The Blazing Star by Erin Hunter

the rogue. “The helpless kit you practically tore apart, for fun?”
    One Eye flicked his tail dismissively. “That kit was too proud,” he mewed. “She didn’t know when to give up. Now she’s learned a valuable lesson.”
    Clear Sky’s claws slid out, and his foreleg swiped a hard blow at the side of One Eye’s head. The rogue dodged it with no trouble at all, giving Clear Sky a derisive look.
    â€œYou can’t stop me from defending my honor,” he told Clear Sky. “That’s how it works in the real world.”
    Honor? Clear Sky thought. This cat has no honor!
    He struck at One Eye again, but the rogue avoided that blow with as much ease as the first. “We have rules here!” Clear Sky hissed.
    â€œYour so-called rules are a joke,” One Eye snarled back. “No cat really cares about anything but himself. Pretending otherwise just causes heartache . . . and sickness.”
    Clear Sky’s heart thumped uncomfortably. Sickness? “What do you know about the sickness?” he demanded.
    One Eye gave the same dismissive flick of his tail.
    â€œThat bird was very ill,” Clear Sky went on, his apprehension growing with every heartbeat. “Do you know more about it than you told us?”
    â€œI know enough to tell you that some of the cats in your group are as good as dead.”
    He didn’t know if One Eye’s words were to be trusted, but felt his fur bristling along his back. “Which ones?” he demanded. “How do you know?”
    One Eye flicked his tail again. “I could tell you, but I won’t bother. I guess I only care about myself.”
    Clear Sky found the malevolence in his single eye sickening. A red mist clouded Clear Sky’s vision. He pounced on One Eye, holding him down with both forepaws while he dug into the rogue’s neck with his teeth. One Eye struggled, but rage gave Clear Sky new strength.
    Every instinct was urging him to rip out the vile cat’s throat and let his blood run out into the grass, but he knew that would be to lower himself to the same disgusting level. Instead he stood back, releasing One Eye. The rogue leaped up, smoothing one paw over his ears.
    â€œGet out of here,” Clear Sky ordered, forcing his voice to remain even as he spat out the words. “Do not come back. OrI will kill you with my own claws.”
    As One Eye glared for a moment, Clear Sky realized something that had always bothered him about the rogue. His eye had no expression, just a malignant yellow glow.
    â€œYou’ll kill me, will you?” the rogue asked. “Will you really?”
    Clear Sky felt the blood pounding in his ears and braced himself, ready for battle. But One Eye turned away, heading for the edge of the clearing and into the trees.
    Clear Sky took a deep breath. One Eye has gone—and I feel like he’s taken all of my honor with him. He realized that he should have driven One Eye out after he challenged his authority in front of Tall Shadow and Thunder. How will I ever explain what happened to my cats?
    Ready to despair, Clear Sky closed his eyes. A heartbeat later he felt a hard blow on his back, and let out a startled yowl. Claws dug into his back, and One Eye snaked a paw around Clear Sky’s neck, aiming for his eye.
    That’s a move Tom came up with! Clear Sky thought, struggling frantically to throw One Eye off. Pain stabbed into his face as One Eye raked his claws over his cheek.
    Clear Sky let himself go limp and collapsed to the ground, rolling over so that One Eye was underneath him. Then he wriggled around and swiped his claws across the rogue’s shoulder, breaking his grip. Clear Sky sprang to his paws, panting.
    â€œYou’ll kill me, will you?” One Eye sneered, rising to face him. “You’ll kill One Eye? If One Eye were that easy to kill, he’d never have survived kithood.” He spat at Clear Sky, pointing with