Chapter 1

Spiritpaw walked around OneClan, gazing about the camp. She was seven moons into her apprenticeship, and tonight was her assessment. She looked around for her aunt, her paws feeling numb with anticipation as her chest tightened with worry. They often fought the undead, but this time she had to fight one on her own.

Spotting Mallowfrond, Spiritpaw raced forward, barreling into her chest. "I wish I were still a kit." she murmured. "Why?" Mallowfrond asked, pulling back to look into her face. "I'm still a runt. I don't want to leave OneClan today, but ..." Spiritpaw sighed and put her head against her aunt's chest again. "It isn't fair."

Her aunt was going to say something, when a nearby hacking caused her to close her mouth. She licked Spiritpaw's ears before walking away, her gaze apologetic. Spiritpaw sighed, and recited the new codes in her head, reminding herself that the cats' new lives are as fair as they can get.

"Every assessment must include the fighting of the undead after dark. Those who are strong enough to succeed may become warriors. Cats who are not strong enough to succeed will endanger the Clan, so this practice is necessary." She murmured. "I am strong enough."

"If a cat is bitten within the borders, they must be put into exile. If they are not sane enough or refuse to go, they must be executed." Spiritpaw took a deep breath, cursing herself for being so small. She blinked her indigo eyes, looking up to the sky. Mallowfrond had told her everything that happened to her family. Stars began to show, and she prayed to StarClan that her mother and father would help her and protect her.

Taking in a breath and partially resenting the warrior code, Spiritpaw looked around for her mentor, Flameleap. Flameleap was a golden brown tom with black spots and a dark cream underbelly, chest, chin, and paws, of whom was speaking to one of the four leaders of OneClan. Recognizing the leader who despised so-called defects such as herself, Spiritpaw hid herself, eavesdropping so she would know when she could talk to Flameleap safely.

Hawkstar had icy blue eyes and a dark black pelt, with a brown underbelly. Flameleap was his son, and the matching set of blue eyes both had cool fire burning in them; they were arguing once again. "Hawkstar, please, she's been given an unfair-" Flameleap was saying, when his father cut him off.

"Nonsense! It's her own fault for not training harder. If she hadn't made the mistakes that got her sick, she would have had more training ti-" he was cut off once again by his son. "Spiritpaw couldn't control those things that happened! She trained in swimming like she was told to. She's just so small, so her body couldn't handle-"

"Flameleap, I am telling you, it is her fault!"

"For what, being born?"

"That's not what I said, now stop putting words into my-"

"But father, you just told me that-"

"She's a defect, Flameleap, don't you underst-"

"No, I do not understand, father! Why do you have to be so unfair to cats like-"

"ENOUGH!"

Flameleap stepped back as his father took a step towards him. Spiritpaw bristled in anger, wanting to rake her claws across Hawkstar's face. Several cats had turned their heads, listening to the argument long before it ended. The two cats were bristling, tails lashing in frustration and anger.

"Don't you ever speak to me of unfairness again," Hawkstar spat, "letting her become a warrior without a fight would be unfair. She will go through with a regular assessment, and that's final."

Spiritpaw watched as Flameleap spat onto the ground as well, a snarl escaping as he did so. "Foxheart." he said, thrusting his face into Hawkstar's, who simply glared blankly back. Flameleap snorted into his face, before stalking away. Spiritpaw turned her gaze back to Hawkstar, but he was already gone as well, no trace indicating where he was headed.

"Spiritpaw!" Flameleap called from a distance, and she looked towards the direction of his voice. He was near Mallowfrond's den, asking the nearby cats if they'd seen her. She circled around the peremiter, and tried to mentally prepare herself to face him. After a few moments, she gave up, and approached him from the exact opposite direction of her hiding spot.

"Yes?" she asked, her voice surprisingly calm, despite the way her breath shook and her heart beat erratically. He looked at her, his eyes betraying his feelings of how sorry he was for her, but she must have looked convincing, for he gave a long blink and then looked to her again. This time, his eyes were guarded, a false sense of coolness in those blue pools.

"It's time for your assessment. Come, we will be going now." he said, already turning away from her. She followed behind, once again surprised by how easy it was to follow him. She decided then to accept her fate; walking to her death was exactly what a warrior would do, especially if she rid OneClan of one of those beasts in the process.

Her body was numb by the time they exited the boundaries of OneClan. All she could hear was the sound of her heartbeat, all she could feel was the drumming of her paws against the ground. She didn't even notice herself racing across a Thunderpath, even when a monster's yellow glare illuminated her figure. All she could do was secretly mourn her existence, and finally, she let everything go by the time Flameleap signaled her to get down.

She didn't pay attention to what he was saying, but she knew what he meant when he yowled, "NOW!" and she hurled herself into a small opening, a ragged cat-like figure flying into her view. She was upon it in a matter of seconds, clawing it's pulpy, rotted flesh with a swift blow, it's face opening with a soft ripping sound.

It howled, backing away as it's right cheek hung open, indigo blood mixed with drool and pus dripping from its jaw, it's entire right set of teeth exposed. They glittered a menacing yellow in the moonlight, and Spiritpaw felt sick, although she forced herself to charge the matted ginger monstrosity, barreling it onto its back.

It clawed at her with unnatural strength, reaching out for her throat. Spiritpaw bit down on the outreached paw, and heard the crunch of bones as she mindlessly protected herself. The corpse wailed, yanking its paw out of her mouth, flailing the mangled paw around.

Spiritpaw was then struck in the face by the thing, earning herself deep scratches from the top of her left eye to the bottom, just on the right of her chin. Enraged, she pinned the weakened beast, forcing it's now mangled arm down, and prepared herself for the death blow into it's throat, the thrill of battle victory bringing an edge to her bloodlust.

Spiritpaw gazed into the cloudy pupils, and it was then that she realized she literally was looking into her own eyes. She blinked, the identical set taking her by surprise, and something flickered into the creature's eyes, as if it recognized her. Spiritpaw then had a vision, and this cat was young and alive again, a she-cat with glossy ginger fur and sparkling indigo eyes filled with love and life.

It was in that moment that Spiritpaw's grip slackened, and the beast returned to those indigo eyes. Gasping and blinking out of her vision, Spiritpaw tried to regain her grip of the monster. However, she was too late, and it managed to get it's forepaws loose, shoving her off of it into a rolling motion while grappling her shoulders and forcing her onto her back.

All she could hear was Flameleap's agonized wail, "NO, SPIRITPAW!" before it sunk it's teeth into her throat. She went cold with fear. Cats who were bitten on the throat normally turned the fastest, even within moments. Flameleap was racing to her, drawing the thing's attention. It ripped it's teeth out of her, and she gasped in pain. Blinking, she saw her opening and wriggled violently.

The thing ended up falling, still weakened by blood loss, and Spiritpaw forced herself up. Luckily, her windpipe wasn't punctured, to she took a deep breath, as Flameleap quickly pinned the beast. She choked out, "Th-thank you for being my mentor. Tell everyone I'm sorry, and the real me cares for them." she coughed, before raising her paw high as the monster finally realized, even with its sadistic mind, it was its time.

The thing closed its eyes, and went completely still, as Spiritpaw apologized to its troubled soul what she had to do. Brining her paw down onto its head, the skull exploded in a wet burst of indigo blood, matted russet fur, and yellowed rotted bone.

She looked up to Flameleap, expecting him to give her a goodbye and then leave her to watch him go. But he merely stepped from the body, breathless, as she sat, catching her own breath as well, having had their fair share of disturbing experiences, although this one was admittedly one of their more extreme ones.

"You have to go, Flameleap." Spiritpaw said. He looked to her, as if he just remembered she were there. "Yes. Yes, you're right." he sucked in a final breath, and stood up. "Goodbye, Spiritpaw." he turned to leave. "Goodbye, Flameleap." she said, then turned to go as well.

It was quiet, the pain in the air swelling as they made distance. Then a sudden, "Spiritpaw!" made her turn around. Flameleap was at the top of the hill, and Spiritpaw locked gazes with him, as she stood underneath a tree. "Yes?" she called back.

"I-I've been meaning to tell you, but ... I love Mallowfrond!" his voice was thick with many feelings. They both knew it was kind of ironic to say this to her at the time, and also possibly inappropriate, but it also was kind of comforting, in a small way. Spiritpaw was actually surprised, and she decided to make this moment good, and felt he shouldn't feel guilty for saying this to her, even at this time.

"Tell her- for me! Tell her I wanted you to! Tell her I want you with her, and her with you!" she called, and was glad that her tone cooperated with her, her voice sounding happy and surprised. "I will!" he called back, and she felt herself relax a bit. Mallowfrond could survive without her, and could even be loved without her.

He turned away as she did, but something else came to her mind. "Flameleap!" she called back, passing the tree. "Yes?" he called as she had before, taking his turn to look back curiously. "Take care of Mallowfrond! And tell her I'll always love her- no matter how I am!" Spiritpaw called back. "I will!" Flameleap called again, and she smiled.

She then turned and ran away, deciding it was best to distance herself now that everything was taken care of. Her aunt would be taken care of and loved without her, and Spiritpaw's mentor- the only other cat she trusted- would be the one who was taking care of and loving her aunt.

Suddenly she heard Flameleap's voice chasing her on the wind. "SPRITPAW, HEAR AND BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY MALLOWFROND AND I LOVE YOU, AND ARE PROUD OF YOU!" she looked over her shoulder as she ran, and saw him on the hilltop, the moon meeting the earth as half of it peered over the hill to the scene taking place. "I HEAR YOU!" she called.

"WE LOVE YOU SPIRITPAW!" He cheered. "I LOVE YOU, TOO!" she cried back, and Flameleap tilted his head to the sky. "MAY STARCLAN HEAR ME WHEN I ANNOUNCE YOU TO BE SPIRITCHIME!" his voice was becoming harder to hear as she distanced herself.

The last thing she heard was, "SPIRITCHIME! SPIRITCHIME ... SPIRItchime ..." before his voice faded altogether, and Spiritchime ran and ran, hoping she would transform as she ran, so that she would never stop and awaken as dead as dead can be. She hoped she always would, and always will be, Spiritchime.

Unfortunately for her, she couldn't run forever. Slowing to a stop, she finally found a twolegplace she could shelter and rest in. Spiritchime sank to her knees as she entered a soft bed of nightflowers, hoping the transformation would be quick, thankful she was fenced in so other animals wouldn't suffer from the beast that would soon be her body.

Hopefully, the twolegs would find and and dispose of her, thinking her to merely be dead. If she were awake, then they would think her diseased. Unfortunately, Spiritchime didn't notice the cat watching her from above in a branch that belonged to a tree that belonged to another yard a nest over.

As a darkness that Spiritpaw hoped was death filled her gaze, she saw the cat leap down and approach her. She tried to utter a warning, but was too weak and blacked out before the innocent cat even came into full view.