Darkness Rising

PrologueEdit
It was a night of no moon. A cats, barely visable in the darkness slunk through the thick undergrowth. She stopped when she reached an abandoned twoleg nest. Slipping inside, she reilized by scent that there were several cats already there. It was hard to tell who they were, because the had all disguised there scents, but there were many.

A low growl, belonging to a tom broke through the darkness. "You're late." The she-cat narrowed her eyes and faced the shadow where the voice was coming from. "I had to finish what I was doing back at the camp. Sunpaw was restless.""Well, I expect you to be on time next new moon." The growl continued. "The meeting's about to start."

The words were barely out of his mouth when a snow-white tom appeared. He was pale, and somewhat more visable than the other cats. He was transparent and its pelt was ragged, torn, and bloody.

"Greetings Coldheart." The she-cat meowed. More words of greeting filled the abandoned twoleg nest. Coldheart waved his tail for silence, And he bagan to speak.

"The Dark Forest has come up with a solution to the problem to our plan..." He began to explain the improved plan. All the cats in the abandoned twoleg nest listened eagerly. Though these were not the cats who would believe in nursury tales, they hung on to Coldheart's every word. The Dark Forest was nothing but a legend in Clan life these days, but Coldheart and his companions in the place of no stars knew it was a great advantage if their victems did not beleive in them.

At least most cats didn't beleive in every kit's favorite nursery tale. A few around the lake did in fact beleive, but they kept it to themselves...

Chapter 1 - AmberpawEdit
Amberpaw woke up to the sound of rocks tumbling down the sides of the camp's walls. Sitting up, she noticed Rainpaw, Larkpaw and Snowpaw were still asleep; Sunpaw was resting in the medicine den recovering from a cough. She curled up, trying to fall back asleep, but a nagging thought stopped her from joining her denmates in peaceful slumber. What was that sound?

It sounded as though some cat had left the camp from the secret exit her mentor, Hollycloud, had told her about. Amberpaw crawled out of the apprentices den, wondering who had left the camp so late at night. She walked towards the sloped wall of the camp, tasting the air for scents.

Unable to detect a scent, Amberpaw looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the escaping cat. The sky was dark, with no moon. only the stars shone brightly in the sky. Part of the sky was covered up by a big, dark cloud. shivers ran down her spine as she thought of the legend of The Dark Forest. No cat beleives the Dark Forest exists, but why couldn't it? Pineclaw definitly couldn't go to StarClan!

The memory of the amber-eyed dark tabby, said to be decended from Tigerstar himself, caused Amberpaw to cringe. She had been a kit, only two moons old, when he attacked his own clan, hungry for leadership. Hoping for Falconstar to surrender, Pineclaw had killed her sister, Hopekit. Greif clenched Amberpaw's heart. Hopekit had been her best friend in the whole clan, and she was gone now.

Without thinking, Amberpaw walked closer to the stone wall. Her nose brushed against something soft. Fur! She breathed in the scent of the gray fur, hoping to figure out which cat it belonged to. ''Cloudshatter! ''The name flashed through her mind.

But why had Cloudshatter left the camp, and why by the emergency escape? If she was collecting herbs, no cat would stop her. Amberpaw couldn't figure out why Cloudshatter would leave, especially if Sunpaw was sick. Suspicion flickered through her mind. Cloudshatter was Pineclaw's sister. ''I must be imagining things. ''She thought.

With a yawn, Amberpaw reilized how tired she was. She crawled back into the apprentces den. Maybe it was medicine cat stuff... She thought as she dozed off to sleep.

...

"Wake up, you've slept in until sun-high." Rainpaw's voice broke into Amberpaw's restless sleep. The image of Pineclaw's long claws digging into her sister's soft golden fur had stalked it's way into her dreams. Hopekit's last cry still echoed in her ears.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Hopekit's scared and pleadng amber eyes left her vision to be replaced by sunlght streaming through the entrance to the apprentices den. Rainpaw stood over her, her sharp green eyes shining with worry.

"I'm fine..." Amberpaw meowed, "What's Hollycloud got planned for me?" She stood up and shretched. The sun shone on her ginger fur, turning it a warm amber colour. "Border patrol, with me and Flamefoot!" Snowpaw meowed, padding up behind Rainpaw.

A flash of energy sparked through Amberpaw. A run through the forest would do her good.Shakeing off the lingering remnants of her dreams, she stood up. Rainpaw dipped her head and ran off to join Larkpaw. The two apprentices were heading off to battle training.

"Lucky furballs." Snowpaw muttered. Amberpaw murmured in agreement. Everything's so peaceful right now, there's almost no point in border patrols.

The two apprentices walked over to Flamefoot and Hollycloud, who were sitting a few tail-lenths away from the camp entrance. "Ready to go?" Hollycloud asked, looking at Amberpaw with worry in her eyes.

"Of course!" Amberpaw replied cheerfully. Hollycloud flicked her tail. "Okay then, let's go."

The patrol met no cats as they walked along the WindClan border and the lakeshore. They were just reaching the ShadowClan border when they heard a splash.

Amberpaw's ears pricked hoping to hear more. She could just picck up the sound of sneering voices, too far away to hear the words. After a little while, a patrol of four ShadowClan cats appeared on the other side of the river. A black she-cat growled to a mud-covered black tom with ginger paws. Amberpaw strained her ears to hear what she was saying, but the rushing river was making it to hard to hear the black she-cat's quiet words. A gray tabby tom laughed and shoved the mud-covered tom off his paws.

The black she-cat glared at the two toms and stepped towards Amberpaw's patrol with the apprentice. Amberpaw recognized the apprentice as Rabbitpaw. She knew him from gatherings, though not very well.

"Ignore them!" The black she-cat snapped at Snowpaw, Who Amberpaw reilized was watching the ShadowClan toms. "They are being mouse-brained fools." Her voice changed to a cool meow.

"You have no right to order my apprentice around, Ravennight." Flamefoot meowed, matching Ravennight's cool voice. "And we don't care two mouse-tails what your clan-mates are doing. We'll let you carry on with your patrol, and we will carry on with ours."

Ravennight growled. "That's not why we are here. ShadowClan needs more territory, and I'd like to supprise Fallowstar by taking it."

Amberpaw's pelt began to bristle, and she noticed Hollycloud unsheathing her claws. "Run and get help!" Her mentor meowed to Snowpaw. Just as Snowpaw was rushing off, Ravennight let out screeching yowl. "ShadowClan, Attack!"

Chapter 2 - EmbernightEdit
All around Embernight, his clanmates laughed at him. He had gone on the sunhigh patrol with Ravennight, Rabbitpaw and Wettooth. A particularly plump bird had been pecking near the roots of a tree, and He had gotten a little carried away chasing it. Now he found himself covered in mud, on a particularly wet stretch of shoreline near the lake. To make matters worse, he had not caught the bird.

Embernight bravely stepped out of the mud, and began to lick himself clean. He would not show weakness in front of these cats. "Mouse-brain!" Ravennight spat. "Now ThunderClan will know we're here!" Wettooth stepped forwards, his eyes gleaming in amusement and drool dripping out of his mouth. "We're supposed to be patroling our borders, not playing in the mud like a kit!" He sneered.

Embernight's black pelt bristled, his claws digging into the soft ground. Wettooth had trained with him when they were apprentices, and although the gray tabby tom was three moons younger than him, and only recently made a warrior, he always took any chance he got to make fun of him.

Ravennight shot him one last irritated look and stalked off towards the border. She flicked her tail for the rest of the patrol to follow. Rabbitpaw ran ahead to join his mentor. Wettooth spat at Embernight one last time ran off to join Ravennight.

Embernight rolled his eyes and ran off to join the rest of the patrol. He followed Ravennight through the trees to the ThunderClan border where there was a patrol of cats walking. Reilizing he was still covered in mud, Embernight's pelt grew hot in embaressment.

"You ruined the element of supprise!" Ravennight growled in his ear. Wettooth laughed and shoved him off his paws. Ravennight glared at the two toms before stalking forward to meet the ThunderClan patrol. Wettooth openly sneered at Emberight.

''How did I get to be on this patrol. ''Embernight wondered. Wettooth and Ravennight were the only cats in the whole clan who seemed to dislike him. He had plenty of friends, after all he was a great warrior, was friendly and Fallowstar's son. Even Wettooth's sister, who agreed with everthing that her brother said, was one of his closest friends.

Ravennight's comand to attack broke through his thoughts, and Embernight noticed the white pelt of one of the ThunderClan apprentices dashing off, to get help he supposed. ''Who died and made Ravennight deputy! Only deputies can call out fights like this, and last time I looked, Smokeshade was perfectly healthy!'' He thought irritatedly.

"Stop sitting there like lost kit!" Ravennight spat at him."We're loosing!" Anger bubbling up in him, he sprang at the ginger apprentice. He felt his claws rake through her fur, performing moves that should only be used on a highly trained warrior, not some half trained apprentice. Reilization struck him like a bolt of lightning.

"I'm sorry!" He meowed to the apprentice. ''I shouldn't take out my anger on an apprentice! ''But the apprentice did not get up. Worry flashed through him and he began to search for any sign that the apprentice was still alive. That's when he reilized she was still breathing. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Amberpaw!" the gray tabby she-cat yowled. Her mentor? Ravennight, Rabbitpaw and Wettooth stood blocking her path. "Amberpaw will come with us!" Ravennight spat. "we're taking her prisoner." Disbeleif shone in the gray tabby's eyes that Embernight was sure mirrored his own.

"Come on, let's go." Ravennight spat. She nudged Amberpaw up and forced her along. Wettoth padded at her side. Embernight turned to face Amberpaw's mentor. "I'm sorry." He meowed. "You'll get her back. Fallowstar will be mad when he finds out Ravennight took her prisoner. Now is a time of peace." The gray tabby she-cat's eyes shone with understanding, and Embernight turned around and dashed to keep up with the patrol.

Chapter 3 - MallowpawEdit
"The gathering ended when a cloud covered the moon. Cats spat at each other, claws unsheathed." Minnowstream meowed as she told the apprentices the legend of the dark forest. "Dawnpelt caused this, all because she didn't think a crack in the ice was enough to blame for her brother's death."

Mallowpaw listened eagerly, this was her fovorite story. She heard Pinkpaw's snort behind her. "Like all this really happened." Mallowpaw turned her head to glare at the pinkish ginger apprentice standing at the entrance to the elders den. "I don't get why you want to listen to this load of fox dung." Pinkpaw sighed. "Anways, Silvermist wants you for training."

Dissapointed, Mallowpaw rose to her paws. ''This story could help someday! everyone says the Dark Forest is just a myth, part of a story to scare kits. Part of one of the greatest legends, but they're all being mouse-brained. What if The Dark Forest has come to full power again and is training cats. ''

"I'll come back and hear the rest of the story later." She told the elder. behind her, she could hear PInkpaw's paws shifting impatiently.

"I'm coming, keep your fur on." Mallowpaw said with a mrrow of amusement. Pinkpaw snorted. as the two cats walked away, Pinkpaw turned to face Mallowpaw. "you shouldn't spend all your time in there, well not any more than you have to." Mallowpaw knew she was talking about the apprentice duties.

"Well, I suppose you are a kit!" Pinkpaw sneered. "Believing in nursery tales and all." Mallowpaw's pelt fluffed up in embaressment. She remembered the day she had confessed her fears about the dark forest to her denmates. It was at that time she reilized no other cats believed in the legend. She still felt the cold fear that the Dark forest could use that to their advantages.

"I don't believe in nursery tales!" Mallowpaw lied. "Every cat knows the dark forest is just a tale to keep kits from straying to far." When she saw that Pinkpaw was not convinced, she added. "honestly. I was hardly more than a kit when I said that. Now I'm almost a warrior!"

Pinkpaw dipped her head, satisfied with her answer. Mallowpaw let out a sigh of relief, too quiet for her denmate to hear.

"What are we doing today?" She asked Silvermist when she reached her mentor. Silvermist smiled. "Battle training." Mallowpaw's mentor replied.