The Flight

*"Ryekit, do you want to fly?"*

*"Yes dad, I want to fly."*

From when she was very young, Ryefeather has always dreamed of flying over the Clan territories like the familiar flocks of birds that glided in the vast blue sky. Ryefeather knows she's different, but will she discover her own self, all the while murder has blackened out the bright blue sky and the fluffy white clouds. Will she learn to fly?

Ryepaw barely felt her paws leave the ground as she leaped into the air and twisted, avoiding Clawpaw's neck-aimed blow. The brown tabby tumbled under Ryepaw and raked her claws down her sister's belly, eyes gleaming in the darkness of the night.

Ryepae remembered Clawpaw's words clearly. *"No one is here to save you this time. You and I, one on one, a test to see who's strength will overrule."*Clawpaw was very quiet up until those words, and then she turned psycho. Ryepaw knew this was just a mock battle, but it felt so real, sister versus sister, both ready to kill if needed.

The had tumbled and twisted most of the time, but that neck-aimed swipe was the first actually aggressive stage. Clawpaw was clearly becoming impatient.

*"You can never fly!" Clawpaw had shrieked teasingly, and Ryepaw had felt her blood go cold. "I will fly," she had told her sister firmly, her dreamy voice now gone. "I will fly like an albatross, I'll prove it!" The shadows had closed over her sister's brown tabby striped pelt and Clawpaw was gone, a part of the night.*

Ryepaw knew she was being crazy, but she fought even sloppier, her will to win suddenly dying down. Clawpaw smirked and sneered, aiming another paw at her sister's neck.

*"Flying is a dream! A dream not even a murderer could even hope to come true." Clawpaw had spoken to Ryepaw the next day, the day before the mock battle for glory. Clawpaw had then gone off and left Ryepaw in her own mind's prison and had began to convince everyone that Ryepaw had done even more murdering.*

Now they were battling, one for glory, one for honor. Ryepaw took a swipe at Clawpaw's neck and Clawpaw returned the gesture, both blows hitting home, one blow drawing blood. Ryepaw fell back, shocked her own sister would do that.

*"If it means blood, then it means blood," Clawpaw had explained to Ryepaw the sunrise of the mock battle day, having confronted Ryepaw a few minutes before. Ryepaw had ignored her the first time, but the next time was impossible to ignore. Clawpaw had suggested blood be drawn and that in itself was a betrayal.*

Ryepaw chased Clawpaw down the hill and she rolled on top of her sister, throwing all her weight on top of Clawpaw's face.

"Don't do this for glory, sis," Ryepaw pleaded, her eyes blazing in terror and desperation. She leaned down and whispered into Clawpaw's ear, "do it for Emberkit." Clawpaw's eyes widened and she growled, her growl croaky and dry, "how did you know?" Ryepaw replied,

"One does not miss a dead kit's body, limp it it's own nest." Clawpaw pushed up with all her might and shoved Ryepaw up against a tree. Her sharp amber eyes glowed in the pitch dark and she hissed, "I win. I always win." And she once more became part of the night.

The next morning, Ryepaw found that she ha been blamed for something even more treaturous than the murder of a kit. Her dreams of flying were over. Clawpaw had been right: Flying is a dream, a dream not even a murderer could hope to come true.

* The Flight/Allegiances
* The Flight/Codes and Important Information
* The Flight/Prologue
* The Flight/Chapter One