So sorry for the wait. I was on summer hiatus since I'll have to stare at a screen all day for school.

Crowfeather

You know what you should never do? Get yourself captured by a sketchy girl with a knife to save your spineless, senseless friends from getting decapitated. You know what I did? Exactly that. Pretty sad, right? You know what made the whole situation even worse? The fact that the slithering salamander that tried to kill my classmate (NOT crush) was right there staring down at me from a giant rock. Oh, and I was wrapped in chains. Just wonderful.

I narrowed my icy blue eyes at Brokenstar as his annoying, smirking partner began to speak. "As you all know, we recently captured and detained this prisoner. Now, a few days later, it is finally time to interrogate him."

Blah blah blah, skip the professional stuff, I thought, rolling my eyes.

Somewhere behind me, footsteps approached. Someone was running late. Turning my head, I recognized Ivypool and Breezepelt, as well as that weird Bristlefrost girl that had appeared in the camera recording. I tensed. I still wasn't convinced that she could be trusted.

Brokenstar's cold, rusty voice broke me out of my thoughts. "Ssssssooooo..." he hissed, his tongue slithering across his teeth like a viper's. "Tell us your name, prisoner."

I wondered if he recognized me as I had send him flying off a roof during our last encounter. "Why should I?" I growled, wondering if I could stall the actual interrogating long enough to figure out how to escape.

Tigerstar smirked again. "Why not? You're outnumbered, outgunned, and outwitted. And this is an interrogation. You give us answers or you die. Simple as that."

I glared at him but opened my mouth to speak. "Crowfeather."

"Ah. You're the one that kicked my fellow leader. Impressive, I must admit. Not many have ever managed to land an effective blow on either of us."

What is he trying to pull? I wondered. "Not many have ever managed to look that smug about living in isolation and never doing anything, yet claiming to be the most powerful beings alive."

"Ha! I like this one," the scarred leader bellowed.

All around me, I heard snickers and shifting feet as the audience reacted. Behind my right shoulder, Ivypool kicked a twig that went airborne for two seconds before landing beside a thick tree stump.

"Playing favorites now, are we?" I snorted.

Tigerstar didn't respond. Instead, he motioned to one of the armed warriors. "Alright, let's get on with it. Stick a spear over his throat."

I forced myself not to react as a cold, metal blade slowly slid across my vocal chords, just barely avoiding drawing blood. I know I'm usually all tough and scary, but anyone with brains would know not to snap when there's a deadly weapon inches away from their face.

"Now then," Brokenstar hissed, "what can you tell us about your little plots?"

I spoke smoothly and evenly so as not to dig my throat into the sharp blade. "You'll need to be more specific." Think, don't motormouth. Say no more than necessary. I blinked as a pebble went flying and smacked into the same stump as the twig Ivypool had kicked moments before. Whipping my head around, I opened my mouth to tell the annoying girl to stop when something caught my eye. Standing into the shadows, secured to the same tree by a rope, was a giant hawk. It was black-and-gray and slightly smaller than the eagle that had carried me here. It piercing yellow eyes seemed to slice the shadows apart as its head twitched in different directions. And the best part? It was my ticket out of here. That must've been why Ivypool was kicking stuff at it. She was showing me how to escape.

Slowly, discreetly, my fingers slid into my pocket and felt the slender dagger I'd snatched from my kidnapper's belt when she wasn't looking. This plan just might work. I just had to time it exactly right.

I kept my face stony and expressionless as Tigerstar smirked at my words. "I know you and your friends think we're up to no good. You want revenge for what we did to your little pal so you've been secretly plotting against us. You are almost certainly brewing up some kind of scheme and we want to know if we should go through the trouble of trying to stop you. Specific enough?"

I glared at him. He'd figured out a lot considering the fact that all he had to go off of was what had happened at the abandoned barn. I guess the reports about the Dark Forest masterminds weren't exaggerating. Of course, that didn't mean I was about to tell him anything. "You might wanna check your hearing aids because I have no idea what you're talking about," I retorted. I knew I was testing his patience. The deadly blade was still pressed against my neck and Tigerstar's superior expression was slowly becoming a snarl.

Yeah... probably time to go. My eyes began darting from side to side as I tried to figure out how to escape. It seemed impossible. I was completely surrounded by Dark Forest warriors. There wasn't a single inch of space between them. Plus, I still had the stupid spear problem. I was beginning to wonder how painful death by spear-to-the-throat would be when a pine cone smacked me in the back.

Ugh. I saw the dang bird! Now cut it out! I silently growled and Ivypool. Another pine cone. Tensing, I glanced at her once more, ready to give her a furious glare.

Then she winked.

I stopped, confused. Her eyes darted to the surrounding warriors, the bird, and me. Then she winked again.

I got it in an instant. Whatever it was, Ivypool had some sort of plan to create a hole in the circle of warriors. I'd be able to slip through the gap and escape on the bird, securing my life and the safety of my friends. All I had to do was escape from the creepy spear dude looming over me. Easily fixed.

With my escape plan now complete, I turned my attention back to Tigerstar. He wasn't smiling anymore. In fact, he looked pretty unhappy. Probably not good news for me. I was running out of time.

Very slowly, I began to draw my dagger. Clink! I tried again. Clink! I looked down. Oh no. The chains! The shackles! I inwardly smacked myself. How could I forget? There was no way I could move efficiently with my hands chained, much less run in shackles. Frantically, I began searching for something to cut them with. I was pretty sure a dagger couldn't cut metal chains, no matter how sharp. Plus, all the sharpest ones were in the hands of Dark Forest people. But a spear...

Hmmm. The spear pressed against my neck might do. I looked horribly sharp. Plus, one side was jagged like a saw. Maybe I could use it to grip the chains and snap them. Only problem? If I made one sudden movement I would most likely never move again. Yeah. I thought this would be easy.

Unfortunately, I was now officially out of time. Tigerstar was signalling for another armed soldier to come forward. There was no way I could take on two at once in the state I was in. It was now or never.

Forcing my muscles to relax, I took a deep breath. Then I released my dagger, snapped my neck back, and grabbed the spear with both hands.