Murky darkness stretched through the forgotten wasteland. The musty smell of the air could make one gag and remind them of death. A thick fog blinded any being wandering the grounds, veiling the land in shadows. Among the rotting trees, dead for as long as the sunless sky remained, sat a dark brown tabby, scarred from his vicious battles of his life.
Tigerstar shuffled through large leaves with berry ink splotched all over them. He knew he saw something about the prophecy of the Three somewhere down here, among these ancient leaves. After the ancient Dark Forest cats had taught him to read the strange signs, he found it a brilliant way to communicate and store information for future Dark Forest cats to come.
If only the bigoted, high-and-mighty, goody-two-shrews, StarClan kittens would even listen to us, they could give the best gift the Clans could ever receive.
Tigerstar tossed a stack of leaves to the side, thwapping a smaller version of himself with eyes cold as a leaf-bare night. "Tigerstar! Watch where you're throwing those!"
"If you're not dead, you're fine." the larger tabby growled, not breaking eye contact with his information. "While you're there, Hawkfrost, help me out here, these ancient prophecies StarClan apparently threw out or lost won't read themselves. It'll take generations if I don't have someone else reading them with me."
"What are you looking for?" Hawkfrost sat down beside his father, studying the tomes.
"The tomes of prophecies," Tigerstar answered, pushing aside leaves with titles along the lines of Kits Who Never Will, Tales of the Great Cats, and SkyClan and Their Lost. "I can't find them anywhere."
"That's because someone else has them." a new, feminine voice called from above.
Tigerstar and Hawkfrost looked up to see a tortoiseshell she-cat with a fluffy white tail laying on a branch, keeping a pile of leaves bound with long blades of grass under her paws.
"Mapleshade," Tigerstar greeted, giving her a nod.
"Yes, yes, pleasure to be here, don't mind me. I'm just another psychotic murderer among psychotic murderers." She stood, picked up the tome in her mouth, and walked along the branch, then climbed down the tree. When she set down the tome at Tigerstar's paws, she strode over to a spot in the clearing where no tomes were strewn, laid down, and began grooming her ragged fur. "For the love of death, walking one snake-length without getting your fur messy is the most impossible thing to do."
"Yeah, find a thorn bush and run through it." Hawkfrost added, scratching a spot on his neck. "I still find seeds on my pelt."
"Shut up, you two, I'm trying to read." Tigerstar growled, flipping through the pages of the tome. "There's two prophecies."
"I already knew that, mousebrain." Mapleshade snarked.
"Then elaborate for me, mousebrain." the large dark tabby snarked back.
Mapleshade sat up and cleared her throat, as if preparing for a grand speech. "The first was given by Skywatcher to Firestar to foretell the three cats who will hold more power than the stars. Jayfodder and Lionbelch are two of the three, with the third, Dovekit, just being born. The second is a reference to their powers, given to Dovekit when she becomes an apprentice. She will bring peace the Clans need."
"I could use some peace around here," a dark gray and white tabby grumbled, shuffling into the clearing. "I mean, you get mad at your sister-in-law for getting your mate killed and since she's the one keeping your kit, you have practically nothing but status to live for. Once you die, you get sent to StarClan for doing practically nothing, then when your sister-in-law dies, you get chased to this awful place. I don't deserve it!"
"Yeah, we all killed, or tried to kill cats, Thistleclaw was the only one that didn't." Mapleshade added.
"All I had left was my ambition, and that wretched Bluestar stole my kit! My position! My mate! I understand that she's her sister and sisters need to talk, but don't bring her somewhere that she could get herself killed! Talk in the nursery or an empty clearing, for the stars' sake!"
"And how did Ashfur manage to win the beatless hearts of StarClan?" another cat, this one a dark gray tabby, asked, pushing through the undergrowth.
Hawkfrost shifted uncomfortably. He muttered something about being crowded.
"He worked with him-" the tabby gestured to Hawkfrost "-to kill Firestar and tried to kill his grandchildren, all because his feewings were huwt." He mocked a sad face and crouched as if scared. "You don't wuv me, Squirrewfwight! Then I must kill your father to make you pay! That didn't work? WELL, LET'S WATCH YOUR KITTENS BURN!"
Mapleshade and another dark brown tabby cat that had joined the clearing burst into laughter with the dark gray tabby. Tigerstar growled with irritation. "Shut up. Shut up! SHUT UP!"
All the cats shut their mouths and stared at the cat with the scars raked across his nose. "These tomes also foretell of a fourth cat, said to be the one to help the Three. We know Hollyleaf is still alive in the tunnels after that failed attempt at killing her you pulled off." Tigerstar glared at the dark gray tabby as he slunk back into his spot. "Breezepelt is already working for us, thanks to Brokenstar." He nodded to the dark brown tabby with the twisted tail who nodded in return. "That only leaves their parents, who don't seem that special, Firestar, who we're already trying to kill, his nephew and niece-in-law, who don't seem that special, either, their daughter who's about as interesting as dirt, and Dovekit's sister." Tigerstar stared at the tome of the prophecy, his eyes amber flames in a murky pelt. "This one may be the fourth. Darkstripe, continue trying to kill Hollyleaf, posses a fox and bring it in the tunnels, for all I care. Brokenstar, keep working with Breezepelt, he's getting good. And you, Hawkfrost."
The dead leader's son straightened up at his name. "Yes, Tigerstar?"
"When that kitten becomes an apprentice, I'd like for you to make sure she doesn't become the fourth. Kill her or render her useless." Tigerstar observed the tome again. "On second thought, she does seem like she has potential. Let's put it to good use. Let blood spill blood."
As Hawkfrost winced at the quote, Tigerstar showed no remorse.
Brokenstar and Thistleclaw left the clearing, the latter muttering about the cold and stench. Darkstripe laid near a fallen branch, then picked seeds and thorns out of his pelt. "Hawkfrost, you want to learn how to walk in dreams? I can teach you, it's quite easy."
Hawkfrost shook his head, then gestured to his plotting father. "Maybe sometime else."
After pulling enough seeds to make him cleaner, the dark gray tabby stood and stretched out. "Well, I'm bored. I'm going to see if there's a she-cat that's sleeping. Walk in her dreams... Give her an experience..."
"Really?" Mapleshade hissed. "You disgust me."
"Says the one who had a RiverClan mate."
"Go eat a thistle!" the tortoiseshell warned, growling.
Darkstripe left the clearing, mocking her by mimicking her. "'Go eat a thistle' yourself."
"Go eat thistles! All of you!" Tigerstar yowled, brows pushed together and spittle flying everywhere. "I need some time to read these and if you're not going to help me read them, then by all means, go eat thistles!"
Mapleshade slunk back into the shadows, while Hawkfrost read tomes from behind Tigerstar. "What else do you need to read on?"
"Nothing, really, I'm only looking over irrelevant prophecies and omens."
"Are you...all right?" Hawkfrost's tail lowered.
"I'm fine. Go find Ivykit and wander through her dreams. See how you can recruit her."
The white-chested tabby reluctantly left the clearing, seeing his father read about prophecies and omens around the time of his life.
"I'm sorry, StarClan. That cat should not have survived. This was never meant to happen."
"A battle is coming, Fireheart. Beware a warrior you cannot trust."
"Beware an enemy who seems to sleep."