{Needle} Breaking the {Ice}

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Out With It

Ice tilted his head again. Everything was so confusing. Had Needleheart actually lied in her first tales of Froststorm? No, he decided. Needleheart wouldn't have lied. He must have not understood properly. Feeling a little lost in his supposed understanding, the tom just nodded. "Yeah, I wanna know. Um, was it 'cause your fur is prickly?" Ice knew that wasn't probably the reason by the way she'd brought it up, but he hated how the look in her eyes flickered about from sad to serious, then something else. Whatever it was, she didn't look happy.

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She touched her nose to his ear softly, and shook her head.

"I'm afraid not, Ice. It was because I was a horrible cat back then, even as a kit. After a while, my mother noticed that my personality was horrible. I was too rough with the other kits, and I didn't play fair. So.. She named me 'NeedleKit'. Then..."

Her tail swished back and forth behind her now. She fidgetted, still hoping Ice would be with her all the way. If he didn't, then FrostStorm would probably never return.

"I started showing it through my apprenticeship, giving rude remarks. I never listened, and everyone thought the reason why I became a warrior, so they didn't have to try anymore. To be honest, I didn't really care! All I knew was that I wanted to wipe out the clans."

She looked away for a moment, not sure how else to speak.

"That is how, Ice. If you don't want to stay, then I can understand."

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Don't Say Goodbye

Ice listened attentively, keeping quite throughout the story. When she finished, however, and his ear caught her last words, his eyes widened. "What? Of course I wanna stay!" The pale tabby kit sank his little claws into the earth, as if doing so would root him to the spot. "I mean... Well, just because you acted differently from other cats as a kit doesn't mean anything. And even if you did- do- want to wipe out the Clans, you're not the only cat! Moonlight told me stories about cats- rogue and Clan- who tried to destroy the Clans or do bad things to become leader. I..." He trailed off, glancing from his paws to her. "Well, I don't know how to put it. I just don't really care. I still wanna stay. None of that matters to me."

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Needleheart blinked slowly, and looked at Ice.

"You don't care? Well then. What DO you care about?"

She asked, soon laying down flat on her stomach. Her back leg was crooked a bit, but other than that, she looked like a queen with her kit.

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Heart Of Everything

The question confussed the little tom. He didn't really have an answer. "I just, well, I dunno. I care about my friends, I guess, but not much else matters. I believe in payback, and justice. But cats are who they are, you know? 'Can't do anything about it, so why bother." Very little of what he was saying made sense, but he didn't quite know how to put it. Not that he understood half of the words he said, either, but they had sounded almost right.

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Needleheart gave a brief nod.

"Ice, you are my only friend. MiracleFur only came probably only because she is scared."

She pointed her nose to the fidgetting tortishell she-cat.

She looked back at Ice.

"Ice, you do know I won't let any cat hurt you, right?"

She blinked at him.

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I Took Your Hand

The kit smiled. That made him happy. It was good to know that he still had at least one friend. The others he had made, he'd left far behind. Some still roamed the free territory, others were still in RiverClan. But he had Needleheart. "Yeah, I know," he purred, rubbing his head against her foreleg. "And I'll always help you out, if I can. When I learn how to fight I won't let any cat hurt you, either." Not even Riddlehawk. The deputy wouldn't take another cat's life as long as Ice had claws.

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NeedleHeart blinked gratefully at the tom. No cat had ever said that to her, not even FrostStorm. FrostStorm actually said that if she got in the way... he would kill her himself.

She looked down, and gave a brief nod.

"Thanks. And, by the way, sorry for kinda lying about some of the details."

She sighed.

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Lost Importance

Ice shrugged. "Eh, its okay. I probably got the wrong idea in the first place. The facts are still the same, just some small details. No problem." He flicked his tail as if to push the matter away. He didn't feel like talking about it. Instead, the kit dropped down into the hunting crouch with gleaming eyes. "So, can I eat that mouse I caught? I'm kinda hungry."

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NeedleHeart rose her head, and looked at the tom again. She purred a bit, and nodded.

"Of course."

She got up, and sat. She licked a forepaw, and swiped it over one of her ears.

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Suddenly Every Thing's Right

Seeing her nod, Ice grinned and bounded back over to where the mouse lay dead. His mouth watered when he recalled how good it had tasted after the first bite he'd made in it's neck, and could wait to take another bite. Eagerly the tom flattened out on his belly and sank his fangs into the dead body, the wonderful flavor seeping into his jaws once again. He was content. He had food, a friend, and exciting life laid out before him. Nothing was missing, no broken pieces.

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NeedleHeart sat where she was, watching the young tom. She smiled, he seemed to be happy. She was glad about that, and she never knew she could be so soft. She was surprised, really.

Something hit her scent glands, a rogue, loner. She turned her head to the right, to see a ragged black tom padding over. He had no tail, and his fur was hanging down, in rather clumps. Scars were hidden under his pelt, but he sure did have them.

His left ear was torn, rather shredded, from an earlier battle, and above his left dark green eye, laid a scar.

"I thought a scent was familar."

The tom said cooly.

"Ice, we have been worried sick! What are you doing with these pieces of crow-food? You are coming home, now!"

NeedleHeart hissed, and literally leapt infront of the tom, surprisingly.

"I don't think so, buddy!"

She hissed, claws unsheathing. Her tail lashed back and forth behind her, and her ears were flat against her head.

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Stay Away

Ice suddenly turned to his paws and whiped around. At first the towering tom scared him. He look like he'd just crawled out from a fall in the gorge. But when he said his name, confussion swept in. Confussion led to warriness, and his eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about? I don't know you. And they're not crow-food, they're my friends." He took a few steps closer to Needleheart, but holding his ground behind her.

The kit had no memory of his original family. He'd only been with them a couple moons. He hadn't even learned their names. The only memories he had were the scents of milk and kits. All he saw in this ragged tom was an agressive rouge.

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The tom looked at Ice.

"I am your father! Your mother is worried sick, and Aradox doesn't know what to do. Your brother misses you!"

A black tom padded out from behind Cicatrice, walking to Ice.

"I-Ice... Is it really you? All I remember is that.. That.. you and bluejay.. went to that place.. and then..."

He shook his head.

-

NeedleHeart took a few limps back.

"Ice.. Is this true?"

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Shut Up

Ice bristled when Aradox came closer. His blue eyes looked haunted. This cat seemed much more familiar to him than the first tom, and the name did ring a far off bell in his mind. But he couldn't recall or place any strong memory. Maybe one... "I- You- Gah! Stop it!" He lashed his tail out and shook his head. "You're just trying to confuse me! I don't know you cats. I swear, I don't remember you!" He took a step back, his fur still puffed out from the strangeness of it all. He looked up at Needleheart. "It can't be true! I don't know them." Did he? The poor little kit was very confused. He really didn't know.