I'm going to take some time to edit and revise the previous chapters. There are quite a few spelling and grammar errors. Plus some tweaks I want to make. However, I'm really excited about these next few chapters so I'll probably keep updating.

Fernsong

It was completely unexpected. He was on his knees. There was a spear ready to stab his neck. He was hopelessly outnumbered. And he attacked.

I had been standing next to Violetshadow, watching the interrogation commence. Tigerstar was about to get serious (which pretty much never happened) when suddenly, BAM! The prisoner had snatched the spear out of Darkstripe's hands and swung the blunt end into his stomach.

Darkstripe gasped as he was thrown off guard and the air was knocked out him. The captive took this opportunity to kick him down and jam the sharp point of the weapon between his ankle shackles. Before any of us had time to react, he'd violently twisted the spear and snapped the shackles off. It happened so fast, I felt like I'd barely had time to even blink.

"Stop him, you idiots!" Tigerstar roared. "Don't let him escape!"

At once, the circle of warriors began closing in on the prisoner. He turned and spun in a wild circle, swinging to spear threateningly at anyone who came within range. Obviously, he wasn't going anywhere. We'd secure him and rebind him and-

"Hey! Watch it, punk!"

I whipped around as an angry voice arose from in front of Violetshadow. Apparently, she'd accidentally stepped on someone's foot. Or not. With her, it was hard to tell.

"Then move," she retorted.

The other warrior snarled. "You move. You're the newbie."

"What did you just call me?" she growled, a hint of danger in her tone.

"You heard me, city scum. Stay out of my way." He smirked and shoved her back with one hand, his eyes goading her to retaliate.

Now you might be thinking, "just ignore him, he's a bully", but that's not Violetshadow's style. As far as I could tell, her style was punching anything that annoyed her. That could be a stray branch that brushed against her face, or it could be a full-grown warrior that pushed her into a tree. If she punched a branch just for being there, imagine what she did to a warrior that shoved her.

Quick as lightning, she lunged forward and kicked the thug hard in the chest. He grunted and stumbled back, bumping into two more Dark Forest members. Then Violetshadow braced her hands against his shoulders and shoved him even harder. This time, he completely lost his balance and fell backward, knocking the other two over. Then those two toppled over and caused another three to fall. Then those three hit another six. In a matter of seconds, about a third of the crowd was lying flat on the ground, hissing and punching and kicking each other with fury.

That was bad news for us. While Violetshadow had been occupied, the prisoner had managed to fend off most of his attackers. Now that a huge section of the circle was gone, he had an easy escape. Seeing his chance, he slammed the end of his spear into one his tormentors before sprinted through the open gap. Bristlefrost tried to get to him but Violetshadow was blocking her way.

When I stepped forward to block the hostage's path, he pointed his spear and I flinched back. I watched him dash to a nearby tree and slash at something before disappearing into the shadows. A moment later, wing-beats sounded and he rose into the air on the back of one of our hawks. He must've been cutting the rope so he could ride it.

Luckily, he didn't seem to know how to fly the thing. He's cut the chains around his wrists and grabbed the reins, but the giant bird wouldn't obey him. I guessed it was a private bird since it was refusing to him ride it. It had been a public bird, it probably would've taken off without a second thought.

I was about to shout for the owner to call the hawk when something incredibly strange happened. From somewhere in the distance, a single bird screeched. I barely caught the distant sound, but the hawk definitely did. As if its owner were suddenly up and forgotten, it began to beat its wings faster and faster and rose higher and higher. Then it abruptly stopped and shot off like a rocket, taking the former prisoner with it.

Bristlefrost ran up behind me just as the giant hawk disappeared over the dark treetops. "What in the blazes just happened?"

I stared at her, speechless. Somehow, a teenager from the outside had just made a huge fool out of us by taking out ten warriors and stealing one of our birds.

Violetshadow dusted off her pants and looked around. "Well... if I had to guess, I'd say Crowfeather just made Dark Forest history."

Crowfeather. The name echoed softly in my mind as she spoke. That's right. She and Nightwhisker knew that guy from their time in the city. I guess neither of them had been expecting him to escape so easily since they hadn't tried to warn us at all. They hadn't even displayed a particular liking for Crowfeather. Nightwhicker had mostly kept his distance and Violetshadow had kicked rocks at him. That was probably how he'd spotted the hawk and gotten away. The rocks had landed against tree the bird was roped to.

And then Violetshadow had gotten into that fight which ended up opening a gap for him... wait a minute.

When I summed it all up, it almost sounded a little too convenient. Violetshadow was the reason he'd noticed the bird, and Violetshadow was the reason he'd been able to get to it. What if... what if... no. No, that couldn't be it. She was one of us. There was no way she'd help an outsider. She didn't seem to even like him that much. But still. Something about the way that had all played out just now...

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Bristlefrost staring at me intensely. I turned to her and raised an eyebrow. Then I cocked a thumb in Violetshadow's direction. She nodded slowly. So I wasn't the only one who was slightly suspicious.

Obviously, no one else had paid any attention to Violetshadow. They'd only seen her get into that fight. They were completely oblivious to her little rock-kicking stunt. I started forward to warn Tigerstar. He should know about this. Then I stopped. What if I was wrong? What if Violetshadow wasn't a traitor? I mean, it was possible that this was just a huge coincidence. Plus, suspecting an innocent victim would show that I didn't trust my fellow Dark Forest members. That was what made Tigerstar the angriest. "Suspecting your allies", he called it. Somehow, "traitor" didn't sound very good for my warrior application.

Still, I wasn't about to just let this slide. I'd watch Violetshadow until I was sure where her loyalties lay. Bristlefrost would, too. We'd keep our suspicions to ourselves until we got more evidence. Hopefully, that wouldn't happen. Violetshadow was obviously a valuable asset to the Dark Forest. Plus, she seemed like if you got to know her well enough, you could end up being good friends. And friends were definitely something I was a little short of.

So yeah. I'd watch her training. I'd study her actions. I'd keep my eye on her. I'd pray with all my might that the worst possible scenario did not become a reality.

I really, really hoped that my enemy wasn't the person standing right beside me.