Mending Broken Egos [c]

Cicadapaw has been in a terrible mood for weeks.

Never was there a time that he was a ray of sunshine, but ever since losing territory due to his own kittish actions, he felt like he always woke up with thorns in his nest. Perhaps he should have let Burningwing go, perhaps then his mentor would have not been knocked out by a half-dead she-cat and they could have fought together. They could have won if he hadn't worried about some Skyclan she-cat, a cat not in his clan and not worthy of his time. But there was no way he could regain the honor that he lost besides hunting more and hoping that was apology enough. He couldn't yell at Dawnfeather for being a mousebrain, he couldn't start another territory dispute and reclaim Highpine on his own...

But perhaps he could prove his loyalty in some other way. There were plenty of cats who were not of Shadowclan taking refuge in their camp, in his den. He couldn't speak his mind to Dawnfeather, but what was the difference between a Skyclan cat and a rogue anyway? They both stunk and ruined everything.

So he redirected his rage towards Shypaw, the most out-of-place of any rogue he had ever known. White fur in a clan that prided itself in being able to meld into the shadows, she was just as easy of a target for him as anything else in the marshes. He was just being courteous when he protested at her joining. She didn't belong here, she would only struggle. If it took him to make her realize that, then so be it.

The night was starting to end, cats retiring to their dens to sleep away the day. He was about to too, until white fur caught the corner of his eye. Shypaw. Without conscious thought, his paws turned away from the apprentice den and made a bee-line towards his target. His tail was already starting to lash in irritation. "Shy, you're still taking up space here?" A growl seeped into his words like poison. She didn't deserve a suffix, only clan cats had suffixes.

The night was starting to end, the stars disappearing and the cats of ShadowClan slipping past Shypaw into dens in the thorns around the edge of the hollow. Shypaw sat, fretfully drawing a small white paw over her whiskers.

She hadn't caught anything tonight. But the moon shone bright most nights, and the snow would come soon, and she would learn to be more stealthy from Murkystar. She would become a skilled white-furred hunter of ShadowClan like her dad Frostgaze. She tried to push her doubt away. Her stomach growled miserably, and Shypaw knew she should eat as Murkystar had allowed, but apprentices were only supposed to eat after they had brought prey home for the Clan.

Though, she could not hunt well tomorrow if she did not eat tonight. Shypaw had just pushed herself to her paws, her eye on a tiny shrew, the last piece of prey on the fresh-kill pile, when she saw Cicadapaw making a bee-line for her. The angry calico tom's tail lashed. Shypaw tipped her head to one side like a little bird, her own tail twitching with confusion.

When Cicadapaw growled at her, Shypaw's little white ears flicked back. But she straightened her tiny slim shoulders even while her eyes shone with hurt and flaring self-doubt.

Cicadapaw blinked as the smaller cat sat a little taller, making his fur bristle from the audacity. Cower! That's what he wanted her to do. Cower and make him feel better!

"Right, forgot you don't speak. I don't know why I even bothered." He spat, glaring down his muzzle at the rogue. "Kits can do that, you know. Is there something wrong with you or are you just too brain-rotted to figure it out?" There was no true curiosity behind his words. He didn't care for the answer and doubted he would get one, so he didn't wait for one. Instead, he started to circle her, amber eyes practically burning holes in the young apprentice.

"I suppose it would be fitting for a rogue not to even give their voice for their clan. I bet you think clan life is easy, that cats will just take care of you out of pity. I don't know whatever crowfood Frostgaze is feeding you, but he's wrong." Cicadapaw then stopped in front of Shypaw, taking a step forward to encroach on her personal space and snarl. "You have to earn your place, so why are you still here?"