this as long as I originally planned to. So I will be wrapping this up in the next chapter or so.

Chapter one: Why me

I woke to a soft paw prodding my side. "Jayfeather, will she be okay?" The paw gently poked me again. A much gruffer voice answered the soft one. "She'll live, but she'll have problems to face once she wakes up. The paw withdrew and a nose nosed me all over. "Alderpaw, tell me what herbs are used for infection." I could sense the young cat next to me concentrate hard before answering. "Marigold helps stop infection." "Good job." It was almost as if the cat was beaming with pride from the older cat's praise.

"Very good, Alderpaw. Now, why am I giving marigold to this cat?" The young tom hesitated. "Her eyes are infected from the scratch and bite marks she received from the fox." I opened my eyes as the marigold juice was dabbed into them. The world was extremely hazy and dark. I hissed in pain and thrashed around. "Jayfeather! She's awake! Should I go call Squirrelstar in?" The older voice hissed in frustration but gave his consent. Wait Squirrelstar?! Does that mean I'm still in Thunderclan territory? What happened to Violetpaw? Is she safe? Why hasn't anyone from home come for me yet? The gruff voice from before spoke with an accompaniment of claws. "Lay down, Mouse brain! You'll open your wounds again. And besides, you won't be able to escape in your condition as easily anyway."

I whimpered and sank back down into my nest of moss and bracken. 'Where am I? Who are you? What has happened to me? Why can't I see?" A different voice chimed in. "Calm down, Shadowclan kit. You will get your answers from Jayfeather soon enough." The gruff voice mewed with respect. "Squirrelstar. I see Alderpaw managed to find you after all." The soft voice from earlier sounded very close to my ear. "Don't be frightened. Squirrelstar is very fair. She gets it after her father. Jayfeather is just grumpy. But he's ok. He's my mentor." I nodded gratefully towards the cat whose face I couldn't see. The sound of swishing fur on the floor alerted me to someone settling down. The cat who was whispering to me earlier whispered again that Squirrelstar and Jayfeather were sitting down in front of me. I knew Squirrelstar was to my right because she had an air of authority while Jayfeather was to my left. He also had an air of authority, but it wasn't as strong as Squirrelstar's.

"Now, I want you to tell us your name. Don't worry you won't be in trouble if you cooperate." I nodded towards the rival leader. "My name is Bluepaw. Where is Violetpaw?" I sensed the young tom next to me hesitate. "You know, Violetpaw?" I nodded. "She is my denmate. She helped me escape from the den before the fox attacked. I don't know where she went after I fell. Please help me find her, Squirrelstar. I'll do anything!" The leader silenced me by touching her tail to my mouth. "Your friend Violetpaw was the one who alerted Biteburn's patrol about the fox. She came back to camp with Mosspaw. Violetpaw is fine. She has a few nasty bites, but she is resting in the apprentice's den. We gave her Ivypool as a mentor until your leader comes for you two." I nodded my head. "Is the fox gone?" Squirrelstar gently tapped her tail against my mouth. "We chased off the fox, but right now, I need to ask you questions. Once I'm done, then you may ask yours." I dipped my head in respect.

"What were you doing on our territory in the first place, Bluepaw?" I shuffled my paws. Squirrelstar's voice softened. "Just answer the question, Bluepaw. I won't be angry. I promise." I nodded and stared towards where I think her face would be. "Violetpaw asked me if we could go visit her sister in Thunderclan. I told her that it wasn't a good idea, but seeing how she is all alone in the clan while I have my sisters and brother, I went with her. We told our mentors that we were going to hunt. Violetpaw told Whitestreak that she would keep an eye on me as I practiced my hunting skills. Whitestreak gave his consent but told us to be back in camp by sunset. Sparrowtail agreed. So we went outside and into the pine. For a while, we did hunt and practice so that it would be credible. Then at sunset, we snuck into Thunderclan territory to see Twigpaw. We were caught by the abandoned two-leg place by a Thunderclan patrol and took off. The Shadowclan evening patrol led by our deputy, Berryheart, saw yall chasing us so they followed. We ran to the lake and lost both patrols. We traveled around the territory the whole night and fell asleep in a burrow in the ground. In the morning, the fox attacked. Violetpaw fought the fox long enough for me to get out and run. But I didn't run. I hid behind a tree and watched. She shouted for me to run as she burst out of the den. We both pelted away and she veered away to get help and I was supposed to keep running. The fox managed to catch me once and I fought it off but it chased me to your camp. I fell over the edge and here I am now, I guess." The cat named Alderpaw pawed a moss ball soaked in water over to me. "Drink. I made it with juniper berries to help you get your strength back."

I leaned over and dabbed the ground with my paw to find the ball. Once I found it, I leaned my head over and lapped at the moss ball as the Thunderclan leader asked me another question. "Bluepaw, will you be willing to train here until your clan comes for you?" I sighed and kneaded my nest with my paws. "I would like to train and keep fit until I can go home." Satisfied with my answer, the leader got to her paws and left the den. No doubt to announce to the clan that I will be training with them until I can go home with Violetpaw. Just thinking about her raised a whole new slew of questions. Jayfeather got up and left us to listen to the announcement. Alderpaw sat next to me and brushed his fur against my side.

The warmth from his body was soothing and I was really grateful for his friendliness. "So Bluepaw, you wanted to ask Jayfeather some questions?" I nodded silently. "Well, I'm almost a full medicine cat. I just have to go get my name at half moon. You can ask me." I turned in the direction his voice was coming from. He was so friendly that I felt myself asking away. "How long have I been here?" Alderpaw shuffled his paws and I twitched my whiskers in amusement. Some full medicine cat he is! "You have been out for almost a moon. We were worried you were on your way to Starclan." I could feel my eyes widening in shock. "I've been out that long. What happened?" He nudged the ball towards me some more, signaling that I need to drink more. "When you fought the fox twice, it managed to injure your face. Its claws must have been dirty and we all know their mouths are. You got an infection in your eyes and a high fever. It left you blind." I buried my head between my paws at the last sentence. I can't be blind. Shadowclan has no room for blind cats. I'm no elder either. I'm supposed to be a warrior! Seeing my agitation, Alderpaw ran somewhere in the den and grabbed a tangy smelling herb. "This is thyme. It'll help relieve the shock." I obediently ate the herbs, wincing at the bad taste.

Once the herbs were gone, I raised my head and twisted to look at Alderpaw. "So where exactly am I?" He purred enthusiastically. "You are in Thunderclan's medicine cat den." After a long moment of silence, I asked him another question. "Alderpaw, what do I look like now?

He never got to answer because Jayfeather brushed into the den with two other cats. "Bluepaw, I would like you to meet someone." I raised my head and sniffed the air. One was a cat my age and another was an adult. "This is Blossomfall. She is your mentor. And I guess Alderpaw told you why you can't see?" I could feel Jayfeather's glare sear over my head to his apprentice. "I figured, to help her settle here for a bit was to be a friend and answer any question she might have," Alderpaw said defiantly. Jayfeather snorted and turned to look at the next cat. "This here is Shadowpaw." A tentative hello alerted me to the other cat. "Hello, Shadowpaw." I mewed feeling awkward as if she was staring.

Blossomfall sat next to me and touched her tail to my shoulder. I turned my now sightless eyes to her. "Bluepaw, Shadowpaw will help me train you. She is also blind. I will be talking with Brightheart about the techniques she used before she became an elder. But for now, I just want you and Shadowpaw to get to know each other." I murmured a "Yes, Blossomfall." and dipped my head in greeting once again to Shadowpaw. Once the two adult cats left, I murmured a quick sorry to Shadowpaw. Alderpaw explained what it was for when she mewed a small mew of protest. "Bluepaw, you wanted me to tell you what you look like. I think you should wait until your wounds heal some more." I nodded in understanding. I must look like a freak at the moment.

Shadowpaw brushed her front paw against mine. "Bluepaw, I would like to show you around camp." She turned to Alderpaw. "She is allowed to leave here isn't she?" The tom hesitated some more before giving her an answer. "If she doesn't push herself, then she should be fine. Jayfeather is always worrying about his patients, but I'll come walk with you two just so he can't say anything too much about her being up." Shadowpaw sighed and muttered something unintelligible and rose to her paws. "Well come on, Bluepaw." I stared at my paws. "It's just like how you did it before you went blind. All you need to rely on now is your sense of touch, smell, and hearing. I'll help you with that. Alderpaw will be here too, so we won't be in danger."

I took a breath and rose shakily to my paws. Shadowpaw was right. I don't even need sight to stand up! Alderpaw wrapped his tail around my neck and guided me over the edge of the nest. "Alderpaw, she'll have to be able to travel by herself too." Alderpaw blushed deep in his fur and smarted back. "Well, at least I can help her around her first day awake in our camp." The two bickered good-naturedly as we walked out of the medicine cat den. Gasps echoed around the walls as we came out. I flinched and Shadowpaw nudged me forward. "Ignore them. They should know better by now."

We walked around the perimeter of the camp, where Shadowpaw gave me a lesson on trailing with my tail to keep myself in place. As we passed by each den, she made me take a deep sniff several times and tell her what I heard. It was easy to pick out the elder's den and the nursery. I could smell mouse bile and hear the elders telling someone a story. In the nursery, the comforting smell of milk was present with the sound of kits. We came up with a game with Alderpaw to help me develop my senses before we were interrupted by a tom. "Alderpaw. Get away from that misfit. That freak! Shadowpaw, you too." Shadowpaw froze next to me and I flinched before crouching down. Aldepaw was the only one who stood up for me. "Fallpaw, you can't tell us what to do. Now go somewhere else before you start something you can't finish." Fallpaw just snorted and walked off. Shadowpaw nudged me back on my paws and Alderpaw helped her. "Ignore that furball." She mewed. "My adopted brother always had thistle for brains." I could tell she was trying to cheer me up, but I was just ready to go back to my nest. Fallpaw must be right. I must look like a freak.

Time skip here. Not a big one. Just a moon.

It has been awhile since I was let out of the den. I am pretty good at training too. Shadowpaw and I are best friends. Right now though, I'm hiding. I've been stared at and mocked and bullied all day. The only reason why this happened was that Alderpaw was on his way to the moonpool with Jayfeather, Shadowpaw was out training with her mentor and so was Violetpaw. I was in camp to help take care of the queens and elders, so I can get used to the cats I'm around. The queens and elders were fine. They love me. The kits are inquisitive. For which I can't blame them. But the others are just so cruel. I just want to cry and disappear from view. As it is I'm wedged behind the elder's den where no one can see me. Why am I seen as a freak? Why can't they just see that I'm a normal everyday cat that just can't see? I don't see Shadowpaw or Jayfeather being treated this way. I'm no longer sick either. I don't have the infection in my eyes nor the fever. You can't catch blindness. So why am I all alone? Why can't they just say it to my face that I don't belong here? That I should just get rid of myself and get on with it? I want them to say something. I just don't know what. I laid there and cried silently trying to keep myself hidden from the rest of the clan.