Just an FYI, I started writing this chapter almost immediately after I posted the last one, then I got busy with something and just never got back to it. I stopped at the part where it says, "He was pale yellow tom with jagged black tabby stripes and blue eyes." So, if you happen to see a change in mood at that part, it's because I dropped the chapter-writing process for about a week then just decided to get back to it. There was actually a whole different note right here, but I changed it as it was referring to me listening to something at my iPod.
REVIEW ANSWERS
Motherdrukker- I might be able to show you guys, actually! If I can get away with borrowing my dad's laptop without him getting annoyed xD I could film my DSi playing the video through the monitor. If you guys are down with bad quality, that is xD I'm already basically done! I don't color, that's why xD And maybe ;)
WyldClaw- Yeah :c
ScipioM - Thanks c: We'll just have to see c;
rainpool777- No, no! Don't be sorry! It's great to hear that I'm receiving strong emotions toward my characters from readers, because that lets me know that my writing ability is strengthening! You can have whatever opinion you like towards Twistedfoot, whether it be love or hatred. But remember that she was a bit forced by Phantomstep ;)
Foreststar of WindClan- Alright! Happy reading!
I'll put my usual rambling at the End Note, since I have so many things that are bouncing around in my head right now and I don't want to overload the Start Note (this little ramble)! There might be a lot of mood change in this chapter, as I kept stopping and continuing every couple of days.
Twistedfoot sat in her nest. She looked up. The stars seemed brighter. This was probably because they were welcoming Haretooth, who had been buried earlier yesterday. She sighed. They looked so big, and made her feel so small. Her head whirled with questions, and her spine tingled with aching loneliness their size caused. Suddenly, something seemed to drag her to rest. She wanted to keep staring at the sky, keep wondering about them, and keep falling into the trance they were putting her in. It was so beautiful, so strange, so big.
Twistedfoot shrugged, giving into the sudden tiredness. She started to doze, and the darkness kept getting thicker and thicker. The stars got dimmer and dimmer, further and further away from Twistedfoot. She was finally cut off from their light, and felt a drifting, floating sensation. She then blinked her eyes open. She was lying in a misty, tree-crowded, dark and starless place. She stood, instantly recognizing it. She was all too familiar to this hell.
"The Place of No Stars," she said with a rhythm. "And what could these dead warriors want with me now?"
As though in answer, Phantomstep walked out. "Welcome, Twistedfoot," he said more brightly than usual. "Come, come, hastily now. We've much work to do." Then, quick as a flash, he dashed into the trees.
Twistedfoot made her way quickly after him, tripping on her lame paw as usual. Before she knew it, they were before a huge, gray boulder. Other cats were gathered around it, a huge group. As soon as she stepped in, their eyes lit up with curiosity. The clowder split into two groups so that there was a clear pathway to the towering stone. Atop it sat her usual companion, Phantomstep.
The dark warrior gave a crooked grin, narrowing his eyes. "Cats of Dark Forest, behold the chosen one."
Twistedfoot's head jerked back. Chosen one? What did that mean?
Most of the crowd gave a caterwaul of welcome. "Twistedfoot, join me upon this sacred stone. Join our society."
Twistedfoot's mouth hung slightly agape in shock. Join the Dark Forest? She wasn't even dead! "But… I'm alive!"
Twistedfoot noticed a few growls of annoyance at her accidentally rude comment. "Join in our… plans, then. You are an important asset to our… plot, for lack of a better term."
Twistedfoot blinked, then lowered her head and walked down the path. She heard inaudible mutters, felt dozens of eyes on her fur. Quickly as she could, the she-cat leapt onto the boulder. "Okay. Now what?"
"Now, state your name to these cats."
Twistedfoot gulped, a tad overwhelmed by the crowd which stared at up at her. "I'm Twistedfoot. A warrior of WindClan."
A few cats nodded, murmuring to each other. Others kept their dark, lifeless eyes on her. "Excellent. Now, why don't you share some of your…" he paused, looking at her paw, "obstacles… with the group?"
Twistedfoot swallowed. "Well, I have a lame paw, if that counts for anything." She paused. Phantomstep kept his eyes on her, as did everyone else. Did they expect her to say more?
"And?" Phantomstep pressed. "Care to elaborate?"
Twistedfoot shifted in embarrassment. "Oh! Elaborate. Of… of course. Elaborate…" Twistedfoot looked away, wondering what to say. "Well, it prevents me from doing so many things. Fighting, running, hunting."
"And how have you learned to overcome these things?"
Twistedfoot blinked. She hadn't, really. "I've made some friends who've encouraged me. I've also had a lot of coaxing from Phantomstep," she added to the crowd.
"Lovely," Phantomstep rumbled, obviously noticing the quiet compliment but not caring enough to acknowledge it. "Now, the rest of you," he turned to the crowd, "may leave. You've seen the interest of the night."
The crowd filed out quickly, melting into the shadows. The dull glows of the dozens of pairs of eyes seemed to dim until they had flickered out like dying flames. Only a few were left. "Quickfang, Vinetail, Grayfoot, Greenstar, Longwhisker. Meet the one who I've spoken of so often before."
He leapt off of the boulder, and she followed. As soon as the smaller group walked up to her, she wanted to flinch away. These cats looked wretched.
Quickfang was simply an oak-brown tom with black tabby stripes and a light tan belly. His eyes were glowing green. He seemed healthy enough.
Vinetail was a scarred black tom with a monstrously long tail and blue eyes.
Grayfoot was an ugly sight. He was a dark, longhaired, old gray tom. His ear was ripped in two, his tail was horribly crooked, and one paw had lost its fur and showed pink skin. The worst was the scar that went directly over his eye, blinding him on one side. Though, both eyes, scarred and clear, were amber. He seemed faded, as though he'd been in Dark Forest for a long time.
Greenstar was, like Quickfang, an oak-brown tabby tom with green eyes. Though, he didn't have a light tan belly and had a jagged black blaze marking down his face. His tail was crooked from a bad battle wound, probably one of the raids sent to Phantomstep's Clan. Twistedfoot couldn't help but wonder why such an enemy of her Dark Forest mentor was included in this "special" group.
Longwhisker looked young. Very young. He had to have been killed quite soon after he became a warrior. He was pale yellow tom with jagged black tabby stripes and blue eyes. Like Quickfang, he looked healthy and undamaged.
"So you're the special one?" Grayfoot rasped.
"I suppose so," Twistedfoot replied modestly.
"These cats will help you train," Phantomstep explained. "With their experience in combat, you'll be a fighting machine."
Twistedfoot blinked, interested in the fact that the warrior was using a loner term: machine. But, she paid attention to the full term: fighting machine. "You mean, we're going to do group training?"
"Precisely," Phantomstep explained. "Now, these cats each have different talents. Each are from different Clans. Greenstar is from RiverClan, Vinetail is from ShadowClan, Quickfang and Longwhisker are from ThunderClan, and Grayfoot and I are from WindClan. They're all quite well rounded and can teach you in every field of Clan combat."
Twistedfoot tipped her head. "Won't they care that I'm being taught the weaknesses of their home Clans?"
All the cats glanced at each other. They seemed to be sharing a mutual thought, and Twistedfoot felt awkward to be in the center of the silent recognition. Phantomstep replied. "These cats are eager to help you be the best you can be. They want to avenge your past and teach you all you need to know so that your Clanmates can understand that you are, indeed, a better warrior than they come to accept. And with knowledge in battle from all four Clans, you'll be the best warrior on the lake! Everyone will respect you, no matter what Clan heritage they are."
Twistedfoot found herself oddly interested in this idea. "Everyone will respect me?" she asked, leaning forward questioningly.
"The most powerful warrior in all four territories," Phantomstep assured. "You will be like a leader who controls everyone!"
Twistedfoot tilted her head, looking at the ground to her side thoughtfully. "So why are you all so interested in helping me? Phantsomstep's been around me since I was young, so I can understand him helping, but you guys?"
There was a pause. "We want to see you succeed," cut in a raspy and impatient voice. It was Grayfoot. "Unlike we did in life."
"If we see someone who's been wronged that we have a chance to help," Vinetail added, "we want to do all we can to help them."
Twistedfoot nodded hesitantly. She decided it would be better to quit asking questions, though so many were itching at her. "So what first?"
Grayfoot stepped forward. "We're going to start with basic combat skills or, in other words, WindClan fighting. The reason we're starting with WindClan tactics is because you already have a decent amount of knowledge regarding it, and we just need to sharpen that knowledge a bit."
Phantomstep stood beside Grayfoot. "Let's start." Both leapt at Twistedfoot.
But, of course, in the usual lightning-fast way of the moor cats.
"Use your lame paw!" Longwhisker called at her from the group of four who still stood watching.
Phantomstep bowled her over, knocking her to the ground and Grayfoot quickly sprang forward to hold her by her throat. Phantomstep then started to rake her stomach. But Twistedfoot did not feel the fake paw thumps of a usual training session. Oh, no—this was real, with real claws gouging into her belly and burning like fire. Twistedfoot was taken aback by the sudden ferocity of the attack, and fell into a confused flurry of blindly batting. Then, like shadows retreating, the two fell back in sync.
"Idiot," Phantomstep scolded. "What kind of defensive move was that? I'd have killed you had it been a real fight."
Twistedfoot struggled to her paws. She lifted one, wiping beads of dripping blood off of her underside. When she looked at her pad, it was smeared with red liquid. She threw a scornful look at the two former WindClan cats. "I didn't expect you to actually try and hurt me!"
Grayfoot snorted. "A warrior is ready for anything and expects everything."
Phantomstep frowned. "In Dark Forest, we practice for real. You need to know what it will be like when claws really do score your skin."
"You practice with claws out?" Twistedfoot asked disbelievingly. "That's dangerous!"
"Battle is dangerous, and that's what we're preparing you for. Will claws be sheathed in combat? No. So you may as well be ready for pain and practice the reality."
Twistedfoot tried to see sense in this. She supposed she understood. "Okay." The young warrior crouched. "I'm ready."
Time passed. Twistedfoot practiced speed and stamina with Grayfoot and Phantomstep. After a while, they said that they'd let her try a little bit of each Clan tonight, then in the following training sessions, they would continue on WindClan combat. They'd then move onto ThunderClan once she'd learned all of WindClan, then ShadowClan, then RiverClan.
"Tonight, you'll learn a little bit about each Clan. Then, we'll practice WindClan for a few moons, then ThunderClan for a few moons, then ShadowClan and then RiverClan. Tonight, I just want you to know what you're in for. Quickfang, Longwhisker?"
Upon their summoning, the two younger-looking cats stepped forward. They died young, and had not been sent to Dark Forest too long ago. The two had been partners in crime, secretly plotting to kill the leader and deputy so that Quickfang would become Quickstar and Longwhisker his deputy. Once they had the ThunderClan leader, Acornstar, and her deputy, Cloudleap, cornered, a patrol from ShadowClan saw them, and sprang to the rescue, killing both.
"In ThunderClan, you use the undergrowth to your advantage. Keep low, beneath the ferns and grass." Quickfang was speaking to her.
Twistedfoot did the best she could. Her lame paw tapped the ground warily. Longwhisker gave a frustrated growl. "No, no, no! Tail level to your body, ears flat!"
Twistedfoot shifted about, mentally scolding herself. How could she have forgotten to keep her tail level? That was one of the main lessons she'd taught Echo in hunting practice.
Echo.
The name sounded lonely and distant. Memories, images, pictures came to mind of the faces of the cats who had taken her in and risked their lives for her. Would Rikah have survived had they not found her? Would Echo and Yarrow be outcasts in their own Squad as they most likely were now?
Twistedfoot shut away the thoughts, refocusing. The past was the past. The future was all the mattered now.
The future is all that matters...
"Good." Quickfang crouched before her. "Now attack me."
So there's your chapter – hope you liked it. Definitely not my favorite chapter. This has been finished and just sitting in Microsoft for weeks. I finally decided to get off my butt and post it.
[Edit] Sorry if I seem a little down, I learned recently that an old classmate of mine died of leukemia, and it's been really tough to deal with. We didn't know each other all too well so I'm not asking for sympathy or for anybody to feel sorry for me, it's just kinda sad.
But, in the traditional way of yours truly, Rainheart Warrior, I'll try to end this chapter on a lighter note. Be sure to post your reviews, follow, and favorite!
See y'all next chappie!
