Firepaw paced around impatiently in the dark forest, her tail flicking from side to side. Her brilliant green eyes glowed in the gloom as she let out another sigh of impatience. She knew he would be coming soon. And he knew that she was waiting for her.

She was playing with fire.

She was making a deal with the devil.

Sure enough, a lithe black tom slithered out from the shadows. His amber eyes blinked welcomingly at her, but there was no warmth in his depth, only a cold passion. He didn't seem bothered as he just waved his tail at her, and wound himself around her, entwining their tails for a heartbeat and rubbing their muzzles together.

The she-cat forced herself not to flinch away, just stood there stoically, feeling quite like a robot again. As he leaned forward and rasped his tongue against her neck so softly she felt tingles run up her spine, she jerked away, eyes flashing angrily. "Enough of that. I came her to make a deal."

He looked amused for a heartbeat, his twisted smile stretching widely across his face. "Sure you did. But you can't deny that you didn't like that," he purred, his tail snaking towards her underbelly.

She spat venomously at him and lashed out a paw, her claws connecting with his tail. "I'm not here to play games with you Breezepelt," she warned him, her voice icy cold. Her emotions were controlled and her eyes were narrowed. She lifted her head, eyeing the tom in disdain before speaking again, "I know you've been keeping tabs on Tigerflame. I want to know what you know."

"Didn't you know it's rude to talk about one of your mates in front of the other?" he sniffed haughtily, twitching his ears. However, he didn't look hurt as he curled his tail around his paws and sat down, lightly licking his paw and drawing it neatly over his ears and face.

She said nothing, just stared icily at him.

The black tom rolled his eyes, wreathing himself around her. She felt his thick pelt brushing against her own, his ear-tips brushing with hers. Forcing herself not to shiver, she waited silently for a reply. After what felt like moons of pacing around her, he finally meowed, "what's in it for me?"

"Firebreeze," she meowed, blinking in the darkness, "a fitting name for your mate, don't you think? The clan leader is my father after all, and since he's feeling guilty about all that's been happening to me, I've got him wrapped around my paw. I won't even have to say 'please' to get to choose my own warrior name."

Breezepelt grinned wickedly at that, but his amber eyes gleamed. "What if I want something a little more… intimate?" he whispered huskily, his breath hot against her pelt. He stepped closer to her again, wrapping his tail around her. He pressed himself so close to her, it was almost as if he wanted to crush them together, to crush them into one.

However, the ginger she-cat was not intimidated. "Firebreeze. Now tell me what you know."

"First tell me this. How did you find me?" He whispered softly. As he spoke, he began to stroke her pelt absent-mindedly with his thick black tail.

"I've been asleep for sunrises, Breezepelt," she spat at him, anger rising inside of her. "I've been to StarClan, and talked to Bluestar. I've talked to every single noble cat that any elder has told me about. She shows me a blurry image of myself just lying there, not moving, hardly breathing. Coma, she calls it. I'll wake up soon, she tells me. I ask her why I have free travel throughout my dreams, and she replies simply that it's due to Firestar. So why not turn that to my advantage? While I roam the land of the dead, why not get a few answers?"

"My, my, my," he chuckled, tilting his head to the side, "a few days in the land of the dead, and you've already matured so much. So wise now, my little Firepaw. But Bluestar lied."

Firepaw forced herself to lock gazes with him, her body trying not to shake violently, "lied how?"

"My sweet Firepaw, do you honestly think that you have free realm due to Firestar? If it was so, then how come you couldn't roam so freely before? How come Tigerflame can't just wander throughout these lands? It's because you're nearing death, Firepaw. In fact, you're almost dead. You'll be with me soon." he lightly brushed her chest with his tail tip, looking immensely pleased with the prospect of her passing.

She bared her teeth, "dead soon, but not yet. Tell me what you know, Breezepelt."

He rolled onto his back, looking lazily up at the sky. "Sorry, sweetheart. I don't know much. He's already gone to the tribe, and even the Dark Forest can't walk in those skies."

Snarling at him, she arched her back dangerously, her teeth glinting. "Help me with something else. Wake me up, Breezepelt. Please." The last word was a beg, her stone facade cracking for a heartbeat to reveal her desperation and vulnerability.

"I can't do that, either."

Her eyes grew cold as she stared at him, anger rising in her chest. "I can't just stay asleep throughout all that's going on. RiverClan and ThunderClan are at war, and it's all Smokepaw's fault."

Breezepelt blinked sleepily at her, twitching his ears. "To be perfectly honest, I'm surprised that psychopath hasn't killed you in your sleep yet," he remarked.

"Do you know who he's killed?"

The black furred tom blinked at her, before shaking his head in a simple no. "But I do know who's helping him kill."

Firepaw's body stiffened in shock, but she was up on her paws immediately, her green eyes flashing. "Who, and why?"

He didn't reply, just angled his ears at the spot next to him. Stifling a sigh, she sat down next to him. He frowned at her, and she forced herself to swallow her disgust as she lay down beside him, ginger and black mottling as their fur brushed. "Let's just say, this she-cat has a personal vendetta against you. One that involves a crush on a certain dark brown furred tom. And why? Let's see- because he's feeding her information about… you."

Firepaw snarled, "Owlpaw. Here I thought she had changed," she shook her head coldly, before climbing back on her paws, "I guess she couldn't hide her revolting self any longer, and decided to put it to some use. Murder," she mused, blinking thoughtfully, "I've always thought of it as some kind of sin."

"Because it is a sin," he reminded her, but his voice was soft as he was genuinely curious on what she was getting to.

"It may be a sin, but it also sets you free in a way. And what's better- it removes what's completely wrong in your life. Or rather, who's completely wrong in your life." She blinked thoughtfully.

Breezepelt's eyes gleamed in the darkness as his sick smile returned once more, staring at her beautifully scarred face. Those four lines running down her eye seemed to match her new personality. She was tough. She was brave. And she definitely wasn't one to back down from a fight. He grinned, already knowing what she was going to ask him next.

She lifted her head, her green eyes locking with his. "Tigerflame might not come back alive, Breezepelt," she told him, her voice cold, "soon you may have me all to yourself."

"Perhaps," was all he said.

"There's a thin line between good and evil. If I've learned anything, it's that the only way evil stands a chance is by fighting dirty. So why should we waste our times trying to fight fair, if they'll only knock us over with some dirty trick? I say, we fight back. The same way. Like rogues. And besides, if Tigerflame doesn't come back… what do I have to fight for? Parents who don't care about me? Friends who hide behind fake smiles? No. If he doesn't come back, I need to know how to survive on my own. To survive as a rogue."

"Where has this side of you come from," he smiled wickedly. Thoughts began to cloud his brain, and a single idea popped into his head. Tigerstar would be so pleased to hear about it. If only he could drag her over, it would cause a chain reaction, leading to the inevitable defeat of the clans, "but I love it."

Her eyes locked with his as she spoke, dead serious, "teach me how to kill."

"It's been a quarter moon," Squirrelflight snapped, her eyes flashing angrily at Leafpool. The ginger she-cat hardly ever got angry at her sister, but time seemed to be a luxury that she couldn't afford. Not when each passing heartbeat brought her daughter a heartbeat closer to the jaws of death.

The light brown she-cat let out a drawn out sigh, "I know you're frustrated," she meowed quietly, "but I don't think she'll be waking up any time soon. Maybe it's time for you to consider goodbyes?"

The ginger she-cat recoiled in shock, "what do you mean?"

"I mean that every day we've been giving her herbs, and with a pending war… we don't have much to spare," her voice trailed off as she saw the look of intense fury on her sister's face, ducking her head shamefully.

"What? So you propose that we just kill my daughter?" Her voice rose an octave as Squirrelflight, shaking with fury, stalked up to her sister and loomed over her, "what if a long time ago, it was me who was here, unable to wake up? Would you want to kill me too?"

"Of course not," Leafpool looked horrified, but she pressed on gently, "but we must think of the clan, Squirrelflight. I know your scared of losing another daughter, but…"

Tears sprung to the edges of her eyes and all anger fell off her face as Squirrelflight's legs buckled and she crumpled to the bottom of the medicine cat den. "Another daughter," she whispered into the ground, her voice muffled. "Hollyleaf, Owlpaw, and now Firepaw. I am a terrible mother. How can I possibly face my new kits? Tell them that all of their sisters are gone? And that it's all because of me?"

"It's not because of you. Hollyleaf was as much my fault as it was yours, and she came back in the end. She died for her clan. She was a hero. Owlpaw and Firepaw both were not your fault!"

Squirrelflight lay on the ground, wracked with sobs and pain. Leafpool crouched beside her, her amber eyes pools of misery as she tried to comfort her sister. And Firepaw lay in her nest. They didn't see the twitch of her paw.

But a certain golden tabby tom did, as he passed by. His bright sun colored amber eyes caught sight of her movement, and a smile stretched across his face. I never lost hope, Firepaw. And I never will. He vowed to her. I'm waiting for you to come back. And once you do, we have much to talk about.

"Firepaw," a silver tabby she-cat meowed in greeting, dipping her head in acknowledgement. She smiled sunnily at her, her eyes bright. Oddly bright. However, the ginger she-cat had pushed it away. "I… I was at the Tribe. I was waiting for Half Moon and Clear Sky. I also saw Tigerflame," at the mention of the tom, the ginger she-cat perked up, "I even talked to him for a few heartbeats after his conversation with Half Moon."

The ginger she-cat bristled in excitement as she leaned forward, "really? What did he talk about? Did he have any messages for me?"

Feathertail nodded slightly as she beckoned for Firepaw to come to her, and the two of them slipped into a secluded area between two brambles. "I told him that you wanted to know what he was up to."

"Well? What did he say?"

"He has to go back to the Moonstone and cleave himself of Tigerstar. And he told me something interesting."

"What?"

"Every mastermind has a flaw. And this certain notorious murderer's flaw is his ego. He thought he was to be the ruler, and he was over confident and cocky. He didn't really think that Scourge would have it in him to kill him. He didn't think anybody would be able to kill him. He also thought that all these clan cats were going to him because they thought of him higher than they thought of Firestar. It never struck him as a possibility that they could remain loyal to the clans. He thinks he's too good for anybody to defeat him. For anybody to betray him. And you must use that to your advantage."

"Why?"

"Because all Breezepelt really wants to do is fit in. He wants to impress somebody, to have a father-like figure in his life. He thinks Tigerstar could be that father. He wants to impress the dark brown tabby tom, just as much as he wants you. His longing for your makes him malleable, and his longing to impress the dark brown tabby tom means he'll report almost anything. Use that to your advantage!"

Firepaw began to grow irritable, "how? Tell me!"

"If you were to trick Breezepelt into thinking that you've abandoned hope in Tigerflame, he'd surely tell Tigerstar. If Tigerstar thinks even you have abandoned hope in your own mate, then his ego is sure to inflate. And while he grows overconfident, he also grows weaker. Which allows Tigerflame more of an advantage when it comes to that last fight. That last fight between good and evil." Feathertail murmured.

The ginger she-cat grinned as a plan began to form in her mind. "Maybe Tigerflame did inherit some of Tigerstar's plotting abilities after-all…" she trailed off. She lifted her head, hoping to meow to Feathertail again, but the silver tabby she-cat was gone. She blinked in surprise.

But she knew what she had to do.

Firepaw smiled at the memory of the previous sunrise, when she had bumped into Feathertail. That was what had started the whole thing. And not to sound haughty, but she thought that she was quite clever, and definitely was great at acting, in order to pull off that whole thing.

Now all she had to do was wake up, and wait for the Dark Forest to lose their advantage, and for them to gain one.

Lionblaze crouched by Firepaw's body, restlessly stroking her pelt with his golden tail. "Please wake up," he whispered to her, amber eyes round with desperation. "Please. Please. Please."

Knowing that she wasn't listening, he let out a sigh of misery. He curled up beside her, feeling a fatherly protectiveness over this she-cat. She looked so small and vulnerable, lying there alone. He felt a wave of exhaustion crash over him, and he yawned drowsily.

The heartbeat he drifted off to sleep, a pair of green eyes blinked open, glowing luminously in the darkness.