A/N: Hello, I'm sorry I took so much time to post this chapter but I had big health problems. I'm much better now thought, so expect much more regular updates. Don't forget to check out my Adopt A Story if you're out of ideas, I have so much of them that if you want a specific kind of plot just PM me.

You think you're gonna hurt me
Pull the noose tighter
And lift a little higher
Because you're killing me slow
And I ain't ready to die

Grey ears swiveled around, trying to catch a sound. Small paws where moving quickly, her gait a little less than a mad rush. The thick grey tail lashed violently, streaming behind her as she ran.
Nothing.
She couldn't hear anything, the snow parted silently under her paws and the moon only glinted coldly. Something was so very wrong, but she didn't hope for help, she didn't dare call out. There was no pity to be expected out there.
She could only wonder how she had survived her training this long, her matted fur sagged around her bony frame and her whole body was laced with scars, pink and scarlet. Each time she scraped and cut her pads against a stone she couldn't help but notice how she had felt pain so much worse. Each time she saw the crisp snow tainted by her own blood her mind raced with pictures of mangled corpses, eyes glazed and ridden with flies, flashing claws and fangs dripping with scarlet.
Really, she didn't expect any pity at all.
Suddently she stopped, a paw raised in the air to be able to flee at any moment. She was sure she had heard right, the silence was so complete that even the faintest sound sounded like a scream. A bit to her right, not more than a few tail lengths away, there had been the distinct sound of claws against stone.
Without thinking she jerked to the right, yellow eyes scouring the white blanket that covered the landscape. It was no use thought, everything was still desperately white.
Ansturm began running again, she knew she wouldn't be able to spot the elusive creature. The other presence belonged into these cold mountains, she was only tolerated because of her will to survive.
I'm not dead yet, they didn't win.
And she refused to give up, if she lost there would be no bitterness, she simply would stop existing.
But she didn't understand yet that the mountain was not her ennemy, that she should blend in it rather than struggle against nature. Because of that she continued to fight, painfully aware of the chilling cold that seeped into her bones.
Something was still bothering her though, and it had nothing to do with the cold world she had been thrown into for the sake of training.
The last time she had seen the Master, the cave had carried the faintest scent of milk.
Why?

She had obediently followed Shadow through the tunnels, easily keeping up with her. Despite her three moons she was nearly as big than her Tutor, who still looked like a Fledgeling despite her good ten moons. But she knew by experience that Shadow was not to be underestimated, she was more skilled than nearly all the Named Cats. Herself only kept her name because Shadow had chosen her as her Fledgeling, no Council Member would ever think of taking an unnamed Fledgeling.
She had been worried thought, Shadow had brought her to see the Master, through the intricate maze of tunnels and into the very cave of the Master.
There had to be a reason.
The Master hadn't talked to her but it was to be expected, Shadow was so much more skilled and, more importantly, she was Caveborn. But her Tutor's eyes had told her to look and listen, that if she payed attention enough she might just survive to see another sunrise.
And so she did. She watched the cave so intently, trying to memorise even the smallest imperfection of the walls, that she nearly forgot that watching didn't mean just looking.
It was only a few minutes after that they sent her out in the snow, telling her to run, to survive like she could. Shadow had promised thought, she had swore that she would tell her when to stop, she would bring her back to the cave.
So why did it feel like they would never look for her?
She shook her head and lengthened her gait, self pity would lead her nowhere, especially in the mountains.

It was a few hours later, when the sun only washed in faint waves over the hardened snow, that she saw him. A small white shape, if not for the black dash on his forehead she wouldn't have seen him.
Crouching beside the unmoving shape, Ansturm gently pressed her paw to his chest. He was awfully cold but she could feel his chest rising, he was still breathing.
She heard an awful cough and for a moment she stared at the unconscious tom, puzzled.
"You... you might want to bring him somewhere warm."
Ansturm spun around, spotting a young molly sprawled out in the snow. Her long golden brown fur was soaked in blood and her green eyes where glazed with pain, she was beautiful.
Ansturm hated her instantly.
"Why would I want to help him?" she spat, sending the she cat with a chilling glare.
Those green eyes filled with so much hurt and innocence that she had to turn away. She could nearly hear Shadow scolding her, mocking her weakness.

"Those cats are not from the cave, don't let your outsider genes stop you."
Impure, outsider, flea-eater, worthless, slut, useless, weak, forest-dweller, soft pad, stupid... The words where swimming in her mind as she stared at the tom's fragile form. Those words she had heard all her life with indifference, why did seem important now? He looked so peaceful and kind, so different from her and out of place, that she couldn't bring herself to harm him. She sighed and finally locked eyes with the pretty female, trying not to flinch at the look of pure pity she received.
"Do you know a place then?"
The eyes immediately brightened, ears perking up.
"Of course I do, there's a cave not far from here, we made our camp there waiting for Ruhe and-"
"I didn't ask for your life story." she snapped, fastening her teeth around the tom's scruff.
"Elise, and he's Nicolas." chirped the molly, although Ansturm could care less.
Ruhe... The name was vaguely familiar but she couldn't remember from where, let alone put a face on it.
Shrugging the feeling away she hauled the tom up, his hind legs and rump still laying in the snow.
"You can walk." she stated to the female, taking off without waiting. She knew the general direction of the cave and she knew how to spot things better than her so she didn't wait. A few moments later rushed pawsteps and a pained gasp told her the molly followed.

Shadow glared at Spider, her pelt bristling with anger. The bastard had failed, again.
"How come that you're not able to do it? It's the third week we're on it!"
She received a quite hurt look from the black tom, that she ignored. But then his acid green eyes lit up with anger and he scowled.
"Well if you expect me to climb a cliff like some sort of fly in less than a moon of training I'm sorry to deceive you oh great Shadow. But by all means please show me the right path." he spat, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Shadow had struck him so fast that all Spider could do was look at his bleeding shoulder on disbelief.
"You're a freak after all, like her you where born to burn." was all she said.
Strangely enough Spider understood what she meant, and the burning fire in his eyes dimmed, if just a bit. It was not a reproach but it wasn't an apology either, and yet it was enough. Spidsf looked down, his gaze falling on his bleeding claws and, with a heavy sigh, launched himself at the sheer rockface again.
As bitter that she was, Shadow couldn't hold back a victorious grin.

After more than a few falls and having scraped his paws free of skin Spider was more than relieved to hear Shadow call the training session off. Of course he was unable to reach the top but he tried, he really did.
While begrungily following the white kit he couldn't help but notice that they where crossing a part of the tunnels he had never ventured into. He tried to refrain his curiosity, but the nagging feeling that he wasn't going to like it just wouldn't leave him alone.
"Where are we going?" he blurted out, casting a wary glance behind him.
"I'm showing you my Cave." she mewed after a few moments of silence.
He didn't know what to think, Ansturm had been gone for four days now, was she trying to replace her? Or, less likely, did she just decide to trust him enough for that? No, she had a frozen heart and claws of ice, there had to be something else. But no matter how much he thought about it he couldn't uncover the malicious intent behind it all. But still, the way she had to asses her authority, the steely tone in her voice when she spoke...
Could she really be something else than an ice queen, was there a pain she tried to conceal?
It didn't really matter, he would watch her smallest mistakes and take advantage of them. It was what he did best and he would not fail, he had promised. He would rise to the top and show her, show them all what he could do. He wasn't weak, he never was.
"...ing."
He was suddenly torn from his thoughts.
"What?"
Shadow rolled her eyes, looking annoyed.
"I said 'are you listening'? We arrived."
Next to her was a scruffy looking tom, his tabby fur dusty and dull and his hind legs a bit too long. He was awkward to even look at, despite his wolf like blue eyes, something about him just didn't feel right.
"I am now." he simply awnsered, giving the tabby the stink eye.
The cave was huge, stretching more in length than in width and sprinkled with many little beds, nestled into the rock walls. Large flat stones where gathered in the middle, exactly where a rare sunray filtered through the ceiling. The floor was mostly covered in sand, the soft and smooth kind, not the one who stuck to your fur for days and grated your pads. But what left him awestruck was the middle sized pool who stretched along the back wall, stream was coming out of it in thin tendrils and it looked warm. The water was a bluish green color and a pair of felines where fooling around in it. If anything was close to paradise in here it was that, it just looked so peaceful.
Shadow being engrossed in her conversation with the ugly tabby he decided to explore. After all she hadn't given him any precise orders, right?
Strangely enough he ignored the silver cat in the pool, playing with her tabby and white friend, didn't even spare a glance for the fiery ginger, discarded the faded tortoiseshell sunning herself and didn't disturb the heap of creamy fur in a feather lined nest.
His attention was caught by an old cat, who seemed white at first but the silvery glimmer of her fur revealed faint tabby markings. Creeping closer he watched her intently, she seemed to be sleeping. She wasn't as old than he had thought but she was very thin, her face angular but somewhat graceful.
Her eyes snapped open.
Only inches away from her face, Spider froze. After a few moments of awkward staring he scrambled backwards, trying to mutter an apology.
The old but not quite female didn't seem phased, she just watched him kindly.
"Did you find Frosty?"
He stared, quite puzzled. He knew who Frosty was of course, he could still remember the day when a filthy kit had waddled into his den and blown his life apart. What he couldn't place was the painful clenching of his stomach at her words.
"Tell me, who is Frosty?" he whispered, taking care to keep his tone calm and gentle.
"Why, but my little Shadow's brother of course."
This time Spider actually felt sick.