Chapter 19

River of Dread

The dream continues to haunt Fallenfrost on the nights that the Dark Forest hadn't pulled her in, which was seldom but still often enough to be a crippling hindrance to her mental fortitude. Yet she would still take the nightmare over the training in the Place of No Stars, now with her growing suspicions that they aren't all they were promising to be.

Her worries were confirmed the night that she had managed to dream into the Dark Forest. Eyes snapped open as she heard the sound of a slamming body, sending horrible chills down her spine. She scrambled to her paws, standing up and taking several paces backwards as she watched a massive, dark brown tabby tom slam his full weight into Applefur only a few whiskers away from Fallenfrost's face.

Something about the tom reminded her of Hawkfrost, but his eyes were a different color entirely and instead were a glinting, molton amber. Applefur hissed in pain, her spine pressed up against the gray grass underneath their paws.

"You need to watch me, not my paws." The broad-shouldered tom snarled as he got off of the dappled she-cat.

"S-Sorry, Tigerstar," Applefur panted as she tried to reposition her paws. She barely glanced over her shoulder to even acknowledge Fallenfrost with a small nod.

Tigerstar was about to swipe at her again until his gaze landed on Fallenfrost. He smiled, sheathing his claws and padded toward the brown tabby. With a claw, he poked at her chest with a paw before laughing. "You must be that scrawny she-cat that Hawkfrost mentioned. What was the name? Snowfall?"

"Fallenfrost." She corrected with an annoyed flick of her tail.

Tigerstar laughed in a cold tone as he lowered his head. "My bad. Anyway, he wanted you to go to the river with Mapleshade and him." He flicked a tail through a faintly parted path behind him. Applefur's eyes glanced over only for a heartbeat before Tigerstar continued. "Don't keep them waiting."

Something curdled over in Fallenfrost's stomach as she nodded and trotted off after the direction that Tigerstar had pointed out. She weaved in between the trees and kept her milky white paws on the path to where she was directed.

She was once fascinated by the fireflies and glimmering mushrooms adorning the forest, but ever since Redwillow and Applefur's revelation about the promises they were given by the Dark Forest cats, Fallenfrost had grown unsure if she had made the right decision in joining the cats of the night.

She finished moving through the frosty grass until she stood in front of a large, murky black river with rushing water dark as the night sky. It was thick, inky, and had the consistency of watered down sludge. Bile rose in Fallenfrost's throat as she slowly approached it to see several cats swimming and attacking in the water, their heads ducking out and splashing only occasionally for gasps of breath.

At the shoreline stood Hawkfrost peering into the water before he glanced over his shoulder to face Fallenfrost. "You're late." He hissed.

"I had a patrol. You can't expect me to disobey my leader's wishes."

He hissed and peered back into the water with a flicking tail. "Your training is more important than following a withering leader's commands."

"I beg to differ."

"You're on thin ice, Fallenfrost." He growled as he stood up and took several paces closer to Fallenfrost. He stood nose to nose with her, standing a few mouse-lengths above her. "Regardless, you need more training in the water. You nearly lost your life in the lake, and we don't need that happening again." He turned to the water just as she caught glimpse of Hollowpaw's head splashing out of the water for air before something pulled him back under.

She felt something sick in her stomach. He needed her help!

"I'll train with Hollowpaw." Fallenfrost meowed quickly.

Hawkfrost squinted. "It seems you're forgetting who is in charge here. You are testing my patience tonight."

She snapped her head away wordlessly and approached the water. It rushed just past her paws, threatening to pull her into its abyssal depths. Memories of the icy cold lake flashed back into her mind and she instinctively reeled back, trying to catch her breath.

"Afraid of a little water?" Hawkfrost whispered in her ear.

Fallenfrost was about to respond until the breath was knocked out of her. Hawkfrost had used his shoulder to roughly shove the she-cat to plunge into the murky water. Fallenfrost tried to gasp out for breath until she only inhaled thickened sludge of black water. She didn't get the time to prepare and hold her air. Fallenfrost paddled her paws upwards until she felt her paw hit cold air, but she was shoved further back down into the darkness when Hawkfrost had jumped in after her and was now wrestling with her in the darkness.

Fallenfrost tried to fight back, pawing fruitlessly at his fur getting tangled with hers. Even as she forced open her eyes, only darkness followed. She was growing desperate when pinpricks of pain clamped down on her scruff. Hawkfrost pulled his weight further down, trying to drag Fallenfrost with him into the depths.

Panic filled her lungs instead of air, and her brain was scrambled trying to think of what to do to escape his grasp. She tried to calm herself and slowly place her hind legs on his stomach, all while still connected with his jaw. With all of her strength, Fallenfrost sprung her back legs and the movement through the water propelled Hawkfrost back to the bottom of the rushing river.

I'm free! I can get to the surface!

Fallenfrost didn't hesitate to paddle with all her might to break the surface of the rushing black water. Cold air sucked at her fur when she re-emerged, feeling like her lungs were about to explode from the sudden influx of oxygen. Fallenfrost took the moment to enjoy the air and tried to paddle back to the shoreline, but something yanked down at her tail.

Fear thudded at her chest as she was dragged once again into the water. Frustrated and terror flooded her body, but she was prepared with a gulp of oxygen in her chest. Claws outstretched, she kicked her hind legs once again onto Hawkfrost's face as he dragged her further down into the water.

Let go of me, you fox-dung!

Without thinking, Fallenfrost turned back away from the surface of the water and down where Hawkfrost was. She nosed down with a growing fury blazing in her bones as she latched on to bite at his ear. The faint gurgle of pain emitted from him as she dug her claws into his scruff and was able to snatch her tail away.

With a swipe of decisiveness, she flashed her claws across his nose. She could feel the warmth of fresh blood gushing around her in the water as she twisted back up to break the surface. Water splashed, Fallenfrost once again desperately gulping for air as she dragged herself to the beach, soaking wet and miserable.

"Are you okay?"

She looked up after taking another gulp of oxygen as her vision began to focus from the blurry mess it was in the water. After her eyes adjusted, she realized it was Hollowpaw standing above her. She coughed out a splatter of black liquid in an unflattering fashion as her hazy vision tried to concentrate on Hollowpaw as the tom tried helping her stand up. He nosed gently at her shoulder until Fallenfrost was able to stand up on all her legs, shaking and coughing water.

She whipped around hearing the sounds of Hawkfrost emerging from the water, panting and gasping for air as well. "Well done," he wheezed proudly as his ear continued to bleed where Fallenfrost ripped off a chunk of it. "We're going to con-"

"Hawkfrost!"

Fallenfrost and Hollowpaw whipped their heads over to see a slim tabby bounding over to the group. He looked in between them all before he sucked in air and panted, "My partner is stuck on a branch in the water and I can't get him out, can you please help?"

Hawkfrost huffed and flicked his tail in agitation. "You're all fumbling kits, I swear." He grumbled before dashing to follow after the tabby along the slippery riverbank.

Fallenfrost breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the jagged stones freckling the banks of the shadowy river. She turned to Hollowpaw, who also had his shoulders relaxed in relief after a heavy sigh. "Hawkfrost didn't go easy on you, did he?"

"No, he didn't." Fallenfrost affirmed with another cough before shuddering. "I want to wake up already." She admitted.

Hollowpaw exhaled. "I do too, but it's part of the training we have to go through in order to improve, right?"

Fallenfrost didn't respond and instead decided to change the subject. "How are the other apprentices treating you?"

"Not good," he admitted, "Troutstream and Rushtail are acting high and mighty now that they're warriors. I… failed my assessment. So I'm going to be training a little while longer." Fallenfrost could see his teeth snap shut in a growl as he dug his claws in the soil. "But I'm going to be stronger than them one day. I'll eventually wipe the condescending looks off their faces."

Her brows furrowed sympathetically. "I'm sorry…" she mumbled as she dipped her head.

He sighed in return and looked up to the treetops and leaves covering the blackened night sky. "It's okay. I just have to keep training, that's all." He snapped his head back over to her, a smile now curling at his muzzle. "Hey, I actually wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" Her ears perked up.

His whiskers twitched in response. "I want to talk to you more outside of Gatherings and training in the Dark Forest. Do you think we can organize a time when we can meet up?"

Fallenfrost's heart began uncontrollably thudding out of concern. Meeting with cats outside of your Clan was surely against the warrior code, right? She wasn't sure if it would exactly be allowed. Yet with her dream of bringing peace to the Clans, there may be a glimmer of hope to meet up with him. They were just friends after all, there wouldn't be any harm in just meeting up with him once or twice in the waking world. It wasn't much different from training in the Dark Forest anyway, right?

Fallenfrost shrugged with a careful nod. "As long as we're careful, sure. How's the half-bridge tomorrow night sound?"

Hollowpaw nodded. "I think I can slip out then."

"Sounds like a plan." She replied agreeably with a smile.