AUTHOR'S NOTE: I made a guess at Maggottail's appearance, and probably a lot of Dark Forest cats that hadn't been identified. WARNING: Violence in this chapter.

Once again, Flarepaw was in that murky, misty forest that she had originally met Tigerstar and Hawkfrost in. Her first training day! How exciting! She shuffled her paws nervously as she waited in the foggy clearing for Hawkfrost to come. A moment alter, she heard a bush rustling. She tensed up, looking around, and then whipped around when a body flew toward her. She leaped out of the way and slashed the cat's side as he flew past. Two icy blue eyes peered at her coldly.

Hawkfrost!

Flarepaw's eyes widened as apologies began tumbling out of her mouth; Hawkfrost purred in amusement. "Flarepaw, darling, it's okay," he promised, laughing. "That's what I wanted. See, it didn't even hurt." He gestured to his unscathed flank and smiled broadly. "Okay. Now, I need to tell you about training."

He smirked slightly and sat down. "Okay, first of all, have you heard of the Dark Forest?" he inquired, eyes flitting about anxiously. Flarepaw saw the corner of his lip quirk up in a half-smile.

"Y-yes," she meowed, hoping to please her nightly mentor. "It's where bad cats go, right?" Hawkfrost's stare told her that she needed to explain it more. "When a cat does something bad, they go to the Dark Forest to be punished eternally in a horrible place...?" she guessed, blinking unsurely.

"Perfect!" Hawkfrost purred, causing Flarepaw to nod joyously. "Now, there's something I must tell you. You're in the Dark Forest right now. I'm a Dark Forest cat." Shock caused Flarepaw's heart to skip a beat. Now, she understood why he looked so menacing and ominous. "But I just anted to be deputy," he sighed. "And I was punished for it."

"I-I'm sorry," Flarepaw meowed, smiling slightly at her "mentor", who nodded. "WE can start training now," she meowed.

"First I want to introduce you to the other cats who train with us!" he meowed perkily, leaping away like a kit. Flarepaw chuckled and followed him, knowing that this was just a game. Soon, they came across a line of other apprentices. There was Sorrelpaw and Bramblepaw, who scowled at her as she smiled at them slightly, a few apprentices from Shadow, River, and WindClan, and then, a very surprising, familiar face - Tinypaw! Flarepaw's jaw dropped in shock.

"Hello, Flarepaw!" she meowed cheerfully, as if they weren't in a dark, dreadful place. The rest of the apprentices snickered at her perkiness, but stopped at her ferocious glare. "Who's your mentor? Mine's Maggottail!" A dark yellow tom with baleful brown eyes beside her smiled crookedly. Flarepaw smiled back lamely.

"My mentor is better! Mapleshade," cooed Sorrelpaw. She smiled up at the she-cat, who winked. But Flarepaw saw the evil glint in both their eyes.

"Go train," Hawkfrost insisted irritably. "No time for chit-chat." He turned to face Flarepaw, crouching down. "Now, here's what you do . . ."


When Flarepaw woke up, her body ached from training. She felt the pain of where Hawkfrost slashed her body with his fearsome claws. She winced slightly. She turned over and saw Tinypaw's bright eyes watching her. She seemed tired, which didn't surprise Flarepaw; after the brutal Dark Forest training, who wouldn't be?

"You okay?" Tinypaw whispered quietly, sitting up and gazing at her friend. Flarepaw nodded, stretching tiredly. Pain pulled at her limbs, and she hissed. Her friend smiled slightly and stood up, stretching her hind legs. "I'll fetch some herbs for you. I talk with Rubypaw often, and she'll help me; she knows." As the small brown cat left, the other cats began waking.

"Where's Tinypaw?" yawned Brackenpaw, arching his back sleepily. His sharp green eyes became trained on Flarepaw, who felt strangely guilty under the electric glare. Brackenpaw was known for his temper and snide remarks, which the new apprentice hated. But the tom didn't seem to notice his rudeness to her, and his sisters, for that matter.

"She went to get me some poppy seeds," instantly replied Flarepaw. "I woke up with a hurting leg and back." She wasn't lying; those two places were paining her deeply. Brackenpaw shrugged and turned to speak with Redpaw, who had asked him a question. Flarepaw felt relieved when Tinypaw returned with five poppy seeds.

"Take one every time it pains you," she mewed, nudging the seeds to Flarepaw, who smiled and ate one before padding outside. Stonestar waited for her outside. Beside him was Thornheart, narrowed green eyes glaring at the apprentices' den.

"About time, sleepyhead!" teased Stonestar, laughing. Flarepaw's pelt bristled slightly at the taunt and tartly said that Redpaw would be on his way soon. Minutes later, Redpaw had appeared. Thornheart instantly took him out, while Stonestar taught her the ways of the code and Clan, and explained the ways the Clans smelled and the way prey smelled. He relieved her when he finished explaining an apprentice's duty. "Now, go give the elders some prey," he meowed.

Flarepaw's own stomach grumbled. She growled as she walked to the fresh kill pile and picked out a mouse to give to the elders. As soon as she reached them, she was met by murmurs of gossip about other Clans.

"Ah, the new apprentice!" rasped a black tom with one yellow eye as he smiled crookedly. "I heard that you got in a fight with my grandson. No mater. Just give me my mouse." Flarepaw glanced at the other elders for approval.

"Go ahead, sweetheart," meowed a kindly gray tabby who smiled warmly. "Old Losteye here hasn't eaten yet." Dipping her head, the apprentice dropped the prey and ran out.

There was a moment of confusion when Bramblepaw shouted, "INTRUDERS!" and then one of panic as an enemy Clan attacked. Unsure of what to do, Flarepaw stayed at her position with the elders, guarding the entrance. In a flash - surprise, surprise - Sorrelpaw was at her side.

Not forgetting the she-cat's cruelty, Flarepaw hissed slightly. Sorrelpaw glanced at her sorrowfully. "Go fight; I've got this," she meowed, nodding at her fellow apprentice, who instantly ran off, guessing that in battle, even enemies had to work together as a Clan.

As she searched for a cat to fight, somecat barreled into her. She spun around and slashed the cat's eye. The cat, a dusty brown one, hissed and leaped again, her claws scoring against Flarepaw's pelt. "What Clan are you?" cried the new apprentice, once again slashing at her attacker.

"ShadowClan, mousebrain! Haven't you learned scents?" the cat crowed, bright eyes glittering with mischief. Flarepaw's skin became heated underneath her thick pelt. Her eyes darted to where her brother was battling a light brown tom, who was smiling strangely.

A bite on her hind leg snapped Flarepaw back to attention. The enemy snickered dryly. "You're the half-Clanner," she sneered. "But something seems vaguely familiar about you. Maybe you were in the nursery with me." She lashed her tail and slashed Flarepaw's cheek.

Suddenly, a cat appeared beside Flarepaw's opponent. He whispered something n her pricked ear. "Okay, Dustpaw?" he meowed swiftly before bounding off. Curiosity filled Flarepaw's eyes, but she shook her head as Dustpaw's face contorted in pure and utter pain.

"I'm sorry, Flarepaw," she whispered sadly. "But I must do this." With a sharp yowl, she threw herself at her opponent. Caught off guard, Flarepaw tumbled backwards with Dustpaw latching on, claws sinking into her flesh. Raking her claws down her flank, the ShadowClan cat leaped out of the way before Flarepaw could retaliate, and then struck again.

Flarepaw grew swiftly tired. Her reactions grew slower, and she swayed on her paws. And that's when Dustpaw ran off and was replaced by a much stronger, larger warrior. Flarepaw squeaked and backed against a stone.

"Hello, young apprentice," he purred, eyes flashing. His pale pelt was ruffled in the heat of the battle. Then, he smirked and slashed his claws against Flarepaw's chest. The apprentice's eyes fluttered, but didn't close. Every bit of her strength pulled at her muscles, keeping her conscious.

A growl rippled in the tom's throat, and he slashed constantly at her. Flarepaw's eyes fluttered again, and finally, closed as she drifted into nothingness and darkness.


Cold. That was the very first observation Flarepaw made. Just a lot of cold. She shuddered and opened her eyes to see a black tom looking eagerly at her. "You're awake!" he cried gleefully, licking her cheek gratefully. She heard snickers at the display of creepy affection, and she flinched. A little ways away, she saw her old opponent watching in horror. Dustpaw met her eyes and blinked, which Flarepaw saw as a hidden message. Unusually, she forgave the somewhat cruel cat.

She looked around, and saw both Sorrelpaw and Tinypaw beside her, tied with vines to two protruding ledges. On six separate ledges across from them were apprentices from different Clans. "You're here to serve us," giggled the black tom from before. "But first, we managed to also get a kit from WindClan." He gestured to a kit that was restrained by two vines wrapped around his neck, held by two ShadowClan warriors.

"We will show you what the new ShadowClan will do if you dare disobey us!" he laughed. The warriors took the kit to the center of the clearing, and many cats purred or growled in protest. Dustpaw was one of the protesters. "Shut up!" their new leader snarled, turning to the kit. He trembled with fear under the cold glare.

"Oh, little Mousekit," cooed the tom, smirking, "you thought you were clever, running away as soon as you saw us. You thought wrong!" He slashed Mousekit's belly fiercely, growling. "And now, you will pay!" He trailed a claw from Mousekit's throat to his belly. He repeated this task numerously before finally roughly slashing it.

The kit's wail was horrifying. His pink mouth was open in a scream of terror as blood poured out of the wound and his jaws. He was released from his restraints as he began writing. Panic swam in his eyes; he knew his death was coming. Flarepaw screeched and battled against her vines, whimpering in sadness. Dustpaw, Sorrelpaw, and Tinypaw mirrored her reaction, each yowling their pure anger.

Dustpaw looked ready to leap out of her fur in fright. Her pelt bristled, and her eyes widened in alarm as the kit's struggles grew less strong. "No . . ." she whispered.

Flarepaw watched, horrified, as Mousekit's movements stopped, and his eyes clouded over.