Ashcan lounged in the dull sunshine, his pelt rising and falling with his breathing. Quiet snores came from Scrag, who slept next to him. Hollystar had left some time ago, taking all her forces with her. Except for him and Scrag, who were tasked with the simple job of guarding the camp.

Not that the camp needed guarding. Those prisoners would be too weak to try anything. They weren't smart enough, either. A shadow fell over him, and he twitched in irritation, not opening his eyes.

"Scrag, will you move your worthless hide? You're in my light."

"You don't order me around anymore."

Ashcan opened his eyes, just in time to see Lionblaze's teeth sink into his throat. He didn't see much of anything else again, and didn't say a word. He was too busy screaming. Lionblaze rose up from the body of the cat, glancing over as Heathertail rose up from her grim task of dispatching the other rouge.

Heathertail...


"Hail Hollystar, if I am about to die, I salute you."

Lionblaze jerked awake, gasping for breath. He immediately buried his face in the fur of the she-cat beside him, weak with relief. A dream. It had all been a dream, thank everything on StarClan's green earth.

"Lionblaze? What's going on?"

Heathertail slowly came awake from her spot beside him, blinking in the gloom of their confinement. Lionblaze stood up and pressed himself against the wall, giving the she-cat room to stretch. The dog...it had been so real...

That was because it had, to an extent. There was a dog imprisoned by some Twoleg wood, and they had both been taken there to see it. But Heathertail was still alive. Hollystar had thrown in some rogue, Axel, she had called him.

"Lionblaze? Are you okay?" A look of concern showed on the she-cat's face as she leaned forward, checking the tom before her.

Lionblaze shook his head. It was time to go. "Heathertail, we have to get out of here."

"But how? That boulder is huge! There's no way we could move it!"

Lionblaze took a deep breath, readying himself. If things were going to work between him and Heathertail, there could be no secrets. "Heathertail, listen carefully..."

Lionblaze told her everything he knew. The prophecy Firestar had received from Skywatcher, about Jayfeather's abilities to walk in dreams, about his own special talent of invincibility in battle. It felt good, pouring the events of his life out to her, to speak to someone who wasn't Jayfeather about the prophecy.

"...so, I might be able to move that boulder. I'm not positive, because I've never moved anything that big. But we can't stay here." He finished, sounding lame, taking a breath. He felt so mouse-brained for not thinking of moving the boulder before, or simply fighting back against the evil cats that had invaded his home. It took Heathertail to get his mind working again.

Heathertail took a respective breath, doubt flickering in her eyes. "That's a lot to take in, but..." she moved closer so their pelts brushed, "I trust you. So what can I do to help?"

"Give me some room. When I push it, go first, I'll be right behind you." Lionblaze felt some relief that she didn't think he was completely insane. Leaning against the rough surface, he took a deep breath, bracing his powerful shoulders against it.

"Alright...now!"

He shoved all his weight into the blockade, channeling all his strength into moving it. The rock moved, barely, but it was just enough for the WindClan she-cat to drop to her belly and scramble out.

"Lionblaze, hold on! I'll get something to prop the rock open!"

He listened to the sound of her retreating paw steps, his whole body shaking with the exertion of keeping the rock in place. I can't do it. It's going to drop...

Then a medium sized stick appeared, lodging between the soil and the rock. Lionblaze released it and threw himself through the hole, just as the stick snapped... and he landed, panting, beside Heathertail. The pair took a moment to catch their breaths.

"That...was close..." Lionblaze panted, letting out a humorless mrrow of laughter. Heathertail rolled her eyes, as if to say no, you think?

The ThunderClan tom pushed himself to his paws, eyes narrowed with determination. "Come on. We're getting the others, and getting out of this Dark Forest."


Lionblaze stood at the camp entrance, watching his Clan gather around him. Sandstorm checked all the dens, then returned, padding over to Lionblaze. Her emerald eyes clouded with sadness. "Lionblaze, Jayfeather...won't be joining us."

"I understand..." Lionblaze couldn't speak anymore as his throat closed up. Hollystar needed to be dead, now more then ever...

Sandstorm spoke again, breaking her grandson out of his thoughts. "Lionblaze, I understand what you feel. And as much as I want to take revenge, to cry and scream, to kill Hollystar for what she's done...we just can't right now. Jayfeather was my family too. Firestar was my mate, and your grandfather. Our fallen Clan members weigh in my thoughts, but getting killed won't solve anything. We need a plan."

Lionblaze took a breath, straightening himself up. "Alright, Sandstorm. Let's go. I guess you're in charge now."

Sandstorm smiled sadly, "Sandstar...it doesn't fit with me. Hopefully our ancestors will send us a sign of who should lead next." Taking the lead, she padded through the camp entrance, the Clan slowly following her.

"Wait, Lionblaze!"

Lionblaze turned outside the camp entrance, seeing Rowanclaw and Mistyfoot approaching, the latter supporting Leafpool with Crowfeather on the opposite side. His mother looked terrible. Leafpool was scratched, her fur matted despite Crowfeather's attempts the fix it, and she was now lacking eyes.

"We found these two in a den just outside camp. Lucky we found them. That rock was huge, took both Mistyfoot and I to move it." Rowanclaw said.

Crowfeather locked his gaze on Lionblaze, his son staring back at him. Unable to say anything, the WindClan tom simply nodded before repositioning himself on Leafpool's other side. The tabby she-cat turned her head, quaking in fear. "Crowfeather? What's going on?"

Lionblaze sighed; he wanted to feel cold toward his parents for what they did, but seeing his mother in such a pitiful state, he felt nothing. He just felt tired. Heathertail came back, and he acknowledged her by laying his tail on her shoulder. "Come on, everyone. Let's get out of here."

Mistyfoot twitched an ear. "I still think that was too easy. Where is everyone? There's no way we should have been able to leave without being torn to pieces by those rogues."

"I have no idea," Lionblaze sighed. "We need to leave now while Hollystar is gone, and hopefully it stays that way. We deserve a bit of good luck for a change."


Hollystar crouched behind a shiny stump in a Twoleg alley, shaking with delight at the shear genius of her idea. This was going to be brilliant! Ivypaw was in for a good training session.

The smaller she cat crouched beside Hollystar, looking up then down the alley. "Hollystar? I still don't get it. What are we doing here?"

Hollystar flicked her tail, "patience, Ivypaw. We just need to wait."

Soon, what they were waiting for appeared. A male Twoleg came around the corner of the alley, and started walking in their direction. It bobbed it's head up and down and seemed to be talking to itself.

"Unce, unce, unce! Damn, I lost the beat. Ah well. Unce, unce, unce!"

The attack was like lightning, swift and merciless. Hollystar's rogues appeared from seeming everywhere, leaping from behind piles of Twoleg rubbish and over the walls of the alley. The Twoleg was covered in razor-sharp masses of fur before he knew what hit him.

"Holy shit! Ahhh! Someone, help me! They're everywhere! Oh, God..."

The Twoleg flailed around before collapsing on his back, his screams muffled by the rogue cat clawing his face. Hollystar let them have their fun, leading Ivypaw to the fallen adversary. The Twoleg was alive, but barely. It bled from at least a dozen different places, staining it's brightly colored pelts crimson. It's eyes rolled around in their sockets before focusing on Hollystar.

"The hell...?"

Hollystar drew her claws across it's throat, spraying blood everywhere like a newly erupted geyser. The Twoleg convulsed and died, confusion etched on his face. Hollystar dipped her paws in the sticky blood, enjoying the warmth that it brought it brought her. She turned to her apprentice.

"Twolegs are a plague and a liability. We are doing the world a service by eliminating them. Understand?"

Ivypaw thought a moment, then drew her lips back in a snarl and spat at the dead Twoleg. "I do. Can I try for myself?"

Hollystar smirked with delight. Get the the cat while it was young, and they would follow you to the Dark Forest and back. "Of course. Let's go find you a Twoleg to kill." She turned to the rest of the party. "Agony, take a patrol and slaughter every Twoleg you find. I want them all dead. Despair, take a second patrol. Round up all the cats you can find. They just been granted the privilege of joining my army."

Despair tilted her head to one side. "You sure about that, boss? I mean, this place is full of kittypets. They'll be useless fighters."

Hollystar rolled her eyes. "They're not going to be fighters. If any of them actually volunteer, great. The rest are going to be shields. These Twolegs can't fight for anything, but the Clans can. We're going to have to engage them eventually. We'll send the worthless kittypets in first."

As the groups departed, Hollystar took Ivypaw around another corner, and down another stretch of Twoleg path. A little female Twoleg sat on the cold surface, sticking pieces of prey into her mouth.

"Mmmm. Tootsie Rolls are yummy."

She looked over to see the two she-cats staring at her. She stood up and started to walk toward them.

"Hey, kitties! Here kitty kitty..."

Ivypaw made her move, leaping through the air and slamming into the Twoleg's chest. The Twoleg fell on her back with a squeal, and Ivypaw wasted no time in tearing out her throat. She looked up at Hollystar, her muzzle dripping with blood.

"Like that?"

"Abbey! Get away from my granddaughter!"

A male Twoleg with long white hair stood over them, a sharp metal-thing in its paw. As it raised its paw to strike, Berrynose and another rogue leaped on the Twoleg's back, dragging their claws across his pelts. The Twoleg howled horribly, losing his balance and falling backwards onto the hard surface. A sharp crack could be heard as his head collided with the ground.

Berrynose carefully stepped up to the fallen Twoleg, prodding it with one fore paw. "We showed him, huh Holly-"

The Twoleg, before his eyes went completely dim, jerked the piece of metal he still had clasped in one paw and pierced the tom's neck. Berrynose stumbled back, eyes wide as he chocked on his own blood. He collapsed at the paws of Hollystar and Ivypaw, gazing up at them with fear in his eyes.

"Help me..."

Hollystar looked at him blankly. "I can do nothing for you, son." She turned and walked away, not bothering to assist her former Clan-mate as he twitched and died.

Ivypaw followed her mentor, not looking alarmed, just curious. "Aren't we going to bury him? I mean, he is one of our own."

Hollystar shook her head. "The ground here is too hard. If he was going to die, he should have died in the forest."

"So, is that it?" Ivypaw ventured. "We're not going home already?"

Hollystar smirked as the tortured screams of different Twolegs began echoing from the alleys and yards around her.

"Of course this isn't the end. It's just the beginning."

A.N.: I'm sorry for not updating for...a year and a week. Things have been a little crazy. I moved to the opposite side of the country, Oregon to New York, and school here is brutal compared to my other one. I promise the next update won't take a million years.