Scourge woke in a dim forest. Tall trees, wreathed by mist stood, silhouetted against a dark, hazy sky. It seemed to be nighttime, but he could barely see the stars. They seemed further away than he had ever thought possible.
Scourge stood his mind hazy. Where am I? he wondered. He remembered killing his enemy, Tigerstar, at last. There had been a battle; he had fought against a fiery ginger tom that called himself Firestar. He had won, he had won. But then how, when he had killed his enemy so surely, had Firestar come and fought him again? The ginger tom had said something about a"Starclan" and nine lives.
His words had made no sense at the time, but now they took on new meaning. Could this Starclan have given his enemy the power to fight on? To fight against him? To win? Could he really have been given nine lives?
Confused and depressed, Scourge stepped into the shadows of the trees. I will find someone that will tell me where I am, he decided and as an afterthought added, and why.
After he had been traveling for several long hours he heard a noise. First, Scourge dismissed it as the cold wind rustling the bushes, or the sound of the prey that he had found was nonexistent. Then the rustling became louder and Scourge knew that it was from something real. A twig snapped near him and he turned to face whoever it was.
A dark tabby shape emerged from the undergrowth. Scourge's fur bristled; surely Tigerstar didn't also have nine lives! The tabby noticed him as well and snarled, "You!"
Scourge tried to remain calm, "Yes, me. What are you doing here?"
Tigerstar bristled then seemed to calm. "We're dead," he answered simply.
If possible this made Scourge even more agitated. "What do you mean?" he growled, "Speak!"
Tigerstar complied calmly, "In the short time I have been here I have found out many things. This place is called the Place of No Stars. Some call it the Dark Forest. We did not follow Starclan, so we were sent here when we died. Everyone here is alone; we may cross paths but wherever we walk, we walk alone."
"Starclan. I keep hearing about this Starclan. What is it?"
"The warrior ancestors of the clans. They guide the living, speak to them. They give the leaders nine lives. But," Tigerstar's meow became sharp, "we do not speak of them here."
So it's true, thought Scourge grimly. He spoke aloud, " thought Scourge grimly. He spoke aloud, "You didn't have nine lives. I killed you."
Tigerstar's voice grew deep and became a low snarl, "You tore all of my lives out of me at once. The pain was more than you could ever imagine. I died nine times that day and you were the cause of it. I vowed revenge, but Firestar killed you."
Scourge's eyes blazed with rage, "I killed you before and I'll kill you again!" he screeched, lunging for Tigerstar's throat.
Tigerstar dodged him laughing, "Even if you tore me open, I can't die again. Neither can you."
Scourge stopped. But, as Tigerstar relaxed, he lunged again, gripping his teeth in Tigerstar's throat and tearing at him with reinforced claws. He felt the tabby's blood gush from the wound and noted, with satisfaction, the cat's apparent pain. The huge cat jerked once, but ceased struggling almost immediately. As Tigerstar's muscles relaxed and Scourge decided that he was dead. He dropped the body with a snort of disgust and turned to depart, leaving Tigerstar lying in the dust.
Before he had walked more than a few steps a voice sounded behind him, "I told you, we're already dead. You can't kill me again."
Scourge spun around and saw Tigerstar standing up, growling. The blood was already crusting around the wound on his neck and, with a gasp Scourge saw that the wound was healing. Though the skin was covering the wound, it looked like the most painful way to heal. Tigerstar advanced threateningly, "We can't die but we aren't alive."
Scourge backed up. As much as he hated to admit it, this was one fight that he couldn't win. The dark tabby was right, they couldn't die in a place where they were already deceased. He spun around and stalked away. He had his answers; he had gotten his revenge by killing Tigerstar. Yet Tigerstar was still alive! No, not really, he was dead, but he was still there.
Perhaps it really is too late to change, he thought forlornly, If only I hadn't gone to twolegplace when I was a kit. If I had never made up that story about the dog tooth. Maybe if I had just tried harder to be a good cat…
As he padded into the darkness, Tigerstar's voice rang in his mind, "Everyone here is alone; we may cross paths but wherever we walk, we walk alone."
Yes, thought Scourge, It's too late now and I'm alone.