This is the Prologue and Chapter 1. I am thoroughly ASHAMED that it's only 1,000 words long. I'm so sorry, but I had a flight to catch to get back to the USA (And so I could say hello to my precious Apollo again :D) but honestly, IM SORRY ITS SO SHORT! I swear Chapter 2 is going to be at least 2,000 words, if not 3,000-5,000!

P.S: Couldn't edit any italics because I was writing on my phone because I was writing in a plane ;0 sowwie, next chapter will be better!

Prologue-

The stars shine at night every night. So do the eyes of the cats, as their pelts bristle like thorns being pushed into a paw. The moon can be white, rarely yellow.

They are all a single ray of light; they look towards the sunshine, letting the shadows fall behind them. If they cannot find strength, they will be the strength.

Unity always remains until the strange ones are adopted, turning cats around and letting them follow their own, crooked, selfish ways.

The strange ones see weakness, and the light sees strength. And if they find strength, they do not need to become the strength.

And if the strange ones are prized and they hate on a particular cat, that cat shall be looked down upon. Hated; looked at with disgust. Murmurs will pass around. The cat, who hasn't done anything it has meant to do, will soon fall to their own misery of not being some cat in the Clan.

But if that cat discovers something that could save his reputation, would the cat take the chance and save his Clan—

—or leave it, and save kin?

Questions are always answered, but not in the way one can think.

Chapter 1: Taking Me Back

Stillness.

The way the bird's chirping stops, how the cat's meowing freezes, how it all just stiffens into a spot in time and stays there for a moment and then lets go, releasing it all out once more.

It's how my morning begins.

"Crowkit, did you go make sure the flies aren't following you today?"

Other than that remark.

I turn, stifling my annoyance, to see Poppykit. Her eyes gleam with laughter and hate. "Aw, are you sad again today?" Her muzzle edges closer to mine. "Such a sad life for you. Why don't you go cry and run up to your mother for comfort? Oh wait, she doesn't care about you either!" She ends up laughing hysterically, turning and bounding away to her mother, Honeybreeze, who nods with approval.

To be honest, that's not the rudest thing I've ever heard. Every cat here hates me, including my mother and my father. They're only two cats who like me.

Ripplekit. My beautiful, beloved sister. She loves me and always sticks up for me in spite of all the criticism I get.

Then there's Ivykit. I don't know about her, but she's nice enough. Better than all the treatment I've been getting.

A voice as soft as the wind approaches my ears. "Crowkit?"

I turn, surprised at the tone, only to sag as I see my mother, Fernpelt. She starts laughing with amusement and disgust. "You should've seen the look in your eyes!" She purrs smugly. "You looked so happy to hear a kind voice! You'll never be loved, Crowkit. Not after what you did!"

I see her call Ripplekit. Her fluffy white pelt shines with perfection, and her purr is vibrant. I can hear Honeybreeze's murmur of admiration. "I hope Lightningpaw gets her."

I swallow down my hurt, though I can't stop my ears from flattening. Tail dragging behind me, I pad out of the nursery, only to get glares full of hatred directed at me.

"It's Crowkit! Everyone run into your dens!"

"I hope he isn't my apprentice!"

"Me, too!"

Hurt overwhelms me like a flame swallowing a tree. You'd think I'd get used to it after living two moons.

Two moons after the incident.

I was one moon old, and I had simply gone outside, venturing with Ripplekit. She had told me to follow her into the forest, and I had hesitantly came with her, clearly not knowing what the forest even was. My sister was always smarter than me. Being an idiot, I followed her, not knowing the trouble a kit could get into.

"Stay here, Crowkit," she whispered in my ear in a sweet, soft tone that made my pelt shiver. "I'm going to go explore further. Warn me if any cat approaches."

I stayed in the spot I was in, and soon, the sun had gone down. I heard bushes rustle behind me, and silently, with panic, followed my sister's scent. Then I had lost it, so I blindly went forward, not wanting whoever was behind me to catch me.

As I was about to run, I stepped on something. I eerily looked down, terror rising in my throat like mouse bile.

It was a cat's body.

Dead.

I was too afraid to scream. Just horrible wounds ripped through his flesh, his eyes blinded, his ears both cut off. I hissed as I stepped my paws in some of his blood. I hissed again as I heard the bracken move behind me. The warrior behind me had approached. I turned, my eyes wide with horror. His eyes had been taut with shock as he looked down at me.

The thing I hadn't understood was that he backed a step away from me. "Y-You k-killed Heronstar!"

My eyes widened even more with such strong fear and terror. "I didn't kill him!" I meowed, my voice shrill. "I found him like this!"

"There's blood all over your paws, and the only scent on his body is yours!" The warrior had snarled after saying that, making me crouch.

Blood all over my paws because I stepped on him and his wounds. My scent's on him because I just stepped all over him! Warriors can be so dumb.

Before I could confront the warrior, he ran back to camp, snarling with fear. I desperately looked for my sister, who was only now returned to me. Her eyes were widened at the dead body.

"Why is Heronstar dead?" She growled, her gaze horrified.

"I didn't do this!" I cried, shaking my head. "I found him like this!"

And what hurt the most was that even she looked away from me.

And that's how everything went down for me.

You'd think that as a three moon old kit, I'd be struggling with life. And I am. I'm surprised that the Clan let me stay after what I supposedly did. It hurts to think about the incident and how it wasn't true. I had later come to know that the warrior's name was Jetpelt, now an elder. He hates me. So his family hates me. His family has good friends that hate me, making the whole Clan hate me. Even my parents believed that I could be capable of killing a cat. They all make fun of me now.

One day I will show them that I am not bad and that I am not the cat who killed and murdered Heronstar.

But that day is not anytime soon.