Thanks to my reviewers from the last chapter! And I apologize for the wait, there shouldn't be much now because the story is mostly written out.

!WARNING! If you didn't read the warning in the first chapter, read it now. This chapter is very intense and deals with mature subject matter, and only intended for mature readers.

…

"Hollypaw."

The black she-cat cringed. Not him. "Yes, Ashfur?" she called out weakly.

She'd always felt an aversion to her brother's mentor. Hollypaw couldn't name it, but she'd always gotten the feeling that there was something wrong about him. She knew he once had a thing with Squirrelflight, but that wasn't it. It was the way he stared at her sometimes, the way he spoke to her and singled her out. It made her extremely uncomfortable to be around him, especially when they were alone.

The older tom padded to her side. It was dusk, the moon already high in the sky, and she was ready to go curl up in the apprentices' den. But since Ashfur was a warrior, whatever he wanted would have to come first. "Firestar believes that there have been humans crossing the northern border recently, and he wants me to investigate it. Since you're such talented apprentice, I figured you could assist." His voice was flat, but there was something unnerving about it. "We need to go now, at night, when the humans will be there."

"Okay," she said, cringing internally. Anything but a midnight stroll with this cat, anything! "Are we just going to observe?"

"Yes, yes. Just to observe," Ashfur said. He turned away without a word and led the way out of camp. Hollypaw followed after him, resigning herself to a long, dull night.

They made their through the trees, to the northern border, which was quite far from camp. Miserable and tired, Hollypaw trudged after Ashfur until they reached the designated area. There, he stopped and turned towards her, watching her with glowing blue eyes. Ignoring his stare, Hollypaw sat with her back to him, peering out into the darkness for any signs of humans. She heard Ashfur sit a few paces behind her.

After an hour or so, Hollypaw's eyelids began to grow heavy. Nothing had disturbed their watch at all, and she was sure the humans weren't going to show. Shivering slightly as a cold wind blew past, she wrapped her tail tighter against her paws.

"Are you cold?" Ashfur said suddenly. After the hour of silence, his voice spooked her. Why did he always have to do that?

"No," Hollypaw lied. Why should it matter to him anyways? She turned around so she could see him.

Ashfur shrugged and said nothing for a few more moments. He didn't even look at her, just watched the ground. Finally, his low voice reached her ears. "Hollypaw, what do you think of your mother?"

Surprised and suspicious, Hollypaw answered, "I think she's a good warrior and a caring mother, and am proud to be her kit."

"That's good to hear," Ashfur said quietly. His voice was tinged with something she couldn't place. "But you are wrong."

"Excuse me?" Hollypaw said incredulously. What the…?

"She is not a good cat. I once thought she was, but she is bad." Ashfur's head whipped up to stare at her with those eerie blue eyes of his, seeming as if he could look into her soul. "She did a terrible thing to me. She told me she loved me, and I believed her." He paused for a moment, tears pooling in his eyes. Suddenly his face twisted in rage. "I believed her! I believed her, that b****, I believed her lies!"

Hollypaw gasped, shocked. Her mouth gaped, but no words came out. She was too stunned to even think straight.

"Your mother is not a good cat!" Ashfur snarled, rising to his paws. He paced back and forth as he ranted. "Your mother is a w****, a s***, because she took my love and my happiness and my life and she tore it apart! She laughed as I bled! I hate her!"

Hollypaw scrambled to her feet, terrified. Who cared if she had to listen to her elders, Ashfur was insane! Mad! Demented! Whirling away, she bounded towards camp.

The gray tom was on her in a second, tackling her to the ground and pinning her there with his weight. Hollypaw shrieked and thrashed wildly, but it was no use. His hot fur pressed her against the earth.

"And you, you're just like everyone else! Oh, Squirrelflight's so perfect, we love her!" His biting words were like acid, sarcastic and bitter. "She's not! She's a wicked, selfish hag who mocks my pain! She doesn't even know!" His words grew to a scream, and Hollypaw started to cry.

In another desperate bid for freedom, she sank her teeth into Ashfur's forepaw, breaking the skin. He yanked his foot away with a hiss, and in that moment she exploded into a writhing ball of fur. Twisting every which way, trying to find a weak spot, pummeling him with her paws, claws unsheathed. Her panicked screeches were shrill and painfully loud, but her pleas for help fell on deaf ears.

After a few moments of scuffling, Ashfur brought his paw down on the back of her skull with enough force to rattle her. Stunned for a moment, he used the opportunity to grip Hollypaw by a hind leg and drag her back to the center of their small clearing. She lay gasping for breath, trying to think clearly, as Ashfur moved to stand by her side, one heavy paw on her chest.

His next words chilled her to the bone. "If I can't have Squirrelflight, then I'll have you." He smiled cruelly when he saw her eyes widen in fear. "You're so like your mother. Beautiful, brave, independent. But you, unlike her, will share in some of my pain." With that, he bent down and bit onto her scruff. Using that and one of his paws as leverage, he forced her over onto her belly.

Hollypaw didn't try to resist this time, not because of the blow he had given her before, but because she was too shocked that this was actually happening. It felt unreal, like a nightmare, though the dead leaves and dirt her face was pressed against felt very real.

Ashfur moved around to stand behind her. Hollypaw knew that he intended to mate with her. She felt his teeth bite into her scruff yet again, felt his forelegs tighten around her hips, and it began…

Time seemed meaningless to Hollypaw. She felt that this would never end, that she was trapped forever in this horrible nightmare. She wished she could die, right there and then, just die…

Eventually it was over. Ashfur backed away, and as he did, Hollypaw let out a piercing scream and collapsed. She curled into a ball, shaking, staring up at the sky. The stars seemed cold and uncaring as they stared down on her tonight.

The gray tom said nothing for a moment, just stood and watched her weep. After a while he spoke. "You will tell nobody about this. This will be our little secret. If anyone finds out, I'll deny it. No one will believe a stupid apprentice over a warrior." Contrasting with his rage earlier, his voice was back to the emotionless monotone it always was when he spoke to her. "If you tell anyone, I guarantee that you and Lionpaw will never become warriors. Do you really want to hurt your brother that way? Hmm? Do you?"

Hollypaw flinched and said nothing, just waiting for him to go away.

"I can make your life miserable, kitten. I can ruin everything you have. I can make you hurt just as much as I do." His words grew hard at the last sentence, but then became soft, oily, almost a purr. "But you don't want that, do you? You want to just go about with your business. If you hold your tongue, then that's exactly what you can do. No need to worry at all." He paused, then strode over to her, placing one clawed paw under her chin and forcing her face up to look at his. "You will tell nobody, ever. Do you understand?"

"I understand," Hollypaw whispered. She closed her eyes and turned her face away. Ashfur said nothing more as he left, leaving her to sob out her shame, alone in the forest.