AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! IT'S BEEN OVER A WEEK! I'M SO SORRY! I was stuck, but I have an idea now! Hope you guys like it!
QQA: You're kidding, right? No spoilers!
Regular
"Where's Briarlight?" Dovewing asked. Everyone was sitting in her and Leafpool's room, still shaken from the horrible night that had taken place only a few days before.
Blossomfall shrugged. "She likes to come and go. She'll show up eventually."
Bluestar's gaze darkened. "That's what we thought when Oakheart went missing."
Ivypool rolled her eyes. "Come on, just because one person was kidnapped, that means none of us can disappear for more than five minutes?"
"That's exactly what it means!" Bluestar snapped. "How would you like it if your sister disappeared all of a sudden?"
Ivypool opened her mouth to respond when the door swung open and Briarlight wheeled in. "Sorry," she panted. "Had to use the bathroom."
Ivypool cocked a thumb pointedly at Briarlight. "See? Nothing to worry about."
Bluestar grumbled and snuggled closer to Oakheart. He'd come out of the medical room only several hours earlier, still with a few bandages and bruises. Crowfeather had been warned to take it easy until his stitches came out. The dark-haired boy now leaned against the wall, his face expressionless.
"So what are we gonna do about the cat in the hamster cage?" Lionblaze asked.
Everyone turned to stare at him. "Brokenstar!" he cried, throwing his arms in the air. "You know, the evil, creepy dude that kidnapped Oakheart and tried to kill Leafpool?"
Leafpool shivered at his words. Squirrelflight hugged her sister and glared at Lionblaze. Dovewing sighed. "Honestly, I have no idea. We could easily track him down, but what then? We have no way to fight him, he's obviously to good for the police, and we don't even know what he wants."
"Wait," Firestar said. "When we were out scouting, he said something about using Oakheart for something or whatever. Dovewing-" he started, but the silver-haired girl was already scrolling through the footage at lightning speed.
"Aha!" she exclaimed, pressing the play button. Everyone leaned into watch the computer screen as a clip from Firestar's comm unit appeared. It was of Oakheart being held captive in the barn appeared. Brokenstar was saying something and Dovewing turned up the volume to listen.
"-I have been planning this for years and I will not let a few stupid, pitiful teenagers ruin it. You will soon be under my control!" Brokenstar cackled.
Dovewing paused the video and whipped around to face Oakheart. "He wanted you under his control," she whispered. "Do you know why?"
Oakheart shook his head, looking terrified. "I don't know any more than you do," he replied.
"Hmmmm... let's see if we can learn anything else," Dovewing murmered. She pulled up Brokenstar's file and began reading.
Dovewing
My eyes darted across the screen. It was almost as if this guy didn't exist! Nobody knew anything about him! I read the stats and file over and over again, but found nothing.
Descendant of: Shadowstar.
Known Alliances: None.
Criminal Record: Kidnapping, stealing, smuggling and murder.
Last spotted: The Dark Forest. September 22, 2034.
I squinted at the date. Suddenly, my eyes widened. September 22? 2034? That was only two days ago! I had to tell the others. Swallowing a lump in my throat, I slowly swiveled my chair around and spoke. "I know where he is."
At once, everyone jumped up and stared at me expectantly. "Yes?" Firestar asked, leaning closer excitedly.
I gulped. "D-Darklake Forest."
The room grew silent, a horrified look on everyone's face. Except for Breezepelt who hated geography. "Where now?" he asked, dumbfounded.
Lionblaze stepped forward. "The Dark Forest is by far the most dangerous place on the island."
"How bad can it be?" Breezepelt said. "I thought you said the barn as the worst place to go."
"We... forgot about the forest," I stammered. "It's a horrible place. The sun never shines there. Only gray clouds gather to bring the rain. And at night, only empty blackness shows above it, no moon, no stars. It's not just where the dark ancestors speak the loudest. When they're not in the skies, it's were their spirits live."
"And it's crawling with those who've been consumed by evil, like Brokenstar. Many who enter don't come back out. No one has ever escaped without fatal injuries and have died son after," Firestar added.
Brezepelt turned pale. "W-w-we're not going there, are we?"
"Of course not," Bluestar said, stepping forward. "It's far too dangerous."
"So we're just giving up?" Everyone turned, surprised to hear Briarlight talking. She wheeled forward. "He's already kidnapped Oakheart and tried to kill Leafpool," she continued. "The police have been tracking him for years. He's obviously a huge threat. And we're just going to sit down and do nothing? Isn't there anything we can do to help? What if he comes back? What if this time he kills everybody? What does he want with Oakheart?"
Silence greeted her words. Then, Bumblestripe spoke up. "She has a point. What else can we do? What kind of people will we be if we do nothing?"
"But why the Dark Forest?" Silverstream murmured. "Why there?"
"Because it's the only place where no one will follow," I muttered darkly.
I jumped as a hand settled on my shoulder. I looked up to see my sister, a confident expression on her face. "No one yet. We're going after him," she declared.
For one long moment, everyone just stared. Then slowly, one by one, they all nodded. "But how will we defeat them?" Honeyfern wondered. "I ean, he must have allies in there, right?"
Ivypool smiled. "We'll win because Breezepelt and I are going to spy."
See what I did there? A little connection to the books!
QQ: Who were all FOUR of Ivypool's Dark Forest mentors? I know, I'm so evil!
-Silver Speaker