Darkstripe wasn't entirely sure how he had ended up in this predicament.

One moment, he had been fleeing from Fourtrees as several cats from ThunderClan, WindClan, and RiverClan pursued him. They had caught him near the Twolegplace border as he attempted to jump over the fence and had clawed and bitten him until there wasn't a single place left on his body that wasn't sporting a wound of some sort. He had been left there, alone and bleeding and barely conscious. Darkstripe had closed his eyes, expecting to be greeted by StarClan when he opened them again.

When he opened his eyes again, however, he could tell that he definitely wasn't in StarClan. There were no cats from any of the Clans to be seen–as a matter of fact, there wasn't anyone to be seen. Not only that, but he couldn't see any trees, birds, or moonlight anywhere. Instead, he was surrounded by strange white walls with oddly-shaped soft rocks and various other objects he couldn't even begin to think of a name for. He must have been in some sort of den, but he didn't know of anyone who would live in such an extravagant residence.

Am I dead? Darkstripe wondered, glancing around himself. It certainly didn't feel as though he was dead, but he supposed it would be better to be safe than sorry. The dark gray tabby lifted a paw to examine his throat for any injuries–and promptly received his second shock of the evening.

Wrapped around his neck, pinching at his fur every time he so much as twitched his head, was a collar. Even worse, there was a bell attached to it, as Darkstripe discovered when he tried in vain to shake it off. The obnoxious clanging rang in his ears, almost seeming to taunt him. Of course, Darkstripe knew that a collar couldn't speak for real, but being trapped in the Twoleg nest was slowly driving him to the brink of insanity.

Finally, he had realized where he was. A Twoleg must have picked him up when they saw him injured and taken him into their home. They probably did something for his wounds as well, seeing as they didn't hurt anymore.

Darkstripe dug his claws into the hardwood floor, resisting the urge to howl in fury. Why was StarClan turning their backs on him? Wasn't it enough that he had been driven from his Clan? He had thought he was dead, but instead, the reality was far worse. Not only was he now an outcast, but he had been taken in and forced to become a kittypet. There was no way he was going to live this humiliation down. Fireheart was going to have the best day of his life when he found out what had happened to his old enemy.

Relax, he told himself. You won't be stuck here forever. Tigerstar will come to rescue you by tomorrow. He has to; you're the deputy of ShadowClan. There's no way he would just replace you, not after everything you did for him.

Yet, even so, a nagging feeling of doubt lingered at the back of his mind. Tigerstar hadn't exactly jumped to his defense when ThunderClan was accusing him of murdering Rainkit. If anything, his old friend had seemed almost indifferent to the fact that an entire Clan was out for his deputy's blood. Was it possible that Tigerstar didn't care about him after all?

Don't be stupid. You're just overreacting, Darkstripe scolded himself. Obviously, he couldn't defend you because it would mean creating more trouble for ShadowClan, and we can't afford to have that when we're still rebuilding our Clan. Tigerstar was only doing the smart thing and pretending to be against you to throw ThunderClan off guard. Just stop worrying; you'll be out of here by tomorrow morning.

Letting out a sigh, the dark tabby stood up and padded around the Twoleg nest to see if there was any food for him to eat. He knew that he was stuck there until Tigerstar came to rescue him, and he could live with that. But if he was going to be trapped there, he wasn't about to let himself go hungry.

"Clanmates, we have a lot of work to do tomorrow morning. But first, there's an important task that needs to be completed," Tigerstar meowed, looking down at the swarm of ShadowClan warriors below him. "As all of you are aware, we lost our deputy, Darkstripe, tonight. Therefore, as per tradition, we must appoint a new one."

Whispers and glances of confusion erupted from the surrounding cats. After a few heartbeats, Russetfur stepped forward hesitantly. She looked nervous, as though she were uncertain whether it was wise for her to speak during a Clan meeting.

"We understand what you're saying, Tigerstar," the russet-colored molly meowed respectfully. "But we don't know that Darkstripe is dead. Shouldn't we at least confirm that he's been killed before we appoint a new deputy?"

If I wanted that pathetic fool following me around, I'd have gone to look for him myself, Tigerstar thought scornfully. Out loud, he replied, "Your concern is a fair one, Russetfur. But you saw the fury of ThunderClan, WindClan, and RiverClan at the Gathering. They will not have allowed him to escape alive, mark my words."

Russetfur dipped her head, and the dark brown tabby continued, "Darkstripe was a fine deputy, and he would have made an excellent leader. But tonight and forever, he will be watching over our Clan from Silverpelt."

He allowed a few heartbeats of silence following his speech as each of his Clanmates bowed their heads in memory of their lost deputy. Towards the back of the group, Tigerstar could see the apprentices huddled together. Their eyes were wide with shock and fear, clearly stunned by the news of Darkstripe's apparent murder. A part of him almost felt bad for them, but he quickly pushed it aside. Now wasn't the time to show weakness.

"I say these words before the body of Darkstripe that his spirit may hear and approve my choice," he meowed once everyone had finished mourning. "Russetfur will be the new deputy of ShadowClan."

Russetfur's head snapped up in shock as her Clanmates began chanting her name. She stared up at Tigerstar, who simply looked back at her evenly. The only reason he had picked her was that she was one of the least likely cats to try to overthrow him, but she didn't need to know that. Let her think she had his full support if she wanted. At any rate, Russetfur was a clear upgrade over Darkstripe, and that could only be considered a good thing for everyone.

"Although we do not have a body to bury, our Clan will hold a vigil for Darkstripe tonight," Tigerstar meowed as soon as the cheers for Russetfur had died down. "That is all. Meeting dismissed."

He leaped down from his perch and padded over to the middle of the camp to begin the vigil. Of course, he held no feelings of loss over Darkstripe, but he couldn't afford to let his Clanmates think something was wrong. It was vital that he had their full support if he had any hope of his future plans succeeding. Briefly, Tigerstar noted that ThunderClan had just given him the perfect excuse to launch an attack on them–but unnecessary, quite unnecessary. Besides, they would be on high alert now that one of his warriors had murdered Willowpelt's son. If he wanted to attack ThunderClan, he would have to wait.

Then again, they had helped rid him of the most irksome cat to ever taint the forest with his presence. In a way, he probably owed them his thanks.

Tigerstar stretched out his paws in front of him, stifling a purr of contentment. Darkstripe was gone, ShadowClan was on the road to recovery, and his place as their leader was safer and more secure than ever. At the end of the day, there really wasn't anything to complain about.