I was always the runt of our litter, right from the very beginning. My mother lay dying after giving birth to me and my sister, Sweetkit. The stupid queen had been searching for my traitorous brother, Lionkit. She was so exhausted that birth was too much for her. I inherited her weakness. I lay on the grass where she gave birth to us outside the MoonClan camp, unmoving. My foolish father, Wolftalon, thought I was dead, and he left me lying there on that bloodstained newleaf grass. But I decieved them all. I was, in fact, to be the strongest of the litter.
Emberkit
For seasons, I wandered, trying to avoid the vicious BoneClan rogues that patrolled the hills behind MoonClan. I met two loners called Tiger and Dotty, who gave me shelter, water and food. But I saw the sadness in Dotty's eyes when Tiger went to meet with another loner, a former Clan cat called Day, and I soon realised that my temporary family was also about to fall apart. I left them in turmoil.
Talon
When I was about the age of a young Clan warrior, I gave up the life of a loner and joined BoneClan. I met Talon, a beautiful brown tabby she-cat. I fell in love with her. Bone always kept us apart because no bonds were to be formed in BoneClan. It was his hope that by keeping us apart we would always be loyal only to him and felt we could not trust anyone else. But I always turned to Talon. She was always there, like a beautiful star in Silverpelt. One day, Bone called us into his den. We were thrilled when we found out that we would be joining his inner guard. BoneClan was very dangerous, and we'd just become a lot safer. Talon and I were very nervous when Crow initiated us. We didn't get to see each other much, but we made the most of when we did. Then Talon told me she was carrying my kits.
Little Talon in her special tree
But it was all to crumble. Bone found Talon and I curled up in a little stone shelter not far from the barn where I had once lived. Talon had given birth to my kit. Bone murdered Talon and was about to kill the kit. I told him it was already dead. I glanced back over my shoulder as we left. The little she-kit was moving, stained red and black by the blood of her mother. She would be alone, just had I had been. Her name would always be Talon because she looked like my sweet mate.
I replayed that scene over and over in my head. It killed me inside. Day came to live in BoneClan, and I found Bone's weakness: his love for her. She gave birth to his kits- Sun and Eagle, who Bone promptly named Shard and Blood. I snuck into her den one night and swiftly killed her. I let the kits live, remembering little Talon.
From then, I killed Bone's deputy, Rockfall. Bone was too shaken by Day's murder to even wonder who would have the motive to kill his mate and deputy, but leave his kits alive. He appointed me as his new deputy, thinking I would share his pain. But I cleverly played it so I would magnify his torment. Soon, he was nothing but a shell of the real Bone, the one who had brought BoneClan together and had set them apart to cruelly take over the unclaimed parts of the Lake.
Ember
I seized my chance when Bone claimed to the Clans that we were one of them. I was disgusted. I would never be like my father. I saw him sitting under the Great Tree and I had the urge to kill him. But I held it all in. A young she-cat, Blazeheart, spoke up against Bone. I knew instantly that she was Day's kit. Day had cleverly helped one escape. I was tormented by the fact that I was falling in love with Blazeheart. I had thought I would never love any cat after Talon. I would have to kill Blazeheart to free myself.
An opportunity presented itself when Blazeheart and her siblings led a battle against BoneClan in the hope that they would kill Bone. But I knew they never would. I remember the evil glittering in Bone's eyes when I killed him. They were the eyes of a murderer who killed for no reason. I was a murderer fighting to free myself of seasons of torment. I lay in wait for Blazeheart, but I could not kill her.
I was recruiting one day when I came across a young brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes standing under a cherry tree. The tree bent its blossoming branches under a gentle breeze, and her fur blew to the right, making her seem mysterious. But I knew who she was. Her amber eyes were mine. She was Talon.
I told Talon who I was. She was upset, but she soon saw reason, just like her beautiful mother always had. made Talon my deputy, telling BoneClan I believed she had initiative. No cat could know who she is. I have one final task left before I am free: to kill Blazeheart. I can build a better future for my daughter. She will never be alone.