Ha ha ha! Today is the day, my lovelies, today is the day you finally see if you have not seen already! I predict that most of you will love me forever. Well...for a while at least...

Anyway, what are we to see here, you ask? I'm sure a lot of you can guess, but for the rest of you, read to find out!

Disclaimer: I don't own Warriors

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Flower and Bolt led their kits out before Ice, worried looks on both of their faces. Pine and Flare, both golden-orange tabbies had totally different reactions to what was about to happen. Pine looked frightened and uncertain, and Flare basically was jumping out his fur in excitement.

"Can't you see," Flare meowed to his brother. "We're about to have our first assessment with Ice. She can kill absolutely anything and anyone!"

"That's what I'm afraid of," Pine replied softly, looking up into the sharp gaze of Ice. He flinched away when she bared her teeth. Out of the corner of her eye, Flower glared at her, but Ice ignored her.

"Okay, kits," she hissed. "I don't have all day. We have simple rules here. Don't lose. One of you will go straight into training with your parents." She flicked her tail at Bolt and Flower. "But the other will be training with me. You don't want that. Trust me."

"I do!" Flare exclaimed.

"Trust me," she repeated. "Okay. Slither will be assisting me here. I don't work well with kits."

Flower leaned into Bolt. "Neither does Slither."

Ice glowered at her, and she shrunk back. Both she and Bolt padded off to the side to watch the training, and Slither's scarred ginger figure came in beside Ice. Pine and Flare took a ready position, and Ice noted the determination in Flare's gaze and the fear in Pine's.

"Go," she growled.

Flare jumped right into action, paws outstretched. An excited yowl escaped his mouth has he barreled into Pine. Pine shrieked and flailed his paws around helplessly while Flare dealt some blows.

"Oh, stop it!" spat Ice and Flare obediently got off of Pine. The smaller kit looked deeply ashamed, but even so, it was clear he was still not at all fond of the fighting.

Slither turned on Ice. "Why did you end that? Flare was doing perfectly! You should have let him send a few more stinging strikes before stopping them."

"Slither, dear, if there's anything I know from fighting, it's that the fun isn't in the victory. That's where the satisfaction comes from. Yes, the fun comes from the slicing and the tearing and the blood running below the paws." She tossed her head. "All Alley Cats must learn from the first assessment that their place is in a fight, but how will they be able to enjoy their work without learning to first?"

The scarred she-cat bristled. "We also have to teach them that there are not second chances in battle. Pine was the weaker cat. Oh, where was the merciless Ice I had always known who would watch without a care, cats killing one another?"

"She hasn't gone anywhere," Ice snarled. "And I'll prove it to you if you don't believe me." She shoved her face into Slither's. "No second chances? I have given you plenty of chances when I could have killed you. But I let you live."

"Again," Slither sang, wearing a smug expression. "Merciless. Come on, Ice. This isn't about me, and this isn't about Pine and Flare. It's about you."

Ice was going to attack her. She really was, but Flare's cough stopped her. "We were, uh, kinda in the middle of something..." he trailed off as Ice's glare abruptly rested on him. "Um...sorry...Commander Ice."

She sighed quickly. "No, no. You're right. Let's get back to work. Pine, this is your brother you're fighting here, not a dog, so stop acting like you're head to head with one of those slobbery beasts." She shot a warning look at Slither who just gave a smile right back.

"Go," she hissed, and the two cats clashed again. This time though, Pine was the first to move. His first few blows were clumsy and powerless, but once he got the hang of it, he had his brother pinned in no time. Being larger, it took hardly any effort to roll away, and once he was standing, Flare sprang onto Pine's back.

Flower looked ready to jump in there herself to separate her fighting sons and Bolt looked rather uncomfortable, wanting to get in there, but at the same time, fearing the knowledge that Ice would once and for all kill him. Ice narrowed her eyes at the ginger and black tom. Funny, one moment he's willing to die for his family, and the next, he'll leave them behind if it means it is not my claws he dies at.

She made quite an impact on others, she realized.

Pine launched himself at Flare, but Flare dodged just slightly and crashed down over him. Pine raked his hind paws over the belly of his brother, which was enough to shift his weight and wriggle away. For a moment they just stood, swatting at each other the way kits would, for they were kits, and then went back to diving to pin each other and twisting to escape.

And then, she saw it, the pools of blood around them, blotching the faded ground. Ice cried out for them to stop, and both kits looked up.

"What now?" Slither demanded, sourly.

"There's too much blood for kits like them. I'm trying to assess them, not kill them," replied Ice. "Pine, Flare, go let your mother lick your cuts. Flower, some cobweb should help." Her gaze snapped sharply onto Slither. "And don't you dare think this is mercy."

"Sure it isn't," Slither mumbled, padding away.

"Who won?" Flare asked, dodging the tongue of his mother.

"None of you for now," responded Ice, and she sat down, suddenly feeling really tired. What has gotten into her? She would not admit, but Slither was not mistaken. She really was refusing to hurt and kill. Her threats were empty and meaningless. It had been nearly a half moon since she met with Spike, and everything she felt when she first faced him had not worn off.

Bolt was next to her. "I'd like to thank you for sparing my kits from more pain."

"Is it really something to thank me for?" Ice asked miserably.

"It is." He looked her deep in the face. Puzzlement crossed his gaze. "Commander Ice, you don't look well, are you alright?"

"I know you are only taking concern to make me forget about ever hurting you," Ice muttered, not bothering to sound questioning. "But I'm going to be honest. I'm rather exhausted, and-" she cut off as she felt and choked sob rise in her throat. Hunching over, she pushed the cry down and heaved.

Once Ice had calm down, she looked over with Bolt who stood looking really uncomfortable. Wincing, Ice ran past him and climbed to her ledge, where she laid down, and placed her paws over her ears.

What was wrong with her? Why was she acting so strange since she met with Spike? It wasn't just her behavior either, her mind raced with different images that she could not comprehend. She saw things like tall trees and a vast land of stones and cliffs, but why?

Why, why, why?

Peering out from under her paws, she watched the alleyway below her, as a few cats ate, some trained, others talked. Slither stood alone, licking her claws.

She never used to have a huge problem admitting to things. She knew she couldn't take on everything in the world and win, she knew she was doing everything for herself, not for "the good of others" like some would say, but she had never liked admitting mercy. She wanted to be everything besides it, and now it was growing within her, and maybe one day, she wouldn't be able to handle herself any longer.

Her gaze swept away from the alley and out onto the rest of the Twolegplace, where the pond, blue and round was like a gate to the rest of the world. Somewhere out there, Spike walked, the one cat that could stop her without even trying. Without a claw or a tooth, or even his words. His very presence, and now that she knew he was there, wherever there was, his strange power would keep her from anything against him or anyone.

But wait! Ice looked back down at the Alley Cats, blood freezing as the realization came upon. They all believed Spike was the one who could end her terrifying reign, and she had not completely lost herself. All she needed was all the strength she had left, and with it, she could stop this.

Standing, she looked off into the distance, where his tree stood. She could kill Spike.

Her paws led her quickly off in the direction of his oak tree. She had not told the Alley Cats where she was going, but she would be back before realizing she was gone. It had to go quick. Ice loved causing the pain, but this kill couldn't wait.

The night had arrived by the time Ice saw the tree. Her paws slowed her to a stop. Claws unsheathing, she started again, this time slowly. She had to catch him by surprise.

She could see him, curled up in a heap of matted dark gray fur. She crept slower, waiting for the excitement to rise in the blood of her veins. She felt everything. The grass below her was dry and prickled her pads. The night clouds hovered over her, watching her every move. She even sensed the shadows on her pelt and the glint in her eyes as she raised her paw over his sleeping body.

Her claws descended.

Something burst inside her mind and rang in her ears, spreading icy realization over her entire body. She fell back. Her mind was grasped with something sharp and strong.

She...couldn't...do..it.

Her claws found her own body instead, starting at the side of her face and raking down to the end of her back. She groaned as the pain flowed with the scar she was making, and through her corner of her eye, Spike jerked awake.

Ice removed her claws and looked at them, seeing the crimson blood drip from the tips. She closed her eyes and hissed. "Why can't I hurt you?"

Spike was silent for a long time. "Is that you, White?"

Ice snapped open her eyes and glared at him. "Of course it's me! Stop asking obvious questions and tell me what's wrong with me, you mouse-brain!"

The dark gray tom just stared at her. "Oh, White..." but that was all he said.

Ice held back a sob. "Why are you so confusing?" she cried. She gazed helplessly up at him. "Nothing about you adds up. No one talks about you, and yet they all know your name, for one thing."

Spike sighed. "It isn't my name. They just call me that because of my fur. No one knows my real name. No one knows my story."

"Then, I'll be the first to know then," Ice growled. "You're telling me. I'm losing too much of myself to just let this all happen." She blinked. "I see images in my head, I feel weird things every time I think of you. So you are the only one who can tell me what's going on."

"I don't know how I can," Spike replied. "I've been feeling the same things as you, White. Tell me about yourself."

"You want to know something?" Ice spat. "Fine. I like to kill, I lead the Alley Cats and I'm evil, but even so there is no way I'll ever be able to kill you. That's all I know about myself, now it's your turn."

Spike flinched at the intensity of her pleading voice. "Very well. When I was a kit, I was the energetic, unpredictable, happy one of the three of us. But one day, I didn't know what life was anymore." Spike sat. "It's easy to say that I was neglecting everything I had. My entire family was alive and well, and the cats we lived with were also in a peaceful state."

Ice narrowed her eyes. As he spoke, something clicked within her mind.

"But, I couldn't find that peace myself. I was out of place, where I was. It looked to others that I was neglecting everything they set me up for...neglecting everything that I was supposed to do, and they saw it as a weakness. My siblings hated me, my parents and I drew apart, until I felt that I was just...alone. That there was nothing I could ever do to make myself feel good again without hurting others."

She dug her claws into the grass. Why was this all so familiar?

"I was wrong. There was someone that understood. I wasn't alone anymore, but that's when I knew what I had to do, and it pained me to think that the right decision would separate me from such a great friend. I had to run away, White. I couldn't stand their teasing and doubt any longer, and she gave the courage to accept my decision, and what I was to face because of it."

She gazed into his amber eyes. Who was talking to her? Who was he? Who was he?

"So we went out together, me and her. I tried the hardest I ever had before at anything just to stay strong around her. I loved her more than I had ever loved my own mother and father combined. I made a vow to myself that I would meet her again but that's never going to happen. And now I regret ever leaving." He paused and she realized that tears threatened to slip from his eyes.

"I found this Twolegplace, the nearest on from home where no one would recognize me. My first day I fought off a couple strays, and since then, no one would ever look at me."

That's why they think he could stop me. They think we're evenly matched.

"Perhaps now I'm free, free from everything I tried to escape, but being free meant leaving the one cat I truly love behind." Spike sighed and whispered, "I'll never forget you, Frozenpaw."

And suddenly. It all came rushing in, so quickly that Ice leaped. From her first memory to that moment right then. The sadness, the jealousy...the blood and the murdering. She knew it now.

"Nettlepaw!?" Ice screeched.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!

So uh, for the people that didn't know, WAZZAMMMM!

And for all of you, REVIEW!

~Destiny