Sunspirit was experiencing a pleasant dream, one in which he and Silentshadow were hunting happily in the forest. Her brilliant smile captivated him as her glowing form raced among the trees. He laughed and prepared to follow her, but the sharp snapping of a twig caught him by surprise.

Sunspirit's eyes flashed open, wearily he blinked a few times and lifted his head to peer around the warriors den. Nothing seemed any different, had he imagined it? Frowning slightly, he let his gaze wander amongst the sleeping cats and paused when he laid eyes on Willowheart's empty nest.

Where was Willowheart? The sound from earlier must have been him, not to mention his scent was still strong. Sunspirit opened his mouth to better breathe in the scent and carefully stood up, weaving his way through the sleeping cats, carefully making sure not to wake them up.

He slowed his pace as he exited the warrior's den, padding lightly to avoid any detection. Sunspirit was surprised to see the dark shape of his brother padding into the tree tunnel and fading away into the darkness of the night.

What was he doing? Surely he didn't have any business sneaking out of camp in the middle of the night? A small wave of anxiety and confusion washed over Sunspirit as he looked back to the warrior's den.

There was no need to wake the others, he decided, he was the deputy after all, it was his job to look into these types of things. Still, Willowheart's odd behavior deeply concerned Sunspirit. Padding forward with worry, he crept across the camp, the dark shadows of the forest shielding him from any prying eyes.

It wasn't hard to track Willowheart's steps, his scent was strong and Sunstar had seen him leave. As he padded into the denser part of the forest, Sunstar vaguely wondered if he should call out to his brother, but for some reason his body was telling him not to. He was curious to see where Willowheart was going.

He had been acting strange lately. He seemed more angry than usual, and he had no problems voicing his distaste for Shadestar. Most of the clan paid him no mind, to them he was just an odd cat, always keeping to himself.

Sunspirit began to recognize the path that Willowheart was taking, he was heading towards the TreeClan border, they were almost there now. Sunspirit jumped lightly when Willowheart's form suddenly appeared in the trees, the tom had stopped moving, catching Sunspirit by surprise.

He had to quickly crouch down behind a large oak in order to keep himself hidden. Willowheart stood silently in the darkness and there was no sound other than the chirping of the crickets in the night.

"I know you've been following me."

Sunspirit felt a cold chill at the sound of Willowheart's voice, he knew it would be pointless to try and continue hiding, so he conceded and stepped out from behind the tree.

Willowheart turned to face his brother with a glaring yellow gaze. "Sunspirit."

Sunspirit blinked at the edge to Willowheart's tone of voice, "Willowheart," he meowed glancing around the area, "What are you doing out here?"

Sunspirit could see a flicker of something pass through the tom's yellow eyes, something wasn't right about this. Willowheart had yet to say anything and remained watching his brother, yellow eyes hard and transfixed.

Sunspirit began to feel irritated by his brother's apathy, he narrowed his eyes and meowed again in a stronger voice, the voice of a deputy.

"I said, what are you doing out here? I saw you sneaking out of camp. As the deputy of DarkClan, I command you to tell me. Now."

Sunspirit stood up taller and let his face fall into a serious expression. Willowheart remained emotionless and slowly, the bushy tom lowered his head.

Sunspirit was confused by the gesture, and felt his eyes widen when Willowheart's form began to shake. Sunspirit narrowed his eyes in fury as a low hollow laugh echoed from his brother. The laugh soon escalated until he was watching Sunstar with gleaming yellow eyes and a wide grin on his face.

Sunspirit had never seen that look on his brother before, and it disturbed him greatly. The tom's narrow yellow eyes shone brightly in the night giving him an eerie appearance, but what disturbed Sunspirit was the tom's smile.

There was something off about it. Willowheart's grin curved upward on both sides revealing rows of sharp, white teeth. They looked as if they were being grated against each other and could crack under the pressure at any moment.

"You think you're so special." Willowheart began, his face becoming serious once more as the oak colored tom rose to his paws. His wild fur moving slightly as he did.

"You don't deserve to be deputy!" he hissed. "Shadestar is an old fool! I am the one truly deserving of the title! I am the one who worked harder than you every day of my life!"

Sunspirit could feel his anger rising at Willowheart's words, 'How dare he!' Yet Sunspirit still didn't fully understand what his brother was trying to say or even what he was talking about.

"Shadestar is the wisest cat you will ever meet, don't you dare insult him in my presence! He's your leader! Everything he does is done by the will of StarClan, they are the source of our very being!"

A cold laugh rang out through the forest, cackling and wheezing, shaking the tom's form as he did so. "DarkClan is a clan of fools! Ever since the beginning, Xander was the only one with true power, but that generation is dead and gone. I have decided to put in my efforts elsewhere."

Sunspirit's vivid green eyes widened as realization dawned on him, his claws dug into the soil and he had to hold back the tears of rage burning in his eyes.

"You're going to leave. Deserting us for TreeClan." Sunstar meowed emotionlessly.

"So you finally get it."

Sunspirit's eyes snapped up, "Why? Willowheart, I don't understand."

"I have never gotten the recognition I deserve! DarkClan is a weak, pathetic clan and I won't waste any of my time staying here. You don't recognize greatness when you see it!"

Sunspirit was silent for a moment, face shadowed. 'So, this is why...' His claw suddenly tightened and he slowly crouched down into a fighting position.

"If you're really going to TreeClan, then I'm afraid I can't let you get away."

Willowheart let out a laugh, "Look at you, always trying to play the hero. What? Still trying to impress Silentshadow? In all honesty a pretty little thing like her is too good for you."

Sunspirit hissed in rage. "Shut up!" he yowled. "Don't bring Silentshadow into this! Your opponent is me, and I'll never let you do this! By the will of StarClan, I will stop you."

The forest had become deadly silent and Sunstar could only watch as Willowstar padded forward with claws unsheathed. He paused a few tail-lengths away from Sunstar and a wide grin stretched across his face before his head rolled backward and he laughed insanely.

"StarClan is for the weak! I am the most powerful cat in the forest, I am more powerful than StarClan itself. You can never defeat me!"

Willowheart's eyes had changed and were now opened widely, his pupils barely more than slits. As his brother stood before him, Sunspirit realized just how large Willowheart had become.

The tom was massive, he towered above his brother and his wild fur made him appear even more intimidating. Sunspirit had never realized how much he had changed.

He never wanted this to happen. Willowheart was his brother, he didn't want to hurt him. Sunspirit let his head fall before rushing forward and letting out a fierce yowl.

Sunspirit was surprised when Willowheart made no move to dodge his attack. Sunspirit outstretched claw latched itself onto one of the tom's forelegs, making Sunspirit smirk victoriously at his new hold.

His eyes widened in fear as he met the yellow eyes of his brother and gasped in astonishment as the tom grinned, and with Sunspirit's forepaw attached, lifted Sunspirit off the ground and tossed him aside, slamming him back onto the earth.

Sunspirit winced as his body hit the hard earth and he immediately struggled to get up and regain the wind that had been knocked out of him. Willowheart's strength shocked him, he had never seen anything like it before.

His eyes widened in fear as the tom rushed at him, his wild fur getting pushed back by the wind. Sunspirit stumbled to his paws and rose to defend himself, but he wasn't fast enough.

In seconds, Willowheart appeared by his side and slammed one of his paws upward into Sunspirit's underbelly.

The force of his blow lifted Sunspirit off the ground and made his neck arch in pain, and he coughed blood from his mouth. Willowheart quickly retaliated with the opposite paw and knocked Sunspirit across the clearing.

Sunspirit knew that he was holding back, but he couldn't help it, Willowheart was his brother. The tom charged at him again, and Sunstar leapt to his paws racing forward to clash with him in retaliation. As they neared closer, timed seemed to slow down.

Instead of seeing Willowheart's enraged face, he was met with the face of Willowkit, smiling happily and laughing as the two played...

Sunstar gasped as he felt himself being slammed into the ground, he had to cough to rid himself of the blood filling up his throat. His body felt completely drained of all strength, and he could not bring himself to stand back up.

Willowheart stood over him with sharp yellow eyes, staring down at his defeated figure with a jagged grin.

The last thing Sunspirit saw was the paws of his brother before the darkness engulfed him.

AUTHOR's NOTE

I apologize if this isn't the best chapter in the world, I wrote it at midnight so I'm kind of out of it. Don't forget to leave any thoughts or questions! Goodnight!~ ALSO for 'Never Meant to Belong' I'm not the author, so I can't control the updates. I'm sure there will be one in the next few days though.

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