Brightheart had tried. Remarkably so! Yet she couldn't help Jaypaw become a warrior. Under his grumpy exterior he's devastated. Clanmates suggest he apprentice as a medicine cat.
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Jaypaw refuses. 'Even though I'm blind I can still fight!' This he believes wholeheartedly. Before receiving boring tasks at sunrise he practices battle moves. The tom overhears other mentors' instructions and does his best to duplicate them.
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He pushes his clanmates' whispered concerns from his mind. Their sympathies only energize Jaypaw's anger.
They don't understand! Why? Why are his clanmates and kin so ready to give up on him?
The darkness that permanently covers his eyesight is an inescapable agony.
Except when Jaypaw can wander dreams. In this clarifying surreal world he has extraordinary perception.
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Spottedleaf's warnings are dismissed. Jaypaw's curious about the unknown Dark Forest.
Instead of being in ThunderClan's dreamy replica, sinister woodland appears. Strong scents of decay makes Jaypaw's nose wrinkle in disgust. He stands to only meet Hawkfrost again.
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The Dark Forest warrior's ear flitted, signifying amusement. "I didn't expect to see you here again. Being a medicine cat isn't going so well?"
Jaypaw snorted. Excluding eerily glowing blue eyes and fresh bleeding wounds, Hawkfrost doesn't scare him. But he can learn a lot from the warrior so Jaypaw decided to listen.
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"You're tired of everyone thinking you're weak."
Jaypaw glared at Hawkfrost. "Of course. You would be too if you were in my paws."
The ghastly cat's tail lashed. "I know more about it than you think. Tigerstar is a difficult cat to impress. Now," his paw scratches the frustratingly never-healing blemish. "Do you accept my offer to train at the Dark Forest?"
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Thousands of roars echo in a murky forest clearing. Pain and cruel gusto are a shadowy mixture on the cats' faces. Bloodbath saturates Jaypaw's senses. Yet the apprentice's footfalls don't dither in stride. In fact, Jaypaw is awed. The two sit a moment to observe the landscape.
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Hawkfrost chuckled. "I see interest glimmering in your gaze. I think you'll fit in perfectly." He waved a paw. "Only the most loyal, dedicated, formidable, and clever withstand among Dark Forest ranks."
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Below in the glade Tigerstar and Darkstripe greet Hawkfrost. "Have you found more recruits for us?"
"Yes. I'd say he's willing to join our army."
Jaypaw appeared.
Darkstripe leered. "A blind apprentice? Seriously?"
Tigerstar narrowed his eyes. "No others? Just him?"
'Of course.' The gray tabby's whiskers twitched furiously. 'Even among dead cats I'm deemed irritating and insignificant.'
Hawkfrost meowed, "But Brokenstar is sightless and is a proficient warrior!"
Darkstripe laughed. "He wasn't born blind."
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Enraged, Jaypaw lunged at Darkstripe. The evil spirit-cat stumbled, not foreseeing such dangerous strength. Claws latch on and shred flesh. Darkstripe struggles but can't break from a strategic grasp. Tigerstar nor Hawkfrost move to help Darkstripe.
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Apple-red scars surface on Darkstripe's sides and chest. His eye, a gold orb is removed and now an ebony gap. Recoiling he tries to stand up. Jaypaw's glare is unnervingly frightening. Fangs shimmer under muddy glows of the Dark Forest. "So what if I'm blind? I have more tenacity than you could ever wish to gain!"
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Tigerstar observes Jaypaw. Faint acknowledgment glints in his surfeited expression. "Maybe this apprentice has potential after all. You chose wisely, Hawkfrost."
"Thank you."
"Every battle will bring you closer to your ambitions, apprentice." Tigerstar meowed. "In the future you'll show your pathetic clanmates that you are a capable and terrifying opponent."
Hawkfrost waved his tail. "Join our army. Training will begin immediately, Jaypaw."
"And in time, Dark Forest warriors will defeat the forest cats, washing the earth in blood from our irresolute adversaries…"
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They left Darkstripe to sneak away in the shadows.
Jaypaw doesn't care about the war between the Clans and Dark Forest. A lasting scent of blood bewitches the apprentice onwards. Jaypaw's only goal is to get stronger. To be a feared warrior. To regain the fate that had been stolen from him. If the otherworldly and physical worlds of the forest collapse into ruins then it is to be destined.
The weak perish and the strong survive.
These events will no longer be prearranged by StarClan's foolish prophecies. Jaypaw will rule over a divination of blood.