Guess who's back!

*is met by silence*

Oh, um... well if there's anyone left to read this story, here is the chapter nine. I'll try to update faster, i promise. Plus this one's more rthan 3,000 words, happy?

Here's to the ghost
We still seem to host
How he's becoming us
Here come the vultures
Here come the vultures
Screaming down at us

I swear to God that I'll never do it again.
"Let me out." asked the creature.
He wouldn't, he shouldn't, he knew he shouldn't.
Then how did this happen?
The crimson liquid felt thick on his tongue, his eyes stung, no matter how much he tried to rub the substance out of them, he knew he was covered in blood, so much blood.
I swear to God I won't do it again.
He also knew none of it belonged to him.
It was coagulating quickly, creating crusts that rubbed and grated his skin and fur. He lashed his tail violently, trying to contain the waves of irritation that flared up in his guts.
I swear to God I won't do it again.
"I shouldn't even feel like this." he whispered.
His voice didn't even sound like it belonged to him. It cracked and wavered, a roughed sound from the back of his throat, as if something was trying to break out.
The creature.
At least the screams had stopped, extinguished by their own blood, wheezing and choking on their very own substance. It had to be the worst kind of drowning.
"What about the last one?" rasped the creature.
He cursed it for sounding so genuinely curious, it was a creature, a monster, it wasn't supposed to sound like anything else than an it.
But he was right, what about the last one? He really couldn't let it go, did he really want to let it go? Why would it be important than the other ones, more worthy to live? Why would it have any importance at all?
And since when was the kitten in front of him an it?
It was a pathetic ball of creamy fluff, trembling as much in terror than in anger. The wide blue eyes where brimming with tears she refused to spill, yet they where blazing with determination, somehow it still wanted to survive. The dainy paws where soaked in blood and bile, the kitten looked like an abandoned toy, one that you would love one day and throw away the other.
I swear to God that I'll do it again.
He looked at it for a long time, his eyes burning into the azure ones. Violently. Venomously. Viciously.
The kitten didn't seem to mind.
"Who are you?" it asked.
It was disgustingly beautiful, an angel with broken wings, bones shattered and dragging in the dust. Painfully beautiful, like a dead hatchling, innocent and wrecked, left to rot between withered flowers.
"Why do you care?"
He hadn't meant to slide closer, to let his breath tickle her ear like so many sunrises ago, like when he stood in the snow next to someone so different yet so similar. He didn't want to remember the dreams, the ones where he had the someone between his paws, fluttering and writhing like a wounded eagle. Where he would drag his claws across her tiny body, relishing in her screams, and she would sob and curse, thrash in vain in his twisted little dreamland. But she wouldn't beg, she would never beg. The Ice Queen never begged, no matter how much he pulled and pushed and twisted her around.
He didn't mean to be reminded of Shadow, but he did so anyways.
"I want to know the name of the one that killed me, even thought I hate you, even thought you would spit on mine."
But there was no hate in her eyes, only the calm acceptance of a cornered dove, the prey that could escape no more. She looked somewhat older than she should, with the look of someone who had seen countless wars and survived.

Somewhere, it was summer.

Somewhere, innocence still existed in cloudless blue sky and the simple things like smiling were currency. Somewhere, nothing hurt and no one died. Somewhere, the world was still golden and good and clean.

Somewhere, it was summer.

But here it wasn't. Here the stones where sharp and they bit your pads with pointed teeth. Here the air was moist and cold, whispering promises of suffering and death into innocent ears. Here it was a snake nest and he wasn't the king.

Maybe that was why he saw the pleading in her cerulean eyes, the way she bit her lips until they bled. Yes, he saw that she was still afraid.
He was vaguely aware that the kitten had become a she.
He should have killed her, leapt on her, tore her pelt from her skin and crushed her until she broke. He should have laughed, absolute spite and loathing in his eyes, spat on her cooling body while her blood came to soak his paws.
"I'm not going to kill you, not yet."
The words had been blurted out, rushed on his tongue in a hurry to deliver a statement that he didn't mean, of course he didn't mean it.
It was her parents on the floor, it was her own flesh that she stepped on and soaked in. Wasn't she sad? He saw a trembling ball of fears and dead dreams, but the sadness he craved for was absent.
And then she smiled.
"I'm glad."
Light was fleeting from her eyes, leaving empty, sky-colored orbs that didn't express even an ounce of gratitude. She knew, she knew why he kept her alive, why the 'not yet' seemed so important. He knew too, he knew what she meant by those simple words, he knew why she didn't choke with emotion.
"I'm glad you told me, I'm glad you didn't leave any hope, I'm glad that, in the end, you will let me die."
And he heard clearly the unspoken words.
At that moment he loathed summer, for nothing was more beautiful than those dull eyes, her life frozen by the very ice that rushed in his veins. He loathed it for the pathetic creature he became then, when the sun shone warmly and everything was okay. He loathed it for his appearance, a graceful and feminine creature, one that hid a monster. He loathed it because the sun couldn't melt the ice, and that no matter how much water rushed by, he could still hear the voices so clearly.
It was only then that he realised the creature didn't want out anymore.
That kitten intrigued him, she was afraid and yet brave, she was so trusting and yet morbidly void of any sadness. She was beautiful, she was twisted in her very own and very innocent way. She was...
Mine
Yes, now she was, of course she was.
But she was also the incarnation of his pain, of his insanity, of the hate he wanted to scream to the world.
She was a dove, bathing in rivers of blood, murdering her own species by accepting the wolf, and her unavoidable death.
She was everything he hated, and yet he didn't hate her.
God will watch as I do it again.

She let herself slip into the pool with a sigh, she didn't dislike water, not after having wandered for days in raging snowstorms, but she felt weary. The last few days had taken their toll on her, Clouds avoiding her, having to send Ansturm away to protect her, the Master sending in a new kitten for her cave, Spider doing quite bad at training and now the murders. Of course the Council had brushed it off as one of the high-ups having fun, it happened.
But never like that.
Shadow had never killed again, not after the Master chose her. But no amount of pain, no amount of choking grief, could set her free from the memories.

When the first kit disappeared they where still in the cave. Of course it reappeared a few days later, it's small body nearly completely covered by the snow. Nobody was really sad, they had no time to mourn a kit. Maybe that was why they never noticed the tiny claw marks on it's pelt.

The second vanished right in front of them, she slipped they said. After all it happened all the time, even to grown cats. Her mother didn't waste a tear for the unfortunate offspring. That was surely why nobody saw the small white paws pushing her towards the edge.

The third kit was different, she didn't just die you see. She was a very lively kit though, they where all so sure she would make it, that she would be their rising star. Her golden pelt gleamed like the sun, and her green eyes like fresh sprouts. They had even named her, they called her Summer, no matter how ironic it seemed when all she ever knew was cold, harsh winter.

Her first cries passed unnoticed, young ones had nightmares all the time, it was only natural for a Hord kit. And then she choked, her throat constricted by her own bile, her fragile body racked by painful sobs. They all looked then, and they tried so hard, to stop her suffering, to save the precious little thing.

She agonised for days, her eyes dimming, her heartbeat slowing, all her body ultimately failing it's purpose. It was a wonder they didn't notice the shiny red berry that escaped her nest when finally, in a rare display of pity, they ended her suffering. Hord cats weren't very knowledgeable, maybe that was why nobody suspected murder. Or maybe it simply was because they sensed a greater purpose, a design only known by the twisted mind that hatched the plan.

A pair of ice blue eyes watched as the youngest dwindled into nothing. Some of them simply died, being to weak to survive the world. Some where pushed, drowned or ambushed, all of it disguised under accidents, things that happen because the world is unforgiving and cruel. Some where slain, their wounds hid by thick fluff or their bodies and simply too frozen to bleed. But the most of them? They disappeared, simply vanishing into the mountain, nobody had any hope that they would survive, how would they?

But to say that nobody suspected? That was quite the mistake.

Elise looked like a snake.

Maybe it was just her imagination, something carefully brewed by jealousy, hatred and scorn. Or was it the way she slunk around, the was her sickly green eyes shone with mirth?
Ansturm didn't really know, but she didn't care either. The molly was bad, she was just so pretty, so optimistic, so cheerful, so friendly, so perfect.
The truth was that she was jealous, jealous of her for being everything she wasn't, and that she would never be. That cat had everything for herself, she should be proud and gloating, and yet she still found the way of caring for others, of casting herself aside.
She really hated her.
With Spider it had been different, no matter how much he struggled in the mountains, no matter how cold he was towards her, she still saw him somewhat as a father, as someone she could rely on. It was stupid, she knew that. She also knew that if something happened he wouldn't even spate her a glance, he would save himself and only himself. And even thought the fuzzy memories of a black shadow watching over her at night told her otherwise, she just knew he didn't care about her.
"Come on, you'll be able to meet the others!" mewed Elise, in an annoyingly cheerful voice.
She lazily flicked an ear and continued to walk, others or not she just wanted to sleep. A quick glance at the other molly made her realise that she was taller than Elise, her thick fur protecting her from most of the chilling winds.

There must be something I can do, something to stop my pain.

"Tell me..." she began, carefully choosing her words, "How far are we from the others?"
The little she-cat beamed at the attention, bounding forwards with a purr.
"Well, we have to turn around this," she said, pointing at a large rocky formation, "Then continue through a tunnel that goes though the thickest side of it and the cave will be right in front of us. You'll see they're wonderful, Ruhe will be so happy to have another..."
*Ruhe*, that name again. She was sure she knew that name, it had that strange feeling to it, like it had a meaning but it kept escaping you, just like hers. Who was Ruhe? Did she know her, why did she sound so familiar and why couldn't she remember why?
"Are you okay?"
She shot a mean glare to the molly, daring her to voice her concern again.
Then, she got an idea.

There is nothing more cruel than winter, what a pity that I was born in the heart of it.

"Tell me, how much time have you stuck around Nico, and the others?" she purred, her voice strangely smooth.
"His name isn't Nico, it's Ark." awnsered Elise, looking at her, clearly puzzled.
Ansturm simply shrug it off, all those name problems where giving her a headache. Plus, she had an annoyance to take care of.
"So?"
"Well, it couldn't be more than a few moons, but we get along so well that it hardly counts." mewed Elise, contempt clear in her voice.
Ansturm didn't immediately reply, instead she gently laid down her burden, making sure Nico, or rather Ark, didn't have his muzzle buried into the snow. When she was sure he would be okay she turned towards Elise.
"Are you sure?" she purred again, although it was closer to a growl this time. "What if you... disappeared?"
The brown molly seemed to understand that something was wrong this time, her whiskers quivered and she cast Shadow an uneasy glance.

But I am not made of ice, I am the violent storm that will sweep you to your death.

"Why do y-"
Ansturm had shot forwards, sinking her teeth into her throat, blood oozing out of her gaping jugular like water. With a small gurgle Elise fell into the snow, staining it scarlet, those green eyes glazed over, even in death she looked beautiful.

I wanted you to scream!

She pawed the red slush that had become the snow with a disgusted sneer, blood dripped down her chin, clotting in her long grey fur. She didn't bother to lick it away, it was only so much ugliness that came out, the darkness they had instilled in her since Spider had bathed her in blood showing.
She didn't notice that Ark's eyes had opened.

He wondered, didn't she feel any regret for the lives she wasted?

And maybe she did, maybe her heart wasn't frozen enough to choke down that shard of guilt. But she didn't care that much, she wasn't as pretty, she wasn't as happy as the others, so why would another scar matter so much?
Maybe, just maybe, it was because she never wanted to be so utterly alone.

Shadow had came to see him, the reason why kept escaping him. She seemed less like the Ice Queen and more like the Shadow that had stumbled into his cave.
It felt like years ago.
"You killed my brother, but I killed him too."
He wanted to hear something else than coldness in her voice, something like resentment or even remorse. He found none, so he laughed. His laugh was high pitched and quite near to insanity, Shadow really didn't know why she couldn't find it ugly.
"You think I'm mad, you think that I'm so frozen that I can't feel anymore."
Spider stared at her for a moment before awnsering.
"You're wrong, I think you're just like me."
Despite staring hard into the acid green eyes, Shadow couldn't find any trace of mockery. Only an empty void that didn't hide so well that flicker of something else.
"Don't act as if you understand." she spat, but her voice lacked it's usual bite.
He was silent after that, not because he indeed did not understand, but rather because he knew that words would not matter at this particular moment. He found it strange that the more he watched her the less he saw the Ice Queen. As the picture of what he always thought she was faded he could see what was hidden under all her hatred and icy perfection. He wasn't expecting anything but a small, shivering white kitten wasn't it.
This is the moment!
So why couldn't he do anything, why couldn't he harm her?
He didn't have time to find an awnser to that because her eyes suddenly snapped back to ice cold, and when she spoke he couldn't hear that faint tremor.
"I know about yesterday."
And it was all.

"Then why didn't you do anything about it?" Maybe his voice was weak, maybe she didn't care.

It was then that he realised that no matter how much he told himself that he hated her it wasn't true, because no matter how cold she could be he found himself yearning after those small glimpses of her vulnerability. It was selfish and somehow cruel, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He was a cruel cat, the small kitten waiting for him in his nest only strengthened that statement.
"What are you going to do about it?" he sneered, defiance lacing his every word.
Don't let her see your fear.
To his surprise she smiled, a wide, cruel smile that chilled him to the bone.
"Let's keep it our little secret, Spider."
Spider leapt to his feet, his tail swishing madly in the air. He didn't know why it affected him so much.
Shadow was smiling, she was white, snow was white, her heart was black. It was cold, her eyes, his skin, it all felt sosososo cold coldiceunderskin. It wouldn't stop.
It was all blurry, the white cat stretched and rose up high, he was afraid she would come crashing down on him. The stones laughed and mocked him, shrill voices that he knew so well, why was Echostream angry? He could hear Falconscreech, he was so weak! Weakness was bad, did it mean he was bad? Why didn't the beast speak to him anymore? Was he even alive anymore?
Of course he was bad, he had killed and tortured and slaughtered and hurt and made them all scream so hard. Was it bad to be bad? Nothing made sense anymore, but Spider only felt the cold, the awful, bone chilling cold.
You know what to do.
He did, he wanted so bad to forget it but he couldn't. And the cold just got worse and worse. The white thing screeched and made his ears bleed
Ice crept up his spine and the fog became thicker. Why didn't the voices comfort him, did they hate him?

The Creature roared, he couldn't keep it in anymore. Let it out, let it out, let it out letitout, LET ME OUT!
Deep inside Spider's heart, something snapped.
He opened his eyes and there was a flame of insanity burning in them. Something was wrong because they weren't that lovely acid green anymore. It was strange, but he just seemed to draw her in more.
And she ought to think he was mad, but she just thought he was something else, someone else.
Slowly, so very slowly, he crept towards her, she didn't move. How could she?
"How about I make sure you never speak again?"
As ironic that it seems, the Master was the last thing on her mind at that moment.