This version is the edited version of Chapter 19. I hope you like it! If you haven't read War of Shadows, spoilers to Chapter 34.

Chapter 19: The Threat of the Dark

Doveheart's eyes flashed open, and she took a few deep breaths. From beside her, Ivypool slowly lifted her head, hoping not to awaken Bumblestripe.

"It was the dream again, wasn't it?" she whispered. Doveheart nodded.

The dream had been haunting Doveheart ever since the great battle. It was always the same one, and it always had the same ending.

Redwillow stood over her, his breath hot on her ears. Her vision blurred.

"Die, Doveheart."

As he raised his claws, there was a sudden cry of pain, and a streak of a familiar scent danced in front of Doveheart's nose. She opened her eyes suddenly to see the dark tabby tom take Redwillow down. Three strikes – one to Redwillow's head, another to Redwillow's stomach, and the third to Redwillow's throat. Vomit rose in Doveheart's throat at the sight. There was blood everywhere.

Then it was done.

"What in StarClan's name have you done?" spat Doveheart. Covered in blood, her savior and Redwillow's murderer turned back to her. His amber eyes so cold. His claws still unsheathed. Blood dripping from his jaws and his chest fur and his paws and…everywhere.

"I'm Tigerstar's apprentice," said Tigerheart as he took a few steps closer to her. "There's no one better at killing than me."

Doveheart scrambled to her paws and unsheathed her claws, breathing heavily.

"What kind of monster are you?" she hissed. It took a moment, but the look in Tigerheart's eyes softened.

"I saved your life," he said.

"Tigerstar's apprentice?" hissed Doveheart. Tigerheart tipped back his head and laughed, and when he glanced at her next, his eyes were handsome and amber and terrifying. Doveheart flinched away, her vision still blurry and her wounds still aching, as he began to pace in a circle around her as if he was circling her in battle.

"Tawnypelt named me after him for a reason," said Tigerheart. "He chose me, Doveheart. Like pathetic StarClan told you."

Doveheart swallowed hard as Tigerheart strode close to her, laughing in her face.

"He told me everything," said Tigerheart. "I daresay I know more than you do."

Hissing, Doveheart struck up at his face, but Tigerheart dodged. Then his paws were on her, and Doveheart cried out as she was thrown to the ground. It was hard to stand, as if all her limbs were made of lead. Doveheart didn't want to start crying…didn't want to give up. She struggled back up, but then Tigerheart was there, batting her back into the ground. Doveheart gasped with the exhaustion, and this time, her paws gave out before he could even get back to her.

"The stuff he said…StarClan, Doveheart, it was inspiring," said Tigerheart. He laughed. "The hierarchy of the strong helping the weak become stronger, of the strongest cats being on top, of the type of ruthlessness that would keep our borders intact forever, but the peace that would keep us in unity."

"At what cost?" whispered Doveheart. Tigerheart shrugged, lashing his tail, and then he pounced, changing shape as he flew. Doveheart screamed as she looked up into Tigerstar's bigger face, saw the scars covering his face, and she breathed in that horrible smell of death and had to try not to cough.

"No!" screeched Doveheart, writhing as she was tossed idly again. Tigerstar's paw came down on the back of her neck, and Doveheart choked on beach sand as it dug into her mouth. "You'll die! All of you!" She felt her sobbing come quicker and quicker. "I won't…I won't…"

She felt Tigerstar release her with a chuckle.

"You can do it, Tigerheart," said Tigerstar. From behind her, she knew what Tigerheart looked like – saw memories of the calm in his eyes turning into blood-lusting steel. Doveheart screamed as he pounced, and then dark claws dug into the back of her throat.

"You should have never said no…"

"You okay?" asked Ivypool. Doveheart shivered slightly, standing up.

"I'm going for a walk," she mumbled. "I need some fresh air."

"We're sleeping under fresh air," meowed Ivypool, but she smiled and curled up against Bumblestripe again. Doveheart watched her sister for a moment; then she padded away from the ThunderClan warriors.

She stretched her senses as far as they would go, closing her eyes to form the pictures better. Picking up the scents of Bramblestar, Mistystar, Blackstar, and Onestar, Doveheart focused in on them.

"Do you think they'll find anywhere to settle?" Mistystar mewed.

"Of course they will," sneered Blackstar. "Unless, of course, you doubt an apprentice."

"I've learned to trust ThunderClan apprentices, myself," Onestar said quietly, not even looking at the ShadowClan leader. "Especially the unusual ones."

"What is going on with your apprentices, Bramblestar?" Mistystar asked.

"I'm not sure myself," replied Bramblestar. "I'm keeping my eye on the five of them for now."

"A wise decision," Mistystar meowed, nodding.

"Doveheart?" Doveheart jerked awake as she heard Tigerheart's voice. "What are you doing?"

She backed away as Tigerheart appeared in the open space, the hair on the back of her neck standing up.

"The nightmare," she said. "I…"

"About me," said Tigerheart. He paused, curling his tail around his paws. "It's about me, isn't it?"

Doveheart didn't need to answer the question. For a second they stared at each other – Doveheart in tentative fear and Tigerheart in frustrated wistfulness.

"My nightmares left me after the battle of the foxes," he said. "I sometimes feel as though Tigerstar's influence is finally gone."

That's right, Doveheart. He's a cat without Tigerstar's influence. You're just remembering horrible memories and twisting them around.

"These days, they'll just teach them all about the Dark Forest and how if they're bad they'll end up there," said Tigerheart. "We don't have to worry about them anymore."

He stepped closer to her.

"Lately there's been someone who is trying to get my attention," said Tigerheart. Doveheart shivered when she could feel his breath against her ears. But he was handsome, and she couldn't stop him from taking another step closer. "And my affection. But I love you."

"I'm a warrior of ThunderClan," said Doveheart softly. She swallowed. "You and I have no right being together."

"So you keep saying," said Tigerheart. He sighed. "I figured you would reject me again." He sat down, curling his tail around his paws as if he was really feeling sorry for himself. Doveheart didn't know what was an act and what wasn't with him. "But the borders are blurring between the Clans."

"That won't last," said Doveheart. "This has happened before, and the Clans went right back the way they were."

"Maybe that won't happen this time," said Tigerheart. His eyes glowed. "Before, the Clans didn't have those five apprentices."

Doveheart's breath caught in her throat.

"Y-you know about the Five," she whispered. Tigerheart flicked his tail.

"I told you before," he said. "Tigerstar told me everything. I still think I know more than you do. You may need me, before the end."

"That sounds like a threat."

Tigerheart recoiled, stung.

"I would never hurt you, Doveheart," he whispered. "No matter how many times I say it, you won't acknowledge it. You won't believe it. And this entire trip you've been ignoring me."

Doveheart knew this was true. How could she ever trust herself to get close to Tigerheart before? Yes, they had worked together in the war. Her dreams were just a warped version of events – Tigerheart hadn't laid a paw on her. He had saved her twice, not let her die. She didn't need Tigerheart, and she didn't think she would ever try and meet up with him again. Doveheart told herself that she had moved on, but it was still hard to stare him in those amber eyes and not feel something.

"The sun is rising," she said. "We should get back to our Clans before anyone wakes up and wonders where we are."

"And, knowing Pineheart, come looking," muttered Tigerheart, but he stepped away from her. His hurt wasn't quite masked in his eyes, and it sliced through Doveheart's heart like claws.

"You and Pineheart would be good together," said Doveheart softly. Tigerheart didn't respond. "Goodbye, Tigerheart."

"Goodbye, Doveheart," said Tigerheart softly.

The two parted quickly, hurrying back to their own Clans.

As Doveheart curled up in her bedding, she tucked her tail over her nose.

"You've been gone a long time," whispered Ivypool from next to her.

"Sorry. You didn't worry about me, did you?" Ivypool didn't answer for a long moment, much to Doveheart's relief. Then Ivypool sighed, her eyes flicking open.

"I smell Tigerheart on you," she said. "You didn't talk to him, did you?"

"On accident," said Doveheart. She hated the judgment in Ivypool's eyes. "What do you know about it?"

"I don't trust him," said Ivypool gently. "He reminds me of Tigerstar. Of Hawkfrost." She shivered, probably going back to her own memories of training with Hawkfrost in the Dark Forest.

"He did save my life," said Doveheart. "Twice, back in the battle."

"But ever since, you've had nightmares about him killing you," said Ivypool. Her blue eyes were concerned. "You remember him killing Redwillow, but then you remember him killing you like he killed Mossytail. That's what your dream is about. Him betraying you."

"Tigerheart didn't do that in real life," said Doveheart softly. "He killed Mossytail because…" She trailed off, but Ivypool put the pieces together. Because I couldn't do it. "Besides, Tigerstar is gone."

"Do you really think so?" asked Ivypool. A shiver ran up Doveheart's spine at the ominous words.

"Of course. We killed them!" Ivypool sighed, looking around quickly to ensure that no one was listening to their conversation.

"How do you kill someone that's already dead?" At these words, Doveheart's blood turned to ice, and her breath caught in her throat. "I used to be so sure we were done with all of this, but – "

"Ivypool?" Bumblestripe began stirring next to Ivypool.

"I've got to go out for dawn patrol," soothed Ivypool softly, standing up and giving her mate a small lick on the ear. "I'll see you later." She glared quickly at Doveheart, flicking her tail to signal her to come. Doveheart shook her head and curled up for the third time, shutting her eyes as tight as she could to escape Ivypool's warnings.

When she opened her eyes, she was standing on a field filled with flowers. It was a dream.

"Doveheart." Doveheart turned around to see Briarlight. Touching noses with the apprentice, Doveheart felt a spark of happiness inside her. Briarlight looked perfectly fine, as healthy as she had been before the tree.

"Hi, Briarlight," she meowed happily. "Is there something you need to tell me?" Briarlight sighed.

"I wasn't there for the battle," she meowed. "I was sitting in the elders den with Mousefur and Purdy, listening to some crazy story that I didn't want to hear. I was wandering around, trying to comfort Hazeltail, who was paranoid, talking about how Thornclaw was going to die and the last thing the Clan had said about him was that he was a traitor, while all along he was trying to protect her. Squirrelflight was trying desperately to keep Rustkit, Stealthkit, and Petalkit calm, but with three kits of her own, plus Greykit and Bluekit, there wasn't much she could do."

"She wanted to fight, didn't she?" meowed Doveheart. "Squirrelflight."

"Yes," answered Briarlight. "It hurt her that Ivypool got to fight and she didn't. But…for once, Squrrelflight listened to Firestar and protected her kits."

"I'm sorry for her…and you," Doveheart replied. "Why are you saying this? About Ivypool and Squirrelflight and Hazeltail."

"I'm telling you to maybe trust in Ivypool," said Briarlight. She shrugged. "Ivypool knows what it was like to train with the Dark Forest. She was taught how to lie. How to effectively make other cats think something that wasn't true."

"Ivypool thinks Tigerheart's a trick. Are you saying she's right?"

"I'm not saying anything, Doveheart. Tigerheart's mind is one of those places I don't have access to." She smiled slightly. "You don't have access to his mind either."

"So you're warning me, too." Doveheart sighed. "I want to trust him. But I can't."

"That's not a bad thing," said Briarlight softly. "I'm worried that he was taught so much that he can't fool Tigerstar anymore."

"Tigerstar is gone," said Doveheart. She flinched at Briarlight's expression of worry. "Ivypool doesn't think so, though."

"I'm worried about that," said Briarlight. "I learned from the other members of StarClan that Tigerstar and the others were 'confined to infinite darkness' or something like that. I don't know what it means, but no one likes to talk about it very much."

"You think it didn't work?"

"I think it may have," said Briarlight softly. "I suspect Tigerstar is hiding somewhere, too weak to carry on. And Hawkfrost and Mapleshade are still dwelling in the Dark Forest." She shivered.

"Hawkfrost?" said Doveheart.

"Keep an eye on the living cats," said Briarlight. "I'm worried that he may try and call more cats to make into his puppets."

"They would never go back," said Doveheart. "Mousewhisker, Thornclaw, Ivypool…they've all entirely given themselves up for ThunderClan."

"What about the younger generation?" said Briarlight. Doveheart blinked, imagining Mountainpaw and Skypaw and the others wandering between the trees, fighting each other and the other apprentices because of Tigerstar's commands. She could imagine Willowpaw stepping away from a dead cat, covered in blood and claiming to be Tigerstar's apprentice. Doveheart shivered at the thought.

"I'll protect them," she says. "I will keep them on the right path if it takes every ounce of strength I have in me."

"Good," said Briarlight. She touched noses with Doveheart. "And good luck."

Doveheart's eyes flashed open, and she looked up to the sun. She thought of Tigerheart, standing over Redwillow's body and saying that he was the best at killing in the Clans. Maybe he needed saving, too.

"Are you listening, Tigerstar?" she spat quietly. "Hawkfrost? Mapleshade? I'm going to save him. I'm going to save him, and you're not going to lay a paw on him. You're not going to touch him."

So I'm posting five chapters right now, and three of them have to do with Tigerheart. Gooooo Doveheart! If you've read War of Shadows, you'll kind of see that the Doveheart-Tigerheart affair isn't really a thing. Because Doveheart is independent, and I've always loved her that way.

I have a poll up on my profile asking opinions on Tigerheart, because he has a role to play in the later books. Check it out!

~Elsi