Chapter One

The first time she had opened her eyes she wasn't expecting it to be so dark. Skykit had hoped there would be brightness and colors dancing along her vision. Instead she found herself in a boring old cave with two queens looking after her. There was some source of light. Through the shaft of rock that covered them, she could see sunlight peeking through. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

"Skykit, come play with us!" Leafkit meowed as she bounced along the nest of moss and feathers.

Skykit looked at her sister thoughtfully before shrugging and joining them. Redflower's suspicions about her shoulders had been confirmed when Skykit reached her second moon. As a precaution Redflower had bitten off the wings that were starting to grow. Skykit had never felt the pain at the time, and Redflower dried away the blood before anyone could notice. Now Skykit looked like any other normal CaveClan cat. Well, as normal as a white pelt could get.

At least I'm not the only white-furred cat around here, she thought. Frostpelt, named for her white fur as she had told them, also stood out in the Clan. But she had chosen the life of a mother, always staying in the nursery to help those out while her kits developed. I would never want that sort of life. Skykit's nose wrinkled in disgust at the thought.

Instead she saw herself going on patrols, hunting for the Clan and maybe even one day becoming leader. The thought made her sigh longingly. Until that was she felt paws crumple down on her. Skykit let out a grunt of surprise when she realized Brackenkit had tackled her.

"Come on Skykit, you're suppose to be the rogue, stop acting like we're not even playing," he groaned as she pushed him off.

"I'm always the rogue," Skykit protested. "Can't I just be the warrior once?"

"No, that wouldn't be any fun," Leafkit replied with a shake of her head.

Skykit's ears flattened when Leafkit said that. It was always like this. They would play a game called catch the rogue. And of course Skykit was always the rogue. Skykit hated the fact that they always left her out, tried using her as target practice. Redflower had said that it would make her stronger in the end.

But it still doesn't feel right, she told herself. She shook her head at the thought and tried chasing after Leafkit. The dark ginger she-cat was a bit faster than her, but Skykit wasn't out of breath yet. Brackenkit was hiding somewhere, Skykit wasn't sure where exactly.

"You can't catch me!" Leafkit yowled as she bounced past Frostpelt. Skykit dropped to a crouch and suddenly leaped forward. Leafkit was taken by surprise when Skykit pounced on her. She struggled under the weight of Skykit, then dropped to the ground.

"Hey Leafkit, looks like the rogue caught you," Brackenkit crowed as he bounded out of his hiding place. Skykit whipped around and narrowed her eyes at him. Without warning she lunged at him, pinning him to the ground. "Let me go!" he wailed.

"Not until you admit defeat!" Skykit purred. Brackenkit looked at Leafkit desperately, but his sister was only staring at them in disbelief.

"Get off of him!" Redflower hissed, prying Skykit away from her brother. Skykit gaped at her mother in surprise when Redflower dropped her on the ground. "I said you could play, not attack your brother," she snapped as she glared at Skykit.

All Skykit could do was stare at her mother. Redflower had never acted this way before. Maybe once or twice Redflower had scolded her for getting too out of line. But never for playing. That was all they were doing, right?

But Skykit noticed the scratch marks on Brackenkit's flank. Her heart was racing with unease when she realized she had inflicted wounds on her brother. How could she do something like that? Brackenkit had never done anything to hurt her!

"I'm sorry Brackenkit, I didn't mean to hurt you," she apologized, dipping her head to show respect. Brackenkit only shook his head, flicking his tail at Redflower.

"It's okay, we were only playing," he replied, glancing at their mother warily.

Skykit nodded, grateful for her brother's support. At least even if they didn't play games together, Brackenkit and Leafkit were always there for her.

"I'm glad you're not mad at me," she murmured. Brackenkit only purred in agreement.

"Let's go see if there's anything the elders will tell us!" Leafkit suddenly exclaimed.

Listening to the elders was one of Skykit's favorite things to do. Redflower allowed them every so often to go and ask them for stories. Skykit bounded after her siblings, ignoring Redflower's glare in the process.

The three kits bounded through the large cave until they reached the elder's den. It was closer to the entrance of the main cave. Skykit had often found herself staring out of the entrance, wondering what lay beyond it. The elders had said that there was nothing but forest and mountain beyond CaveClan territory. No cat would survive there for long.

Sure enough Rustpelt and Quailnose were wide awake when the three kits entered the den. Quailnose looked at them in annoyance before flicking her tail at Rustpelt.

"You tell them a story this time," she rasped, turning away from the kits. Quailnose was the oldest cat in the Clan. And great StarClan did she act like it! Luckily Rustpelt agreed with her as he looked down at them.

"How about I tell you about the Sky Cats?" he asked as he looked at each kit. Skykit exchanged a look with Leafkit. She had never heard of that story, but she was all too eager to learn about them. "Once, long ago, CaveClan was split up into two groups. One group lived outside the cave, and the other lived in the cave. But the group that lived outside did not stay there for long. For they were ambushed by strange cats with what they described as wings."

"That's mousebrained," scoffed Brackenkit. "How could cats be born with wings?" Rustpelt suddenly cuffed him over the ear, silencing him.

"Let him finish," Leafkit whispered.

"Now, no one expected these cats to appear out of nowhere. They most certainly didn't expect them to have ties with Clans and our ancestors either. These cats called themselves warriors of WingClan. And every few days they would drop down from the trees and ambush unsuspecting patrols. Finally, Graystar had had enough with the Clan attacking his. He challenged their leader, and tore off her wing. At the end of the battle, many of the winged cats had fallen. Graystar decided then and there to banish the Sky Cats, for they had caused too much grief among the forest. Any evidence of the battle was either buried or thrown into the river nearby. No cat wanted to remember what they did."

By the end of his story, Skykit found herself mesmerized with the prospect of winged cats. She never heard of such a story, and thought that just maybe they might be real. But then Rustpelt had to go and tell them that it was just a legend.

"Imagine if the Sky Cats were real!" Brackenkit breathed as they padded out of the nursery. Skykit nodded in agreement.

"But they aren't," Leafkit pointed out. "Besides, I wouldn't want them crawling around the trees."

She shuddered at the idea. Though Skykit knew she had a point to be afraid, she was still fascinated with the whole idea.

As they returned to the nursery, Skykit noticed that Redflower was still glaring at her. Leafkit and Brackenkit both huddled up with her, curling up as their mother continued glaring at Skykit. She was tempted to crawl over when Redflower suddenly let out a growl.

"Stay away from my kits," she hissed. Skykit stared at her mother in disbelief. Redflower wrapped her tail around her kits, ignoring Skykit's shocked look.

What did I do to deserve this? Skykit wondered. Brackenkit forgave me!

She frowned and curled up on her own in a dried nest. Redflower wasn't going to let her sleep with them. And now she would have to learn how to sleep on her own.

...

"Can you teach us some battle moves, please?" Brackenkit and Leafkit were already awake, much to Skykit's annoyance. She found herself sleeping alone for the second time. Redflower had refused to offer her a warm nest once more, and now Brackenkit and Leafkit were beginning to notice.

"Of course, as long as your mother approves," meowed Windpaw.

Windpaw was a light brown tabby tom, and had two other siblings known as Whistlepaw and Dapplepaw. Dapplepaw was training to become a medicine cat, unlike her brothers. Like Redflower she was a tortoiseshell, and stood out in the Clan. So she had taken on the roll as a medicine cat so she wouldn't stand out as much.

Brackenkit had already bounded back into the nursery, nearly toppling Skykit over in the process. She only glared at him as he asked Redflower if it was okay to learn some fighting moves. They were five moons old after all. Skykit couldn't wait to become an apprentice and get out of the nursery.

"I don't see why not," Redflower purred. For a moment Skykit's ears pricked forward at the thought of learning fighting moves. She was ready to follow her brother when Redflower stopped her. "You aren't going anywhere, there is something I must do."

Skykit stared at her mother in disbelief. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Brackenkit was dropping down to a hunter's crouch. He wasted no time in performing a move that Windpaw had just taught him. She didn't get to watch much longer when Redflower led her away.

"Why can't I learn fighting moves like Brackenkit and Leafkit?" she asked as Redflower turned to face her. They were now further in the back of the nursery. Frostpelt was fast asleep, oblivious to their conversation.

"Because I must do something that will be very painful," Redflower explained. Her voice was grim as she glared at Skykit, who by now was staring at Redflower in terror. "Now turn around, I'll be sure to lick your wounds clean."

Skykit closed her eyes shut when she felt Redflower's teeth on her shoulders. Heartbeats seemed to pass before pain exploded in her. She let out a wail so loud that it echoed throughout the cave until Redflower shoved her tail in her mouth. Redflower continued licking until her fur was cleaned off of any blood.

"Wha-what was that?" Skykit asked; her eyes were watering from the pain. Redflower didn't look sympathetic as she turned to face her. "It felt like you were ripping the fur off of my shoulders!"

"It was something similar to that," Redflower replied. She didn't even seem put off by the time Skykit broke down and dropped her gaze. "Now run along, you're better now."

Why would she do something like that to me? Skykit wondered fearfully. She staggered outside the nursery to see cats all over the main cave. They seemed to be staring anxiously at the nursery, as if they had thought something was happening. Then Skykit remembered that Frostpelt was close to kitting. Maybe they assumed she was the one who had wailed in pain.

"No way, mother said that she isn't part of our family anymore!" Skykit flinched when she heard Brackenkit's yowl. She turned to see him shooting her a glare as he sat beside Leafkit. The dark ginger she-cat looked at her brother in surprise.

"Brackenkit, what did mother tell you?" Skykit couldn't help but ask as she joined them. Brackenkit's glare softened when he realized she had heard him.

"She said that you're old enough not to be considered family," he admitted, sounding a bit guilty.

"That's mousebrained!" Leafkit gasped. "Of course Skykit's family, we were raised together!" Skykit looked at her sister thankfully, but the moment didn't last as Brackenkit shook his head.

"I don't think she's going to thank us," he meowed. "What if mother does the same to us and says we're not family?"

Leafkit seemed to give his reasoning some thought before nodding in agreement. Skykit's heart fell when she realized what this meant. The two kits had already left her and headed back to the nursery. She only stood there, shaking from the shock of the pain Redflower had inflicted and the fact that her siblings had abandoned her.

I'm all alone, she realized. I'm all alone….

AN: So this moved on a little quickly... things will definitely start off faster in this story than most of my other stories. But it should slow down at the middle. And I'm surprised how many people caught on with Patchpaw ;) He was an apprentice in the prologue, but he was listed as a warrior because this story takes place a few moons after the prologue. Hope that explains any confusion. And thank you to everyone who reviewed!