Chapter 24

HOWSITGOINBROS

Welcome back to The Fourth! In this chapter...

Well, read and find out.

NOTICE

I have made a plan to post a chapter of The Fourth, and then a chapter of PMD. This will be my schedule.

Finally, I have begun rough drafts for rewriting the first few chapters of The Fourth. This may take a while, but I'm hoping it will be worth it.

Lionblaze looked at me intensely. "Why can't Tigerstar and Hawkfrost be trusted? They seemed like they wanted to help me become a better fighter!"

I sighed. "That's because they want to use you to get revenge on the Clans. Especially Thunderclan. Tigerstar wants to bring us down with our own warriors."

Lionblaze looked down. "Then... I'm not special? They said they were training me because I was special!" I felt a pang of sympathy for the flame-colored warrior. His powersw had led him to think that Tigerstar and Hawkfrost were really training him for the better. Now he knew that they had been training him to attack his Clanmates. He flexed his muscles in anger, and his claws tore out clumps of earth underneath his paws.

"They lied to me! I'll show them that I don't need them." Lionblaze tore out at a nearby fern. "The next time I see them-" He slashed with his forepaw. A clump of the fern swayed and fell to the ground, limp and lifeless. "-there will be no mercy."

I padded up beside him and laid my tail across his back. "You don't have to go back if you don't want to. You aren't the only warrior they're training, they can do without you."

Lionblaze looked up in shock. "There are others training in the Dark Forest?"

I nodded somberly. "The Dark Forest cats are training cats from all Clans, not just you."

Lionblaze nodded, his anger temporarily forgotten. "Who are some of the others?"

I hesitated. "I'm not sure... but I think Breezepelt is one... as well as Antpelt, and a few others."

Lionblaze looked shocked, and then his shock gave way to anger once again. "Those traitors! If I ever see them in the Dark Forest..."

"NO!" I snarled. I whirled around Lionblaze in anger. "You must never go there again! If they find out about-" I stopped myself. Tigerstar must know about Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, and Jaypaw by now. But Lionblaze didn't. He looked at me curiously.

"If they find out what?" He looked scared, like he had just been caught with his hand in a cookie jar. I held my breath. We stood like that for a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity. Amber eyes met blue, and we stayed locked in the same position.

It seemed like forever until I spoke. "I... I can't tell you." I turned around and let out a shaky breath. "You would kill me, if you believed me in the first place."

Lionblaze looked even more scared. "What is it-"

"I CAN"T TELL YOU!" I shrieked, and I heard the birds in the trees begin to cry in confusion. "I can't... It would be very bad for all of us..."

Lionblaze swung his head sharply. "All of us? You mean Hollyleaf and Jaypaw too?"

I stayed there like a statue. I had been so close to revealing the secret, the terrible secret Squirrelflight and Leafpool had locked away for so long. I couldn't tell him. Not yet.

"Yes," I murmured. "I won't tell you; not yet, at least. But you must not go back to the Dark Forest. They will kill you if you slip up."

Lionblaze looked like he wanted to argue, but I must have looked angry, because he kept his mouth shut. I nodded and turned, heading back to the clearing. I heard the ferns rustle as mice raced through them. The birds had gone back to sleep, and the entire forest seemed at peace.

As I stood outside the thorn tunnel, I heard Lionblaze pad up behind me.

"Will you keep going to the Dark Forest?"

I looked back at him.

"Yes".

LIONBLAZE

"I think he's hiding something from us."

I looked at my siblings as I let the news fall. Jaypaw didn't look interested to be here, and Hollyleaf had twitched an ear. I sighed in frustration. When Jaypaw had insisted that they find Sol, hadn't they tried to help? At least until Jaggedscar had stopped them, saying that Sol was bad news.

"I really don't get why that's so important." Jaypaw licked a paw and drew it over his ear. I gaped at him.

"He knows the entire prophecy, he knew about the Dark Forest, about Tigerstar and Hawkfrost! And now he says he knows something about us! Don't you see how that could be important?"

Hollyleaf shrugged. "I guess... But he seems like a nice cat. He's helped us once already, and told us the second part of the prophecy."

Jaypaw nodded. "Exactly. I don't see why we shouldn't trust him."

I snorted. "He was training in the Dark Forest!"

"So were you, not too long ago!" Jaypaw retaliated harshly, spinning around. "I've got to get back to the medicine den; there are still a lot of wounds to dress." He stalked back to the medicine den, tail held high.

I sighed as he left. I turned back to Hollyleaf. "Will you help me, please? I've got to know what he's keeping from us!"

Hollyleaf hesitated for a while, but eventually gave in. "Alright, I'll see what I can do. But no promises."

I felt a weight lift off my chest, as though I had passed my assesment once again. "Thanks, Hollyleaf. I knew I could count on you." I nuzzled my sister playfully. She purred, and I felt lighter.

But as I walked away, I had a bad feeling in my gut. Like I was going to find something I wouldn't like at all.