Flarefang was awoken when a feather gently brushed his nose, causing him to sneeze. He let out a grunt of irritation, turning over in his nest. His tail lashed as he pressed his eyes closed, attempting to fall back to sleep. But sleep didn't come. A call of his name made him turn his head. A brown pelted she-cat met his gaze.

     "Hi," Brownpad mewed. "Nightfrost wants to see you." Flarefang felt a flash of anger at the name. Since that one fateful moonhigh as an apprentice, he had icy hatred for the ThunderClan deputy. His entire personality had changed; he had once been a go-lucky apprentice who had a taste for adventure. Now, that event had changed him to a broken, shattered warrior who snapped at every cat. It was Flarefang's way of coping at the time, and now it was just a habit.

     "Okay," he replied gruffly. Flarefang got to his paws, arching his back in a long stretch. He pushed past the warrior, shoving her accidentally during the process. He didn't utter an apology, but walked out into the camp instead.

     Birds chirped in the green leaf afternoon. Sun basked the territories of the cats along the lake and lit the ThunderClan camp in a soft, orange glow. A jet black she-cat with eyes of ice sat in the shade of the Highledge, chatting quietly with a dark auburn pelted tom. His emerald green eyes glittered in the sunlight as the she-cat continued to report to him about the recent border patrol. When she finished, the dark auburn tom gave her a curt nod and climbed back up the ledge and into his den at the top.

    Nightfrost turned her attention to Flarefang as he padded out.

    "Good morning, Flarefang," she meowed cheerily to him. Flarefang bit back a growl of hate towards the she-cat. How could she be so cheerful after what she did those moons ago?

    "Good morning, Nightfrost," Flarefang meowed icily, narrowing his orange orbs at her.

    "Take a hunting patrol by the Sky Oak, will you?" the deputy mewed, not seeming to notice the ice in his voice. "Take... Sparrowwing and Gingertail." With that, she whisked away and walked over to a group of cats to join into their conversation. Flarefang rolled his eyes and padded back into the den. He prodded the dusty brown pelt of Sparrowwing and walked over to the orange tabby pelt of Gingertail. Sparrowwing heaved himself to his feet, his lime eyes dull with sleep, while Gingertail yawned. Her brilliant bright blue eyes sparkled as she got up.

"Hurry up," he growled. "Nightfrost wants us on a hunting patrol." The trio left the warriors' den and headed out of camp.

--------------------------------

  The trio padded along quietly, Flarefang, at the head of the patrol, scenting the air. Irritation boiled up inside of him as he noticed Sparrowwing and Gingertail were chatting a bit ways back. He turned around to face them.

"Mousebrains! We're hunting, not chatting," he growled. "I smell rabbit up ahead. Go and scout it out; I smell a squirrel closer to the border." Gingertail blinked, surprise in her eyes, before nodding and turning and running off, Sparrowwing closely following behind her. Flarefang rolled his eyes and trekked towards the ShadowClan border. The scent of prey was thick in the air, as well as ShadowClan. Flarefang got into a hunters' crouch, stalking forward. He poked his head through a bush and saw a black pelted tom over the border, crouched over a squirrel and eating ravenously. Flarefang let out a snarl, pelting out of the bushes.

  "ShadowClan scum!" he hissed, skidding in front of the tom. The tom's golden eyes stretched wide with terror as he stumbled backwards. "I knew you couldn't be trusted! How dare you!" Flarefang's claws unsheathed.

  "That's enough, Flarefang," a voice spoke from behind him. He whipped around and saw Nightfrost glaring at him from the trees. Her face was expresionless, her ice blue eyes piercing his fur. He felt his pelt prickle.

"Enough?" He spat. "This ShadowClan scum is taking our prey! Hunting on our land!"

"I can see that," Nightfrost meowed, not seeming swayed at Flarefang's retort. Her long claws unsheathed. "I'll take care of this. Your patrol is waiting at the Sky Oak for you."

"Nightfrost you can't-"

"Go, Flarefang," Nightfrost hissed in irritation. "Before I kill you too."

     Flarefang narrowed his eyes, letting out a growl. The ShadowClan cat, a small wiry black tom, let out a whimper and scuttled backwards.

     "I-I'm sorry!" the cat cried. "M-my mentor sent me hunting a-and I w-was hungry and-"

      "Get out of here," Flarefang growled to him, not caring to move his gaze from Nightfrost. "Run as fast as you can. Get back to your camp." He heard scrambling behind him as the apprentice ran off. Nightfrost let out a snarl, beginning to dart toward the apprentice. Flarefang ran forward, blocking her route with his shoulder and throwing her aside. She rolled across the ground, snarling in hate. She sprung to her paws, lunging at Flarefang. Flarefang reared onto his hind paws, grappling Nightfrost's forepaws with his own. He turned and threw her to the ground, pinning her back to the dirt. She let out a snarl, and a moment later, Flarefang realized he had made a fatal mistake. Nightfrost realized this too. White hot pain scorched Flarefang's belly as Nightfrost's claws raked down it. Images of Falconfang filled Flarefang's mind as his legs gave out under him. He landed on his right side and looked up, his vision spinning. He saw the grass around him becoming soaked in his blood as Nightfrost looked down at him. Pain, not as terrible as his stomach, filled his shoulder and a moment later, something heavy hit his head, sending him into a realm of darkness.