Bristlefrost

Standing outside the prison, I watched the newest addition through curious, narrowed eyes. Since my mentor was out attending a special meeting, I had the day off. I'd decided to check out this Crowfeather whom Violetshadow and Nightwhisker appeared to have met before.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I arrived at the prison, but I couldn't help being slightly surprised by the sight that greeted me. Crowfeather was sitting in the corner atop a large tree stump, glowering at his shackles.

Something I should tell about the Dark Forest prison: it isn't a normal prison. Rather than iron bars and cold cramped cells, we have a giant pit that's about 20 yards deep. The walls are made completely of sword-smooth rock and the pit is filled with sharp stones and muddy water. The guards would toss in anything from rabid mice to grizzly bears, which was probably why most prisoners didn't last very long.

Crowfeather, however, had somehow obtained a dagger and was using it to stab anything that came within arms reach of his stump, including other prisoners.

Smirking, I casually strolled over to the nearest guard and grunted to get his attention. "Hey. Why does that guy have a weapon?" I demanded, pointing down at Crowfeather.n

The guard shrugged. "I dunno."

"Why don't you take it from him?"

"No need to bother the Talon trainers," the guard grunted.

Talon trainers were the members that trained our birds, or more accurately, our Talons. Talons were hawks and eagles large enough and strong enough to carry a human. The Talons were how we got the prisoners in and out of the pit.

"Besides," the guard continued. "How much can he do with one knife? We've got a whole cage of bears we can dump in once he comes back out."

"Ha!" I snorted, amused by how careless he was being. "Whatever. When does he come out?"

"Interrogations are in three hours," the guard sniffed. "Maybe sooner. Depends on when that leaders' meeting ends."

I nodded slowly. "Alright. That gives me plenty of time." Glancing down, I strolled to the edge of the pit and plopped down directly above Crowfeather's corner. I saw him twitch slightly as my boots thunked against the rock wall, but he didn't move or make a sound. "So. Crowfeather, right?" I called. The wall carried sound surprisingly well so I didn't have to speak very loudly.

The smokey-haired boy looked up at me and a flash of recognition lit up in his icy blue eyes. Angling his gaze down again, he muttered something like, "I guess."

Ah. He must be part of that group that Violetshadow and Nightwhisker are reporting too, I guessed. He must've recognized me from my little presentation. "How's life in prison?" I smirked.

"Why do you care?" He growled.

"I don't. I just wanna talk to someone lowlier than me once in awhile," I snickered.

"Sorry to disappoint you," he retorted.

Not bad. This guy was smooth. He kind of reminded me of Violetshadow if I was being nest. "You remind me of one of my friends," I told him.

"Don't go comparing me to your shady, insane pals."

"Ha! You're one to talk."

Crowfeather opened his mouth to say something else when a large alligator suddenly emerged from the swamp and started towards him, snapping it's powerful jaws. Crowfeather glanced at it before lashing out with one arm and slicing a deep gash into it's eye and across it's snout. The alligator shrieked and whipped around, disappearing as suddenly as it had come.

Slightly impressed, I allowed a half smile to escape my lips. "Where'd you get the dagger?"

Another glare.

"... Anyway... you're interrogations are soon. You planning to spill the beans to Tigerstar and Brokenstar?" I asked, biting back a smirk.

He snorted. "Like that's any of your business."

"It is. What you say determines what happens to my home."

"Some home you got. It's smelly, muddy, cold and dark. Who'd want to live here?"

I sighed quietly. This guy was practically Violetshadow's twin. I wondered if they got along well. If they had anything in common, that probably meant we wouldn't get any useful information out of him. Oh, right. Hmm... I wonder if he knows anything about Violetshadow and Nightwhisker's spy business. "Hey, how do you know Violetshadow and Nightwhisker anyway? Old pals or something, right?" I wondered if it just my imagination, but I'm pretty sure he flinched.

"Same school," he muttered. "If you can even consider them students now."

I shrugged. "Consider them students of the Dark Forest."

"Whatever."

"So, what's your opinion on them? Anything I should know about them?"

He shrugged and stabbed at the tree stump with his dagger. "Just that Violetshadow is a grumpy, sarcastic badger and Nightwhisker is an annoying idiot."

I bit back a loud snicker. "Oh dear. What'd they do?"

"Not gonna waste my time telling you."

"Heh. Fine. I'll just ask them."

"Be my guest."

Suddenly, a heavy hand clamped down on my right shoulder and tugged me to my feet. "Enough chit-chat," grunted the guard from earlier. "The leaders are back early. Your interrogations begin in five minutes." He glowered at Crowfeather. Releasing my shoulder, he made a small twirling gesture with one finger before turning and marching back to his post.

No sooner had he walked away did a loud screech sound from high overhead. Looking skyward, I watched as a huge brown-and-white eagle swooping down into the pit and grabbed Crowfeather by the shoulders. The dark-haired boy growled unhappily as the eagle sank its talons into his flesh and hoisted him up.

Since I'd never seen an interrogation before, I decided to tag along. It wasn't often that we got prisoners of any value. Usually, anyone we captured was just tossed onto the training grounds so apprentices could practice stalking and slaughtering.

Racing beneath the Talon that carried the smoky-colored prisoner, I was so focused on keeping an eye on both the bird and the trees that I didn't notice the footsteps steadily approaching me from behind until it was too late. "Hey," Violetshadow called as she appeared beside me.

"Oh, hi. You coming to the interrogation?" I asked her.

"Yeah. Nightwhimper too," she said, pointing to her right.

"Nightwhimper" was her favorite nickname for the black-haired boy as he was always shying away from everything. I'd asked her once if he had always been like this but she'd just laughed and told me to ask again later. Personally, I found Nightwhisker anything but annoying, leading me to assume he must've been different once upon a time or Crowfeather wouldn't be holding a grudge.

Casting a sidelong glance at the trees Violetshadow was indicating, I could just barely make out Nightwhisker's dark outline gliding through the shadows. I raised an eyebrow at Violetshadow and she rolled her eyes. "You wanna know if he was different before the Dark Forest? Ask Crowfeather if you get the chance."

I was right. Crowfeather does know something, I noted silently. "Will do," I replied with a small smile. "Now let's go watch that interrogation. I've never seen one before. Might be interesting."

Violetshadow nodded. "Yeah. Hawkfrost said we were required to come. Gotta be somethin' fun for him to say that."