I freakin love you all right now. I love you because you aren't set out to murder me, and you are looking on the bright side for this story, and I love that you are supporting me through this depressing nightmare and pushing me to write even more. I wish I could pull all of you into a group hug and give you plushies. Well, I can do the second one. *tosses a bunch of Frozenleaf, Lionfire, Hailblaze, Nettlepaw and other plushies to you*

Disclaimer- Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter.

Part Two- Damaged Identity

Chapter Twenty-Five

It was white.

Everything was a blank, pure white masterpiece across the world. The ground had vanished under the cold crystals. The branches were trapped in the glinting sheens of ice. The sky was lost within an entire sea of clouds, and the air and land itself was gone as the flakes of frozen rain rapidly fell from the sky.

She had never experienced a real snowstorm. She had always wondered, but now that she knew, she only hoped that it would end. A few days deeper into leafbare hurt a lot more than she would have ever expected as a grown cat, and the cold wasn't the only thing to ice her blood, but the pain that was left throbbing in her head.

For a while, she had wondered what her name was. Her mentor had given her the name of Frozenleaf, but had never fully ended the ceremony, but she decided on her full name anyway. At least it had meaning.

Once she understood what had happened at the Moonstone, Frozenleaf asked herself how she could have fallen into so many pieces at such a time. Four moons had passed since her claws were bloodied by the life of her brother, but yet it was that time later that she broke. Could it have been the guilt that built up inside her her? Or was it something darker? For all she knew, she couldn't go back.

Frozenleaf pushed through the blizzard, ears flattened against her head. Her ears weren't even half open, less than that. The only way she knew if anything was in front of her, was when she stumbled into it. The snow was up most of her leg and the wind was blowing in her face, taking along with it, large flakes of snow that froze her whiskers. She knew she had to find shelter, but all there was was tree-lengths and tree-lengths of moor from all directions. Not a cave, tree or den anywhere.

She was so cold, so cold that it hurt until it numbed. She could hardly feel her paws, but she kept on walking, she had no choice. They were never looking for her, but she had to get as far away as possible. Doing what she did, was unforgivable, and unexplainable, unless they figured it out already. She was sure Hailblaze had told the Clan what she did, and they were cursing her name to StarClan that very moment. Frozenleaf could only imagine what Snowshine and Oakshade were thinking about her. They may have been out searching for her starving, snow covered body to flay and then leave in the snow to color it scarlet. They could be doing whatever, but all she knew was that it was either the cold or a cat that would kill her.

StarClan couldn't help her now. She was totally alone.

The snow began to soften its blow on the land, but even so, the wind whipped and it had left behind such a thick layer of white, it was hard to tell that there was even ground beneath it. Frozenleaf could no longer trudge, for the snow had now reached her shoulders. She leaped each time, kicking up a cloud of flakes that would melt into her skin and coldly bite at her flesh like shards of ice.

And it hurt. Her legs and whatever part of her that wasn't left numb, ached, and ached as if she was swimming against a harsh currant. She bunched her muscles, ready to spring forward, when something underneath the snow, caught her paw and she fell face first into the snow.

And at that same moment, a world so white, went black.

The sound of thumping paw steps woke Frozenleaf. As soon as she regained consciousness, pain exploded over her legs and her face, and she was lying on something cold to the touch, but it wasn't snow. It was rock hard.

Her eyes fluttered open, and the first things she wondered was if she was blind, but as she scanned the area around, she saw that there was a shadowed figure standing off, watching her with slitted blue eyes. Frozenleaf flinched at the intensity of his unblinking gaze.

The figure, clearly a cat, flicked an ear, and took a step toward her. When she said nothing, he advanced even closer, until he was standing right over her.

"Your name?" his voice was rough and raspy, but yet commanding, a voice to match his gaze.

Frozenleaf said nothing.

"Speak," he ordered, and the word echoed.

"Frozen...leaf."

"Frozenleaf?" he asked. "Peculiar. I've never heard of any cat with a name quite like yours."

"I never asked to be judged," she snapped.

"No, of course not," the cat rumbled. "You're lucky I found you, Frozenleaf. Your pelt blended well with the snow. If I hadn't tripped over your body, you'd be as good as dead in that cold." He turned and padded off, stopping a few fox-lengths away.

"Um..." Frozenleaf meowed. "May I ask your name?"

"Sure," the cat said, looking back at her. "You may."

Annoyance clawed at her belly. "What is your name?"

"Greyson," the cat replied. "My name is Greyson." He walked to her again, this time carrying something in his jaws. They were leaves.

"How'd you find those in this weather?" Frozenleaf asked as he started chewing them, most likely to make a poultice.

"My sister, Paula gave them to me," answered Greyson and he spit out the pulp. "She belongs to the Bareskins. Apparently they have plants growing inside their nests. I don't know why; Bareskins are weird."

Bareskins, Frozenleaf thought. Those must be Twolegs.

"It's for your frostbite," Greyson meowed.

"Frostbite?" asked Frozenleaf.

"Yes," Greyson said. "It's when your body gets to cold that you skin turns black. Some of your fur has fallen off and your skin is peeling. Plus, your ears look like they have sliced off by a badgers claws."

"What?" demanded Frozenleaf. "I need to see my reflection!"

Greyson shook his head, dabbing the poultice on her legs and back. "No. You need to rest. When was the last time you've eaten?"

Frozenleaf growled, claws unsheathing. "I want to see my reflection!"

"It's too dark in here and there is snow covering every stream or river you could think of. I'm afraid your stuck here," Greyson replied sternly. "Now answer me, when was the last time you've eaten?"

She didn't respond. She couldn't respond. She hadn't had a proper meal since before she went to the Moonstone, and she was so overwhelmed with guilt, that she didn't know how much time had passed since then. She just continued watching Greyson apply the pulp to her body.

"I'll take that as a 'not for days'," mewed Greyson. "I have a few mice stocked up somewhere around here. I caught them before the storm." He wiped his paws on the stone floor. "I'm assuming you want one?"

Frozenleaf remained silent as he walked off and returned with a limp piece of prey in his mouth. He dropped it at her paws and told her to eat.

She did not realize how starving she was until she took the first bite. Within seconds, she had devoured the entire mouse, leaving nothing but a small pile of bones.

Greyson looked at her with an amused expression. "So," he said, "what brought you out into blizzard as harsh as that, eh?"

Frozenleaf stiffened, looking down. She couldn't tell him the whole story, he'd banish her from the cave. So she went with something else less descriptive.

"I got lost," she mewed quickly. Not entirely a lie. When she left, she really had no idea where she was going, just that she gone.

"I see. Did you belong to the Bareskins?" asked Greyson.

"No," she replied. "I was, uh, born into the wild. I belonged to this large group of cats called a Clan. It's a long story I'd rather not share. It's actually pretty personal. I just got upset one day and ran off, then I didn't know where I was." She flicked her tail tip. "How about you tell me about yourself?"

Greyson blinked his blue eyes. "Nothin' special to tell. I was born alongside my sisters and we grew up together. Paula went to the Bareskins after our parents died and my other sister, Lilac, and I found this cave."

Frozenleaf looked at him for a moment. "Where's Lilac now?"

"Died a few seasons back," said Greyson. "Some sort of infection in her lungs. Kept coughing and coughing until one day she was gone." He shrugged like it didn't bug him.

"I bet she had greencough," Frozenleaf meowed to Greyson. "That's a deadly chest infection that has only one known cure. Catmint. Usually grows near the Twolegplace." She paused."I bet Paula has it somewhere near her, and in this weather it's always good to have some."

"You seem to know your stuff," commented Greyson.

"I picked up a few things in the past," murmured Frozenleaf.

"I see. Well, you should rest." Without another word, he padded off and before she knew it, he was completely hidden in the shadows with nothing except his blue eyes visible.

Frozenleaf stretched, yawning. She really was exhausted, and as soon as she realized it, she drifted off into sleep.

She was in darkness for a while, and during that time, it was peaceful, and she was happy for once since she left the Clans. But in an instant, it ended. Two green eyes bright with malevolence opened into the blackness. Frozenleaf watched in horror as they inspected her.

"No," she whispered. "Not...not you."

In silence they stood, staring at each other, one with a gaze of pure fear and the other with one of fury. Then, in a single breath, a voice whispered, just loud enough to be heard.

"And so it begins."

Just as the words slipped into soundlessness, icy pain gripped Frozenleaf, and battered her with sharp claws, claws of ice. The numbing agony she felt had been replaced with eternal pain. Dizziness struck her and the world was in flashes of white, breaking the darkness and dropping it into a bottomless abyss of regret. Images of blood and cats shrieking in fear swirled in her mind, things that looked like she would be able to do, but made into a much darker picture. She felt wounds split open, her life pouring out into the darkness, only as her life grew fainter, the pain grew stronger, wrapping around her body and reaching the deepest parts of her insides. She let out a soundless cry for help, but she was alone, alone with the agony. It froze her and mangled her twisting every mouse-length and setting the coldest of all feelings; fire of ice, burning her and freezing her. She should've been dead, but she lived on until finally she was released and she fell into nothingness.

Don't worry my lovelies! Frozenleaf's not dead! But she is in much pain. I'm awful to her aren't I? Anyway, Greyson has slightly more to him than he's letting on, not much, but some. It won't necessarily become all that important, but we do have new characters coming in for a reason. Hang in there! And review!

But wait! Don't go yet. I have a challenge for you. Go to my profile to know what it is. It should be under the announcements at the bottom of the page.

~Destiny