Roots of Earth ~ A Ninjago Fanfiction

Chapter 111: "Sister Only; a Broken, Scattered Heart"

Cole didn't know how long he knelt there in the dark, hugging Liana and hearing his own voice ring off the walls like a mourning ghost's. When his eyes finally ran dry he felt nothing—he was numb. Reality didn't feel real anymore.

The chill of stone slowly seeped into his limbs until it hurt. It dawned on him that he was still alive. There was a world in turmoil outside this black hole and he was needed.

He didn't want to get up. He wanted to stay with Liana, to keep her safe. But he got up.

He trudged to the landslide, feebly kicking aside rocks and soil. He set Liana down gently on a flat rock before attempting to move the massive boulders out of the way. As he shoved and kicked rocks twice his size out of the way, he realized dimly that most of his wounds from the fight and fall had been healed. He stopped in his tracks and pondered on that for a minute, before realizing it had to have been Liana's work.

Even when she was dying, she was trying to help me. The thought made him want to collapse again like a small child. His legs trembled. He bit his lip hard to keep from crying.

Why, why, why...

Inhaling sharply with a shudder, he swung and punched one of the biggest boulders. It flew across the cavern and he heard it smash to pieces against the wall. He stood there on the landslide trembling from head to toe, breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't save you. I'm so, so sorry..."

A single thought stopped his grieving like a sting of fire:

Blood Star did this.

The hole he could feel in his heart seemed to rip apart further; his sister, who'd already killed Eagle Talon, killed Liana. Liana was dead because of her. It was Blood Star's fault. It was all Blood Star's fault.

Rage, slow and hot, built up itself up within Cole. He could feel it in his pulse and hear it in his ears, his heart pumping harder and faster. Adrenaline surged and pushed against the heavy grief.

"Blood Star," he growled.

With an unintelligible roar he used his powers to chuck boulders aside, this way and that. They fell crashing on either side of him as he worked his way up the landslide. The walls echoed angrily with the sound of shattering stone and Cole's wrathful shouts. More soil and rocks tumbled at the disturbance, but he shoved them away, too. The pile shifted and groaned in protest, but he didn't care. He had to get up there. He had to find Blood Star and he had to finish what she started.

He didn't know how much he climbed until he shoved a boulder aside and heard the sound echo strangely. He stepped up again only to find there were no more rocks to climb. Empty space yawned before him. Holding his arms out he stepped forward again and onto flat ground, kicking aside small rocks.

He found himself back in the tunnel. He remained there a moment to catch his breath before turning and skirting down the landslide. He couldn't leave Liana in there, cold and helpless in that black pit. She didn't deserve that.

Like a lurching shadow, Cole carried Liana's body up the landslide and into the tunnel. On he went, trudging slowly through the inky world. Occasionally he'd scrape his shoulder on a wall or bump his head on the ceiling, but he hardly felt them. The only things he felt were raw grief and reawakened rage. Rage was the thing that kept him going.

For what felt like a long time he only held Liana close and walked. The sound of his footsteps sounded unearthly against the black walls and floor; they made the silence feel loud. Step by step he made his way down the corridor.

He did not know where he was going. He only knew what had to be done.

Here, Blood Star... His thoughts grew dark and he wished he could send them to his sister. Come out, come out, wherever you are...

At this notion, an idea spawned and tentatively he reached out with his mind. He pushed his consciousness down the winding tunnel, feeling new spaces devoid of living souls. He pushed the consciousness past empty caves and caverns, searching for a beating heart.

Finally I'm putting my mind-bending to use, he thought gloomily. But am I too late? Has she—?

A warm sensation like a feather's tickle brushed against his scalp. Hesitating, he pushed his consciousness further and imagined it as a magic string stretching into the many corridors ahead of him.

At last he felt it: another soul's consciousness. It felt hot and alive. It almost stung, how the feeling writhed and thrashed like an angry animal. He thought he could catch words here and there like flickering shadows. It felt familiar in a haunting way.

Gotcha. Gritting his teeth, Cole strode forward and turned into a smaller tunnel.

On he went, putting one step in front of the other. Liana's body weighed down in his arms but he wouldn't let go. He dared not leave her in these cursed tunnels.

The tunnel slanted down and the air grew colder the further he walked. A couple times he nearly slipped, stumbling over small puddles of water dripping down the walls. As he regained his balance, something caught his eye.

Through the darkness, a blue light glowed faintly from a distance. Wondering if he was seeing things or had something in his eye, he blinked hard and looked again.

I'm not seeing things. There's light coming from down there. With a shiver he continued on, taking care to walk quietly. The tunnel continued slanting downwards. The further he went the more he could see; first the damp walls glistening on either side of him, then the individual pebbles scattered about the floor. When his sight adjusted to the gentle glow, he risked a look at his precious cargo.

He almost wished he hadn't. Liana's arms and legs dangled limply from his grasp. Her head lay nestled against his chest while her hair trailed over his upper arm. The expression on her bruised face was no longer twisted with pain, but rather she wore a peaceful expression. She could have been only sleeping if it weren't for her lifeless eyes staring into open space.

Stopping, he crouched down and slowly laid her on the ground, sheltered by a boulder. He reached over her head and gently slid her eyelids closed. It didn't seem right to leave them staring at nothing. At least she was no longer in pain.

No one will ever hurt you again.

Cole looked down the corridor again, took a deep breath, and quickened his pace. The glow grew brighter, though it never hurt his eyes; it left many shadows dancing around him. At last he turned a corner and entered a large cavern.

Mouth falling open, he stopped and gaped at the massive body of the Great Moonstone sitting in the middle of the cave. The unearthly blue glow seemed to come from both the stone's surface and a strange hazy cloud hovering at the ceiling. Small stars like twinkling snowflakes floated down from this cloud. They vanished as soon as they touched Cole and he couldn't feel them. It gave him the impression of walking into a dream while awake.

The echo of his footsteps sounded muffled, as if he were walking through snow. Noises like faint whispers bounced off the walls, though he could not make out what any of the voices were saying—if they were even there at all. Was he only hearing things? Had he hit his head? He scanned his surroundings warily.

At the east side of the cave, two humanoid shapes lying together on the ground caught his eye. Heart lurching, he eased toward them and peered through the Moonstone's light. His dread became horror and grief; Lloyd and Little Leaf lay there, limbs sprawled out awkwardly and the flesh at their throats bloody and torn to shreds. Cole nearly vomited just looking at them and he turned away.

His vision swam and his head spun. Both of them... both of them gone, all gone... He gritted his teeth. How many more of us will go before this is all over?

A pebble clattered. Spinning around, he scanned the cavern. To the west side, behind the Moonstone, a dark shape lurched in the shadows. A familiar female voice was mumbling incoherently.

Heart racing, Cole fingered the sai knives dangling from his belt. Mouth dry, pulse pounding, he stepped lightly and made his way toward the Moonstone.

Blood Star's voice mumbled behind it. Slowly, carefully, he made his way around the glowing structure and peered into the back of the cave. Then he stopped and held his breath.

There she was; back to him, kneeling on the cold ground. Her shoulders quivered and he wondered if she was shaking. He could hear her now, saying in a strange, halted voice, "So many... so many. I did it. I did it all. I am invincible. I am powerful. I am forever."

Gulping, Cole took another few steps closer, sliding his back against the Moonstone's surface as he tried to see her face. He was within ten feet of her. How hasn't she sensed me yet?

She was staring at her human hands with a glazed expression on her face. Blood coated her fingers and was smeared across her mouth. He stared at the stains with disgust, knowing the blood was not her own.

Her long raven hair fell across her face and down her back—it looked tangled and matted now, not as graceful as usual. Her robes of dark hues of green and blue pooled around her as if she were kneeling in liquid cloth. There was something distinctly unnerving about the way she sat so still despite her quivering chest, staring blankly at her blood-stained hands. This eery effect was emphasized by her rambling. "I did it... I did it all... see, I did it, I have saved us all... are you proud of me now?"

Her voice rose. "Say something! You gave me nine lives! Won't you speak to your daughter? I am your savior!" A sob interrupted her monologue, and she covered her mouth with both bloody hands. "Mama... please, speak to me. Are you not proud? I did it for you. So no one would ever be hurt like we were again." She clenched her eyes shut. "I'm sorry..."

Cole could not believe what he was seeing. Almost involuntarily his hands released the handles of the knives.

"—But Eagle Talon's death was a necessary sacrifice," Blood Star's voice went cold again. "As was Little Leaf's. If they had lived they would have been the tribe's demise. I did what I had to."

Fresh rage surged through Cole. "'Necessary sacrifice'! Was Liana a 'necessary sacrifice', too?!"

Blood Star sat up with a gasp and stared at him. Tears were glistening in her eyes.

Vision going red, Cole roared and threw himself at his sister; he barreled her over and jabbed his knee into her stomach, knocking the breath out of her. She fell on her back with a strangled cry.

Almost on instinct he took one of the knives from his belt and plunged it into her chest. It sank clean through her ribcage.

There was a single, horrible moment in which the brother and sister stared into each other's eyes. Shock, pain, grief and rage seemed to swirl together in Blood Star's expression. Then her eyes glazed over. Without a word her head fell back among her hair. He felt the life leave her body.

Cole crouched there for several seconds, shaking from head to toe. Knee to her stomach, head hovering over hers, he stared down at Blood Star's white face. Not a breath escaped her red lips. The cold reality of what he did started sinking in. Did I...? I did it. It was over so fast...

He did not move. Something did not feel right. That had been too easy.

Wait. His heart skipped a beat. Her nine—

Blood Star's chest heaved beneath him. Her eyes flashed open and he saw they were glowing a bright, ghostly blue. Gasping and snarling, his sister turned her head and sneered up at him.

"Beetle-brain."

A cold hand snatched Cole by the throat, and he choked. With inhuman strength Blood Star threw him single-handed across the cavern. He hit the ground and rolled to a stop with a groan.

No longer did Blood Star weep. She stood with her head held up loftily with that familiar, mocking smile on her face. What distorted her face was the blinding glow coming from her eyes. A crescent moon shape appeared on her forehead, shining as brightly as her eyes did. "I do hope you had a backup plan. I guarantee it shall be much harder to do that again."

Cole stared at her and felt horror drain him. That strength... she threw me like it was nothing! Does every death make her stronger?!

"Come now, I'm tired." She reached into the folds of her robes and withdrew a pair of glassy clearstone daggers. "Be pathetic for just another second and it shan't hurt for long." With that she charged him, daggers aimed for his chest.

Leaping up, Cole spun around and kicked one of her arms away just as she lunged. As she was thrown off-balance, he reached and snatched her other wrist. Stuck in his grasp, she swung her right arm around to slash at his face; he grabbed that wrist too and held her in place. She stood against him and glared into his eyes.

"You're a psychopath!" Cole roared. Anger replaced his fear and fueled his disgust. He could feel it pounding in his head and he shouted to the point of hurting his throat. "You push anyone out of your way, even your own family, just to get what you want! You're tearing apart other families, both cat and humans—heck, even wolves! You stole puppies just to make them mad!" He spat in her face. "You're crazy!"

"What else is new?" She grinned and his blood ran cold; the blue glow illuminated her face like a phantom's. "I don't care. It was worth it. It was all worth it."

The dagger that was dangling from her hand over his head dropped; the thin knife flashed by Cole's face as it fell and he felt a hot slice of pain. With a yelp he flinched back. Blood Star tore herself free. Cackling, she lunged at him with her remaining dagger.

The dagger flashed by his face but struck nothing; he jumped back. Hands curled into fists, breathing hard, he made a upward jerking motion with one fist. The ground erupted.

A bulge of stone popped out before him and struck Blood Star square in the chest. She voiced a strangled oomph! and went flying across the cave. She fell on her hands and knees and gasped for breath.

Cole did not stop. Concentrating, he shaped the bulge into a pillar. Then, with quick horizontal movements of his arms from his chest out, he divided the pillar into slabs and sent those slabs shooting across the cave. Like enormous round missiles they fell upon Blood Star and crashed into the wall behind her, sending rubble flying.

She dodged out of the way with a shriek before summoning a glowing green shield around herself. She sneered, "Elemental powers? Two can play at that game."

With that she thrust her arms out. Two massive boulders were yanked from the walls and hovered to her sides. With a grunt she tossed one at Cole. He ran to dodge the falling boulder and just barely Spinjitzu'd out of the way to evade the second one.

More boulders, though smaller, kept being thrown at him. Spinning as fast as he could, Cole dodged and flung these missiles away with his Spinjitzu. His vortex danced around the cavern like a tiny glowing tornado, flinging rubble and dust up in the air.

"You can't spin forever!" Blood Star laughed over the sound of crashing stone.

"You're right!" he released the vortex and let it evaporate. "Just like how you can't learn how to use an elemental power properly in a week!"

Her eyes flashed. She thrust her hands out and more boulders, like a stone army, surged toward him. This time Cole stood his ground and held his hands out as if to catch them all.

They stopped in mid-air and shuddered. Growling, Blood Star pushed harder. Cole could feel her energy shoving angrily against the boulders. He stood his ground and felt his own energy wrap around the boulders like an embrace, warm and familiar.

Their eyes met across the cave. "Sure, you absorbed my power," Cole grunted dryly. "But does that make you a master?"

With that, he gave an extra shove and the boulders flew toward Blood Star. She threw herself on the ground as stone smashed into the wall and sent rubble flying.

Cole stepped back from the rising dust cloud. "Sorry, sis," he said, dropping sarcastic emphasis, "but you'll have to practice a little longer to catch up with me."

"Maybe when it comes to throwing rocks," came the retort. "But can you best me in the battle of the mind?" Green eyes glinted dangerously from the curtain of dust.

Cole's stomach dropped. Close your mind. Don't look into her eyes. Think about Liana, remember her face, remember when she laughs, remember that night in the field, remember—

Too late. His head seemed to burst open and his vision swam in a haze of hazy colors. The cave, Blood Star, the Moonstone and everything else vanished from sight. Cole found himself falling through a whirlpool of both dark and light colors, swirling in a way that gave him a headache. Voices that sounded both strange and familiar bounced around in his head.

Memories. She's finding a scar-picture. His pulse picked up. I've got to get out of here. I've got to wake up. Wake up—!

He was in a house. He was walking down a familiar hallway. His father walked beside him, unusually quiet. Cole was a child, and there was a somber atmosphere about the household that chilled him to the bones.

His father stopped at a doorway. He looked down and forced a wane smile, placing a hand on young Cole's shoulder. It felt heavy and cold.

Cole looked into the room. It was soft and warm with sunlight, comforting, even. The soothing colors contrasted strangely with the figure sitting in the bed across the room. Her face was white and she looked small—too small, too weak. She wore a pale shift while her dark hair was up in a bun.

Feebly she coughed—as she had been doing much too often. She looked up and saw him, and a weak smile lit up her face. "Hi, honey."

His heart leapt. His mother was smiling. That was good. Still...

He ran and leapt into her arms. She caught and hugged him, just as she used to—except this time he could feel her arms trembling. She seemed to waver under his weight, as if all her previous strength had leaked away.

His heart sank back down again. "I don't want you to be sick anymore, Mom."

"I know," she murmured softly. "But..." she sighed, "we don't always get what we want, do we?"

Cole wanted to ask why she said that—what it meant. Yet all he could do was cling to her, staying in her embrace. Perhaps if he merely sat there and didn't move, she wouldn't let go of him. Yes, yes—if he did not let go of her, then she could not leave him...

He remembered she'd released him to ask about the fight he'd gotten into at school that day. That's what should have happened—but it didn't.

Time seemed to freeze. His mother stopped moving. She didn't speak.

"Mom?" Tentatively Cole pulled away. His mother was still sitting there, wearing that expression of weariness and concern... but she'd stopped moving. She looked as if she'd been frozen in place.

"Dad?" Voice shaking, he looked back at the doorway—and his blood froze.

His father was gone. In his place stood Blood Star, leaning casually against the doorway. She wore a kimono of mottled black, green, and midnight blue, as if she were merely another human villager stopping by. However, the feline slant of her pupils—and the knowing smirk on her face—betrayed her.

"Impressive." She walked up until she was standing over young Cole. He was so small, his half-sister towered over him. "Impressive, what with how you've buried that memory so deeply within yourself."

Young Cole couldn't move—it felt as if his present self and child self were fused together in a confusing jumble. He knew who this was, what was going on, and he fought to escape it. The child, however, was scared and bewildered. He could only stand there and tremble as Blood Star knelt before him, meeting him face-to-face. She cupped his face with one cold hand.

In a sing-song voice she chanted, "I've got a secret!"

In a flash of light the bedroom and his mother vanished. The light blinded him and he covered with face with a cry.

Then he was kneeling on stone, gritting his teeth as he tried to suppress his sobs. Every part of his body trembled from shock within himself. He felt hot and cold at the same time. Tears threatened to overflow.

"Want to know my secret?" Blood Star's voice sounded mocking as she stood over him. He thought he could detect a smile in her tone. "Want to know how your mother really died?"

Cole caught his breath.

"Raven Frost told me." She was walking leisurely around him in a circle. "Long ago—perhaps not long before that memory, he found your mother. She was the one who'd stolen pieces of the Great Moonstone in the first place, you know. So Raven Frost sought her out and demanded them back.

"She refused. They fought, and unfortunately, Raven Frost was wounded to the point of being unable to defeat the Daughter of Earth. Somehow she'd grown stronger since the Red Battle. She was about to kill him.

"But he found a way. He used the last of his strength to curse her."

Anger made Cole tighten his fists and glare into the ground.

"It was a curse of sickness. She won the duel, but he escaped, and she was doomed to a slow, painful death—the death of which you had the pleasure of witnessing."

His breathing quickened.

The sound of something hard brushing against nails reached his ears; she was brandishing a dagger over his head. A chill ran down his spine when he felt its icy tip gently prick his scalp.

"I suppose that's something else we share in common. Lost mothers." She hissed, "At least mine had more strength and valor than yours ever did."

Cole's heart stopped.

"Don't—!" He leapt to his feet and knocked the dagger out of her hand.

"Ever—!" In one spinning motion he kicked out and tripped Blood Star. She toppled with a startled yowl.

"Speak of my mother—!" He rolled on the ground and locked his sister in a choke hold, wrapping one arm around her neck and pulling back with the other.

"Again!" he roared as she thrashed and gurgled.

Feebly Blood Star rasped, "What about—?"

"What about what?!" he snapped back.

She shuddered in his grip. He could feel her body shifting. He braced himself for her to burst into black fur and to attack him with claws and teeth.

Except her hair turned pale blond, her face bore scars running down her eyes and her expression turned pleading.

"Cole...!" Liana's voice murmured in his ear. "Please— you're hurting me..."

Mingled grief and revulsion had him shoving her away. He scrabbled back and stared at her—Liana coughing and gasping, hair falling in waves around her face as she turned to him with a forlorn expression. "Cole..."

Then her expression turned mocking. Sneering, Liana stood and flipped her hair carelessly. "Ohh, please, don't hurt me! I love you so much! Let's run away together and have a family!" She threw back her head and cackled madly.

Cole's vision went red. With a roar he summoned a Spinjitzu vortex. He spun into Liana-Star, but she danced away with another cackle and shifted back into her own body. "Catch me if you can!"

Letting the vortex vanish, he landed and raced after her. "You sick, sick animal!"

Blood Star whipped around and flung something at him. Something shiny glinted in mid-air. Gasping, Cole summoned a shield of stone out of the ground. It burst out in front of him and he heard something sink into it. A quick look told him she'd flung a dagger at him.

He looked up to see her brandishing another; she stood several yards away, grinning wickedly. "Poor, poor little brother. Lost a loved one again? I know the feeling. It is not fun, is it, when someone takes away something very precious?"

Cole heaved for breath. He stood there for a moment to study her; the dagger in her hand, the glowing crescent shape on her head, her glowing eyes...

She has magic on her side. She can give herself forcefields and she's already crazy-strong with her new powers. He thought frantically and felt tempted to give into despair. I can't do this. I can't beat her. She's already got me going half-crazy. She's winning this mind-game, and I don't have anything on her. No memories, no—

He caught his breath. No. Wait.

A hint tugged at his brain; his and Eagle Talon's imprisonment in the bandit's palace, and what Twig Foot had done to them. He remembered seeing pieces of Talon and Blood Star's childhood.

Could I...? His mouth felt dry and he swallowed hard. Sweat dripped down his face. Might as well try. I just need a moment. One moment of weakness. He looked across the cavern again.

"Tsk. You look so tired." Blood Star's eyes flashed with a smile. "You look like you could use a nice, long nap."

"Maybe." Cole held his head up and raised his voice snidely. "Or maybe we could give you some therapy you've been needing for a long time... Tiny Paw."

The smug look on his sister's face melted. "That— that's my kit-name... How do you—?"

His heart pounded like an alarm bell in his ears. Cole stared into his sister's eyes, concentrated, sent out his energy—

—and felt his mind latch onto hers.

The world went dark. He could feel her consciousness thrashing against his, panicking. He seized the chance to press further, searching for that feeling—the feeling of prying open someone's box of memories, just as he'd practiced...

Then, something felt different. The darkness remained but the air felt warm. Cole felt his body curled up in something soft. He could hear a heartbeat from where he rested his head and purring vibrated against him.

A voice murmured over his head, "Sleep well, my daughter. I love you."

Silver Mist. Their mother, Cole realized with triumph. I did it.

Blood Star's voice screeched angrily in his ears, as if she were standing right beside him. How dare you! Get out of my head!

Make me. He pushed his energy out again, forcing more memories to flow. He could feel his latch, feeble as it was, constantly slipping and he worked frantically to readjust it. If he lost concentration for just one second she would be free and toss him out of her head.

Light, though gray and dim, appeared and showed that they'd moved on to daytime in the caves. A chubby brown tabby kitten was purring and wrestling with Blood Star—Tiny Paw at the time. With a jolt Cole realized it was young Eagle Talon. He was seeing him from Tiny Paw's eyes as the siblings played. They appeared to be only a few weeks old.

Or only a few months—hang on, how does age work for werecats? Cole got distracted. Whoa whoa, how old are you in cat years? Or do you age like people—?

A stinging sensation swept across his scalp. Immediately Cole shoved back, pushing his sister out of his brain. Whoa there, sweetheart, he thought snidely. Where do you think you're going?

You can't keep me like this! How dare you look into my memories! Blood Star yowled in his head. Release me!

You can dish it out but you can't take it, can you? With that Cole pressed harder and sought after memories where he could feel dramatic levels of emotion. It felt like walking around blindfolded and following the rising sensation of a hill to get to the top.

"Half-breed, half-breed! Eagle Feather and Tiny Paw are half-breeds!"

Young Blood Star stood with her brother in one of the caves. A white kitten—Soft Cloud—was taunting them and getting the other kittens to laugh at them. Her pelt was prickling with mingled anger and shame. She looked to see her brother lowering his head and staring at the ground, unable to meet anyone's eyes.

Outraged, Tiny Paw threw herself at Soft Cloud and did what she imagined warriors would do against a horrible enemy; scratched his face, making sure to find the parts that would hurt the most. She felt satisfied to hear him cry in pain beneath her.

Serves him right for making fun of us!

Soft Cloud cried and the mother cats came running with indignant meows. Tiny Paw felt her mother yank her away and it hurt. Usually her mother was gentle.

"She hurt me, Mama," Soft Cloud wailed. "Tiny Paw used her claws on me! I didn't even do anything to her!"

Angry, she snapped back, "Soft Cloud said Eagle Feather and I were half human! He said our father was a stinky human who ate cats! They called us half-breeds!"

"Tiny Paw, that is no excuse for you to hurt Soft Cloud." Silver Mist's voice was sharp. Tiny Paw flinched from the coldness of it.

I thought she would be proud of me!

"I'm sure he was only teasing. Apologize at once."

Now hurt, Tiny Paw glared at her mother in silence. Why are you on his side? I was being a good warrior!

Silver Mist flattened her ears. "Apologize."

"Sorry."

Silver Mist continued glaring down at her daughter. Her face vanished and the faint images of other cats—mostly kittens—flickered together and against each other in weird colors, as if Cole were watching an old movie on bad film. Voices rose and mingled together in different tones and words; some were loud and taunting, others were quiet and icy.

"Soft Cloud says you an' Eagle Feather are half-breeds."

"No, you can't play with us!"

"Control your temper! You'll get nowhere acting like a spoiled brat."

"Silver Mist never talks about that time when— oh, hush, that kit's listening."

"Sorry, Tiny Paw... guess we just forgot about you."

"Go wandering off and you shall end up as your mother did, the foolish thing..."

"We don't want you here."

A softer voice interrupted. A new picture flickered that showed Silver Mist sitting by Tiny Paw. They were in a dark cave where a small stream trickled. Silver Mist was looking down at her daughter with kind eyes. "Do not listen to them. They do not know who you are."

"But they're always so mean to me! And Eagle Feather!" the tiny kitten wailed. "What do I do to make them stop?"

Silver Mist leaned over her like a protective shield. "Push back. Tell them they're wrong. Never give up, and eventually you will earn their respect." She nuzzled Tiny Paw gently. "As a student you shall not only learn how to fight and hunt, but how to command and lead. Bakeneko and nekomata are the most cunning and powerful creatures in the land. Be proud of what you are and build upon your abilities to become the best. I know you can do it, little one."

Your abilities... Silver Mist vanished. In the next scene Tiny Paw was playing with a ball of moss by herself. The toy bounced out of her paws and went to the other side of the cave. She ran after it purring—then stopped in her tracks.

A narrow-faced kitten with a black and white-patched pelt stood at the entrance. One paw was draped over the moss ball while his whiskers twitched in a sneer.

"Hey there, two-leg," he drawled.

Irritation made Tiny Paw's pelt prickle. "That's mine. Give it back."

"Make me, two-leg." Purring, the tom stepped over the ball and swiped a small paw at her.

She leapt at him with a small growl and tried to grab the ball. He kicked it away and ran after it, lashing his tails to and fro. It looked like two kittens playing normally, but there was a sort of suppressed tension in the air that made Tiny Paw feel small and trapped.

"Nya-ha, can't catch me, two-leg!" Even the innocent-sounding tease made Tiny Paw want to rake her claws across his face.

She stopped and glared at him. "Why do you keep calling me 'two-leg'? I have four legs, Little Ears. You're dumb."

Young Tall Ears replied, "Because you're half-human and that's how many legs you'll have when you transform and eat us up. That's what I heard my father saying."

Tiny Paw rolled her eyes. "That's beetle-brained."

She started for the moss ball, but he jumped in front of her in a crouch. "It's true! Being half-human makes you more violent but also weaker than a normal cat!" He bared his teeth. "I bet I could beat you in a second!"

"Leave me alone. Your father is weird and you're mean." She turned for the exit tunnel.

Little Ears barreled into her and they fell wrestling on the ground. She felt tiny claws scratch her head and shoulders. She struggled under his paws. "Stop it! You're being dumb! And hurting me!"

"Fight back, then!" He crowed, "You're so wimpy!"

Bewilderment and anger made Tiny Paw's fur feel hot. She thrashed, but Little Ears was bigger and stronger than she was and pushed her down on her back. He scratched her belly and she cried out.

"Wimpy half-breed! My father says you should have never been born!" Little Ears purred mockingly.

Heat surged from Tiny Paw's heart to her head to her limbs. A flash of green fire burst from her paws and shot into Little Ears's face. He yowled and stumbled off of her. His wails echoed hauntingly off the walls.

Shocked, Tiny Paw could only watch the other kitten swipe at his face frantically. Almost as soon as they'd appeared the green flames vanished. However, fresh burns now stood out against Little Ears's muzzle. They looked painful.

"Mama!" Wailing, he barreled out of the cave. "Mama, Tiny Paw hurt me!"

"No, stop, don't tell on me!" She started after him, feeling sick to her stomach. "Please don't tell—!"

"Get away from me, you monster!" The kitten fled down the tunnel. Tiny Paw was left alone.

She crouched down and shivered. Leftover hurt mingled with that horrible, sick feeling of knowing she was in trouble. Little Ears's cries lingered in her ears, and the silence of the dark cave made them feel louder. She felt small, helpless, and wretched.

I didn't mean to hurt him, she thought pitifully. I don't even know what I did! Where did that light come from? Did I hurt Little Ears badly? She longed for her mother's comforting presence, until she realized Silver Mist would probably be very angry with her. The longing for comfort turned into fresh terror.

She will hate me! Mama will hate me for this! I don't even know what I did wrong...!

The sound of paw steps padding toward her made her freeze. She couldn't help but whimper when a cat slowed and entered the cave.
"Little Ears says you hurt him," a male voice murmured.

Tiny Paw stared at the thin tom standing before her. "Sky Pelt," she squeaked.

She had never met any of the sorcerers. Silver Mist had always told her to stay out of their way and to not bother them. They had dark, strange powers and mysterious duties that separated them from the rest of the tribe. She would fall silent with the other kittens whenever one of them came near. Now she had one of these sorcerers staring down at her like a hawk stares at a rabbit.

However, this sorcerer's voice was light and gentle. "Care to tell me what happened, little one?"

Tiny Paw realized he was waiting for her to respond. Gulping, she stood and tried to look brave. "We— we were playing... but Little Ears was teasing me. He called me names and made me wrestle with him. I didn't want to, but he hurt-ed me and wouldn't let me go. And then..." Her voice trailed off.

"And then?" Sky Pelt pressed gently.

She took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to, I promise! But— I got real angry, and a green light like fire came from my paws and hit his face. He cried and ran away." She stared at her paws. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"Could you show me?"

Startled, she stared at Sky Pelt. "Huh?"

"The green fire. Could you show me what you did?" His ears were pricked forward—he looked strangely interested.

Her mouth went dry. Hesitatingly she shook her head. "I don't know how. It just happened." She began backing away from him. "I promise I won't do it again. Please don't tell Mama—"

In the blink of an eye Sky Pelt lunged and slammed her on her back. She shrieked in terror and thrashed. "Mama!"

"Your mother cannot hear you. No one can," Sky Pelt murmured. "You are all alone."

Tiny Paw felt like crying. What would Sky Pelt do to her? What was happening? Her heart pounded in her ears, faster than it ever had before.

"Please! Let me go!" Hysteria crept over her and she screamed, "Let me go, let me go, let me go!"

Heat surged down her limbs to her paws, and that same green fire burst out of her. It flew in Sky Pelt's face and burned his paw. With a grunt he staggered away.

The kitten scrambled to her paws and crouched in one corner of the cave, where she shivered from shock.

I did it again! I shot fire out of my paws!

The green flames vanished. Groaning, Sky Pelt licked his burned paw for a minute. Then he rose his head and looked at her. To her surprise his eyes were gentle.

"I am sorry for scaring you, Tiny Paw," he said. "But I wanted to see what you had done to Little Ears." He sat and tilted his head. "Do not be afraid, little one. I promise I won't hurt you."

She remained in the corner and stared at him. Then, slowly, she stood and made her way over to Sky Pelt. "Will you tell Mama?" she whispered.

To her dismay he nodded. "Of course. But do not worry. You will not get in trouble. In fact, it is quite the contrary." His eyes twinkled strangely. "It seems you are a very special kitten. You have the touch."

The touch... That was the first time Tiny Paw heard the term used. Cats continued to use it when Sky Pelt asked Silver Mist if the sorcerers could test Tiny Paw, then when he brought her to meet Raven Frost, Broken Fang, Lion Claw, Rip Claw, and Twig Foot.

They'd all stared at her suspiciously, making her feel small and unwanted. However, Sky Pelt crouched and quietly encouraged her, "Do not mind them. Only concentrate. Remember that feeling you had when you summoned the green fire?"

Shakily she nodded. "Yes."

"Try to summon it again."

"But— but—!" she stammered. "I only did it when I was angry and scared! I don't think—"

"Try," Sky Pelt urged. "You are not a quitter, are you?"

"Of course not!" Taking a deep breath, she looked at her paws and focused. She tried to imagine that warm feeling was surging back into her limbs and that the green fire was erupting from her paws.

For what felt like forever she stood there awkwardly. She felt the sorcerers' stares all too keenly and tried not to shudder.

Twig Foot made her jump when he snorted, "This is beetle-brained. This kit is just wasting our time. Get her out of here—"

Tiny Paw had barely registered the anger surging through her when a tongue of green fire bolted from her and lashed at Twig Foot. Yowling, he sprung back and immediately began licking his singed chest fur.

A booming laugh came from the fat, dark-pelted tom, Rip Claw. "Ha-ha! This is a feisty one! Well done, dear Sky Pelt." His eyes glinted at her. "I believe we have found the Seventh Sorcerer."

"Finally," Broken Fang murmured, "the circle is complete. The Seven Sorcerers shall rule the mountains once more."

Tiny Paw remembered running to her mother and brother and excitedly telling them the wonderful news. Silver Mist was skeptical and fussed, but Eagle Feather was supportive and happy for her. A memory showed him saying, "That's great, Tiny Paw! I always knew you were something special."

It was only to her brother that Tiny Paw could confess, "I'm actually kinda nervous. The sorcerers are all so old, and they're kind of scary, and I don't know anything about controlling magic!" As she spoke those fears came back like butterflies in her stomach. "What if I can't do what they tell me? What if I'm not good enough? What if—?"

"Don't get your tail in a twist! You'll do great," Eagle Feather replied with a gentle head-butt. "Really. I just know it."

Tiny Paw approached her training as bravely as she could. She spent both days and nights in the caverns furthest from the tribe, where water dripped and blind creatures crept, to be trained under Raven Frost. She felt scared of him at first, but grew to feel braver with him. He taught her the secret to the Silent Speech, in which the sorcerers could communicate with each other and with other cats in their heads.

Learning how to harness the energy of the mind opened the doors to a whole new avenue of abilities: the sleeping spell that puts the victim out for several minutes. The torture spell that makes the victim feel pain like a horrible headache. The spell that summons an old memory to distract the victim. The Dark Sleep that curses the victim to sleep eternally plagued by nightmares. On and on, Tiny Paw learned, practiced, and advanced.

Gradually the practices became more gruesome, and she had no choice but to become desensitized to cruelty and violence. One memory showed an afternoon in which Broken Fang had her practice on a live rabbit they'd caught. The thing trembled and crouched in one corner of the cave, its eyes so wide Tiny Paw could see the whites of them.

"Reach out with your mind and feel its beating heart," Broken Fang instructed in her old rasp. "Do not touch it. Only get into its head and sense what the rabbit fears most. Then make it see that fear."

Tiny Paw obeyed and felt her energy seep into the rabbit's brain. Its terror felt so strong she flinched and even felt pity. "It's so scared. Could we let it go after—?"

A paw cuffed her roughly at the head. "Pay attention! Don't waste feelings for the enemy!" Broken Fang snapped. "One moment of pity could lead to whoever—or whatever—you're fighting turning on you and ending the fight there. Remember: in warriors, kindness is weakness. Only the strong and cunning survive."

"Yes, Broken Fang." Swallowing back her pity, Tiny Paw turned her attention back to the rabbit and searched for images in its head—ones that made its little heartbeat race faster.

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

The faces of different creatures appeared. Tiny Paw clung to them and made them stay; the fox, the snake, the yellow-eyed wolf, and the lithe stoat all appeared before the rabbit's vision as if they were there in the cave—she knew because its heartbeat picked up like lightning.

Ba-dum-ba-dum-ba-dum—!

"Good," Broken Fang hissed. "Now. Attack."

Tiny Paw chose one enemy: the stoat. Now she created a new picture. She imagined herself from the rabbit's point of view and pictured a black-tailed stoat zipping out of the shadows toward her. It leapt and lunged for the rabbit's throat.

A high-pitched scream made her jump. Limbs quivering, the rabbit thrashed on the ground. Its voice came out in panicked squeaks as the vision wreaked its havoc.

"See that?" Broken Fang purred, "That is power. The rabbit is too focused on what it thinks it sees to realize the real enemy is not even touching it. We are the greatest power, because we hide in the shadows and let our visions take the fight out of our opponents for us." She sounded pleased. "Well done, Tiny Paw."

The rabbit was still shrieking as it writhed on the ground. The sound grated against her ears, but Tiny Paw chose to feel proud of her accomplishment. She rose her head and purred, "It's very scared, isn't it? I made the stoat feel as real as possible."

"Do not get a big head about it." Despite the rebuke, Broken Fang still sounded pleased. "Kill it now and give it to the elders. That is all for today."

Nodding, Tiny Paw unsheathed her claws and ended the rabbit's agonized screeching.

As if they were flipping through a photo album, pictures of Tiny Paw's training flashed by; learning how to use human weapons with Lion Claw. Practicing attack spells with Broken Fang and Rip Claw. Using the Dark Sleep on rabbits and squirrels. Learning how to hunt and fight in their different bodies. Concentrating on sensing other cats' presences with the Silent Speech in pitch-black caves. Even shifting into her human body to walk the streets of a human city, so as to become accustomed to the human body and to fulfill little missions undetected by the human world. Tiny Paw hated any training that had to do with humans, but she applied herself to all of it and worked hard.

The pictures showed that her training separated her from her mother and brother most of the time. Yet she made the effort to meet with them for meal-time every once in a while. She'd tell Silver Mist excitedly about all the new things she'd learned and even taught Eagle Feather a bit on how to use the Silent Speech. Once he caught the grasp of it, they'd share secret messages with one another in their heads, resulting in suppressed giggles and private jokes.

At last the pictures settled onto one scene, one that took place in the massive gathering cavern. Tiny Paw had grown up. They were standing in the middle of a massive crowd of cats—the entire tribe had come to watch the ceremony. Broken Stone, the leader of the Moon Tribe, sat upon the Meeting Rock that made his throne while the sorcerers lined up on either side of him. They gazed eagerly at Tiny Paw as Broken Stone called her name.

"Come forward," he rasped.

Though she felt sick to her stomach, she stepped forward beneath the boulder. The crowd was dead-silent. Heart hammering, she sat with her tails wrapped neatly over her paws.

"We have gathered together for a wonderful celebration," Broken Stone said, beginning his speech. "We have here Tiny Paw and Eagle Feather, the daughter and son of Silver Mist..."

As the old tom droned on, Tiny Paw couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at her family. Silver Mist's eyes were gleaming with pride as she looked at her daughter. Eagle Feather, nearly as tall as his mother now, could hardly contain his purrs of delight. They had both worked hard for this moment.

Anxiety, however, made Tiny Paw's black fur prickle. What does the rest of the tribe think? Involuntarily she let her gaze flicker to the crowd.

Many of the faces gazing upon the ceremony looked encouraging enough, if only out of politeness. However, most cats hardly dared to move or make a sound. They bristled and looked away when she met their eyes. Somehow, Tiny Paw got the sense that not everyone was happy about the ceremony.

Resentment boiled within—until she realized, No one seems angry. Or even mocking... She stared harder at the crowd and wondered what it was she was sensing.

A black-and-white shape caught her eye. Familiar resentment surged as she recognized Tall Ears—once her kit-hood tormentor, now a warrior who would often still be seen whispering among his friends and sneering at her and Eagle Feather.

Yet there was nothing mocking about Tall Ears's expression now. When she met his eyes, he ducked his head and looked away. His fur could just barely be seen bristling.

He's afraid, she realized. With a jolt she swept her gaze across the crowd of cats. Many seemed to wear the same expression as Tall Ears did.

They are all... afraid. Of me. The realization took her breath away. She could hardly hear Broken Stone as the new thoughts waved through her mind.

It is not because of the rumors about me being half-human. It is because I am something they all fear: a sorcerer. They fear my powers, my abilities... they fear me.

In that moment Tiny Paw felt an acute sense of loneliness. It opened up in her heart like a dark pit. No one wants to be my friend. No one wants to be my mate. No one wants to know me for who I am inside.

The pang of isolation clawed her to the core.

"... Now as full warriors of the Tribe of the Moon, I bestow upon Tiny Paw and Eagle Feather the right to claim their full names."

Broken Stone had finished. He was looking down at her expectantly now. So were the sorcerers, her mother, her brother, and the whole of the Tribe of the Moon.

Tiny Paw gulped and took a deep breath. They fear me.

A strange sensation came with those words, different from the first time she thought them. It replaced the emptiness with something excited—something hot and alive.

They fear me. She raised her head up as the new meaning surged through her. I do not have to be the one who is afraid anymore. I am not weak. I am powerful, and every cat here knows it. She had to resist the urge to purr with delight.

I do not need friends. I do not need lovers. Let them fear me. Respect spawns from fear. One day everyone shall respect me and know me as the most powerful, the most fearsome of our kind. I will show them all that I am a force to be reckoned with.

I don't have to be afraid anymore. I am no longer a scared little kitten. I know who I am.

Tiny Paw raised her voice and announced, "I, Tiny Paw, daughter of Silver Mist, choose my name to be Black Blood, in the hope that my name will give me strength and power to fight for the clan that raised me and defend it from all harm. I hereby vow to be a loyal and faithful warrior to the Tribe of the Moon until my time comes to walk among the stars."

The murmur of mingled approval and wariness followed those words. The sound confirmed her suspicions. They feared her. They feared her powers. Now, already they feared her name.

Eagle Feather stepped next to his sister and gave his vow. "I, Eagle Feather, son of Silver Mist, choose my name to be Eagle Talon..."

The crowd cheered louder for him than they had for his sister. They were not scared of him.

That is all right, Black Blood thought. Let the rumors fly, let the whispers come. In the end, I will be the one they answer to.

Next Raven Frost was leading her into one of the chambers forbidden from the rest of the tribe. It was there Black Blood saw the Great Moonstone for the first time. They entered in the daytime, when a shaft of sunlight from the surface made the surface glitter. Black Blood stared at the strange mineral in awe.

"It must look beautiful in moonlight."

"Indeed it is." There was something dark about Raven Frost's tone. "It would be more beautiful if its core pieces were restored and the ancestors could return to it."

Black Blood felt her ears prick forward. "What happened to the pieces?"

"Do you not recall the tragedy of the Red Battle?" The old tom snorted, "They were stolen by the Daughter of Earth, she who broke the Great Moonstone and cut the tribe off from our ancestors forever. When I was young we attempted to search for the lost pieces, but they had already been scattered across Ninjago. Maybe even beyond."

Black Blood's gazed at the lifeless Moonstone and observed the spots where the core pieces ought to have been. "This was how we contacted our ancestors. Was this how Ember Star got the gift of nine lives?"

"Indeed... Though that was many, many seasons before even my time. No Moon Tribe leader was given that gift after him. It was given because our ancestors knew Ember Star was cunning and wise and would bring the bakeneko and nekomata tribes together permanently."

"I wonder—say the Moonstone pieces were restored—if the ancestors would ever give that gift again," Black Blood murmured, half to herself.

"I believe they decreed only leaders could have that gift, so as to better lead their tribe. After all, what creature would wish to challenge a tribe whose leader can return from death itself over and over again?" He turned away and grunted, "Come. You may gawk at it as much as you like later."

"Raven Frost."

"Mm?"

Black Blood turned to look at him inquiringly. "Can a sorcerer ever be made leader?"

The old cat stared at the young female uncomfortably. "I suppose... though only if one were made second-in-command. Only the leader's favored warrior can inherit the title after he joins the stars."

"There's no law saying a leader cannot appoint a sorcerer as second-in-command?"

"No... but it would be redundant, as the Seven Sorcerers are already supposed to act as advisors and guardians for the leader."

"Bird Poppy just died of that illness," she said excitedly. "And Broken Stone says he wants to wait until mourning is over to appoint a new second-in-command. Perhaps if—"

"Hold your tongue, Black Blood!" Raven Frost snapped, bristling. "Do not say what I think you are about to say."

"Why not?" She glared back at him. "I may be young, but I am one of the most skilled sorcerers among you. I am a great warrior in combat. I am cunning in tactics. You know this. You've told me this. Given time, why should I not—?"

"Don't make me laugh!" He didn't laugh. "You are hardly more than a kitten. You let your emotions get the best of you in both battles of the body and mind. You are cunning, yes, but you do not have wisdom to know what is good for the tribe as a whole—not just what is beneficial to the sorcerers." His eyes narrowed dangerously. "Do not speak like this again, especially in front of the tribe. Broken Stone will not take too kindly to your ambitions of taking over so soon after his believed second-in-command's death."

Hurt and indignant, Black Blood wanted to rage at her mentor, to defend herself. Instead she stewed in silence.

He snorted. "That's what I thought. Let us go." He turned and disappeared in the exit tunnel.

Black Blood didn't move. Anger made her fur prickle hotly.

You just wait. I shall bide my time as I work the hardest and become the best warrior in the tribe. One day I shall prove you wrong.

The scene faded away and mingled with pictures of Black Blood joining patrols, helping out in hunting parties, and more as she indeed applied herself wholeheartedly to the good of the tribe. Yet none of these pictures showed her making any personal connections with her tribe-mates. Her feelings felt cold, aloof from them all. The coldness in particular hardened when images of Silver Mist with a sandy-brown tom began popping up. Voices, secretive and teasing, crowded around her head, until one of them became clearer than the rest.

"Black Blood. Did you not hear me? I said Bracken Stripe and I are expecting kits." The mother and daughter were sitting together on a sandy riverbank outside. There was a wintry chill in the air that contrasted with the fiery colors of the sunset behind the hills.

"I heard you." Black Blood was not looking at her mother. She was staring at a leaf as it was carried away by the stream. "Congratulations... or whatever I am expected to say."

Silver Mist sounded hurt. "I am happy with Bracken Stripe. And you are about to have little brothers and sisters. Why are you not excited, like Eagle Talon?"

"I am pleased for you. Truly." Black Blood meant it, despite her grudging tone. "It is... good to see you happy. I would simply rather not interact with Bracken Stripe or the kittens. I am fine as I am."

"I thought you would have liked having a father..."

"Yes, when I was a kit. I do not need a father now." Bristling, Black Blood got up and stalked away. "I do not need anyone."

The scene faded away with a howl of wind; now Black Blood was traversing the treacherous mountainside. She carried a freshly-killed rabbit in her jaws as she made her way down a rocky slope. The sky overhead was dark with clouds and a cold wind was stirring against her fur. Winter was nearly here.

A shrill cry made her jump. The voice of the creature was unfamiliar, but it sounded young and in distress. Curious yet wary, she broke into a trot and followed the sound to a sandy valley.

She dropped her rabbit when she saw it: a male human, cowering between a several large boulders. A snarling black bear stood on its hind legs and towered over the human. It swung its great clumsy paws, trying to reach its prey. The human crouched far back in the crevice, but it would not be long until the bear reached him.

Black Blood's ears pricked forward with interest. I've never seen a bear eat a human before. This should be interesting.

Then the human cried out; a long, shrill cry it was. The bear had reached in and evidently wounded the thing. There was a scurrying motion in the crevice and she caught sight of the human's face. With a start she realized he was merely a kit, hardly older than she was.

"Help!" the human wailed pitifully. "Somebody help, please!"

No one can hear you, beetle-brain. Do you have any idea how far away you are from the villages?

Despite her initial contempt, a new, unwanted feeling began interrupting her amusement as the bear continued to reach into the crevice and rip its claws at the human. To her dismay she finally realized the feeling was pity mingled with guilt.

Nonsense. Let him face the consequences of his foolishness. Guilt made her fur prickle even more. But... he is so very small...

The black bear, snuffling, lowered its shaggy head clumsily and reached into the dark crevice. Another shout of mingled terror and pain split the air.

Black Blood hardly remembered the next few seconds. She was bounded down the hillside and shifted into her nekomata body. Caterwauling, she raked her claws down the bear's backside and forced him away from the rock cluster. Initially the bear reacted furiously and attempted to bite her head clean off. Yet she ducked the bite and shoved him over, raking her claws up and down its thick hide. At last the fat beast gave up and hastily loped off.

She changed into her human body and took a minute to catch her breath before going back and inspecting the crevice. Now that she'd risked her life, she might as well see if the stupid creature were still alive.

Unfortunately, he was. The boy crouched trembling in the shadow of the crevice. When Black Blood knelt at the entrance, he jumped with a gasp.

"Oh. You're still alive." She surveyed the human dispassionately. "Well. You can come out now. The bear's gone."

The boy didn't move. He only stared at her with eyes the size of dinner plates.

"Fine, die in a hole. See if I care." Huffing, she stood up and started to clamber out of the little valley.

After several moments of silence, a weak voice croaked, "Wait!"

Almost against her will, she stopped and looked back the rock cluster. The young human was climbing out with quivering limbs. Both his arms and legs bore ugly gashes, and a dark bruise stood out on one side of the creature's face. The human stood small and pathetically as he looked pleadingly up at her.

"Please— please help me." It seemed a strain for him to say the words. "I'm lost. I think I'm gonna die." He coughed and rasped, "Don't leave me alone here."

Black Blood gazed at him. She could feel herself hovering on the precipice of indecision.

The valley vanished. Snow fell thickly as the boy leaned against Black Blood and she half-dragged him up a cliffside. The wind blew harder and colder the further they went, yet she forced him to press on. Ignoring his moans and complaints, she at last found one of the caves in which the tribe hunting parties would hide their caught prey. For now it was empty and the scent of her tribe-mates was stale. The two youths clambered into the small space and dropped to the floor.

"What's this place?" the human grunted, sitting up and leaning against the slanted wall.

"Never seen a cave before? Can't say I'm surprised," Black Blood deadpanned.

He shot her an irritated look as he rubbed his head. "I meant—"

"This is safe place. You may rest and heal here."

Hunching his shoulders, the human hugged himself and shivered. "Thanks."

She looked at him distastefully. Part of her felt mad at herself for giving into the urge to help this pathetic creature. The other part felt curious about him, which mingled with, admittedly, even concern for him. After all, he wasn't really a stupid animal... he was more like her.

"Are you going to leave me here?" The boy looked up at her.

She stared at him. Then she snorted, "Of course not. I did not save your life only to let you starve to death."

Black Blood had the human kit lie down in a bed of moss and dried grasses, leftover from summer that year. She gave him her cloak to wear and started a fire; the boy had gasped in awe when the unearthly green flames had appeared between her hands and licked at the pile of twigs she'd set up.

"What are you?" Jaw agape, he looked at her incredulously. "How did you do that?"

She felt her mouth twitch. "Never heard of magic?"

His gaze turned suspicious. "What, like Elemental Masters?"

"I do not know what those are. So no." She glanced at his wounds again and made a mental note to grab some healing herbs from the Moon Tribe caves. "What is your name?"

He hesitated, watching the green fire. "Eito."

"Eito," she repeated. "What a ridiculous name."

Eito looked insulted. "How's that ridiculous? What's your name?"

Sniffing, she held her head up loftily. "I am Black Blood."

He stared at her, then burst into a snort of laughter. "'Black Blood'? That's gotta be the dumbest name I've heard!"

Her cheeks flushed hotly. "What are you laughing at, beetle-brain?! That is an excellent name!"

"It sounds like the name of a rock band that's trying too hard," he snickered.

She stared at him. "You... are not afraid of me?"

"Pfft, as if!"

Flustered, she crossed her arms and turned her back on him with a huff. "Hmph!"

You should be terrified of me. Foolish kit. You have no idea what I am capable of! I am one of the Seven Sorcerers of the Tribe of the Moon. She stewed silently. I could kill you right now, or curse you with something horrible—like the Dark Sleep, and you would see all your worst fears come true—!

"So, like, what're you doing up here?" Eito interrupted her indignant train of thought. "Is your family like, a bunch of hermits or something?"

She shot him a cold glare. "Oh, haven't you heard? I am from the line of Nunya."

"Nunya?" His eyebrows rose. "What's the line of Nunya?"

"Nunya business," Black Blood snapped.

Eito stared at her, mouth agape. Suddenly he burst into laughter and fell onto his side.

Unnerved by the racket, she grimaced. "Ancestors save me, the thing's finally gone mad."

"That's one of the oldest jokes in the book," he gasped. "But you're funny."

"I am not funny," she sniffed. "I am dangerous. And you should be more careful of what you meet in these mountains, Eito, Son of No One."

"Son of no one? Hey!" He looked indignant. "For your information, I have parents, and they've been married for a long time!"

"Then why are you here and not with them, where you belong?"

His smile melted. "It's complicated."

Black Blood flashed a baleful look at the blizzard swirling outside the narrow entrance. She felt tempted to say something else snarky, but Eito's new silence gave her pause. She observed him.

He was staring sullenly at his feet. She took in his bruised face. Though his skin was olive-brown, it looked faint in the fading light and circles stood out from under his eyes. His dark hair fell in messy bangs around his face, despite the low ponytail that evidently was meant to catch most of it.

She realized she was staring at his face for too long when he looked up. An acute sense of embarrassment made her face burn, though she couldn't detect why.

"So... really," he said slowly. "Do you live here? In these mountains?"
"Of course."

"Huh... why?"

"It's complicated."

After a long, uncomfortable silence, she stood up with a haughty toss of her hair. "You made me leave my rabbit behind. I shall go and try to find us some food."

"Oh, you don't have to do that." The human rummaged in the leather satchel he had slung over his shoulder. He pulled out a package wrapped in paper and ripped the paper away. He waved a small, round object at her. "I packed a lunch. Want some?"

Black Blood stared at it. "What is it?"

"Rice cakes. Duh." He flashed her a teasing grin. "What, never had one before?"

Human food. Ech. She turned away, barely suppressing a sneer. "I am not hungry."

Naturally her stomach chose to rumble loudly, sending hunger pangs.

She glared down at her belly. "I hate you sometimes."

"Your stomach'll only hate you right back 'till you eat something," Eito said innocently.

She flashed him a contemptuous look, ready to refuse him once more—but then realized that eating was more important than pride. Even if did have to be human food.

Tentatively, though still trying to regain her icy composure, she sat down beside Eito at the fire. He handed her the rice cake and she looked at it suspiciously.

"What? Think I'm gonna poison you?" With a smirk he took a large bite out of the rice cake. It cracked and crumbs spewed. "Mmmmm! S'thee? Yummy!"

Flashing him an ugly look, Black Blood took a deep breath and bit into the rice cake. It felt harder and scratchier than she'd thought it would. For a split second she wanted to spit it out.

No. I will not falter in weakness before a human, of all things. I am not afraid! She glared at the cake in her mouth. Rice cake, prepare to meet your doom!

With that she bit, chewed, and swallowed with iron-like resolve. It tasted stale and bland, yet at the same time there was a strange charm to it. It was nothing like the warm, fleshy meat she always ate. It was new, it was interesting, and when she finished it, she felt a vague sense of disappointment that it was over.

"I've got more." Another rice cake was placed into her hand. She looked at the grinning human, the rice cake, and kept eating.

Both of them relaxed as they ate. The snow whirled and the wind howled, but the cave embraced them in a shadowy hug. The fire warmed them and made the icy world outside feel distant and unreal, like they were sitting in a happy dream.

Eito was dropping rice crumbs all over the cloak Black Blood had lent him, but she decided she didn't care. For a human he was surprisingly harmless, nice, and intelligent. He'd lost the initial wariness with which he'd regarded her and now sat beside her munching on his rice cake contentedly. It felt strange, for someone who was not her family to seem comfortable with her around. The human acted neither arrogant nor fearful, and to her surprise, the treatment felt refreshing.

He shared her water with her, and she inspected his wounds again, wishing she'd worked harder on learning healing powers from Sky Pelt. Somehow healing had never seemed very important until now.

Eito took out the last of what was in the packaging, but this wasn't rice cake. It looked bigger and softer, pale and glazed over with something white. She stared at it. "What in the world is that?"

His eyes widened. "You've never had cake? Like, real cake?"

"No. What is it?"

He drew puffed his chest and spoke theatrically. "This, my dear hermit and possibly-a-serial-killer friend, is only one of, if not the best desserts in the history of ever. Behold! Baked flour, light as a feather! Eggs, milk, and vanilla combined with a truckload of sugar for the ultimate sweetness and thickness! Frosting so thick you'd have to cut through with a knife!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but you seem excited."

"I will not rest until I see you take a bite out of this!" He used his knife to cut the cake in half and handed it to her. He took a huge bite out of his and heaved an exaggerated sigh.

Rolling her eyes, she sniffed the soft object in her hands. The sweet smell nearly overwhelmed her, and the soft white stuff on top clung to her fingers like mud. Carefully she took a small bite... and immediately fell in love.

It was the greatest thing she had ever tasted. She savored each bite slowly. Eito laughed whenever she sighed happily and hastily caught and licked up the bits of frosting that would drip off. When it was gone she licked every last bit of sweetness off her fingers, not wasting a single crumb.

"That was... wonderful!" she exclaimed.

Eito looked delighted and laughed, "Whoa, you can smile?"

With a guilty start she realized the corners of her mouth were pointing up and she was baring her teeth at him. Hastily she covered up her mouth. She didn't want him to think she was threatening him. "I— I beg your pardon, I did not—"

"What're you sorry for?" He looked perplexed when she covered up her mouth. "Smiles are good! It means you're happy!"

Baring your teeth in the human world is friendly? She felt confused. "Happy...?"

"Yeah." Before she could react, he reached over and gently pulled her hands from her face. "And, like, you've got a nice smile."

For once Black Blood felt herself at a loss for words. His human hands wrapped around her wrists felt strange, but not exactly uncomfortable or invading. She could only stare at him stupidly—in doing so for the first time she noticed his eyes were a handsome gray color.

Eito's face suddenly flushed bright pink and he released her. Not sure what she did wrong, Black Blood muttered, "Thank you, I think..."

"You're welcome," he mumbled as he glanced away from her, seeming sheepish. However, he soon brightened up again and started talking.

Picking up that Black Blood didn't like questions about her background, he rambled on about his own life. Though she couldn't understand everything he talked about regarding the human world, the stories of his friends and family were funny and charming. His voice sounded bubbly with a slight rasp that made her feel warm and safe. The way he described his home made her feel as if she were there, part of the family and walking the busy streets or playing with his friends in the cherry blossom orchards.

Sometimes he got her to talk about herself; what she liked to do in her spare time, what she dreamed about, and her family. She felt surprised by how nice it felt to exchange stories with someone, even if they had no significance or special meaning.

Then Eito grew sleepy. At last, at her urging, he curled up in her cloak and fell asleep. Though Black Blood kept her green fire going, she realized how cold she felt in her human form. Once sure the boy was fast asleep, she shifted into her nekomata body. She curled up beside Eito on the vague desire to keep him warm and she fell asleep more happily than she had in a long time.

At last dawn came and the snowstorm left. They left the cave and Black Blood led Eito across the snowy mountainsides, showing him paths that were safe and shortcuts through cliffs and slopes. He chatted and laughed their way through the blindingly white snowdrifts and jagged rocks, but when the steeples of a small town finally came into view at the foot of the mountains, he quieted. Black Blood got the sense that he was reluctant to leave her—and, to her surprise, she felt the same way.

"Are you gonna be OK?" He cast an anxious look at the dark, rolling hills behind them.

She suppressed a purr of amusement. Silly human. "Yes, I shall be just fine." She surveyed his ragged appearance. "Will your scratches hinder—?"

"Nah, I'm good, thanks to you." His easy smile melted uncertainly. "Will, uhh— Will we meet again?"

There was a cold breeze blowing and it tossed locks of her hair in the air like black ribbons. She brushed some of them out of her face. "No. This shall be the last you see of me."

"Oh. Why?"

She met his gaze. She tried to feel aloof again, but something within her chest was hurting and she didn't like it. There was no way she could ever explain her life—what she was, and how important it was that the Moon Tribe's existence remained a secret from the human world. Just keeping Eito alive was alone a threat to everything she knew and loved.

"Listen: you must not tell anyone about me. Say you survived on your own, found the cave on your own, and found your way back by chance. No hu— no one can know of my existence."

He looked perplexed. "Wow, you really are a hermit."

She pressed her lips together tightly to keep from snapping at him. "Please."

"Oh. You're serious."

"I am always serious. Why wouldn't I be?"

Smiling, he replied, "Being serious all the time's no fun. Try smiling more. It looks good on you."

Before she could respond, he stepped up to her and started to grab her. She hopped back with a indignant yelp. "What are you doing?!"

He stared at her. "Haven't you ever heard of a hug?"

"A... 'hug'?"

"You've never had a hug?!" He looked appalled and shook his head in mock rebuke. "For shame, Black Blood. It's what friends do. You need to try it out." He gestured for her to come back.

Reluctantly she stepped back and held her breath. Eito gently wrapped his arms around her and gave her a light squeeze.

"There. Not so bad, right?" More seriously he added, "I won't tell anyone about you, if that's what you really want."

"Thank you," she mumbled, embarrassed at being trapped in his lanky human limbs.

"Thank you." Pulling away, he gave her a warm smile. "You saved my life. I would've died in the storm even if that panther hadn't chased the bear away."

She suppressed a smile. "Farewell, Eito. May the stars watch over you."

"Oh. And, umm..." He gave a theatric bow. "And may the moon, uh, watch your back!"

She watched him go. When Eito had disappeared among the low buildings and stone streets of the humans' dwellings, she turned and made her way back home.

"Where were you?!"

Black Blood was yanked from the sunny valleys to another dark cave, the same one where she spent so many years training. Raven Frost paced before her in an agitated state. "We thought you had been lost in the storm! Do you have any idea how much you worried your mother, vanishing without a trace?"

Black Blood responded with a lofty tilt of her head, "If I did not know any better, my dear mentor, I would say you actually cared about me."

"Shut up," he snapped, eyes flashing in the dark. "You have no idea what has happened. Yesterday a patrol spotted a group of humans traveling down the river, just east of the grove of dead trees."

The word "humans" made her catch her breath. Her blood chilled as he went on.

"The patrol reported they were all adult toms, and they carried boom-sticks—those weapons that shoot balls of fire and metal into their prey in the blink of an eye. Hunters." His forked tails lashed. "They were making a racket and seeming to search for something they'd lost. We suspect one of their own had gotten separated from their group... which means we may or may not have a rogue hunter running around our territory."

Eito... Eito, no...

Terror clutched her heart. Her head seemed to spin around and around with disbelief.

"We'd worried that they'd found you, Black Blood."

Now his voice had quieted, sounding smooth and sickly sweet... and that scared her.

"Did you happen to run into any humans while you'd gone hunting?" Raven Frost turned and faced her. "Caught a scent, even?"

Black Blood could hear her heart pounding in her ears, but she forced herself to meet the old tom's stare. "No, Raven Frost. I did not see any humans where I hunted. I wish I had. I would have killed them on the spot."

He glared at her but didn't respond. Feigning carelessness, Black Blood managed to stand and start padding away. "Now, I beg your pardon, but as you say, my mother was worried. I must go to her—"

Pain, hot and fiery, rippled across every muscle in her body. With a yowl she staggered on her side and writhed. At hot, stinging energy like lightning was gripping her. She turned to see Raven Frost balancing on his hind legs and wielding a shimmering ball of evil-looking energy between his forepaws.

"I'm afraid that I do not believe you, little one," he purred sardonically. "You may think you washed his scent off in the stream, but I can still track his disgusting stench everywhere: in your beating heart, in your weakling mind, and in your lying eyes."

He squeezed the energy ball and Black Blood's scream bounced off the dark walls.

"You liar!" His rage lashed into her mind like a whip. "You met a human, you helped him escape, and now you've lied for him! Do you not understand? Your youthful foolishness courts destruction for all the tribe!"

"I— I will not... do it... again," she panted, just barely getting the words out.

His teeth flashed in the flickering blue light. "No, you won't."

The memory faded to black with the echoes of Black Blood's wails.

Rumors spread of Black Blood being tortured and beaten by her mentor. The other sorcerers, save for Sky Pelt, acted as nonchalant as ever, but her mother and brother were concerned. However, whenever Silver Mist or Eagle Talon questioned her she'd shrug it off and make some excuse about it only being for sorcery training, that her wounds would heal soon.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Eagle Talon's voice echoed distantly in her head. "I may not be able to understand everything, but I wish to be there for you."

Black Blood did not remember how she responded. Flickering images with faint whispers crowded her mind, blocking out Talon's voice. Her tribe-mate's voices switched between tones of gossip and fear. Some whispered and wondered about what went on in the sorcerers' caves as they bristled at the sight of her. Rumors of Silver Mist's first mate returned as she expected her new kits. Black Blood hated them for bringing it up again, as if they hadn't tormented her and her brother enough when they were kittens.

The whispers went on, though fading, as pictures rolled on displaying how hard she worked for the tribe. She practiced magic until she could sense even Raven Frost's most subtle thoughts. She trained under their battle-master until she was one of the fastest and most skilled warriors in the tribe. She hunted through rain, sun, and snow to feed her fellow cats. Visits with her family became less frequent.

The montage was interrupted by a thunderous roar. She was in a valley of trees with several other cats. Before them towered a massive bear; its ribcage could be seen protruding beneath its ragged fur and there was a dangerous, haunted look in its eyes. It was starving, like the cats were.

Though the Moon Tribe shifted into her nekomata forms and outnumbered the bear, it was still powerful and desperate. They battled furiously, cats leaping to cling to its ragged fur and raking their claws across its hide. Yet it threw them off, bellowing. It lurched toward the patrol and gnashed its huge muzzle.

One cat did not flee in time: Broken Stone, the leader of the Moon Tribe. The bear snatched him by the neck, biting hard, and lifted its head to shake its prey. Broken Stone caterwauled and thrashed, but was helpless in the bear's powerful jaws.

A flash of green fire lit the scene. Black Blood remembered staggering to her paws, having been thrown against a tree and her shoulder had been throbbing. She summoned what little strength to send her energy into the bear's brain and control it. She sent waves of pain and images of the bear's worst fears piling into its vision: human hunters, floods, wolves, famine, traps, and lifeless cubs.

The bear released Broken Stone, whereupon Black Blood was able to drive it away from the Moon Tribe patrol. Using both her speed and her skills in magic, she led the tormented bear off a cliff. She remembered laughing with joy at her success before passing out.

The cheers of the Moon Tribe overwhelmed her, resounding like great drums in her head. She was standing with Broken Stone atop the massive boulder in the meeting cavern. She could feel her jaw dropping open in astonishment as the tom said solemnly, "...Because of the wisdom she showed in the face of death, for the courage she showed in risking her life, and for saving the lives of everyone in the patrol, including myself, I choose Black Blood, daughter of Silver Mist, as my successor!"

Black Blood took her vows, feeling more bewildered and thrilled as the cheers of the tribe went on. She cared not that most of them were forced. Eagle Talon, Silver Mist, and even Bracken Stripe congratulated her proudly and affectionately. Then Eagle Talon was entwining his tails around hers and purring, "Didn't I tell you? I always said you were special!"

Pride clung to her in the time that followed, and she embraced it proudly. The sorcerers grumbled and groaned, repeatedly declaring it oughtn't have happened, that a sorcerer shouldn't be second-in-command, but she cared not what they thought of her anymore. She had earned her place—Broken Stone said so. She met her new responsibilities eagerly, organizing hunting parties, students' duties and classes diligently, and every once in a while she gave into the urge to boss around the sorcerers, just for fun.

The joy of it soon evaporated like mist in the sun. Winter that year was harsh, harsher than any the tribe had seen in a long time. She could see herself prowling the snowy hills and valleys alongside her tribe-mates for food, day after day.

More snowy hills, more empty valleys, more long, cold nights with an empty stomach... they passed by in a cold, aching jumble with the howl of the winter wind in her ears. Then, Silver Mist's grieving wail dropped into the memories like a stone.

"No! Please... ancestors, please—not my kits!"

Bramble Fluff and Sandy Nose: once Black Blood's new little brothers, now lifeless bundles of fur. Only the daughter, Little Leaf, survived that terrible winter. The stricken parents grieved for their kittens in the dark nursery cave. Eagle Talon and Black Blood could only watch, sitting off to the side. Eagle Talon looked miserable. Black Blood felt angry.

"This is all the humans' fault," she hissed, recalling hunters and stories of the terrible Red Battle. "Those kittens are gone because we didn't have enough food, because those humans stole the land from us."

There were times in which Black Blood would think they could track down some of those humans who stole their food every season. She brought up the idea several times with Broken Stone but each time he refused her, claiming it would be too risky and could endanger all of the tribe. Angrily she'd stalk from these meetings, wondering how a cat who called himself a leader could let his entire tribe starve for the sake of a few human lives.

Eventually the dark pictures of that long winter settled on another image. Black Blood sat meditating by one of the underground streams. Sunlight came from a slit in the roof of the cavern, providing the light and warmth. It was still and silent.

Something small and sharp pricked her tails. Black Blood whirled around. Staring at her with big blue eyes, a small calico kitten crouched as her claws dug into the sorcerer's tails.

Black Blood resisted the urge to snarl. "What are you doing here?"

"Playing," Little Leaf replied cheerfully. Her tails stuck up behind her like sticks. "Will you play with me?"

Black Blood flicked her tails away. "No. Go away."

Purring, Little Leaf pounced on the tails and bit them lightly.

With a loud snarl Black Blood whirled around and shoved the kit away. "I said go away!"

Little Leaf stared at her sister with shock and hurt. The happy life seemed to have been snuffed out in her like a candle. Tails drooping, she whimpered and fled.

Rain suddenly lashed at Black Blood's face. Wind howled around her. Dark clouds churned and rumbled angrily in the sky. She was standing outside, in the shelter of a small, earthy valley. Several cats were standing around a bundle of fur lying on the ground.

Eagle Talon was there; they pushed the other cats aside in their haste to reach the pale shape. Black Blood found himself staring down at Silver Mist. She lay with her paws splayed out, her chest heaving in a struggle to breathe. The ground beneath her was wet with a bright red pool from her body. Rain dripped down from his whiskers and onto her face.

"Hunters," one cat murmured, gazing at Silver Mist with wide eyes. "I saw them. They used their boom-sticks to take her down."

Horror washed over Black Blood like a wave.

You kept wanting to talk. I kept ignoring you. I drove you out of my heart, she realized as her throat clenched up. We didn't have enough time together, this is too soon, you can't be gone, you can't be gone...!

No amount of discipline could restrain her wail of grief. "Mama! Please... don't leave us."

Silver Mist blinked the rain from her eyes and gazed blearily at Black Blood and Eagle Talon. Black Blood barely noticed her brother crouching beside her as they pressed their bodies against their mother comfortingly.

"Oh, my kits..." Silver Mist whispered, forcing a hoarse purr. "I love you so much."

"Don't go," Black Blood whimpered. She felt as if her entire world were falling apart.

Silver Mist took a breath and gasped, "Take care of Little Leaf. She's your... family. Our whole family... matters..." Her words trailed off as she shuddered, then sighed gently, falling still.

It's not a whole family if you're gone!

Black Blood buried her head in her mother's chest and heard her own cries. "Mama! No! Please, don't leave us! No!"

The rain continued pouring on her. Eagle Talon trembled beside her. The crowd murmured in sorrow. She could feel them all: their whispers, their stares. She couldn't handle it anymore.

Silver Mist shouldn't have died. She have lived a long time, long enough to see Black Blood become leader, to see Eagle Talon become the greatest warrior, to see Little Leaf grow up. This wasn't destiny. Some evil caused this.

The hunters. The hunters did this.

Mud slid beneath her paws. Thunder rumbled over her head. Her tribe-mates called and protested, telling her to stop, to come back. She ignored them, running and sliding in the rain and mud. The scent trail was still fresh. She followed it, blood pounding hot in her ears. Gray landscape flashed by her vision.

She had no idea how long she'd run before seeing them: gathered by the river, displaying dead deer to one another like prizes in a contest. They bore knives and boom-sticks, but Black Blood didn't care. She plunged toward them with a bellow.

They barely had time to react. She balanced on her hind legs and transformed into her human state. She stunned the first few men with Nap Attacks, and they fell to the ground gasping and clutching their heads. She'd already finished them by the time the others had grabbed their boom-sticks and aimed at her.

Claws sprang out of one hand; glimmering daggers the other. Black Blood danced and lunged to and fro as she took down the humans she hated so much. She barely saw their faces and took no heed of their screams. The only scream she heard was her own, and it was one of fury.

At last there was only one man remaining, standing on the brink of the river. She could see his hands shaking as he tried to load the boom-stick. She charged the puny human.

The young man looked up at her.

With a gasp, Black Blood staggered and froze in her tracks.

Eito.

Though his face was grimy with mud, he looked at her ashen-faced. She could see his long dark hair soaked in the rain and his muddy clothes clinging to his body. His arms trembled as he gripped the boom-stick. His handsome gray eyes stared at her with mingled recognition and horror. So much horror.

"B— Black Blood...?" he rasped, voice quivering. "Is that— is that you?"

Lightning flashed over their heads, followed by a growl of thunder. Black Blood felt her hair clinging to her face, mud dragging down her robes, and blood coating her arms and mouth. She met Eito's gaze, heaving for breath. She wondered how it was possible for any creature to feel as much pain as she did in that moment.

"You killed my mother," she spat.

Eito's face whirled with bewilderment and terror. His trembling arms released the boom-stick and it splashed in the mud. He reached for her beseechingly. "Black Blood..."

With a shriek she flung her arm out. A flash of glittering green flew and sank into Eito's chest.

His eyes widened and his mouth opened, though no sound came out. His gaze flickered from the dagger to her. Almost like a phantom he reached out to her again.

Then he staggered back and plummeted into the river. The roaring ride soon washed him away. As Eito's shape disappeared among the waves, Black Blood threw back her head and screamed her hatred to the sky.

The scene changed. Black Blood in the meeting cavern while Broken Stone sat upon the Meeting Rock, listening to her. She was proposing a plan for the tribe to find more food for the upcoming winter.

"I could lead a patrol down the mountains, Broken Stone," she was saying. "And see if there is some land left behind by the humans the we could take. Perhaps they've gotten lazy and left one of their big camps behind—their 'villages'. If we had more land, we would have more food for winter—"

Broken Stone shook his head firmly. "I'm sorry, Black Blood. It is much too risky to get close to the humans."

"We can disguise ourselves as their pet cats, those dumb animals with no ability to speak—or, we could go in disguised as humans!" she argued. "We have the power to shape-shift, and I'm a sorcerer! Can't you see that—?"

"My word is final, young warrior," Broken Stone snapped, lashing his tails. "Do not argue with me. I say it is too risky, and no cat is leaving this mountain ever."

Black Blood opened her jaws to speak once more, but another voice hissed behind her. She couldn't hear what they said.

Then Talon's voice snapped, "Why don't you say that to Black Blood's face, Tall Ears?!"

Black Blood stiffened and turned around slowly to stare at the toms. Broken Stone had already made her feel frustrated by once more rejecting her ideas. Now her blood boiled as she realized her old bullies were talking about her literally behind her back.

"What was that you said, Tall Ears?" she asked in a very quiet voice.

Storm Cloud and Tall Ears shared a nervous glance, but Tall Ears met her gaze. "Half-breed."

Eagle Talon and Black Blood leapt for Tall Ears and Storm Cloud at the same time. The sound of furious screeches and yowling split the air as the four cats wrestled and tumbled over the floor in vicious combat. The crowd of cats in the meeting cavern scattered from the brawl.

Black Blood was locked in combat with Storm Cloud, easily flipping him over onto his back and raking his chest with her claws. She could hear Eagle Talon and Tall Ears fighting nearby, and Tall Ears yowled, "Half-breed!"

Then the older warriors were yanking them away, shouting at them to knock it off. Broken Stone was furious that his warriors were fighting amongst themselves, and ordered them to apologize—but Black Blood didn't. She hardly heard her leader as she stalked away, feeling anger burn every hair in her pelt. She would get in trouble later for ignoring Broken Stone, but walking away had been all she could do to keep from doing something worse.

The growls of her tribe-mates faded away. Memories of Eagle Talon with a pretty, gray-furred female appeared in a series, along with a name: Dove Stream. Black Blood remembered that time vividly, because it had been the happiest she'd ever seen her brother. A picture came, more lighthearted than the others, of herself hunting with her brother by a river.

The only sound was the gurgling water. Eagle Talon had just snagged a mouse from a bush when Black Blood broke the silence. "Is there a special relationship between yourself and the young Dove Stream that I should be aware of?"

"Huh?" Eagle Talon looked up from his mouse and stared at her. Then his whiskers twitched and a sheepish expression crossed his face. "Oh. Uhh... no. Not really."

She responded stiffly. "Peculiar. You two have been spending a lot of time together. More suspicious still, you have been acting, how should I put it... happy."

He gave her an exasperated look. "You sound as if you're interrogating me about a crime. Can you not ask straightforward questions like any normal cat?"

She stood there feeling flustered. After a minute of quiet sputtering, she finally huffed, "Never mind. I shall question Dove Stream myself."

"No, don't!" Talon looked horrified. "Please— please don't scare her away!"

"How should I scare her—?"

"Because you always look and speak as if you're condemning someone to death," he snapped. "Please. She— she's nice." Looking embarrassed, he bristled at his own words and gave his chest fur a quick lick.

The scene shifted to a cave, one where sunlight was just barely coming in from somewhere. Black Blood sat talking with Dove Stream.

"Yes. Your brother is wonderful," Dove Stream was purring. "I'm very blessed to have him."

Black Blood felt awkward sitting there, talking to this cat she didn't know very well but whom Talon apparently liked a lot. Still she tried to regain her composure and said stiffly, "And... he, ahh... He cares for you."

Dove Stream didn't look surprised. "I know."

A shrill squeal brought the females' attention to the other end of the warmly-lit cavern. Several kittens were chasing a moss ball, fluffy tails stuck straight up behind them as they ran. Eagle Talon trotted after them purring.

"When we have kits, you're very welcome to visit them." Dove Stream's voice brought Black Blood's attention back to hers. The other cat's eyes glimmered hopefully as she gazed at Talon playing with the kittens. "You'd be their aunt."

Black Blood felt her fur prickle hotly with embarrassment. She couldn't say anything and instead watched the kittens as well.

The scene changed darkly. She was standing in the meeting cavern, arguing with Broken Stone. Another cat had been found dead that day. Hunters had gotten him with their boom-sticks, thinking he was a panther, but other members of the tribe had dragged him back to the caves before the humans could find them.

"Please!" She was practically begging. "Let me go after the humans that did it! Their trails are still fresh! If I can just teach them a lesson, the other humans will get the message and stay away from—!"

"Black Blood. I understand." Broken Stone sat in a curled-up position and blinked slowly at her, as if he were preparing for a nap. "But believe me when I tell you, no good will come of seeking revenge—"

"Don't you get it?!" she yowled angrily. "Revenge is not even the point anymore! Season after season, they slaughter our kind. How many more of our tribe-mates bearing the mark of the boom-stick must we bury, Broken Stone? How many more of us must grieve for the ones lost and wonder why we were left alive?"

She unsheathed her claws and stalked toward the old tabby. "If you had just one bit of true courage in you—"

Broken Stone leapt to his paws, faster than she'd ever seen him move. "That's enough!" His eyes blazed. "You are a strong and brave warrior, Black Blood, and I do not regret making you my successor. But where you have that thirst for vengeance, I have wisdom. Like it or not, we are weaker than the humans. Yes, the Seven Sorcerers could wipe out an entire village if they must, and we could go on to plague all of Ninjago.

"But in the end, man's industry—advancements in technology beyond our comprehension—defeats nature." He sighed, "The Tribe of the Moon leads a good, humble life here in these hills. To seek vengeance is to risk this home and all our lives."

While to seek peace is to starve and risk the slow death of our family and friends, she thought. She bit her tongue and bowed her head with a sigh like that of submission.

"I apologize for my temper," she murmured icily. "Forgive me. Your word is law and your wisdom is beyond my own."

The meeting cave faded from view; its dark ceiling was replaced by a cloudy sky. Black Blood and Broken Stone were walking along the top of a cliff. Below them sprawled a massive valley, littered with rocks and a winding stream.

"Beautiful, is it not?" Black Blood said.

"Yes, yes... But remind me why I let you drag me out here in the cold." Broken Stone grumbled and shivered. "Was there not something you wished to speak to me about?"

"Indeed." The two cats sat on a rocky precipice. Broken Stone sat further away from the edge and cast a quick glance at the sheer drop below them.

"I have come to speak to you about your retirement," Black Blood said.

The old tom looked puzzled. "Retirement? I am not retiring. Who told you that?"

"They were wrong, then? Oh, good," Black Blood feigned a sigh of relief. "I am so happy to hear that. They must have been pulling a ridiculous prank on me."

"Who?"

"Them. Those cats." She gestured into the valley. "Can you not see them?"

Pricking his ears, Broken Stone approached the precipice and peered over the edge. "Funny. I do not see any—"

Black Blood shoved him from behind. With a startled yowl Broken Stone slid off the precipice. Pebbles flew as he thrashed. In the nick of time he turned and dug his claws into the dirt. There he dangled from the cliff.

"Oh, dear!" Black Blood crouched at the ledge. "What a terrible accident."

"Black Blood." He stared up at her with fear-stricken eyes. "Help me."

She leaned down to him and hissed, "Oh, I'll help you—help you meet your ancestors while I help the tribe recover from your cowardly reign!"

More rocks fell loose from the dirt. Broken Stone clung desperately to the cliffside. "What— what do you mean? What are you doing?"
"I am doing what's best for our tribe. I am getting rid of a weak, stupid old cat!" she snapped. "If you continue living you shall bring us to our doom! It is up to me to save us all." She reached a paw out and scratched his paws. "This is for all the other cats whose lives you left unavenged."

With a terrible wail Broken Stone plummeted into the dark of the valley and vanished. The cliff, the valley, the clouds and sky became dark.

She found herself standing atop the boulder in the meeting cavern. All of the Moon Tribe had gathered before her and listened solemnly to her speech.

"The loss of Broken Stone was a terrible accident, and every cat in the clan will grieve for our beloved leader." She carefully rose her voice to sound hopeful and strong.

"But, as Broken Stone's appointed successor, it is my duty to take his place as leader. And I promise you that I will bring a new dawn to the Tribe of the Moon! I promise to lead our tribe to strength and to regain the power it lost so long ago, and to finally bring ultimate peace and prosperity to the great mountains and surrounding territories. I will do whatever it takes as your leader to revive the Tribe of the Moon!"

Everyone cheered: warriors, elders, toms, females, kittens. Even the sorcerers lined up behind Black Blood cheered, though she could feel some of their malignant gazes upon her back. Lion Claw in particular glared at her hungrily, as if she'd just stolen something of his.

She was never supposed to be this powerful. She was never supposed to be leader and she knew it—and she did not care. The sorcerers no longer controlled her... she controlled them.

The jubilant yowls faded into different voices as the memory changed—they sounded high and urgent. There was a great disturbance in the main cavern and practically the whole tribe was clamoring to find out what happened. Black Blood was jostling her way through the crowd, snarling at any cat who got in her way until she got to the front.

"What happened?" Even as she demanded her gaze fell upon the motionless shape the cats had just laid upon the floor. Dove Stream lay lifelessly in the middle of the crowd. A single mark on her ribcage—the mark of a boom-stick—told her what happened.

Black Blood looked up to see Eagle Talon standing over her. He gazed down at Dove Stream's shape with glazed eyes, as if he too weren't alive anymore. The pain in her brother's expression pierced Black Blood to the core.

Then the crowd vanished. She was outside, strolling the mountainsides with a hunting party. Several warriors were with her, sniffing the air and prowling the dusty banks. One female had already caught a crow, and she carried it proudly in her jaws.

"Looks like a storm is on its way." One of the toms, Mist Rise, had raised his head to study the sky.

Black Blood followed his gaze idly. The clouds looked unnaturally thick and smoky, and yet it somehow also looked... greasy. As she gazed at the phenomenon, puzzled, a breeze picked up. She nearly retched from the foul stench, and grunts and growls from her tribe-mates showed they were smelling the same thing.

"What is that?" A tom screwed his face up in disgust. "Something dead?"

"Not dead... but it doesn't smell right." Mist Rise lashed his tails uneasily.

Black Blood kept her eyes on the clouds. They were coming from the east and heading right toward the hunting group.

"I don't like this," Mist Rise murmured.

"Perhaps we should head back to the caves," she agreed.

At that moment several shapes burst from the surface of the violet-colored clouds. They swooped down to the earth. They looked like long, dark worms attached to the clouds. One of them was headed straight toward the cats.

"Run," she whispered.

No cat moved. Everyone was staring at the cloud-worms.

"Run!" she turned tail and bolted up the hill toward a cluster of boulders. Mist Rise was right behind her, shouting at the others to catch up. One by one the Moon Tribe cats raced into the shelter of the rocks. One large boulder sat slanted over, providing a roof for them. Black Blood squeezed herself in the back and angled her head awkwardly to see what was going on outside.

A couple of the cats were struggling to catch up. The female had not dropped her crow, though her mate was telling her to let it go. Something black flashed in the sky. Black Blood watched in horror as the black pillar hit the cats on the hillside.

Everyone watched with abated breath. For a moment there was no sound as the cloud dissipated. Then something within the dark veil moved.

The cold silence was shattered by a throaty, eery wail. One of the cats staggered out of the black cloud, except it didn't look like the tribe-mate they'd known. The color of his body and fur had drained dramatically to a gray color. His eyes looked glazed-over. Then his mate stumbled out of the cloud as well, looking the same as he did.

The two cats caterwauled in agony. They thrashed on the ground and clawed themselves, as if some poison were running through their bodies. Their screams went on and on until at last they died.

Memories of greasy water in the rivers, dead birds fallen out of the skies, motionless mice whose bodies stank, the untouched corpses of wolves, and burying ceremonies of tribe-mates marched by in Black Blood's mind. Only humans could be poisoned by Dark Matter and survive. Because the strange rain had done away with many of the native birds and rodents, food that winter was scarce and more Moon Tribe cats passed away out of starvation.

The scene shifted to herself sitting in the meeting cavern. Mist Rise arrived from the tunnel. He looked exhausted, weather-beaten, and smelled awful.

"Mist Rise. You've returned safe and sound." She greeted him approvingly. "What did you find?"

"The city reeked of Dark Matter," Mist Rise replied, sitting with a long sigh. "Destruction and fear was everywhere, though as far as I could tell, there were no human casualties. Many seemed to be recovering from being ill by the Dark Matter."

"What caused it?"

"It came from across the endless waters. There's been a great struggle between humans of power." He hesitated. "Do you recall the tales of the Sons and Daughters of the Elements?"

Black Blood stiffened. "Yes. Why bring them up?"

"Because they're alive." Mist Rise met her startled gaze. "Not the original warriors—their offspring. Their offspring live, and it was five of them who were involved in the conflict that made the Dark Matter rain upon Ninjago."

For several moments she could not speak. "The Sons and Daughters of the Elements... caused this? All this death?"

He nodded shakily.

Her mind whirled. There had been more death. There had been more pain. The events of the Red Battle had been left unavenged, and now the Sons and Daughters were still alive and were once again making the Moon Tribe suffer.

"Who are these Sons and Daughters?"

Mist Rise recited their names, as if he'd been memorizing them on the way back home. "There is Kai, the Son of Fire. Jay, the Son of Lightning. Zane, the Son of Ice. Cole, the Son of Earth, and Lloyd, the Son of the First Spinjitzu Master. There may be more, but those are the ones who were directly involved in the Great Battle and the ones the city calls their heroes."

"Heroes..." She said the word mockingly and turned away from Mist Rise.

"What is your plan, my leader?"

"For now... we wait. We plan. We prepare." Black Blood felt excitement flood through her veins. "We shall rebuild our strength, survive this winter. They do not know we exist. We have all the time in the world to plot their downfall."

Images flickered by of Black Blood sharing plans with the sorcerers. They observed the rise of industry that came from Ninjago City. They found an old hermit and forced him to invent weapons for the tribe. They sought dreams and visions from their ancestors to lead them to the lost moonstones. They searched for Traveler's Tea. They made crystal balls in which to carry the souls of their Dark Sleep victims.

Slowly, carefully, they calculated the costs, the supplies, the timeframe—everything. Black Blood gave speeches to the tribe, telling them of who caused the Dark Matter rain, reminding them of the Red Battle and of everything else they'd suffered at the hands of humans. She heard caterwauls of rage and cheers for her promises of triumph and prosperity.

The memories flew by faster. She could see herself sending her fellow sorcerers to hunt down the moonstones. Raven Frost was the first to come back triumphantly, proudly bearing the first of the seven lost moonstone pieces.

At last she had two of them: tied up, beaten, being mocked by all the Moon Tribe. The Son of Fire's voice rose angrily in the cavern.

"Let her go!" Kai struggled against his captors. "If you lay one hairy finger on her, I swear I'll—!"

"What?" Black Blood could barely contain an insane giggle as she cocked her head innocently. "You mean like this?" She raked her claws at the face of the Daughter of Amber, Skylor. The girl shrieked under her gag.

"Or do you mean like this?" Black Blood slashed her claws again. Skylor stiffened and choked down another shriek.

You deserve it. You all deserve it.

"Stop it!" Kai's voice turned frantic. "Do what you want with me, but don't hurt her! I'll do anything!"

Black Blood suddenly felt angry. How dare you act so noble, so self-sacrificing?

She snarled, "You and your ancestors have already done more than enough! It's time for me to do something!"

There they went, plummeting down the realm portals. The pictures moved faster. They captured the mother of the Son of the First. They attacked the home of the Sons and Daughters and retrieved the second moonstone. Eagle Talon went in, disguised as the Son of Lightning and guided a team of warriors to retrieve the third moonstone.

The events of the past month played out in a whirl, like the pages of a book flying in the wind. Hunting for the moonstones, fighting for the moonstones. Fighting the ninja in the bandits' palace, capturing them. The sorcerers laughingly torturing the humans. Black Blood took part in making up terrible nightmares for her victims. Sometimes she'd slip into their heads and watch as their worst fears and memories came back to haunt them.

The pictures of events mixed in with Black Blood's emotions, wild and jumbled-up together. She realized that Little Leaf had lied to her—she'd helped the ninja! Alone on a clifftop, Black Blood attacked Little Leaf and flung her off the cliff, the girl sobbing and pleading for her to stop.

She watched Eagle Talon kill Tall Ears. She led the attack on the little town. She glared at her brother when he wouldn't look her in the eyes, looking just as guilty as Little Leaf had.

"Don't you lie to me, Talon. Don't you dare lie to me."

"I'm... not—!"

"I'll be the judge of that." She into Talon's mind; the face of an old, gray-furred human tom floated in Talon's head. Two words came with this recent memory-image: Lou Brookstone.

Then another word: Father.

The word chilled her to the bones.

They were right. They'd always been right. Everything I feared and hated about us is true.

Her internal rage made the next pictures feel rushed and hazy. There he was, cornered into a wall: Lou Brookstone, her human father. He cowered in terror before her.

"I— I never abandoned you!" he stammered. "Silver Mist left by her own choice. I wanted her to stay, but she—"

"Like I care, you wretched Son of No One!" she snapped. "You ruined our lives. You made us fight for everything. We had more to prove to everyone, that we were just as good as them. It's your fault. It's all your fault."

Mr. Brookstone couldn't speak. His face paled more than ever when she took out a couple of blades. She smirked at the strong scent of fear emanating from him.

That's right. You know I'm a threat. You know you deserve this.

"Now," she said. "I'm going to right the wrongs you committed. Your mistake has finally caught up with you, Lou Brookstone, Son of No One."

Then Cole burst in, stopping her. She thought she'd had the biggest shock of her life until she heard the next words coming out of the Son of Earth.

"Stay away from my dad."

She felt confused. "Your dad...?"

"My dad. Your dad. Our dad." He stared at her. "We're related, Black Blood. You're my half-sister."

Is this a trick? Is this a lie? It doesn't make sense.

She felt as if her entire world were falling apart all over again. "No... That's not true. You're lying. You're lying."

"It's true, Black Blood." Eagle Talon stood behind her. When she spun around to look at him, she could see the conviction—and the shared horror—in his eyes. "It's true. He had another mate after Silver Mist. Cole—the Son of Earth is our brother."

"Our... brother?"

Rain poured down on them. All three of them were fighting one another. Black Blood put every ounce of hatred she felt into every punch, bite, kick, and slash she delivered.

Cole's voice broke through a clap of thunder. "Please. I don't want to fight you. Either one of you..." His gaze flickered desperately between Eagle Talon and Black Blood.

Are you actually acting concerned for our wellbeing? And you call us the liars.

She sneered at him. "I hate you. I hate you and our father. I hate your ancestors and your family, and your ninja friends. I hate all of your kind."

They fought each other mercilessly in the thunder and rain. Then they left Cole there, dying in the mud and blood. The image of his half-mauled body stayed with her even as they left him behind.

Then she was in a town square. Her tribe had herded hundreds of terrified humans into a group. Two young kits cowered in the middle of the square. Eagle Talon stood in front of them protectively. Black Blood nearly flinched from the cold glare he gave her.

"This isn't justice. This is cruel. This is wrong."

No... not you, too... How can you betray me...? You were one of the only cats I trusted. Why must I lose you, too...?

She replaced her hurt with anger. "You dare defy me? Question my decisions? I am your leader! I am your queen."

"No. You're no queen of mine. You don't deserve to be queen. You don't care about the tribe. You just want to spread war and destruction across Ninjago. I no longer follow you." His voice rang coldly in the air.

Why, why, why...? Can you not see I am doing this to save everyone? Do you not remember what happened to us? To Silver Mist, to Dove Stream? How can you be so selfish?!

Hiding her pain, she murmured, "You're my brother. Don't make me do this."

"You leave me with no choice."

More memories of fighting. More long marches across the hills and countryside. More humans fleeing from them. Next she could see Ninjago City in the distance, beyond the armies who clashed and fought for dominance on that great field. Among them stood Cole and Eagle Talon, fighting against everything she put her faith in.

She felt herself drawing back the arrow and releasing it, but the arrow sank into the wrong person. Eagle Talon sank to the grass. Black Blood felt horror strip away reality.

Gone, gone, gone. Everyone is gone. No one was real. No one stayed...

More war. They fled into the caves. Just like the story of the Red Battle, the ninja followed them there. Tribe-mates turned against tribe-mates. There were so many traitors deceived by the words of the Sons and Daughters, more than she could have ever guessed. More violence. More screams. They all ran together.

Then—the moonstone. She lay by it and fell into a strange dream, one where she saw her mother and many other old cats, cats who'd died a long time ago. But the memory flickered. It mingled with everything else. Everything began to replay, faster and faster, from her life as a kitten to the leader she was and all the dark deeds she'd committed. It overwhelmed her. She thought she would drown in it all.

At last Cole yanked himself out of her head and broke the spell.