-months earlier-

The white she-cat looked right, then left, in all directions, not knowing where she was. A minute ago she was surrounded by her clan back home, now she was in a mysterious, different place... she sensed something about this forest she had never sensed before, not necessarily good or bad, but a mix of... two things, two ways of life mixed as one.

"M-mom..." The soft, weak voice made her head whip around. And the sight of her burned kit, blood everywhere, spilling out of her little mouth... her heart felt like it would stab her. "SNOWKIT!" She sobbed, tears soaking her face. She didn't care if others saw. Didn't matter to her if she was alerting predators. She ran over to her kit, collapsing to the ground, her black ear against her child's burnt chest, listening to her cold, fading heartbeat...

"S-Snowkit... I'm so sorry-y..." She was shaking so hard, her voice cracking and quivering every few seconds, her face like she had fallen into a pond. "I...I failed. I've failed you, my Snowkit. When you were born, I promised I would be a better mother than mine was. I promised that I would never let anyone hurt you. And now look... I'm a terrible mother! A monster! My mother was right, I don't belong in this world to let this happen!"

She watched in pain as her daughter's sapphire blue eyes began to fade away, and she had to close her own eyes because she couldn't take this. She opened when she heard her mumble something, trying to speak, blood spilling out. Waterstar was reminded of her kithood, when her mother would beat her until she couldn't even speak. Her heart felt like it exploded into a million pieces, her emotions were so deep words couldn't describe her sadness at that moment, at any moment.

"M-mom... you aren't horrible... everyone just thinks that because they were at once beaten down, forced to fight. And they keep fighting because they think they'll be beaten down if they don't, and they become monsters and beat down other people. You can fight back, mom, but please, don't go overboard... you... you aren't horrible..."Waterstar wasn't sure how Snowkit got all this wise, but it didn't matter now. Her quiet mew fading away with every word, she struggled to say a few last words.

"You... you're a good mom... please... kill me..." She said, and closed her eyes, as if expecting her own mother to kill her at any minute. But Waterstar couldn't do it. Shocked, the tears stopped, and looked at her as if she were crazy. "No... I can't. You're my daughter. I can't kill my daughter. I can't beat you down like my mother did..."

"Please... mom... you were beat for no reason. I want you to kill me because I hurt... everywhere..."

Silence for what seemed like hours, Snowkit's body slowly rising up and down. Waterstar breathed in for a moment, closed her eye, then opened. A tear falling, she sunk her teeth deep into Snowkit's neck, instantly killing her.

And for the next few minutes, all there was was the sound of crying, grieving, repeating "I'm so sorry"s.

Waterstar stopped her crying, buried her, reassuring herself she did the right thing. She then remembered when she was a kit, how she begged her mother to kill her... at least this time she actually did it.

She walked away to discover the Endless Forest, leaving the burial place behind...