Chapter 24

A cold wind blew through the forest, causing the bare trees to rattle. The air was filled with rotting corpses and toadstool. At once, Ripplesky knew that he was in the Dark Forest. He hadn't dreamed of this wretched place in some time, so he wasn't looking forward to what lay ahead.

"I haven't seen you in some time," a voice hissed.

Spinning around, Ripplesky spotted Snowdust. "What do you want?" he demanded, lashing his tail in annoyance.

"You know exactly why I'm here!" Snowdust told him, narrowing her eyes in disgust. "You deliberately disobeyed me. First I told you to kill Morningstar, and you refuse. And now you go and confess your crimes to Birchstar. Have you lost your mind?" The white she-cat began to circle around him.

"It was the right thing to do," Ripplesky said, puffing out his chest. As she circled around him, he kept his eyes locked on her. If she was going to attack, he wanted to be prepared.

"Who cares about doing the right thing?" Snowdust spat, her neck fur bristling.

"StarClan does!" he shouted.

Snowdust backed away, before letting out a loud purr of amusement. "It's too late for that. StarClan will never forgive you for what you've done. You murdered a medicine cat, a deputy and a innocent warrior. If you really think they'll let you off the hook for that, then you're dumber than I originally thought you were."

Ripplesky let out an angry hiss. "Why are you here now? Why didn't you come visit me after I told Birchstar the truth?"

"I was testing you," Snowdust meowed, flicking an ear. "I wanted to see if you'd use this as an excuse to kill Birchstar, or be a wimpy little medicine cat and cower in fear. I see you've picked the latter."

The wind began to pick up again as Ripplesky stared at her. She's right. StarClan will never forgive me for what I've done! "You ruined my life," he spat. "Why did you target me of all cats? What did I ever do to you?"

"You didn't do anything. I just wanted to make sure my kin would be with me forever," she said.

Ripplesky stared at her, confused. "We're kin?"

"I am your grandmother, Ripplesky." A sinister look crossed her face as she stared at him, sending a shiver down the medicine cat's spine.

"No, you're not!" this time an unfamiliar voice spoke. Looking up, Ripplesky spotted two cats he had never seen before storm across the clearing in Snowdust's direction. In the lead was a large brown tabby with long, silky fur. Behind him was a smaller black-and-white she-cat.

"Bearclaw... Frostwing! W-What are you doing here?" Snowdust exclaimed, her eyes widened with horror.

"Don't play dumb. You know exactly why we're here," Frostwing snarled, unsheathing her claws.

Snowdust began to back away, a strong fear scent coming off her in waves. "What's going on?" Ripplesky asked, taking a step back himself.

Bearclaw and Frostwing paid no attention to Ripplesky. Their eyes were locked on Snowdust, who had been cornered against a tree. "We've been looking for you for years. Now it's finally time for us to get our pay back." Bearclaw raised up a paw, ready to strike the white she-cat.

"Please don't do this. I'm really sorry," Snowdust pleaded.

"Sorry isn't going to work. Do you realize how much pain you caused me? You murdered my mate, and then stole our son!" Bearclaw spat.

Slowly, Snowdust sat up. Her eyes were filled with fury as she stared at him. "And do you realize how much pain you caused me? I loved you so much, and you left me for my own sister! Do you really think I wanted our kits to die? I wanted to be a mother more than anything, and Waveheart gave me that. I didn't mean to kill you, Frostwing. It was an accident."

For a second, Ripplesky thought the two newcomers would let her go. To his surprise, they stood their ground, eyes narrowed and claws unsheathed. "That's not going to work on me," Bearclaw hissed, before lashing out a paw. His claws struck Snowdust's throat, ripping it. The white she-cat let out a cry of pain, before crumpling over on the ground.

"Is she going to die?" Ripplesky asked, eyes wide. Can dead cats even die a second time?

Bearclaw shrugged. "I doubt it. I just gave her a warning scratch. I'm not low enough to sink down to her petty level." Turning to face Frostwing he said, "Let's go."

"Wait!" Ripplesky called out. "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter. What's done is done, and we mean nothing to you." Without saying another word, the two padded into the shriveled undergrowth, leaving Ripplesky alone with Snowdust.

"Wake up!"

Ripplesky jolted awake, his chest heaving. Willowblaze stood over him, her eyes wide with concern. "You looked like you were having a nightmare."

"You can say that," he grunted, sitting up.

Once he had caught his breath, Willowblaze quietly asked, "What was it about? I understand if you don't want to talk about it..."

"I-I don't know how to explain it," Ripplesky meowed, giving his chest fur a couple of licks. How could he ever explain that he was visited by the Dark Forest, rather than StarClan? She would think I have bees in my brain.

"Oh. Those kind of nightmares are the worst, because you know that you're scared but you don't know why."

The two sat there in silence for a long time, before Willowblaze jumped to her paws. "Do you want to take a walk with me? I know it's still night, but-"

"Sure," he said, cutting her off. Willowblaze didn't seem to mind though, as she sent him a huge smile and darted out of the den. Ripplesky limped after her, slightly excited. He didn't want to admit it, but during the past few days he had spent in ShadowClan's camp, he had grown fond of the pale tabby medicine cat.

"I love nighttime, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a ShadowClan cat. It's just so refreshing." Willowblaze paused for a moment, before continuing on. "There's this one spot where the trees start to thin out, and you can see the moon really good. It's very beautiful."

"I bet," he meowed quietly.

"Are there a lot of trees in RiverClan's territory?" she asked.

"Not really. I mean, our territory isn't as sparse and open as the moorlands, but we don't have nearly the amount of trees that ThunderClan, SkyClan or you ShadowClan cats have." As they walked deeper into the forest, Ripplesky smiled slightly. Willowblaze was right; nighttime was refreshing. "You know, this is really nice. I never realized how peaceful nighttime could be."

"It's lovely, isn't it?" she purred. Suddenly, she darted forward, her eyes gleaming. "The clearing is right on ahead! Let's go before it's too late!" Putting on an extra burst of speed, Willowblaze raced toward towards an open clearing in the forest. Ripplesky followed after her as fast as he could, his tail high in the air.

When she reached the clearing, Willowblaze skidded to a halt. "Isn't it great?" she asked, looking up at the sky. Pausing beside her, he also looked up. Above them where millions and millions of stars. Some shined brightly, while others were a bit dim.

"Lay down," she called out, plopping down on the grass. Ripplesky slowly laid down beside her, before glancing back up at the stars. "Each one is a StarClan warrior, looking down on us," Willowblaze whispered in amazement.

"I don't know. I feel like they're more than that," he told her.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how to explain it. I just feel like those stars are something more. I feel like they're something that we don't understand, and that we'll never understand," the silver tom explained.

Willowblaze said nothing more. Instead, she moved closer to him, their fur brushing against each other. They laid together like that for a long time, before falling asleep together. As they slept, a dark presence entered the clearing, causing Ripplesky to jolt awake only moments after falling asleep. "Who's there?" he whispered, scanning the shadowy forest for any signs of life.

Slowly, a faint figure stepped into the moonlight. As it moved closer, the medicine cat recognized it as Snowdust. "Go away!" he spat, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Snowdust ignored his demand, and continued to come closer to him. As she neared, Ripplesky could see blood oozing from the wound in her neck. It was clearly infected. "You must establish a future in ShadowClan if you want to survive. Birchstar is going to exile you, and you cannot live on your own."

He stared at her in confusion. "You're not making any sense. How will I ever become a member of ShadowClan? Bramblestar would never allow it. He's even uncomfortable with me staying as long as I have."

"You know exactly what you have to do," Snowdust told him, growing fainter ever second. In her last moments, the Dark Forest she-cat directed her attention towards Willowblaze, before fading away.

Ripplesky gulped, before staring down at Willowblaze's sleeping form. Willowblaze would make sure I could find a home in ShadowClan, but how? As soon as he said that, he quickly realized what Snowdust had meant. He needed to manipulate her, and he knew exactly how he would have to do it.

Willowblaze began to stir beside him. "What's going on?" she yawned, blinking sleep from her eyes.

"C-Can I talk to you?" he whispered, shuffling his paws in the grass.

"Of course," the ShadowClan she-cat responded, smiling.

"I've been thinking about what you said a few days. A-About loving me, I mean. I've been trying to deny my feelings, but I feel the same way," Ripplesky lied, his throat tightening up. He didn't want to hurt her, but new knew it was the only way he could stay safe. He would never be able to take care of himself as a rogue.

Her eyes gleamed with excitement. "Do you really mean it?"

"I do," he whispered, not meeting her gaze. Oh, StarClan. What have I done?

"I'm so happy," Willowblaze purred, nuzzling him. Pulling back she said, "This will be our little secret. No other cat will ever find out."

Poor Willowblaze. She's being manipulated and she doesn't even realize it. I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. School is almost finished for me, so hopefully I will be able to update more often. That is, if my grandma will allow me to use her computer. I hope you enjoyed this chapter everyone! Thanks for reading.