Warriors of the Sea Challenge: Alternate Times: Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright, Through the Forest's Misty Night

Legends will go on for generations of the mighty Tigerstar, the fierce ThunderClan turnfoot known for his ambition, ferocity, and deadly claws; son of Leopardfoot, mate of Goldenflower, father of the loyal ThunderClan leader Bramblestar, the treacherous Hawkfrost of RiverClan, and Mothwing the faithless medicine cat under Mistystar's rule.

But what of his unfortunate siblings, Mistkit and Nightkit, who perished soon after their birth? The black she-kit and her gray-pelted sister could have done so much more.

StarClan knew this, and they believed that it was the key to changing the past; to calm the reckless leader's burning and deadly ambition, saving countless lives in the process. So, they sent the kits back to dissuade their brother from his reckless past.

How sorry they would have been if they had existed still to see the state of their Clans once they did.


Leopardfoot had been in for a shock during the night. She had discovered both her she-kits, Mistkit and Nightkit, still as stones, neither of them breathing. Upon examination of them by Goosefeather, but mostly Featherwhisker, the gunk from their noses and lungs was swiftly removed, and miraculously they both lived. After that incident, their condition had improved rapidly; they and Tigerkit were all completely healed and back to regular, energetic kits within three moons. Their father, Pinestar, abandoned his Clan shortly thereafter. The kits were fine with it, at first; he hadn't played a huge role in their short lives.

They began to harbor growing resentment against him, however, as they grew into apprentices and began their training. That was first where the kits began to follow the wrong path. StarClan, the StarClan of this era, knew nothing of it; only that some starry cat with flaming ginger fur, with all the command in his countenance of a Clan leader, and refused to share his name, had persuaded them to save the two kits in order to prevent a horrible massacre. They did.

The Dark Forest, on the other hand, scarcely known by anyone in the Clans, rejoiced. While StarClan could know who would be saviors of the Clans, the Dark Forest cats knew who could bring about their downfall. While the fate of Tigerkit's siblings looked as if it were glum, they had all known they would not stand a chance against the Clans. But now, with the ferocious tabby and his two sisters, now…


Nightpaw woke into a dream. It was a familiar landscape- the sunningrocks, where she was sometimes taken to hunt and train. Always quick to observe, the jet-black apprentice noted that it was slightly different; there were no stars in the sky, and the shadows seemed to bristle with untold stories of hatred and anger. The fur along her spine prickled, and she spun around suddenly, bristling, as she sensed someone watching her.

It was Mistpaw, looking around, bewildered. "Nightpaw!" She exclaimed when she saw her sister, her face lighting up. "This place," she continued nervously, scampering over to Nightpaw. "It doesn't feel right."

"I know," Nightpaw replied, frowning into the shadows. Was that a cat's eyes, or-?

Tigerpaw was suddenly beside them, staring around. "This is a weird dream," he muttered. "What kind of shadows feel… wrong?" He eyed the undergrowth warily, flexing his long claws.

There, Nightpaw snapped up straight, bristling. She was sure she'd seen something- a glimpse of a shape, feline, in the shadows, with unblinking amber eyes. She backed up against her siblings, claws extended. From the way they pressed against her, she could tell they'd seen it, too.

"Who's there?" Tigerpaw growled, his voice cracking with fear.

A cat stepped out of the shadows, seemingly materializing out of thin air. He was a cream-colored cat, or so Nightpaw suspected, as she couldn't see the true color of his pelt. She realized with a shock that it wasn't because his pelt was dirty and matted with leaves and mud, as she had first thought- he was practically translucent. She could make out dark and lighter patches, but no more. The tom held himself in a manner that demanded compliance. She swallowed the bile in her throat, her fur bristling into spiked clumps and her claws digging into the ground.

"Who are you?" Tigerpaw hissed warily, eyeing the tom.

"At ease, Tigerpaw," the cat grunted. Nightpaw already hated his voice- rough and hard and conceited. "And you, Nightpaw, Mistpaw," he added, inspecting them.

None of the trio moved a muscle.

"I'm Maggottail," the warrior stated, not a trace of emotion on his face.

Nightpaw decided she hated this cat, very very much. While Tigerpaw seemed to be slowly relaxing, Mistpaw was rooted to the ground in terror. The gray apprentice's eyes were huge, her fur bushed so that she looked nearly as big as Tigerpaw, when in reality she was the smaller than both her brother and her sister.

Nightpaw shifted, blocking her sister from Maggottail's view. "What do you want?" She snapped, her green eyes flashing with a spiteful warning as he tried to step forward.

"To help," he stated simply, taking another step forward.

"With what?" She retorted coldly, not buying a word of what he said. Cats who hid their true emotions always had more to hide. She had learned that when Pinestar had left them, even if her siblings had forgotten it.

"Your training, of course," he sniffed, still padding forward, his gaze fixed over her shoulder on Mistpaw.

Nightpaw shifted again, blocking her sister from his view. "Stop right there." She spat, her fur bristling and prickling. Mistpaw was frozen, and Tigerpaw seemed to be lost in thought, his amber eyes fixed vacantly on the imposing tom. Nightpaw wished he would snap out of it, but there was no way she would admit weakness in front of this vile cat.

Maggottail took another step forward. He was close enough for her to strike him, and she could smell his awful breath.

"I'm here to help you all with your training," he insisted, his face still expressionless. "Y-"

He had taken another step forwards, and Nightpaw moved so quickly he never saw it coming.

The dark apprentice, bristling until she resembled one of the shadows scattered across the scenery, had hit him across the face, claws unsheathed, leaving a wound that already began to trickle with blood on Maggottail's chin.

He had backed up, but only after the blow. He wiped at his chin with a paw, and let out a low, rumbling laugh that made all three apprentices uncomfortable.

Nightpaw began to relax as he made no move against any of them, keeping his distance. Thank StarClan, he's a cowar- she opened her jaws in a silent screech as, just as swiftly as she had thrown her blow, he threw his. She landed with a gasping choke against one of the sunningrocks, then tumbled to the ground. She could feel her chest heaving for air, but couldn't sense any filling her lungs. For several heartbeats, she was totally disoriented, until through her blurred vision she saw Mistpaw standing over her, and was suddenly aware of air rushing into her lungs.

As she caught her breath, Nightpaw realized Tigerpaw was talking to Maggottail, and not in a threatening manner. He seemed to be excited. Her confusion twisted to spite, and then to hate. How dare he? Nightpaw forced herself to be calm, masking her expression. Two could play at that game, she thought bitterly.

Muscles burning from the lack of air, she forced herself to stand, trembling, but refused to lean on Mistpaw, much as she wanted to.

Maggottail's eyes wandered back to her. "Yours was a nice blow," he admitted, giving her a brief moment of praise that made Tigerpaw scowl to himself and Nightpaw bare her fangs at both of them. "But," his eyes hardened, and Nightpaw met his gray-green eyes with her own of brilliant green, "If you are to train here, you must respect your superiors."

Nightpaw spat at him. "What makes you any better than I?" She demanded, lashing her tail. "Go find someone else to train, you piece of fox-dung," she sniffed; Mistpaw let out a tiny gasp at her language. Ignoring her, Nightpaw continued: "We'll have no part with you. None."

She whirled around, padding to where she had first awoken into the dream, Mistpaw scrambling after her. Tigerpaw followed, after saying something to Maggottail that Nightpaw couldn't catch, and the huge tom nodded, his cold, dull green eyes narrowing.

Nightpaw woke abruptly, then bit her tongue to keep herself from sobbing or shrieking; she didn't know which would happen if she opened her mouth. She could still feel the hard rocks slamming against her spine and ribcage, her breath hitching in her throat. But how-? It had just been a dream.

All doubt was erased from her mind when Mistpaw awoke, shaking, and Tigerpaw with a concerned look on his face.

Nightpaw felt a twinge of wrath at her brother, and her eyes watered with the abrupt fury. She turned away pointedly to rest her head on Mistpaw's comfortingly.

Mistpaw's and Nightpaw's sleep went undisturbed. Nightpaw knew it hadn't been a dream, but she had managed to convince Mistpaw that it was so; her back and side were bruised from rolling around on a rock all night. It was just an awful coincidence.

Nightpaw also knew that Tigerpaw was going back to that place, the Forest of Shadows, she had decided to call it. She wondered often what he had told Maggottail, and assumed that it was something along the lines of leaving them alone for a certain length of time. Someday, she figured, she would know. She figured it wouldn't really matter, but it made all the difference in the world.


It happened on the morning of their vigil, the three of them sitting tall, proudly bearing their new names; Nightfall, Tigerclaw, and Mistbreeze. The dawn was just starting to tint the horizon a frosty shade of pink; Mistbreeze and Nightfall sat on one side of the camp entrance, their fur brushing, and Tigerclaw on the other side. Mistbreeze had grown apart from their brother over their apprenticeship, but Nightfall showed him outright distrust and dislike.

Nightfall had sensed the intruder a heartbeat too late. She couldn't make out the intruder clearly in the fuzzy, blurred, early-morning light, but whoever it was escaped only by the swift precision of his attack. One moment, the shape, darkened against the pale, filtered light, was there at Mistbreeze's throat; the next, it was gone into the forest, leaving Mistbreeze bleeding out her young life onto the hard-packed earth trailing into the camp. The soft-furred gray she-cat was dead the moment she fell limply into the grass, her blue eyes vacant and misted over.

Shrieking with all the force of the river in full-flood, Nightfall leaped after the murderer. Tigerclaw barred her way. "There's nothing you can do," he told her in a pained growl. "It won't change anything."

Muted and shocked, Nightfall turned and stumbled over to her sister's body, unfeeling of everything; her paws, soaking up her sister's blood, which trickled through the grass in rivulets, pooling as it collected in a dip in the hardened earth; her Clanmates, some awake, others blearily and confused, searching for the source of the monstrous shriek they had heard; Tigerclaw, whose crestfallen face Nightfall could tell was hiding something, just as it always had. This time, it was something new, and she determined she knew what it was.

Nightfall was just glad that Mistbreeze had gotten her warrior name before she died. That did not stop her from feeding her lust for vengeance.


Nightfall opened her eyes to the familiar gloom and spiked, hate-filled surroundings of the Shadowed Forest. She was sitting, her tail wrapped around her legs, her brilliant green eyes as hard as the earth that had refused to soak up her sister's blood. The muted colors, limited to black, brown, tan, and gray, of the Place of No Stars matched perfectly with Nightfall's pelt, but her eyes stood out.

It had been a few moons since Mistbreeze's murder. Originally, when the Clan let her off of her duties for a quarter-moon after the incident, she had been tempted to rush in head first and claw Maggottail's and Tigerclaw's faces off, but decided against that. She knew some of what they trained for here, and she had practiced on her own after spying on Tigerclaw practicing some of the moves on his own.

Calm and collected, she waited for someone to find her. Nightfall would not, much as she would have liked to, wander until she found someone else, or she would be sorely tempted to rip their limbs off one-by-one.

If her eyes had not been so green, she might have gone unnoticed, thought to be another shadow. She was sure to blink as little as possible, scanning the undergrowth cautiously for signs of movement; Nightfall would not allow herself to be ambushed in the way Mistbreeze had.

She wasn't just being paranoid; Nightfall had followed the scent trail of the mystery cat until it simply vanished. There was no possible way for the perpetrator to have escaped; the trail ended in the small clearing outlooking sunningrocks and the river, not near any tunnels, caves, or trees.

Something stirred in the corner of her vision; Nightfall stared straight ahead, as cool as if nothing had happened. Whoever it was slipped out of her field of sight, behind her. She waited. One, two, three, four, five, six, she counted silently, calculating the time it would take for the cat stalking her to reach her and attack.

Seven, eight, nine. She spun on her toes, silent, as she heard a rush of air behind her, and leaped high in the air. She recognized Maggottail in the heartbeat it took before she came crashing down on him, blows raining from her unsheathed claws like hail during a thunderstorm.

If he tried to block, she simply clawed the fur off his legs, and sometimes clumps of skin and blood with it. If he dodged, she didn't have so much power thrown into her blows that she would stumbled forwards. Timing her attacks well, she made sure to trip him if he was stumbling, or give him a clout to the face if blood ran into his eyes. She noticed with a savage satisfaction that he was scarred from their first meeting; pale scar tissue ran along his jaw, and she ripped it open afresh with another blow like the first one she had ever given him.

"Enough," Maggottail growled, spitting blood out of his mouth. This time, she saw, Nightfall had torn through his cheek as well. "What do you want?"

Nightfall let loose a sneer. "Don't tell me you don't know," she snarled back at him.

Maggottail sighed, blood trickling down his chin and forehead.

"Give me the cat who killed my sister," she demanded coldly, "And I'll be on my way."

Before Maggottail could answer, another cat's voice drifted silkily through the dark-dampened air. "Now, now, Nightfall," Tigerclaw soothed. "You couldn't hurt them, even if you tried," he purred, though the glance he gave Maggottail suggested obviously otherwise. "Why don't you run along, back to the Clan, before someone gets really hurt," he growled.

Nightfall lifted her chin, a fresh rush of anger pumping adrenaline through her veins. "Yes, but you've already gotten someone really hurt, haven't you?" She spat, feeling a flash of triumph as his eyes widened. "Yes, yes," she snickered. "I knew you had a part in our sister's death. That first meeting was just a test," she continued with a freezing glare at Maggottail. "To figure us out. I knew you weren't done with us. Then, I assume, you sent someone to kill Mistbreeze to lure me here." Her green eyes sparkled with hatred. "Well, surprise, surprise," she hissed. "I came. Now tell me who killed Mistbreeze, and I might spare you."

Maggottail grimaced. "I'm afraid that's confidential," he mewed smoothly. "But-" he was cut off with an abrupt screech as Nightfall launched herself at him, her jaws closing on his tail. She felt the snap of bone and Maggottail howled, trying to pull his tail out of her grip. She bit harder, feeling the bone splinter in her jaws, and jerked her head, putting her whole back and every one of her lean, rippling muscles into it. Maggottail went sailing over her head, and Nightfall felt warm blood splatter her fur in an arc.

She watched him fall through the air, flailing, jaws parted in a soundless wail. He hit the sunningrocks with a thud and smack of hard muscle. He simply lay winded, another splatter of blood decorating the pale gray rocks.

Abruptly, Nightfall realized she was still holding his tail in her jaws when she tasted its blood. Nothing gave her so great a satisfaction as that perfect moment. "Now," she mewed, spitting out the bloodstained tail. "Your appearance can truly match your name."

Maggottail gasped for breath, writhing on the rocks.

Tigerclaw was watching her with curious amber eyes. Nightfall could detect a hint of fear in them, and she reveled in it.

"What are you waiting for?" Nightfall asked, her cold eyes glittering with warning. "Teach me how to kill properly. I'll avenge our sister on my own."


In exchange for training, Nightfall had become Tigerclaw's strategy adviser. He either taught her or had other cats teach her every trick known to the Clans, and then a page or two out of the rogues' book.

They didn't call themselves rogues, but that's what they were- just a bunch of roughed-up kittypets and street-cats who called themselves BloodClan.

Still, rogues though they were, Nightfall found their leader, Scourge, intriguing. The feeling was mutual. While neither had any intention of becoming mates, they trusted each-other more than they had trusted anyone else. Nightfall, bitter still at Tigerclaw for Mistbreeze's untimely death, plotted with the rogue leader.

The self-proclaimed Tigerstar had trusted Nightfall alone to handle the negotiations. She knew that Scourge was going to hold up his end of the deal- driving out or subduing the rebellious LionClan- and then take over the whole forest for himself. Tigerstar, on the other paw, planned to use Scourge to rid the forest of his enemies, and then defeat Scourge and drive him out.

Nightfall knew that Scourge would win, and so she decided to throw in her lot with him. Not only was she appreciated in BloodClan by its leaders, but the TigerClan cats were more loyal to her than Tigerstar by far.

The cats of LionClan and TigerClan, as they had been dubbed by Firestar and Tigerstar respectively, were gathering to discuss terms of surrender; assuming anyone would surrender, which was not likely, to say the least. BloodClan would be backing up TigerClan and were told to answer not to Tigerstar but Nightfall. The TigerClan cats would likely do that on their own, once Tigerstar was disposed of.

Everything went perfectly according to plan. How could it not, when two of the most brilliant and ferocious minds present were working together to overthrow the forest?

The LionClan cats had arrived, and, as predicted, refused to surrender. The BloodClan cats entered, streaming in and flexing their claws under the claws and fangs they wore over them or in their collars. Nightfall herself had acquired sharpened dogs' claws to fit over her thin, sharp feline claws.

"I have given you your final warning. Surrender now or never." Tigerstar growled.

Firestar lifted his chin. "Never," he spat. Nightfall almost admired him, but mostly didn't. He had chosen the wrong side.

"BloodClan, attack!" Tigerstar roared the order. No-one moved. His eyes furiously searching out Scourge, he hissed. "What is the meaning of this?!" He demanded.

"The meaning, Tigerstar," Scourge began, his icy voice smooth. "Is that my cats answer only to me."

With a wrathful screech, Tigerstar leaped at Scourge. Scourge sidestepped, sending Tigerstar sprawling onto the ground. Scourge braced his muscles to jump at Tigerstar and rip his throat out, but Nightfall shoved him out of the way as they had planned. That was crucial; it made Tigerstar overconfident, having someone, especially his deadly sister, next to him.

Then, Nightfall whirled and whipped her claws into his chest and down. She turned to TigerClan before his body hit the ground, not bothering to watch all of his nine lives slip away at once, an growing pool of blood soaking her paws.

"TigerClan, attack!" She screeched. Her cats let out answering battle-cries, not the least bit fazed. They fought with renewed energy now that they didn't have Tigerstar to fear. That had been key, as well; getting Tigerclaw to intimidate "his" Clanmates, while she would help them when he wasn't looking.

Scourge, at the same time, ordered BloodClan to attack.

The battle was over quickly. Most of LionClan was dead or had fled; those who hadn't were kept as prisoners.

The blood of ThunderClan and WindClan were scattered to the wind. Some fled to become loners or rogues far, far away. Some happened upon SkyClan. The camp was seized; the adults killed or chased out, and the kits raised as TigerClan's own.

TigerClan was victorious, and Nightfall's cats and Scourge's cats both were rewarded.

Neither the Tiger nor the Lion ruled the forest; instead, the darkest Night the Clans had ever known fell over the territories.