Hi everyone! This is the request from the 85th reviewer: Mystic. Only a few more reviews until 100 so my goal with this chapter is to reach that! The 100th reviewer gets two requests that will be chapters. Remember if you are the 100th reviewer to either use an account I can PM or use a guest and be careful to provide necessary information about your request in your review or after it. Thanks and enjoy the chapter!
Do you ever find it weird some cats will brand you 'the odd one out' without even saying a word to you? You can tell by the look in their eyes that all there kind words are fake, designed purely to make them look good to others or to make them feel good about themselves like "hey I'm talking to this cat everyone hates! I must be good!" Sure you'll feel good about it for a couple days before you hear them talking to their pretty or handsome mate about how dumb you are and how your so lucky they'll endure you. It makes you want to claw them in the face and then just be done. But it's not that easy. Littlepaw knew that. For starters, she didn't have claws. Kind of hard to claw someone in the face without claws right? Besides, these cats were her clanmates, now matter how unsympathetic they were. She needed them, so she couldn't go picking fights with them could she? Besides no matter what was the reason of the fight she could guarantee that the reaction would be "Littlepaw you brute!" or "Littlepaw you monster!" Like just yesterday Rabbitpaw had knocked into her on purpose. He snorted as she fell forward and landed on her face in the dirt. She had told him to get out of her way if he had any sense. Of course he didn't have sense and taunted her
"Ooh Noclaw's gonna kill me I'm so scared!" he had mocked. That hadn't been all he had said that, "Noclaw doesn't need food!" before swiping her piece of prey. She had hit him in the face with her tail and somehow she was the monster? But it was nothing personal, after all, if she had been in Rabbitpaw's position and Rabbitpaw was considered dead meat than Rabbitpaw would have been at fault. You see ThunderClan acting all noble with their stories of heroism and equality but Briarlight probably had her haters, Firestar and whoever was in the prophecy probably just turned the blind eye to it and by the end of the day had forgotten about it. Littlepaw was sure of this as she stormed out of the apprentice's den. No clan was that perfect. If it had been than it should see itself now. She stared at the Stick of the Fallen and resisted the urge to drag a rock across it, to leave some kind of mark to tell the rest of clan "just try to forget me now." But every day the stick was unscathed. Her best friend Duskpaw always knew when she felt this way, the fact that some strange invisible wall was keep her (and her rock) from that stick. It wasn't that she couldn't touch the stick, it was that she couldn't bring herself to make that mark when she was still alive, and would be alive for many more seasons.
"Why do you care so much about a tree? I mean I get the 'stick of the fallen' deal, but what do you care?" she asked.
"Someday I'm going to do something to make the clan tip over the edge," she sighed staring into her friend's blue eyes, "they're going to banish me and everyone's going to forget about me in an instant." She looked at the ground and felt her friend's gaze soften before she looked back up.
"If it means anything, I'll never forget you," Duskpaw said softly.
Littlepaw managed to purr, "Thanks Duskpaw." The day was your typical day. She learned every type of biting move or pounding your paw against your opponent's head, hunting everything except claw strikes. At the end of the day Littlepaw felt calmer than she had in the morning, Rabbitpaw was sick with whitecough so at least he couldn't bother her today. Back at her nest when the dark blue of night had covered the once orange sky, Littlepaw had no trouble going to sleep. She found herself in a strange forest, the smell of rotten leaves filled her nose and she resisted the urge to gag, a brown tom stepped out of the shadows. He was huge, with cruel yellow eyes and long claws. She couldn't take her eyes off his claws, the claws she could never have.
"I am Strongclaw," his voice was deep and menacing.
"I can tell," she grunted.
"We haven't got the time for this apprentice. What is your name?"
"Littlepaw."
"Littlepaw of?" Littlepaw's back bristled. Her pale tabby pelt prickled with unease as her white paws slid into a defensive stance.
"Littlepaw of ThunderClan," she said, she could feel Strongclaw glaring as if she had gotten an easy question wrong.
"Not anymore. If you accept my offer you will be Littlepaw of the Dark Forest. For we alone see the truth in the clans. My offer is I will train you, and you will fight with me. ThunderClan will know my vengeance! You will rule ThunderClan!" he boomed.
"Are you sure this is you know, necessary? And why are you helping me with nothing for yourself?" Littlepaw asked eyeing him warily.
"Sometimes revenge isn't always by the rules," Strongclaw glared at her, "it will be worth training you to see those ThunderClan mouse-brains have to follow a new leader. Are you with me or against me?" He bared those long claws and Littlepaw didn't back up one step. If she joined herself with this cat she could get revenge on Rabbitpaw, or on Darkstar for not caring about the smallest apprentice. She could be better than them!
That thought in her head she didn't hesitate, "I'm with you."
Strongclaw smiled approvingly, "then we meet again tomorrow night." With a flash Littlepaw woke up, feeling a strange sense of control. Like these cats would soon learn their place. The apprentice they had scorned would become their leader. She had heard tales of the Dark Forest, but honestly she didn't really care if all of ThunderClan but Duskpaw was destroyed. They would save Duskpaw if she asked them too wouldn't they, for she had finally found a cat who understood her. Every day she payed less attention to her mentor but somehow inproved her skills, whether catching a mouse before Duskpaw, or besting Lightningpaw at a sparring match. She realized that ever since Strongclaw started training her she was more deserving of being the leader he'd promised her she'd be. That night Strongclaw had his first task for her.
"Bring me Duskpaw, it's time to tell her about what is to come. I will be merely a phantom in your world but I assure you my claws are still sharp. Meet me in the farthest clearing from the camp," he commanded. As she woke up she could have sworn she heard him laugh.
"Wake up Duskpaw," Littlepaw hissed.
"Littlepaw! You nearly gave me a heart-attack!" she gasped.
Littlepaw shrugged, "you want to go for a walk?"
"I guess so, maybe we could hunt." Duskpaw followed Littlepaw but the further they went into the forest the higher Duskpaw's gray pelt bristled.
"We're almost there," said Littlepaw, voice void of emotion.
"This is a long walk, I didn't even think we had a destination. We should get back. We need sleep," Duskpaw meowed anxiously.
"Come on, I just want you to see this pretty clearing I found," Littlepaw urged.
"Fine." When they finally reached the clearing it was half-way through the night.
"Littlepaw what took you so long?" asked Strongclaw sitting in the clearing. His body was transparent, you could see the trees through it.
"Littlepaw, what's going on?" fretted Duskpaw. Strongclaw pounced on Duskpaw, placing his long claws on her neck.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" demanded Littlepaw, "You said we were only going to tell her!"
"She'll tell her clanmates," snarled Strongclaw, "I knew that if I had told you what I was really doing you would have refused. But in order to show ruthlessness to your clanmates, you need all those who inspire weakness gone."
"But Duskpaw's my only friend!" Littlepaw cried.
"Why do you think you never see any other Dark Forest cats?" asked Strongclaw, "we have to be alone."
"You mean you have to be alone," Littlepaw meowed.
"Your heart is as dark as mine Littlepaw, this is how it has to be," he growled, with that he raised his claws and began slashing down. Duskpaw pressed herself to the ground, but the claws never hit her. Littlepaw pounded his head with her paw and Stronclaw sank to the ground. With a fierce bite to the neck she watched him fade, then turned to her friend.
"You'll never forgive me, will you Duskpaw?" asked Littlepaw.
"I understand," said Duskpaw, "the other cats treated you like crowfood. But they won't, once I tell them what happened." As the two apprentices headed back to camp, Littlepaw didn't feel angry or empty like she had before the Dark Forest cat. Duskpaw gave a full report of what happened and the warrior's ceremony happened at sunhigh.
"Littlepaw, do you promise to put your clan before everything else?" asked Darkstar.
"I do."
"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your name. From this moment on you will known as Sharpfang, for proving that claws aren't always essential for a great warrior."
"Sharpfang! Sharpfang! Sharpfang!" the clan called, even Rabbitpaw. Sharpfang smiled, she wondered if the warrior's ceremony would have felt as good if she had claws. Maybe she was lucky.
Question of the chapter: If you were Duskpaw, would you have forgiven Sharpfang? You know that your friend saved you from a dangerous cat, but that she led you to that dangerous cat and trained in the Dark Forest. Feel free to submit name suggestions! -Birdfeather