Finally Hawkfrost left him alone. Tigerstar breathed in relief as his son took charge of training the trainees from the clans. He was proud of Hawkfrost, however his son was irritating at times when he tried to be like him. None of the other Dark Forest cats noticed the former leader of ShadowClan leave into the thick thorny bushes.
The large tabby was grateful for his dark pelt as he slithered through the tall black trees, dark fog camouflaging his fur further. Amber eyes pierced through the Dark Forest as the bulky tomcat slipped off in the direction he hadn't been to before. All he knew was that all the other Dark Forest cats, even ones like Mapleshade, Thistleclaw and Brokenstar, avoided this direction and preferred to stay away from Starclan.
Thankfully Hawkfrost wouldn't find him there. Didn't he know when to give him some space? Hawkfrost was always very clingy.
Suddenly something rustled through the thorns and poison ivy. Tigerstar's ears pointed towards the sound. He instinctively crouched, the smell of a mouse drifting to him.
There was no prey in the Dark Forest, so this must be a StarClan mouse that found its way here. Tigerstar stalked towards its scent, remembering the fine taste of forest mouse.
He hadn't eaten anything since Scourge had tore him open, so this would be a pleasant change. He wouldn't mind if he helped himself. Besides, it would mean less mice for the stuck-up angel cats to eat.
His paws made no noise as he stalked forward. The scent of the mouse was getting stronger, and soon he could see it rustling about the forest floor. Why would it go here? Wasn't StarClan a better place for it to eat? Oh well, it wasn't his problem. If anything, he was a little grateful that his shredded stomach would soon have something to digest.
So Tigerstar crept onward, following the mouse as it made its way back. The dark tabby tail started to flick back and forth in steady rhythm low over the ground. For a split second the Dark Forest cat felt like an apprentice, making his first catch.
It didn't suspect a thing. Tigerstar found himself licking his lips, already imagining himself ripping apart the warm body. However he strangely couldn't imagine the taste. It's been so long, he could barely remember what food tasted like.
Tigerstar was so focused on the mouse that he didn't notice the change of scenery from the Dark Forest to a dark, moonlight grove.
Suddenly a streak of white flashed across Tigerstar's eyes, so quick that the dark warrior had to blink and shake his head to get the blur out of his vision.
The second cat stood there, the mouse dead at his paws. The bright scarlet blood of the mouse was dark on the fur of the prey, but so bright and vibrant around the cat's muzzle. The cat had stars in his snowy white fur and in his sunny yellow eyes. He turned to Tigerstar, and gave him a blank glare. Clearly he hadn't expected to see him either.
Tigerstar's stomach churned, half with disappointment that he wasn't the one to make to catch the mouse, half with anger that came with seeing the StarClan cat.
A few heartbeats passed as the tomcats stared at each other blankly, not knowing what to do. Tigerstar suddenly felt nervous at the presence of him, not trusting himself to move even a whisker. Argh! Why did he feel this way?
The StarClan cat was the first to break the awkward silence.
"Sorry, didn't know you were hunting," Whitestorm apologised quickly, pointing at the well-caught mouse. "You can have it."
Tigerstar stood up to his full height and flattened his ears. The Dark Forest soldier was much larger than the StarClan warrior, so he had to look slightly down to stare his former clanmate in the eyes. "I don't need your pity," he snarled threateningly. "Forget I was ever in StarClan grounds." He punctuated the word 'StarClan' with a deep growl of fury.
"StarClan grounds?" Whitestorm echoed. "This isn't StarClan. I think this is a place in the boundary, where neither StarClan nor The Place Of No Stars have control over. I think it's forgotten."
Tigerstar flicked his tail, finally looking around his surroundings.
It was nighttime, like it was in both StarClan and The Place With No Stars, however there was only the thin crescent moon, like a cat's claw, hanging in the sky. There was the moon, like there was in StarClan, but there were no stars, like in the Dark Forest.
This truly was the boundary between the two places.
Beautiful forest trees reached up to the sky, clawing up with long bony fingers to grasp out the clouds and stars that weren't even there. The clearing was small, surrounded by bright green StarClan bushes and Dark Forest thorn brambles.
"Are you sure you don't want the mouse?" Whitestorm asked, pushing the fresh-kill towards Tigerstar with a paw. "I'm not hungry anyway. There's plenty more back in StarClan."
"Spare me your pity," snarled the dark warrior, though eying the fresh-kill with a hungry glare. He hadn't eaten in so long...
He couldn't resist. Tigerstar stalked out of the thorns and took the fresh-kill without taking his eyes off of the StarClan warrior, his ears flattened to let him know not to make any sudden moves.
"Why are you so cautious of me?" Whitestorm asked, sitting down on the soft grass as Tigerstar pulled the mouse apart to get to the flesh.
The cat didn't answer at first, since he was too busy being surprised at the mouse's taste. It melted in his mouth, and Tigerstar had to mute his pleased purr. It was ThunderClan prey. His prey. Then Whitestorm's question occurred to him.
"You're my enemy," he growled darkly, mouth still full of of a bite of mouse. "Neither of us are supposed to be here."
Whitestorm rolled his yellow eyes as Tigerstar scraped the meat off the tiny bones.
"You could've let me have the kill," Tigerstar growled as he swallowed the last mouthful.
Whitestorm flattened his ears. "I told you already, I didn't know you would be here. Seems like your hunting skills haven't faltered despite the lack of prey."
Tigerstar sat up in surprise. He hadn't expected Whitestorm to complement him, at all.
"Leopardfoot's been doing great," Whitestorm assured him, as if reading Tigerstar's mind. "So have Mistkit and Nightkit."
Tigerstar blinked in shock, forgetting that this was the cat he grew up with.
"And I assume you'd like to know how your father is doing," Tigerstar guessed, lifting a single furry eyebrow to give Whitestorm a glare. The white cat blinked and dipped his head in a nod.
What should he tell him? That his father had turned into one of the most brutal and most valued Dark Forest warriors? Would Whitestorm really want to hear that?
"Thistleclaw's alive," Tigerstar gestured back to the Dark Forest with his tail. "And doing great by Dark Forest standards."
Whitestorm nodded and began to pad around the clearing, his white fur contrasting the night grove greatly so he seemed to give off his own light, like the moon itself.
Tigerstar's amber gaze followed him, wondering what he would do. He found that his fur was laying flat, and his claws were sheathed in. Annoyed at himself, he unsheathed his claws and raised his hackles.
He didn't want to admit it, but he was glad at Whitestorm's sight. He took his eyes off him and took a sniff back at the gust of wind that was blowing from the Place Of No Stars. No cat scent was coming from there, so nobody would catch him even talking with a StarClan cat. What would the other Dark Forest cats think of him if they ever knew?
Suddenly a ball of moss hit his paw. Tigerstar glared at it in surprise and confusion, then lifted his amber gaze to the other cat.
For that moment Tigerstar was warped back to the old Thunderclan nursery, Leopardfoot and Snowfur watching them with kind eyes from the depths of the dark nursery. Whitestorm sat on his tail, and flicked his ears expectantly.
Tigerstar flattened his ears and drew his lips back in a snarl. "Who do you think I am?" How dare he treat him like some sort of kit?
"We were kits together," Whitestorm reminded him simply. "Did you forget?"
Tigerstar hissed, mouth hinged like a snake, and batted the ball of moss away with the back of his paw.
"A warrior doesn't play like a kit!" Tigerstar snapped, lashing his tail.
Whitestorm lifted both his eyebrows as the moss tumbled towards him. As Tigerstar fumed before him, the large lithe warrior rolled the ball of moss back to him.
"Stop," Tigerstar commanded, not wanting the ball to be near him.
"You don't really think you have any command over me," Whitestorm challenged, batting the ball back.
Tigerstar batted the ball back instinctively, only realising that they've been batting the ball back and forth- just like kits. He hissed again.
"I don't have time for your games Whitestorm," said Tigerstar coldly, turning to pad back to the darkness of the black forest. However he barely got a step before he felt a small stone hit him on the back of the head. He spun round, on to see Whitestorm in battle position, twitching his tail so violently that it looked the the wagging tail of a dog. Despite this, there was a wide smile on the StarClan cat's muzzle.
"I bet you can't beat me!" Whitestorm chanted playfully. Tigerstar widened his eyes, not knowing what to. Whitestorm looked and sounded exactly like a kit.
"Whitestorm what's gotten into you?" Tigerstar growled, though found that there was no antagonism in his voice. Only pure confusion, as if both cats were still alive and still young warriors of Thunderclan.
Thunderclan... that word still burned in the warrior's mind.
"You're boldly refusing an apprentice duel?" Whitestorm teased, his yellow eyes gleaming. "C'mon Tigerpaw, I thought you were braver!"
What did he say? Tigerstar glowered at him, not liking the way Whitestorm was speaking to him. He was a leader, and what rank did he manage to reach? A mere deputy.
Tigerstar sprang, colliding with Whitestorm so forcefully that they tumbled across the long grass as one ball of fur. Despite the anger Tigerstar thought he felt, his claws were sheathed in, pawing at Whitestorm like they did in the apprentice den. Whitestorm laughed in his face, snaking out of his grip easily and rammed into him, unbalancing Tigerstar easily.
Fury flashed through his pelt as Tigerstar opened his mouth in a silent meow, paws flailing as he struck Whitestorm twice across the face with a sheathed paw, a move Leopardfoot had taught him in the nursery. Before Whitestorm could comprehend what he was doing, Tigerstar had him pinned down under two big paws.
He caught a glimpse of the mischievous glint in Whitestorm's yellow eyes. Suddenly the white cat twisted, getting his bushy tail free from underneath him.
Tigerstar realised what he was about to do far too late.
Another move they've learned in the nursery, this time a move Whitestorm's mother, Snowfur, had taught them.
There was no such word that described the feeling of getting hit in such a spot. Tigerstar remembered how Whitestorm first tested out this move in the apprentice den.
Whitestorm's tail hit Tigerstar between the shoulders in the spine. It was exactly like getting struck by lightening in the wrong spot.
Tigerstar gasped and stumbled off him, trying to get the awful feeling out of his body. His amber eyes stared up at him.
"Why are we playing this game?" Tigerstar rasped, not anger flowing through him, but painful nostalgia.
Whitestorm gave his old companion a massive smile. "This whole Dark Forest business must be very stressful." He padded over to the forgotten ball of moss. "Why not relieve your anger?"
He batted the ball of moss towards Tigerstar again, who this time didn't feel the same rage as he first did.
"You won't go around telling others?" Tigerstar made sure, poking at the ball of moss nervously.
Whitestorm smiled wider and put a paw to his lips. "The secrets stay with the white tiger."
Tigerstar found his mouth lifted in a small smile, the faint memory floating up to his mind.
He batted the ball of moss back to Whitestorm. "C'mon then Whitepaw."