Again with being late on the chapters? Sorry, y'all.

REVIEW ANSWERS

LoSt KiTtEn Of ThE JuNgLe- She's trying to get back into the ways of the Clan c: It's okay xD

ScipioPB- xD thanks!

HakubaRyu- Yeah, I got impatient xD

Golde Coast- Thanks!

carifoo2001- Lol

Echoflame of FC (Temporary Guest)- THANKS BRO

HalfSun- YEAH

Okay! I'm constantly late xD well, now, expect for me to be double late. Why? My first year of Middle School has started! My elementary was K—6th (Kindergarten through 6th grade) while in most elementary schools, it would be K—6th. I went to a school on an army post, and there was also a Middle School there that was 7th—9th. I moved off of post, and into an area where the Middle School is 6th—8th, which is normal.

In other words.

I'M A 7TH GRADER NOW


Black sky, gray trees, black water…

Hostile hearts.

Eyes glow from the gnarled trunks. Many red with hatred.

The eerie winds whisper voices of regret and pain. Distant yowls of anguish, thoughts of what could have been. The wind carries these voices, constant reminders to the inhabitants of the area of their wrongs. There is no light here, no happiness. No hope for the future. This place has no beginning and no end. There is no way out. Forever on, the horizon stretches, never to be broken.

In one misted corner is a clearing with a large boulder in the center. A cat is perched on top. He raises his head, letting the winds that carry the voices weave through his fur, making his chest fur sway. He narrows his gaze at the small group of cats gathered at the base of the boulder, causing the white circle of fur around his left eye to distort.

"She is within my grasp. I have her trust and her word, believe me."

A cat shouted from the group. "You idiot, Phantomstep. This plan will never work."

Phantomstep unsheathed his four white paws, black fur struggling to lay flat. "Quiet, Greenstar. You may have been a leader in your time, but remember that I was as well. You will listen to me tonight."

The oak-brown tabby snarled. "You were a leader for less than a moon before Tumblestorm killed you! You didn't even have nine lives. At least I gained the position. You killed to get it!"

Phantomstep was growing frustrated. "And you were never power-hungry? You sent countless raids to my Clan. Raids, which claimed the life of my mate!"

Greenstar stood. "You killed my warriors! As well as many of your own Clanmates."

A cat stood. His ear was ripped in two, tail crooked and one paw lacking fur. "I came here for news, not to witness an argument between old enemies. Either talk, or let me go so I can hunt to fill my empty belly."

Phantomstep composed himself. "Yes, of course, Grayfoot." He looked among the other three cats for one in particular. He lashed his tail in anticipation as he spotted the one whom he sought. "Longwhisker," he called to the very young, pale tabby tom. "Gather all the cats you can find. Tell them of my summons to the Broken Boulder."

The Broken Boulder was named for Brokenstar, the main leader of the Dark Forest during the time of the Great Battle. "Phantomstep, are you serious? I can't do that on my own!"

The sleek, black tom lashed a paw down from atop the rock, swinging it at Longwhisker. "Do as I say! I'm in charge at the moment, you foolish cat. Get moving!"

Longwhisker crouched fearfully down to avoid the blow. Once Phantomstep had retracted his white, unsheathed paw, Longwhisker rose with a grunt, galloping off. Phantomstep nodded in approval, huffing. "Quickfang, Vinetail, Grayfoot and Greenstar, curl up. You'll be here a while."

Quickfang rolled his yellow eyes, settling in. The others also got comfortable.

Hours later, the cats had gotten to talking. Longwhisker finally came back, a huge group of dark warriors trailing behind him, looking slightly annoyed to have been summoned.

Phantomstep grinned. "Good! You're all here. Sit, sit. Get comfortable." A few protests were mumbled as cats tried to shift about. "Excellent. I'm sure you're all a tad frustrated with me summoning you all to the Broken Boulder on such short notice. But believe me, I bring glad tidings."

A cat shouted from the crowd. "You've got this thing going with Twistedfoot. Trust me, Phantomstep, you're tangling yourself in a bad plan."

"Quiet, Thistleclaw. Today, I speak." Phantomstep frowned at the Dark Forest warrior. All his time in this shadowy place, he wondered why Thistleclaw had ended up here. The former ThunderClan warrior had lost his mate to a monster speeding down the Thunderpath in the forest territories, and had lost his son to his mate's sister. From what he knew, Thistleclaw had been sentenced here for being too ambitious. Was ambition so threatening? These facts made him respect the warrior more than others, even though Phantomstep had been here far longer.

Thistleclaw snuggled back into his own chest fur, grumbling.

Phantomstep cleared his throat. "Twistedfoot trusts me, and I have brought her back to WindClan. It's time we put my plan into action."

Some satisfied murmuring came from the crowd, while there were some growling protests from more senior Dark Forest warriors. Phantomstep smiled. "I simply wanted to inform you that we should start preparing. You are all dismissed."

The cats stood, some complaining about how short the meeting had been compared to how long they had traveled to get here. Soon, the clearing was empty aside from the five original cats: Greenstar, Grayfoot, Longwhisker, Quickfang and Vinetail. Phantomstep leapt down from the Broken Boulder, heading to a specific destination. He briefly caught sight of Thistleclaw's tail whisking away. "Thistleclaw."

The gray warrior turned. "What?" Thistleclaw had lived to be older than Phantomstep at the time of his death, while Phantomstep's spirit was older.

"I want to give you my thanks for showing," Phantomstep replied.

Thistleclaw shrugged. "A Gathering's a Gathering. Longwhisker came to my hollow maple, yowling like an old badger. I though it only fitting to show up." With a flick of his tail, Thistleclaw disappeared, the same ever-wistful look in his amber eyes, a look he'd had since he first arrived in the Dark Forest, chased out of StarClan by Bluestar. Beneath the look were memories of Snowfur and his son, Whitekit, now Whitestorm.

Phantomstep watched him leave, and then resumed his trek to his original destination. As his paws began to throb, he arrived. A misty pool of water stood before him, the only clear water in all of the Dark Forest. This was the Whispering Pool, a place Dark Forest warriors came to in order to watch cats in the living world. Beside the Whispering Pool stood a tree trunk, about as tall as a full-grown cat. There was a hole in the hollow stump, called the Whispering Mouth, where a cat could whisper into and send their voice to whoever they were watching on the surface of the Whispering Pool. If a Dark Forest cat wanted to cross into the living world, they'd slip into the pool, coming out on the other side into the living world. A Dark Forest warrior can see living cats by watching them on the pool, like a TV screen, but the living cats cannot see them.

Phantomstep dipped a single white paw into the pool. Ripples were sent out, shattering the still water. He whispered eerily, "Twistedfoot". On his request, the image on the surface changed from a reflection of the gray tree canopies above to Twistedfoot, asleep in a nest in the warriors' den, quite a distance from the others.

Phantomstep smiled in approval. He turned his muzzle to the Whispering Mouth. "Twistedfoot,"he hissed, eyes on the pool. He grinned, seeing the she-cat blink awake in the image on the surface. "Twistedfoot," Twistedfoot stood in her nest.

"Hello?" she replied, her voice echoing and distant as it rang from the pool. "Phantomstep?"

The tom's ice blue eyes narrowed, pupils turning to slits as he gave a shimmering white grin. "Twistedfoot, you must blend in with the Clan. Become one of them so that they do not become suspicious of you when many of them begin to disappear."

"Disappear?" she replied, her face growing distorted with horror in the image on the surface of the Whispering Pool. She could not see him, but he could see her. "What do you mean? Phantomstep?"

Deliberately, Phantomstep ended the transmission, splashing his paw abruptly into the water. He pulled it back out. Once the ripples ceased, the Whispering Pool once again simply showed the reflection of tree canopies and the starless black sky. He pulled his face away from the Whispering Mouth, and with a last satisfied grin, stalked back into the night.


I had so much fun with this chapter xD

I liked using my imagination to create the ways of Dark Forest, like the Whispering Pool and the Whispering Mouth, and the Broken Boulder. Creating the Whispering Pool and Mouth was a lot of fun! Basically, what the Whispering Mouth is, is that a Dark Forest warrior whispers into it to speak in a selected cat's mind.

That's what it is when cats are being spoken to by a Dark Forest warrior in their head, but the Dark Forest warrior isn't actually there.

The Whispering Pool is like a TV screen for Dark Forest cats to watch living cats. Also, they have to be watching a living cat in the Whispering Pool if they want to talk to them through the Whispering Mouth. The Whispering Pool also acts as a portal. A Dark Forest cat will dive into it and drop out the other side, the other side being the living world.

For instance.

Last chapter, Phantomstep talked to Twist in her head. He was speaking into the Whispering Mouth. Then, when he popped up behind her, he had dived into the Whispering Pool. Get it?

Anyways, sorry if you wanted more story on Twistedfoot or something! I wanted to try this, and I'm glad I did!


*Update 10/25/14*

I WROTE THIS LIKE, THREE MONTHS AGO.

OH MY GOD SO SORRY.

I had no idea I put it off for so long! Seventh Grade has been the most frustrating school year I've ever undergone. Sixth Grade was so much less stressful.

Yeah... got lazy, so if you put a review and it's not up, don't think I didn't read it! The review answers that I wrote up there^ are the ones I wrote when I started this chapter three months ago :T All I did today was some editing and spell-check. I decided it was time to update ^^"


See y'all next chappie!