The blanket of snow on the ground muffled the sound of his pawsteps. With each step taken, he became wearier and wearier, the wind just sounding like one big blur, and everything looking like a winter world. His journey was almost over, however. Soon, he could lie down by an actual source of warmth and sleep away his remaining days in peace; but would he really be able to?
He stepped in a patch too deep, and his whole upper body sunk into the snow up to his chin. He grunted, rearing himself onto his hind paws and leaping over the patch quickly and continued on. His fur now sodden, he could barely feel his paws, let alone his body. Soon enough though, he reached the cave.
Peering inside, he saw nobody and nothing, no light; yet he knew this was the place. He took his first steps in, feeling that the icy stone floor was no better then the snow itself. He shook himself out before treading into darkness. After what seemed like ages of darkness, he reached upon a certain clearing. Inside that clearing was dark, but it wasn't the choking darkness from before.
He looked up at the whole in the very top of the cave. He could just barely see a sliver of the moon. Suddenly, the cavern was filled with a dazzling blinding white light. He narrowed his eyes against it, but soon adjusting. There before him, was what cats called 'the moonstone'.
Dozens of cats used to live close by to here. Apparently, they would come to visit the moonstone, which held unspeakable connections to 'ancestry'. He wasn't sure how, but he would figure out. He padded over, eyes narrowed against the light as his dark golden gaze stared down at it. He tentatively reached down, touching his nose against it and crouching down. He blinked a few times, before closing his eyes, instantly feeling the ground beneath him vanish as he was plummeted into darkness.
When he opened his eyes, he was on a grassy, lush field. He tilted his head towards the night sky, and saw several stars above. All at once, they started to move, moving in an arc, then eventually a spiral pathway descending down towards the ground. Then he saw it. Cats. Dozens of cats filing down, and soon, all was still.
The other felines stared at him silently. One suddenly padded towards him. An elegant she-cat she was. Silver-blue fur with dark stripes lined her frame, and her paws and chest as white as the freshly fallen snow. Her eyes were dark, blue orbs that could drown any cat. She stopped about a tail-length away from him.
"Welcome." her voice seemed to be cold and frosty, yet comforting and warm all at the same time. "You may not remember who I am, but I am the very one who kitted you, my dear son," he was astounded. It was.. his mother..? "You may remember my name. In case not, then I was Mint. I now go by Mintsickle," her eyes seemed to hold so much.. the darkness.. yet the wisdom.. "You have ventured upon the moonstone, my son, something the cats do not use anymore and have not for seasons. I may give you a tour though of these hunting grounds; StarClan's hunting grounds."
He didn't know what to say or do. His body and mouth were frozen. Numbly, he just nodded. Her eyes sparkled faintly, before she turned, about to start off, but suddenly, another elegant she-cat blocked her way. Her eyes were a calming blue, the same as her fur.
"This is not his path," she said smoothly, casting a glance at the tom and back at Mintsickle. His mother drew back slightly, rather harshly as well.
"I won't believe what you say, Bluestar," she suddenly hissed, fur prickling on end, "You may have been here longer then myself, as well as being a clan-cat longer, but you are wrong. He is not meant to walk that.. that other path," she spat out the word other like some sort of crowfoot.
"It is his fate. I do not wish to turn any cat away from here, but he is one exception I must make for that," she replied again, not missing a beat.
"Bluestar is unfortunately correct, Mintsickle," a sudden cat appeared. His eyes were the green of the royal emeralds, and his pelt was as fiery orange as the flame itself. His head was lifted with confidence, and he spoke it fluently as well, though his eyes betrayed otherwise.
Mintsickle's eyes darted to the tom, "Firestar, you cannot be agreeing to what she is saying," her voice was near a snarl now, outraged in disbelief and horror. He stayed silent, staring quietly at her. She took a look at the cats, then at the all the other cats. Suddenly, some started to slink forward, their starry pelts moving swiftly over their muscles.
"The dark one.." they kept murmuring, partially circumventing the four cats. He was completely confused. Not meant to be here? They were banning him? What did this all mean? Suddenly, someone lunged. Claw and tooth landed inches away from his pelt, as he just avoided, jumping out of the way. Another snapped at his other side.
He looked at Bluestar, Firestar and Mintsickle, confused. Firestar looked away, while Bluestar's gaze seemed to burn into his. Mintsickle looked at him solemnly, and mouthed a single word: run. His eyes widened, and he felt claws score his pelt. He scrabbled on the ground for a moment, before turning and running.
While he fled through the cats, he felt teeth nip at him, claws scar him, and he heard disgusted whispers along the line as "the dark shall perish" and "crowfoot eating maggot" and other horrific things. He closed his eyes, pressing on harder, until the whole environment around his paws changed. He panted, slowing to a stop, coughing. He opened his eyes. He was in a forest. A very dark one to be exact.
He looked up.
No stars. Not even a sky. The trees were so tightly packed together it was impossible to see anything.
"So, they drove you out, did they?" his head whipped over at a voice, and he spotted a cat. They hid in the shadows, their eyes glinting a crimson red. "What would you expect from StarClan cats? To welcome you? Huh, as if," slowly, they padded out. Their crimson gaze faded to a sharp blue-grey. A dark brown pelt they wore, along with black stripes, white chest, partially face, paws and tail. The she-cat let out a smirk, and he took a slight halfstep back, noticing the several scars lining her body, the most prominent was across her face and chest though.
"Here, everyone is welcomed," she grinned, beginning to encircle him, "I suppose they're starting to pick and choose who stays and who goes in StarClan. I had no idea that it would actually come.." the cats in StarClan.. their pelts had glimmered with the bright light of the stars. They seemed to be wearing the stars themselves. But this cat.. her aurora was dark. Darkness seemed to cloud completely over her, and her eyes constantly switched between the deadly crimson and the sharp blue-grey.
"Here, you will become stronger than you ever would hope to be; trust me: we can give you so much more than StarClan could," she suddenly stopped, sitting on the ground, narrowing her eyes a bit. "Welcome to the Dark Forest, comrade. You see, not too long ago we had a ferocious battle; a battle between light and dark. Apparently, the dark members had no idea of the actual control they had, therefore, we had been struck down. I was one of the only to survive. I retreated, yes, but that was because I knew they stood no chance.
No, I know what true dark can bring, and how to harness it. With myself leading, I will build this place back up, but far more powerful and better than before," she stood again, sweeping her tail against the ground. Soon, three dark feline figures rose from the ground. He blinked, startled, taking another step back. They.. seemed to be completely.. darkness.. Their eyes glowed the crimson, and they opened their jaws, showing an array of darkness-oozing sharp teeth.
They did seem to leak the darkness.. it seemed to ooze off their claws, pelt, tail and so forth. She flicked her tail tip, and they surged forward. He yowled in surprise as he was suddenly on the ground, writhing under the forms. They bit and clawed at him, leaving stinging wounds that felt incredibly weird.. Suddenly, the weight was just lifted off of him. Gasping, he sat up, looking at the darkness on his pelt. It evaporated off, and he looked at the she-cat, startled. The figures disappeared into smoke, and she smiled.
"You.. you can have the same power. Train with me, and together, we shall both recruit more and more, then, teach everyone what darkness can do, once and for all," he didn't know what to do.. Wasn't.. wasn't darkness bad? But.. the light turned him away.. this truly must be his destiny. He finally raised his head a bit more.
"I shall take that path with you," his voice came out dim at first from lack of use, but grew to the strong tenor at the end. She grinned, wickedly at that.
"Excellent.. we shall get started," she turned, starting to head off, and as he followed, she slowed, stopping and glancing back slightly at him, her eyes gleaming red, "Oh yes.. I used to go by the name of Soundpetal within the clans. But please, I prefer to be called Jax."