The warrior's den was eerily silent, seemingly void of life whatsoever, as streams of sunlight illuminated the dust in the air. You took hesitant steps inside, intrigued by the quiet sound of what you thought to be humming - yet, you saw no one in the den at first glance. Your eyes searched the dimly lit structure, trying desperately to deduce where the humming was coming from. Until, finally, you found it - or rather, you found her. Halflight; the snappy and anti-social Shadowclan she-cat. Your eyes immediately looked to her scarred face, wincing at the thought of having your own ear ripped from your head. You'd never been face-to-face with the molly, having avoided her since you were a kit. Everyone knew the stories of Halflight, all the theories as to what really happened to her face. Some said she had been attacked by a fox, other's said she had been injured by a dark forest cat, but nobody seemed to know the real reason. 

"Keep staring at me like that and you may lose an eye. Or two," The cranky warrior snapped, rising to her feet as she turned her entire body toward you. You stood your ground, but couldn't help but feel intimidated by her large stature and evil expression. She was an older warrior, not a senior just yet but not too far off from what you knew, but either way, it was very plausible she could take you down without much difficulty. Though younger warriors and apprentices seemed to enjoy mocking her for her appearance (or using it to scare kits), warriors of her age and elders seemed to have a sense of respect for Halflight. You had always wondered why what had she done to deserve it? She was a big ol' bully, and with an attitude like her's, it seemed she deserved all the insults she received! 

"Why are you so rude?! What kind of cat threatens their own clanmate?" You retaliated, taking a step forward as you puffed out your pelt as much as you could; you were still only half her size, but she seemed to respect your attempt at looking slightly intimidating. Or, rather, she found it amusing at the very least. 

"Don't act like your anything more than a moron. You're no angel, mouse brain. I'm not stupid, fur-ball, I know what you all say about me - about my face," She started, backing off ever so slightly as she turned away from you, "You younger warriors have no respect for your seniors, Starclan knows what a disaster this clan is turning in to." You watched her shake her head, a disappointed look on her face. You felt a tinge of sympathy for the feline but elected to ignore it. She didn't deserve sympathy, especially not if the rumors of her being a Dark forest apprentice held any truth to them! Besides, what had she ever done to make Shadowclan a better clan than it is? Sure, she goes hunting and does her fair share of patrols but other than that all she does is scare other cats! She's practically useless, especially considering she's half deaf and blind. What kind of a warrior could she be with only half a face? 

"Oh and I suppose you're a big help to Shadowclan, especially with only half a functioning face-" Oops, had you really just said that out loud? Oh, you were really in for it now, wincing as you prepared yourself for the attack that was certain to come. Except, it didn't come. When you unscrewed your eyes and looked at Halflight you found her staring at you, an eerie lack of emotion in her face. She stalked toward you slowly, her empty expression not changing once until she was right in front of you. She practically towered over you, her healthy eye looking directly down at you as she seemed to ponder her response carefully for a moment. 

"It was about 20 moons ago, not long after the warmth began to return to the clan's territories," She began, motioning for you to follow her lead as she lowered down onto her haunches, "I was out in the territory with my brother, Kestrelpounce, competing to see who could catch the most prey. Our parents were there too, along with my brother's mate. We all ventured further and further as the day went on, wandering beyond Shadowclan's border. We weren't worried, though; we thought we could take care of ourselves. We couldn't." She took a moment to pause, take a few deep breaths. Her expression remained the same, however - lifeless and void of any emotion. It was beginning to freak you out, but you thought it better to stay and listen to what she had to say rather than run away like a scared little kit. She seemed lost in thought, her eyes staring off into nothing as though her soul had left her body. 

"Um..then what happened?" You inquired, successfully snapping her out of her trance-like state. 

"Ah, well, as you can tell from my face the next part isn't too pretty. We happened to roam into a two-leg's field, and this two-leg happened to own a rather large pack of say 5 dogs or so. We were surrounded before we'd even realized what was going on. The dogs attacked us, of course, and though they put up a good fight my parents were doomed. I watched them be torn apart by those savage beasts. Me and my brother managed to dip under a fence and get away from those dogs, but his mate called out to us for help. He couldn't leave her, and I couldn't leave him, so we went back in to save her. I'll spare you the details, but me and my brother's mate were the only ones to make it back under that fence. I lost my ear, eye and a good portion of my tail, too. I was in the medicine cat's den for moons." She searched your face for a response and seemed satisfied by the pitiful and sympathetic expression you held on your face. You felt horrible. Had you known the truth you wouldn't have ever insulted her in the first place, but you realized an apology was likely not going to fix things. Still, you had to give it a shot at least. It was the very least you could do after what you said originally. 

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said anything about your face - I had no idea!" You reasoned, your heart racing as you waited for a response from her. 

"Save me your apology, I could care less for the opinions of measly little warriors like you. I expect it more from apprentices, but a warrior of your age? Oh for Starclan's sake have a little maturity! Better yet, have a little respect for others you little brat. Now, get out of my sight." She threatened, her pale eye narrowing as she hissed with annoyance at you. You had no intention of arguing with her, as you darted out of the den's entrance and into the clearing. You felt sickened by her story, and even more so by his complete lack of emotion. Still, you couldn't help but feel terrible. You had deeply offended her, no doubt, and totally deserved the reaction she gave you. Perhaps you weren't as brilliant a warrior as you thought. You wandered away to join some friends, hoping their company would cheer you up. 

"Hey, [Y/N], what was ugly bothering you?" One of your friends joked, laughter erupting from the group as they looked to you with amusement. You would usually say something snarky in response, call Halflight something even worse than the previous insult. You realized now how unreasonable your treatment of Halflight had been, how everyone's treatment of her had been. You had to put an end to it; prove you were aware of your mistakes and prepared to fix them. 

"Hey, guys? I think we should stop making jokes about her - she's not as bad as we all think." You expected them to argue with you, to put up a fight, but they didn't. They all resolved to listen to your words and the subject of conversation was changed. It felt rewarding doing such a good deed, and you found yourself glancing back towards the warrior's den. Halflight was barely visible in amongst the shadows and whilst it appeared she was still mad at you, you could just make out the appreciative nod she gave you.