Spottedflight woke with a start to a harsh tugging at the scruff of her neck. Her amber eyes snapped open and she found herself swinging above the ground, being carried from the warriors' den like a kit. The next moment she was soaring through the air, landing heavily on her side. She heard heavy pawsteps stalking up to her, and she scrambled to face the source. For a moment she was blinded by the bright sunlight that spilled over the camp. When her eyes adjusted she swallowed nervously.

Ravenstar.

For a moment the leader, now seeming larger than ever, merely stared at Spottedflight. His dark blue eyes were terrifying, burning holes in her pelt as she attempted to hold eye contact. After the longest moments the she-cat had ever endured, the tom opened his mouth.

"Explain yourself."

Pure fear took over Spottedflight's body as she looked up into the eyes of SkyClan's leader. The dark beast fought, however, and it quickly took control of her thoughts. "Explain what?" she asked as coolly as she could, on the verge of shaking with terror.

A snarl like no snarl the tortishell warrior had ever heard ripped from Ravenstar's mouth. "Lionfang scented you along the border, accompanied by six loners. I demand to know what you were doing with them." His voice was even, soft. Spottedflight almost wanted him to let loose all his wrath, too lose control, to scream in rage, to tear at her fur. But he stayed unnervingly calm, keeping himself still with his claws sheathed.

"They chased me," Spottedflight invented lamely, no conviction behind her words. Ravenstar's eyes narrowed ever so slightly and she felt the blood drain from her face. "A-and they caught me. For a little. B-but something scared them when the sun began to show, a-and they ran off."

For a moment it seemed as though the enormous black tom cat would believe this story. Then he opened his mouth and Spottedflight tensed her muscles in anticipation. "Lies!" the tom yowled. "All lies! Tell the truth, Spottedflight."

"I am telling the truth!" she protested, her voice getting louder as the dark beast boiled her blood. Before she could stop herself she had unsheathed her claws. "Why would you have a reason to distrust me?"

Ravenstar laughed loudly at this, though the laugh was harsh. "You don't think I've seen how you've been acting lately? Fighting with your sister, threatening to harm her physically as well as emotionally? I have every reason to distrust you, Spottedflight. Put your claws away."

Spottedflight ignored him, her lips rising into a snarl. "Don't you tell me what to do," she retorted, the dark beast rearing up inside her and taking full reigns of her thoughts, her feelings, her actions. She was possessed. The dark beast was her, she was the dark beast. They were no longer two separate souls but one soul, terrible and intertwined, inseparable and unable to survive without the other.

"As leader of your Clan," Ravenstar growled, "I have every right to tell you what to do. I am telling you now to put your claws away before you do something foolish."

"Foolish?" Spottedflight shrieked. "I can show you foolish. But I can also show you bold and strong and powerful. You will regret what you have done today."

He snorted, eyeing Spottedflight as though she were a particularly mischievous kit. She wanted to lash out at him, to tear deep welts in his skin, but the dark beast said not yet. "I will regret?" Ravenstar asked coldly. "No, Spottedflight, it is you who will regret this day. For the next moon you will be subjected to apprentice duties. You will sleep in the apprentices' den. You will do whatever any warrior or higher-ranked cat tells you to. You are forbidden to leave camp without an escort. If, by the end of the moon, your behavior has not improved, we will extend the punishment until it does."

Before Spottedflight could spit another word out, Ravenstar turned and bounded off, leaving her, claws unsheathed, standing amongst a group of curious onlookers. The looks on the faces of the cats around her only infuriated her further. "What are you looking at?" she questioned loudly, her anger clear in her voice. The crowd quickly scattered and she was left alone.

Almost alone.

Puddlefrost stood a few fox-lengths away, her blue eyes wide but set with determination. She took a few tentative pawsteps forward and Spottedflight rounded on her, amber eyes glittering with rage. "Get back!" she commanded furiously.

She did not obey. She took a half a pawstep forward and Spottedflight lost it. She flew at her sister. The fluffy gray she-cat did not move. She did not twitch. She did not wince. She merely stood there as Spottedflight tore a deep slash in her shoulder. "What's wrong with you?" Spottedflight demanded. "Fight back!"

"I'm not here to fight," Puddlefrost mewed quietly, her voice shaking. "I just want to tell you something." Dark, sticky blood was oozing from the wound on her shoulder, but she took no notice.

Spottedflight howled with rage. "I don't want to hear you lecture me! I've had enough!"

Puddlefrost's lip quivered. When she spoke, her voice shook so much that the words were almost lost. "S-Spottedflight," she whispered. "I'm pregnant." She paused, drawing in a deep, shuddering breath. "You're my sister, and I thought you might want to know."

For a moment, Spottedflight wanted to sheath her claws and run to her sister, to comfort her and to apologize for her behavior. This displeased the dark beast. Before Spottedflight could stop herself, she screeched, "Well, you thought wrong!" She turned away from the warrior—now queen—and darted out of camp. She leapt straight over the thorn wall, tearing through the grasses. The wind in her fur was exhilarating, empowering. A few shouts sounded after her but she didn't stop to hear what they said. She reached the thunderpath and dashed across it. She ducked under the fence and pelted to the barn.

Ravenstar can't contain me. He isn't my leader anymore.

AN: I'm very proud of this chapter. Reader feedback would be excellent.