I hope you guys enjoy the first chapter, where we get to meet our mains! Who do you guys like more so far, Lakepaw or Flurrypaw? I hope this chapter wasn't too boring, but you have to establish characters at some point, ya know?

Chapter One

-Flurrypaw-

Flurrypaw opened her eyes. Darkness- stretching endlessly, consuming everything around her. She swallowed hard, fear making her paws shake. Flurrypaw looked down at where her paws should be, but nothing was there. Nothing existed but darkness. Then there was a whisper. Soft at first, too soft for Flurrypaw to even make out- just the vague voice of someone very, very far away. She strained her ears, her heart beating wildly against her chest. She opened her mouth to call out to the voice, but no sound came out. The whispers grew louder, but Flurrypaw still couldn't make out what they were saying. She curled up in a ball on the ground, rocking back and forth, terrified.

"Can you hear me?" the voice came from directly above her. She screamed, a high-pitched, terrified scream that seemed to reverberate through the darkness. "Flurrypaw?" the voice spoke again, closer this time. A freezing paw brushed past her own. Flurrypaw flattened her ears and pulled her paws close underneath her.

"Please leave me alone," she sobbed.

She felt icy breath on her ear, then a sharp hiss- "Wake up."

"What's wrong, Flurrypaw?" yawned Sparrowpaw curiously.

Flurrypaw looked up at him, her eyes still hazy with sleep. She seemed puzzled at her denmate's inquiry, before she realized a large portion of her nest had been shredded to pieces. "Huh," she laughed uncertainly. "Nightmare?"

"What about?" the brown tabby tom asked nonchalantly, stretching.

Flurrypaw strained her memory, but all she could remember was darkness and the faint sound of whispering. Her paw tingled as if she had just dunked it in freezing water. She recoiled, and exclaimed, "That wind is cold!"

Sparrowpaw watched her, baffled. "Wind? Flurrypaw there wasn't any wind."

"Stop it," Flurrypaw mewed. "I know you're just trying to scare me." She batted him over the ear with her paw and padded out of the den to get some prey. As she emerged from the apprentices' den, she puffed her fur, bracing for the chilly wind. None came. In fact, it was blazing outside. The occasional stones beneath her feet were blistering hot. There was not a trace of wind in the air. Flurrypaw tried to put it out of her mind- she was probably still partially dreaming when it happened. Yes, that would explain it.

She picked out a small mouse from the fresh-kill pile, but just couldn't summon the appetite to eat it. Flurrypaw noticed her mentor strolling casually up to her and groaned. She was exhausted- she felt as if she'd been up all night.

"Hey, Flurrypaw," Ferntail began. The cream she-cat immediately noticed Flurrypaw's forced, weak smile. "Everything okay?"

"Hmm?" Flurrypaw blinked. "Oh, yeah. Just tired."

"Ah," Ferntail seemed slightly suspicious, but went on. "Well, tired or not, you still have to accompany me on this patrol."

"Nooo," complained Flurrypaw, pouting.

"Come on," chuckled Ferntail, nudging the apprentice to her paws. Flurrypaw obeyed, but not without a dramatic sigh. The two of them burst into laughter as they left the camp and entered the forest. Thankfully, the scorching heat was eased by the shade of the abundant trees. Flurrypaw knew the respite wouldn't last long- by midday, the forest would be just as miserable as everywhere else.

They met up with the other cats assigned to the patrol. Duskheart, the deputy nodded politely to Ferntail and Flurrypaw, and Flurrypaw awkwardly returned his greeting. Wasptalon glared at everyone angrily- he was always in a bad mood. Behind him, crouched in the shadows, was a nervous looking, small black she-cat with a white underbelly and wide, dark blue eyes. Flurrypaw thought she remembered her name being Lakepaw, but she hadn't spoken to her before. The she-cat had been made an apprentice only a moon ago, which meant she was a moon younger than Flurrypaw. Flurrypaw felt bad that the shyest she-cat in ShadowClan had been assigned to the meanest mentor.

The warriors padded on ahead, leaving Flurrypaw and Lakepaw to stroll uncomfortably next to each other. Flurrypaw wasn't sure if she should say something. "Um, hi. I'm Flurrypaw," Flurrypaw mewed slowly.

Lakepaw looked up- she was much shorter than Flurrypaw, who was tall and sturdily-built. Lakepaw swallowed, hesitating. "I- I know," she stammered. "Everyone does. You're pretty amazing, after all."

Flurrypaw blushed. "I mean, I'm just a little bit advanced. It's not really a big deal," she murmured. This was a lie, and every cat knew it. Flurrypaw was the strongest, fastest, most agile warrior the Clans had seen in years. She was incredibly advanced, and if she wasn't only 8 moons old she would probably be a warrior already. She was naturally built for combat. Tall, broad shouldered, and well-muscled. Ferntail always said the Clan was lucky to have her.

"A little bit advanced?" Lakepaw giggled. "I can't even climb a tree the right way and you've already been in your first fight and won."

A little over a moon ago, when Flurrypaw was still a very new apprentice, ShadowClan had encountered a ThunderClan patrol on their territory. The two patrols got into a skirmish, but Ferntail ordered Flurrypaw to stay behind and hide in the bushes. One of the ThunderClan warriors spotted her and attacked her, but she easily took him down, to the surprise of her Clanmates and herself.

Flurrypaw blushed again. "You're underestimating yourself," she replied. "Now come on, we'd better start hunting or Duskheart will yell at us."

Lakepaw nodded quickly and the two set to work. Flurrypaw twitched her nose and swiveled her ears, but couldn't detect a scent. She looked over to Lakepaw, who was standing placantly a few tail-lengths away, lashing her tail side to side and nervously glancing over her shoulder. When the black she-cat glanced Flurrypaw's way, she quickly pretended to look occupied. She didn't want Lakepaw to think she was watching her. Still unable to detect any prey scents, Flurrypaw couldn't help but turn her attention back to Lakepaw, who was standing still as if very concentrated, a paw raised. Suddenly, a fat brown shrew wandered blindly out of the undergrowth and right under Lakepaw's paw. Like a flash, the apprentice slammed her paw down on the creature, scooping it up and killing it with a swift bite to the neck.

Flurrypaw stared, her mouth agape. "That- was amazing!"

Lakepaw looked up from her kill, startled. Her eyes flashed with fear. "Oh, I didn't realize you were watching," she squeaked.

"That has to be the coolest way I've ever seen a cat hunt!" exclaimed Flurrypaw. Lakepaw shifted uncomfortably. Flurrypaw guessed she wasn't used to praise. "You were so still and then the shrew just came walking up and then KAPOW! And you were like super fast and you got it and WOW."

Lakepaw looked extremely embarrassed. "I thought you had left," she said softly. "No cat has ever seen me hunt before- Wasptalon thinks I just can't do it."

"Wasptalon is a mousebrain," scoffed Flurrypaw. "Let's catch up with the others and see if they've caught anything."

"Yeah, okay," Lakepaw said, smiling slightly. She picked up her catch and padded lightly after Flurrypaw, her paws soundless on the forest floor.

Flurrypaw felt a fuzzy feeling in her chest, and she grinned stupidly. No cat had ever been her friend before. Every other apprentice in the Clan was jealous of her, and most of them showed it through bitter resentment. Even Sparrowpaw only treated Flurrypaw decently because he was new to the apprentices den. She was sure that in a few days, he would learn to hate her too. But Lakepaw was different. Lakepaw was able to see past everything that defined Flurrypaw to other cats. Flurrypaw was more than just a good fighter, and she felt like Lakepaw could see that. Flurrypaw glanced back at Lakepaw, who was smiling at the ground. Flurrypaw's icy blue eyes met Lakepaw's deep blue ones and they giggled. Lakepaw definitely seemed more comfortable around Flurrypaw then she had at the beginning of the patrol. Flurrypaw just wished she could have worked up the nerve to talk to the sweet, gentle she-cat earlier.

In response to reviews:

CookieCat320, I'm quite glad you like the story! As for the Dark Forest being destroyed, I was under the impression that while the cats in it were killed, the Dark Forest still remained as the place the evil cats went. Anyways, while this story is set in the original Clans, it is definitely an alternate storyline in which the characters from the books do not exist. So either way, nothing to worry about! I appreciate your concern :)
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Grayshadow Warrior, I'm thrilled you're enjoying the story! I hope you like our chosen cats so far, though of course this is just our first introduction to them, so we haven't really delved into their characters yet.

KrazyKube, I'm very glad to hear you enjoyed the story! While I wouldn't technically say this is a Dark Forest survives fanfic, since it is in an alternate timeline where canon doesn't exist, I'm very glad you like the concept. Yes, I didn't want to mention too many characters at first, but then again considering it was a council meeting I felt I should probably have more cats than just our main two StarClan friendos speak. I appreciate your feedback!