I just realized I made a mistake. It's something that you may notice, or may not. Depends. You know how in the prologue it mentions that Hailblaze is old? Well when he is introduced through Frozenkit's eyes he is young and this entire story takes place over the course of around two years. That's quite a short time to go from young to old, even in the Warriors World.

Yeah, I'm terrible at planning.

Anyway, thanks for reviewing! I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Take it away Nightstorm!

Nightstorm: Born of True Destiny does not own Warriors

Chapter Forty-Two

For many moons, nothing but darkness had taken over her sleep; nothing but a quiet, peaceful darkness. She had liked it that way. No nightmares to plague those times when the path got a little bumpy. Nothing to harm her and remind her of pain so she could feel good about herself. She had recently been told that maybe evil wasn't an escape, but sleep sure was.

That was, until now.

Now she was a kit again, small and unscathed in body and mind, watching two shapes she couldn't make out, battle each other right before her eyes. A longing feeling filled her when she realized that the two shapes were great beasts of strength, one of which took a form similar to a lion. She wished to join their fighting. She wanted it more than anything, but as she was about to move, a cold chill stopped her, freezing her in little snow crystals.

She whirled to a knew place. This time two seemingly endless paths stretched out before her. One offered glory and triumph and the other a horrifying doom. She hardly knew why, but her paws refused to take down the wonderful path, and instead left her confused and coldly alone.

It looked as though, through the sadness and despair, a new pathway opened ahead of her, and with it a delicious, flowery scent that for only a single moment, felt like a solution, because when she padded down the pathway, her heart felt like it was about to shatter.

She could feel the atmosphere around her changing, and it scent an icy chill down her spine. Now where was this taking her? What other pain could such a dream have to offer her with?

Sure enough, she was in a new place. She felt like she was safe and protected, but she wasn't happy. The lion-like beast was before her again, standing in a shaft of golden light. Roars of happiness and praise erupted from everywhere, except her own mouth. She stood in the shade of things, the icy feeling from before crawling up and over her flesh more and more with each second.

The strange thing was, the beast was getting all of the glory and the congratulations, but that's not where her sadness and hopelessness was directed at. She wanted to be a part of everything, and that lion-like animal was stealing that from her, but she didn't give a care about him.

Her attention went to the sidelines, where the roar from the crowd drowned out all else. She felt small, facing it all before her and that only made the roars of praise for the beast louder, and along with it, came a hatred aimed at her.

The ice creeped faster and cold her around her, blocking her mind and her eyes with its bitterness, and then, it trapped her heart.

Ice woke with a start, unsure if it was the chilliness of the dream or the boom of thunder overhead that aroused her to the real world. Though the thick black clouds already made it as dark as a shadow, she could tell it was the middle of the night.

Wide awake now, she climbed down from the ledge and slipped under the overhanging roof of the Twolegnest just as the first drop of rain trickled through her fur. Ice sat there on the old, rotting wood and watched as that one drop whirled into a thunderstorm. Lightning lit up the dark night and the thunder would follow almost immediately, nearing blocking out the sounds of the howling wind. The water of the pond bounced as it was attacked with numerous raindrops from the clouds.

The air was thick and warm, a complete changed from the freezing feeling she had endured in her sleep. The whole process felt weird, not only because of what had happened but also because she had not had a dream since her last meeting with her future self.

But aside from that shock, she couldn't believe what she had seen. It was her life, played through her sleep in what felt like heartbeats. The two beasts fighting while she was a kit were her father and her brother, and the ice crystals were her mother, preventing her from joining their little "training session".

The paths were what separated the warrior life from her father's words, that said she would be better off dead than a warrior, and the third path had been the way of a medicine cat, which had seemed like it helped until she had discovered that it was nothing she ever wanted in her life.

And the third vision, the one that closed everything. It was her brother, becoming everything she ever wanted, and everyone seeing him that way. It was how they all at first overlooked her, and in time, some of them ended up just being cruel. Calling her by the wrong name, treating her like she was never important.

And it all began with being small.

Why did she have to be small?

Why did they hate her for it?

What would they do if I showed them that they were all wrong?

Ice considered her thoughts for a while. Did they even remember her now that she had been gone for a few seasons? It had taken around two moons for the Clan to move on from Nettlepaw's disappearance from the Clans. And now it had been way longer than two moons from when she disappeared herself.

Well then, I'll have to make sure they remember me, she thought.

Her gaze shifted from the storm around her to the alleyway, where cats slept under the protection of the ledges and roofs of the Twolegnests. These scrawny, unskilled mouse-brains didn't really mean anything to her. They were the most feared cats of the entire Twoleg neighborhood, but that was only because they lived in a much weaker atmosphere than the forest Clans.

Yes, if she were to take over the forest Clans out of revenge for their ignorance and mistreatment, maybe that would be enough. She would at last be satisfied by her life for once. She'd have something to live for, and she would have nothing to fear, because the cruel world around her really deserved what they were about to be handed.

If they were going to be evil to her, it was about time she stopped running from herself and turned to face her past.

She would defeat the pain.

The corners of Ice's lips tilted up at the thought of sweet revenge. It's what her future self has been begging for all along, right? Maybe for on e in her life, she'd have everything: power, leadership and happiness, all at once.

She glanced out at the storm again and stretched her muzzle out to feel the rain. Her nose was soaked and her eyes sparkled as the lightning bolts tore across the night sky in a fierce flash of white light. The wind as it rushed and ambushed the trees, also maneuvered in the air to blow through her pelt, cooling her, but at the same time warming her, with a sense of hope.

Ice grinned, remembering the first rainstorm when she arrived at this Twolegplace. Rain defined her.

She backed away, curled up, placed her tail tip over her nose, and fell asleep, this time into the peaceful darkness that she loved so much.

"Commander Ice!"

The voice woke her. Looking around, she saw that the storm had passed during her last few hours of sleep. Now golden sunlight shone across the wet ground and over the pond. Raindrops dripped from the green leaves of the trees.

Looking to her side, Ice saw Bolt. When her eyes met his, he dipped his head in respect. "Commander Ice, forgive me for awaking you, but I saw that you were not in your usual spot up on the ledge."

"Do you think I would have slept up there in the rain?" she asked him.

"No, of course not," he meowed apologetically.

"Don't worry. I'm glad you woke me. I need to tell Nettlepaw something anyway. Is he still here?" Ice said.

Bolt shook his head no. "Afraid not, Commander Ice. He left yesterday. Looked pretty shaken if you ask me."

As the ginger and black tom spoke, Ice remembered their talk the day before. Her fur stood on end, thinking that he could have been hurt from what she had said to him. "My, I should go look for him. This is a pretty urgent matter. Is there anything you wanted to tell me?"

"You're going to leave? Now? Flare wanted to show you what he had learned."

"That's going to have to wait," said Ice. "Keep practicing. Make it certain that he doesn't disappoint me when I get back."

"Yes, Commander Ice," Bolt replied, as she jumped off the wooden platform. Flicking her tail, she raced around the pond in the wet grass, leaving the alley behind to look for her friend.

She realized as she ran that she would have to find a way to actually leave the Ally Cats behind for good, but that was the least of her worries. They had no power against her anyway.

Ice must have running fast because she got to the oak tree in what seemed like no time. She saw the dark gray shape of Nettlepaw padding around the trunk, as if he was looking for something.

"Nettlepaw!" she called, and he looked up. She leaped at him and tackled him to the wet grass. She loomed over it, trying to catch her breath that seemed have just escaped from her body.

"Ice!" he shouted. "What are you doing?"

"I..I..." she managed to say between gasps. She caught her breath before continuing. "I have to tell you something!"

Not really the best way to end the chapter and I know on some parts it was rushed. But this is pretty important if you ask me!

Nightstorm: BE SURE TO REVIEW, OR I WILL FIND YOU AND STAND THERE UNTIL YOU DO IT!'

Me: Nightstorm! Stop being a stalker. But yeah, review.

~Destiny (And Nightstorm)