A CloudClan challenge about a cat going crazy. *Gore later on*

Enjoy.

"Sorrelstem. That poor, broken cat." Two elders were swapping tales, and the female had a particularly interesting, albeit dark one.

"I remember this one. Go on, Rainstripe," the male, Rowanleap, prompted. He leaned forward, intrigued. Rainstripe took a breath, and nodded.

"So, I was an apprentice the day the old warrior snapped. You were off doing StarClan knows what, but I was still here..." She began her tale, tracing a scar along her side with her tail as she spoke. That horrible day still felt fresh in her mind.

"Here, Rainpaw. Take this vole to Sorrelstem, will you?" Littlecreek nodded encouragingly.

Rainpaw twitched her whiskers, and took the rodent from her mentor begrudgingly. "Alright," she replied. She forced a smile. Inside, she was groaning. She had gotten the worst task in the whole Clan.

Sorrelstem, and anything associated with him, was almost...taboo. Everyone avoided him, in fear of him.

She tired to stall as long as she could, but then decided against it. "Better just get it over with," she muttered to herself, grey tabby pelt prickled.

The rumours and stories surrounding the grizzled warrior were huge in RiverClan. And they weren't stories of valor, or rumours at he'd killed a badger single-pawed. It was the whispers of his twisted, horrid life that spread like wildfire. The other Clans had yet to discover RiverClan's little hidden 'gem', however.

Sorrelstem resided in a private den, as Heronstar thought of him as 'unstable'. Rainpaw felt a slight shiver seep through her pelt, but she merely ignored it.

Surely Sorrelstem wasn't insane. Heronstar was just taking precautions. Right?

All these thoughts crashed and swirled around the apprentice's head, and Rainpaw tried to ignore them. Just think about...your warrior ceremony! Yeah, happy thoughts.

"Here we go," she murmured, stepping into the dark den.

"Sorrelstem? I brought you this vole..." Her offer died in her throat as her eyes adjusted to the shadowy setting. The brown tabby huddled in a corner, shaking and muttering something.

"All of them. All of them. Every. Single. One."

Rainpaw gently set the vole down, feeling more frightened by the minute. The tabby she-cat slowly backed away.

As she turned to trot back into the sun, a sudden growl made her jump, and she let out a squeak of surprise. "Y-yes?"

A hard gleam entered the warrior's dark eyes as he bared his teeth. When he met Rainpaw's gaze, however, his muzzle immediately crumpled into a perfect image of despair.

"You look like...them," he whispered, then suddenly laughed, a harsh bark of a laugh. Rainpaw smiled nervously.

She assumed the 'them' he was referring to were his kits, who were caught in the midst of battle many moons ago. His mate had died before that, leaving a permanent void in the once lively warrior.

Now, he was this crazed wreck of a cat.

Sorrelstem beckoned her closer, and he stabbed a claw into the vole. Rainpaw tried not to cringe.

"Death, death, death," he spat, watching as blood trickled from the puncture. He whipped his head back up to stare at the apprentice again. His eyes seemed hungry now, not pained or conflicted. His tounge flicked from one side of his jaw to the other.

"You want to know how they died? Like this!"

Rainpaw screeched as the tom lunged, clawing at her side. She stumbled backwards as red spattered her grey fur.

Now, Sorrelstem stood panting, his muzzle twisting into horrible expressions.

"You. YOU! OUT, OUT, OUT!" A mix of fear and rage swirled in his eyes. "I...I SAW IT ALL, THIER BODIES BLEEDING INTO THE EARTH, THIER EYES FLUTTERING AND GLAZING OVER! AND...AND..." Anything else was incoherent ranting. Rainpaw cried out, as Sorrelstem's very mind broke and shattered. It was too much for him. Too many memories.

By now, the commotion had alerted everyone. "What's going on!?" Littlecreek gasped in horror at the sight of her wounded apprentice.

Other cats panicked, running to get the leader and deputy.

Sorrelstem was snapping his head back and forth, his snarl warning everyone to stay away. But everyone was swept up in a crowd of cats, scared and confused. Heronstar and Hawknose tried desperately to calm everyone, but the camp was thrown into chaos.

Hissing and spitting, the tom was beyond insane. "YOU'LL REMEMBER ME!" he cried, and twisted himself into such a position that his neck and underbelly were exposed.

With a hard, long swipe of his claws, he tore his own stomach apart, spilling crimson everywhere. He sputtered and burbled, twitching and convulsing.

Everything stopped, and he was still. His now dull eyes were still locked in an expression of crazed, frenzied rage.

Rainpaw stood, rotted to the ground. Her wound didn't even pain her, she was too distracted by the bloody scene before her.

She wasn't even fully aware of the medicine cat dragging her away. "Shh, shh," Dewsong purred, tears rimming her eyes. "Hold steady." Rainpaw wondered if that was directed at her or Dewsong herself.

While the tortieshell medicine cat treated Rainpaw, the apprentice's mind wandered in many directions.

Poor Sorrelstem.

He broke, what he saw destroyed him.

And...what did he mean by 'You'll remember me?'

As the image of his gruesome death flashed in her mind's eye, she shuddered.

Will I break, too?

She squeezed her eyes shut, but tears still leaked out.

"Rainpaw? Rainpaw, what's wrong?" Dewsong paused, staring at the apprentice. Rainpaw shook her head.

"Rainpaw, Sorrelstem saw terrible things. And...he was never...right after that. His mind was forever twisted into permanent insanity. He walked a thin line. And today, he stepped over."

She closed her eyes, and Rainpaw slowly nodded.

"But he'll see 'them' in StarClan, won't he," she added.

"I hope, Rainpaw."

That night, as the camp settled down, and sat vigil, a faint star winked in the sky.

Was it Sorrelstem?

Rainstripe sighed as she ended her story. Rowanleap gazed at the entrance to the elder's den, thinking.

"...the Clan was badly shaken after that...I remember coming back with Mosscry, and..." He had nothing else to say. He looked back at his denmate, frowning.

Rainstripe smiled sadly. "It was an uncertain few moons," she murmured as leaned into him. "I even doubted my sanity. His death haunted me for moons."

Rowanleap's eyes widened. "Was he really that insane, to kill himself?"

She touched the scar again. "He was. But I'll always remember him."

...

Insanely, Clearly