AN: I'm not replying to each review for this story (no offense, but it kind of takes forever xD) but to answer one question: SkyClan will not appear in this story, besides Splash, Song, and Hutch. However, they will appear in another of my stories, kind of. And you hit Tigerstar spot-on, Lynxeye.

Splash didn't make it to StarClan because, as stated, she didn't have enough Clan blood in her. But she had too much for her to simply disappear, and thus she found the middle ground, a place where both destinies are possible.

I know I'm taking a crap-ton of creative liberty with the Dark Forest…but meh. xD

C h a p t e r 5

Splash was very quiet and subdued for the next two days, barely saying anything to Tigerstar, or herself, for that matter. Her silence didn't bother Tigerstar very much; he was tired of answering her stupid questions. She could figure out most things by herself if she actually tried, so why should he help her at all?

Her moping quickly became as irritating as her chattering; her silence was awkward and she refused to look at him. Tigerstar almost felt like pinning her down again or ordering her to speak, but he was afraid she would become a chatterbox again. It seemed Splash only operated on two settings, high or low, with no sort of middle ground.

Apologizing was, of course, out of the question. Tigerstar never apologized.

Splash's expression soon became pained, and Tigerstar knew she was beginning to feel the terrible almost-thirst, in addition to the almost-hunger.

She began making strange noises in her sleep, also, and Tigerstar couldn't help but be a little worried. Her mutterings of her mother became more common, and so did the shivering that Tigerstar could only guess was caused because of the cold she had felt before she had died.

Tigerstar had vowed to push Splash further; these signs were troubling, and even though she had two and a quarter moons to find StarClan, at this rate it might be less than even that.

* * *

Splash fell into step beside him, still strangely quiet.

"Do you think my mother's dead too?" she asked finally. Tigerstar glanced down at her, and then shrugged his massive shoulders.

"I hope…I hope she makes it to StarClan," Splash said softly. "I don't want to find it…and then not have her there…that would be awful. And if she goes here instead, then she'll be all alone, and she won't have a cat like you to help her on her way. She might be stuck here forever!"

She looked up at Tigerstar. "Should we have stayed behind, do you think? To help Song?"

"You'd be gone before she ever got here," Tigerstar growled. "She'll probably live on for moons, or something. Waiting for her would be a waste of both of our times."

Splash was quiet again, and Tigerstar's tail flicked slowly as he thought. Where would Song go? Her heritage was that of SkyClan, but unless she actually joined the Clan, it would be quite hard for her to make it to the Dark Forest, let alone SkyClan. And would she join SkyClan now that her daughter was dead, and she had no one to look out for but herself? Would that tom – Hutch, was it? – come back to SkyClan as well?

More importantly, would SkyClan's leader accept them back?

* * *

The next day, there was a mighty obstacle in their path; a large, fiercely flowing river. Tigerstar could see the opposite bank, but, having not come this way before, did not know how deep the river was, or how swift the current.

"Let's swim!" Splash said excitedly.

"No," Tigerstar growled. "We might be swept away if we try that. We'll have to go another way, instead." They padded along the bank together, looking for another crossing point, somewhere that had a slower current or a nearer bank. Finally, Tigerstar settled for a long branch that hung over the river. It was only about half-way to the other side, but Tigerstar was confident that he could swim across.

"Come here," he said, and grabbed Splash's scruff in his jaws. She barely weighed a thing. Holding his tail out for balance and carefully placing his claws in the wood, he began padding forward. Almost immediately, he noticed a problem; the wood was slick from the spray of the river washing up on it, and it was almost certainly rotting from the inside. Tigerstar paused for a moment, considering their options. They could continue downstream, in hopes of a better spot, and risk losing time, or they could continue across this log. If it broke they might be swept away, or Tigerstar would be able to swim to the other side.

Time is most important here, Tigerstar thought, and gritted his teeth – ignoring Splash's yelp of protest – and continued forward.

They neared the end of the long, pale branch, and Tigerstar readied himself to leap. He crouched, coiling his muscles. As he did, he heard the groaning of the branch beneath him, until it suddenly snapped. Desperately, Tigerstar sprang forward as they fell, his paws outstretched towards the bank. It seemed so close, and he was certain his paws would touch it, but as they hit the water, he realized with disbelief that the other bank was almost twice as far away as it had been from on top of the branch. He struggled, swimming towards the other bank, but it seemed that as he swam, the river stretched, and the bank remained just out of his reach. Splash's head was bobbing in and out of the water in his jaws, and the river was beginning to suck him down as well. Tigerstar gulped one final breath of air, before the water pulling him downwards. As they were sent spinning through the dark water, not knowing which way was up or down, Tigerstar wondered if his careless decision would cost him his life, as well as Splash's. How much lifeforce would they lose because of his one careless act?