A/N: Here's my first challenge for The World Of Warriors! And in a different writing style!


Perhaps it was never meant to be like this.

Or maybe this was fate's cruel game.

Whatever the reason, Dapplestream's world was upside down.

Everything had been perfect. Perfect.


She was born a lucky one. Named after her grandmother on her mother's side, and born to the leader of the clan and his mate.

Her father always went out of his way to make sure her and her sister were being treated well. Your child is bullying mine? Fix that. You think they haven't worked hard enough for this clan? Shut up.

He made sure they had the best mentors, they got what they wanted, the patrols were reasonable for them, they got to go to gathering and so on. She was used to being treated well, told she was doing great with hunting, and never being told no. She was, well, spoiled. There was no nice way to put it.

And when she was told that by her fellow apprentices, it hurt. She and her sister found comfort in each other, knowing that they both had the same experiences.

The day she became a warrior was wonderful. Of course, she got an amazing name. Dapplestream. What a beautiful name. Not like the other apprentices and new warriors, no name like Littlefur or Greyfoot or something rather ugly like that. She got a name that felt slender, beautiful, unlike any other.

Then leaf-bare came.

Nothing, not the way she slept, not how deep she slept, could drown out her mother's coughing. Worried for her, she and her sister talked to her mom and finally convinced her to go to the medicine cat's den. That night was unusually cold without their mother sleeping next to them.

The next morning came the dreadful news. Their mother had greencough.

By night she was dead.

They cried. Their father slept next to their mother's body that night. And the next morning, the camp was quiet as her body was carried away.

After that, her father and sister seemed.. Different. Her father was more resigned, less likely to speak to anyone. And he was getting weaker, nothing could hide that from his children. As for her sister…

Her sister had never really been… Absolutely loyal to the clan. She loved it, but always seemed to want something more. And after her mother died… One of the only tethers keeping her rooted snapped.

Her sister was almost never around anymore. She was always wandering, sometimes not even staying in the territory, going out into the unexplored land.

So it was no surprise when her sister came back one day and announced that she was pregnant with the children of a rogue and was leaving.

Watching her sister and best friend walk away from the clan with hardly a goodbye said was one of the hardest moments of her life. Her father tried to order her to come back, but nothing happened. Another family member lost forever to the cold, dark world.

And now, there was no one there to support her. Her sister was no longer there, and there was no one to assure her that what the others said wasn't true. Her mother wasn't there either to shield them from the others. And her father… Her father was no help anymore. He had completely distanced himself, and there was no one to stop what they said.

When she walked through camp, there came the whispers of, 'Look at her, so pathetic, thought she was perfect until she was alone', and, 'not even her sister could stand her'. Her standard way of walking now was tail lowered and ears drooping.

A mate could've helped perhaps, but no one dared get that close. She was alone.

And of course, her father, growing weaker by the day, was going to die someday.

It was supposed to have been by a fox. A fox that had overpowered them, gave him injuries to deep to help.

But she suspected no one had cared enough to help.

He was old, disliked and cold. Their new young leader was much better.

Except for the fact he hated her. 'Dapplestream, why did you let the rogue get away?' 'Dapplestream, what do you mean you fell into a thornbush and had to come back empty-handed?'

Something she did was always wrong. She was always making mistakes, somehow unforgivable.

Her life was a living hell.

And 11 months and 26 days after it all began, she passed away.