Disclaimer: I don't own warriors Erin Hunter does, I do however own this story and its characters. I know i didn't update for quite some time, I am sorry I had no idea what to write for this chapter for the longest time. Also please review!

Chapter 3

"Wha- where am I?" Speckledkit was lying on a pile of leaves in an unfamiliar den. Other than her own voice she couldn't hear anything, it was like the world had stopped. Suddenly there was a rustling at the entrance to the den and a grey and black striped cat with eerie yellow eyes, which bared a striking resemblance to those of an owl, slipped in. Speckledkit scrambled up and out of the leaf nest, pressing herself against back of the den in an effort to get away from the strange cat. However as it came closer she noticed that it carried an incredible sadness in its eyes and although it had stars in its fur they were murky looking and dim.

"You don't have to be afraid anymore, nothing can hurt you now" the cat murmured as it bent down to touch her nose with its own. "I'm Hawktalon, I'm here to send you to Starclan. But first I have to separate you from the Dark Forests little creation!"

"I-I'm dead?" Speckledkit squeaked "And what do you mean by that, are you saying that they made me?"

Hawktalon's eyes widened and she took a step back. "No of course not, they made a demon and attached it to you when you were born, just like they did to me!"

Speckledkit was pretty sure that Hawktalon was still talking, but she couldn't hear it anymore. Her vision was starting to fade and she could see the ground through her paws, the last thing she saw was the wavering shadow of a pitch black cat starting to form.

"Woah, this is cool, I'm not stuck to that little coward anymore. Hey what gives?" the shadow snickered loudly and smirked at Hawktalon "Oh you're the one they tell stories about, they made me to replace you."

Hawktalon shook her head in disgust and the stars in her fur flickered. "Don't you remember anything about the Dark Forest? How horrible they are? What they told you? How they trained you?" As she paced back and forth she noticed that the shadow cat was becoming agitated and twitchy and digging her claws into the grass. Before she could ask what the problem was the cat fainted.

Shade yawned and pulled herself out of the bed of twigs she had constructed in a bramble thicket for herself the night before. She wasn't sure where she was but it didn't seem like a very nice place, the sun didn't shine, the ground was sticky and no matter where she went there was always a terrible smell and sounds of cats shrieking in pain. She assumed that she was a cat as well, but wasn't quite sure since she looked like a dark, wispy shadow with glowing silver eyes and sharp fangs.

"I finally found you; it's time for your training to start!" a pale tabby she cat snapped at her, pushing her way through the brambles in clear disgust. Unsure how to reply she just nodded and stumbled after the cat, who for some reason only had one ear.

Everything looked the same, it was like they were walking in circles, Shade was about to point this out when the tabby stopped abruptly and shoved her rudely into a clearing. As she skidded to a stop in the dirt several beat up looking cats turned their heads collectively to look at her. The biggest cat a grey and white tom who seemed to be the leader was sitting up in a tree grinning down at her. He half slid, half climbed down to the ground and let out a strange wheezing laugh. "Look who it is everybody" the cat paused, staring at the several other cats as if they were supposed to know "it's our resident demon! Foxfang and I created her to replace Hawktalon, remember?" This seemed to trigger something in the cats, many of them nodded or began mumbling amongst each other, whilst some looked uncomfortable and nervous.

"My name is Blizzardstar, what did you name yourself?" the leader asked, although the way he glared at her Shade guessed he wasn't really asking, he was demanding she tell him.

"I'm Shade, and now that this name business is over would you mind telling me what all of you are talking about?"

"Alright fine" Blizzardstar hissed in clear annoyance "we're going to train you and then attach you to a kit once a suitable one is born so that you can become sort of a second personality and influence the kit to destroy the clans! Now if you would kindly shut up and follow me so we can get started on your training that would be great."

The Dark Forest cats taught her all the fighting moves they knew, both clan moves and moves that only existed only there. Eventually they had her participate in the frequent death matches that occurred between many of the cats, and to their delight she never sustained so much as a scratch. Shade wasn't sure how long they trained her for, she was never able to understand the concept of time, but considering the little bit of clan life they showed her it must have been a very long time because each time she saw the clan cats there were new cats to watch and the last ones were long dead.

Soon after they said her training was complete she was pressured into one last death match. Surprisingly it was against Foxfang, who had apparently tried to kill Blizzardstar and take his place as the leader of the Dark Forest. Foxfang dashed at her immediately, trying to hit her hard enough to stun her so that he would stand a chance against her. His last attempt to kill the cat who he knew was the best fighter of the Dark Forest. Unfortunately for him Shade jumped quickly to the side, leaving one paw stuck out for him to trip on. He stumbled over her paw and smashed down onto one of the boulders that lined the fighting area, breaking his neck instantly.

After that Blizzardstar finally decided to let her become part of the clans. Along with a couple other Dark Forest cats he took her to the little puddle of water near his den that they used for viewing clan life. Blizzardstar plopped himself down in front of the pool and motioned for her to sit beside him. An image started to appear of a tiny she-kit alone under a bramble it wavered at first but Shade managed to make out the faint shapes of several cats pulling it out from under the bramble with concerned expressions plastered onto their faces.

"That's the kit you're going to be merged with, so if you would just step into the puddle we can get the destruction started."

Shade nodded and stepped into the pool, closing her eyes so she wouldn't feel scared.

As she opened her eyes she realized that she had never left the clearing, she was only remembering what had happened before she had been sent to the clans. However, she was lying down now so she decided that she had probably been unconscious.

"I'm glad that you're awake, I'm supposed to send you to the Dark Forest." Hawktalon paused, muttering under her breath and looking distraught "But instead I'll give you a choice, you can either return to the Dark Forest like you're supposed to, or you can go back to the clans and take Speckledkit's place. If you do take her place you can't let anybody know, and second, I know that you are a demon and this goes against your nature but please don't cause trouble!"

"Alright it's a deal; send me back whenever you're ready." Shade sat down in the grass, a small smile forming on her face. If she was getting sent back to take Speckledkit's place then the kit must've had an extremely important destiny.

"See you soon, Speckledkit" Hawktalon laughed lightly as she faded from Shade's view.