Well! I have finally returned with another update to this story! I actually finished it about...half an hour ago?

But I hope you enjoy it!

Now to answer a few questions;

Madison of Higgins Clan: The training takes up five days, so the Games will start after five chapters of training. You only have two more after this chapter! Exciting!

Mystic: Yeah, something like that. I will, eventually, write a one-shot stating why Ivypool double-double crossed!

Now onto the Chapter!

Darkness cloaks the darkest things, the strangest things. But sometimes it cloaks the feelings we want to share so much. Bars us from love, forever.

The sun rose the next morning but the twelve contestants did not see it. They awoke to the gloomy forest which they had fallen asleep to. It was a strange sensation never knowing whether it was day or night. All they had was their body clocks to let them know when they were tired.

A full fresh kill pile greeted Sinkingsun when she exited her den. She stretched out her tired muscles, grabbed a finch from the pile and settled down to eat it. It had been ages since she had eaten a finch and the taste melted on her tongue. She purred happily as she ate it. "Enjoying the finch?" a smooth voice asked.

Sinkingsun jumped to her paws with a snarl, "Whose there?"

"Only me," came the reply. The undergrowth rustled and Hawkfrost appeared in the clearing, a spattering of blood coating his ear. "I asked if you were enjoying the finch?" he asked again.

"It is nice," she admitted her eyes flicking constantly between his icy eyes and his bloody ear.

He smiled a small smile. "I went through a lot to get it." He indicated to his torn ear with his tail.

"You didn't have to do that," Sinkingsun protested.

Hawkfrost shook his head and smiled again. "A pretty she-cat, such as yourself, deserves the best," he purred. Sinkingsun was taken aback by the dead tom's words. Thankfully Hawkfrost rose to his paws and left, leaving his words hanging in the air behind him. Sinkingsun remained where she was, staring at her paws, her cheeks burning. She had never been spoken to like that by a tom before. A purr worked its way out of her throat.

A loud yowl made Sinkingsun jump to her paws in shock, her eyes flying around the camp. They came to rest on the tussling shapes of Badgerstrike and Burningmoon. She rolled her eyes in disbelief. Are they seriously at it again? Didn't they have enough fun tearing each other apart yesterday?

"I take it they did this yesterday as well?" Hawkfrost asked. His voice came so close to Sinkingsun's ear that she let out a choked squeak. The icy tom simply purred in amusement. "Sorry," he replied softly, "didn't mean to scare you."

Sinkingsun nodded dumbly. "Yes. They were fighting yesterday as well, except Brokenstar had already broken them up at this point." Hawkfrost purred but made no obvious movement to break the fight up. She tapped him on the shoulder with her tail, "Shouldn't you be breaking them up?"

Hawkfrost flicked his ear. "Why? Aren't you having fun watching them?"

"One of them happens to be my Clan mate. And that particular Clan mate is a friend of mine," Sinkingsun hissed. Hawkfrost flicked her with his tail.

"I'm only playing with you, lighten up a bit," he joked. But despite his joking words, he jumped to his paws and set about tearing Burningmoon from the outraged Badgerstrike. He placed his paws on Badgerstrike's chest and shoved him, sending the black tom skidding backwards. "Can you two not wait until the Game?"

Badgerstrike snarled at Hawkfrost, his eyes aflame with rage. "He clawed me first. I simply acted in defence."

"You insulted my Clan," Burningmoon hissed. "I was standing up for the Clan I left behind!"

Hawkfrost stood in the middle of the bickering toms, tail flicking in annoyance. "Both of you need to go to separate corners of the camp
and relax," he seethed. "Now."

The two toms both opened their mouths to say something but the look on Hawkfrost's face shut them up. Nightfall trotted up to Burningmoon and tugged him away from Badgerstrike. No one came for Badgerstrike though.

It made Sinkingsun feel sympathy for the aggressive tom. Everyone needs at least one friend, even if that cat happens to be an unbearable tom. She shook her golden head and was about to retreat back to the fresh kill pile when Hawkfrost's voice called her back.

"Contestants!" he yowled. "Your teacher has summoned you. Follow me and please, stay on the path!" The contestants filed out after Hawkfrost, each sharing dreading glances with each other. No cat wanted to suffer another lesson of punishment.

Their paws carried them out into the dark forest, sinister shadows curling out from the trees like shady tentacles. An icy cold breeze blew through the leaves sending shivers up most of the contestants' spines. But Hawkfrost didn't even flinch. Perhaps he has gotten used to it, Sinkingsun mused.

Hawkfrost waited for Sinkingsun to catch up before calling her up to him. "What do you want?" she snapped.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, ignoring Sinkingsun's temper.

Sinkingsun looked up at him with an annoyed look on her face, "Why are you taking so much notice of me?"

The darkness brightened slightly and Hawkfrost stopped, allowing the contestants to rush past him and into the first sunny spot they had seen in the entire forest. "Because…because I don't want to lose you," he whispered, staring into Sinkingsun's green eyes.

"But why? I'm not important to you. You hardly know me," she protested.

Hawkfrost gave a weak smile. "You do not need to know someone very long to feel as if they are your whole world." Whole world!? Sinkingsun thought to herself. Does he really feel that way?

"Your whole world?" Sinkingsun repeated slowly.

He nodded. "And I would hate to see you die before your time. But...but I can't help but wish that we could spend more time together," Hawkfrost murmured. Then he turned away and bounded off into the shadows, leaving a confused Sinkingsun staring after him.

XxXxXxXxXx

Tinder was one of the last cats that stepped into the warm stream of sunshine and he relished in the way in made his skin tingle. The chilling feeling that had been stroking at his muscles was chased away by the sun's caressing touch. He sighed in contentment and then jumped when he saw blue eyes watching them from the side of the clearing. They blinked a few times before the eyes owner stepped into the sunshine, un-natural orange fur shimmering against her lithe frame.

"Welcome," she greeted, her voice sounding like leaves whispering across the forest floor. "My lesson will not be one of violence or battle moves. Instead it will be a lesson for you to relax and listen to the history of the Game of Blood. My name is Settingsun, if you did not know that already."

Screech took a light step forwards. "Whats your power?" he asked bluntly.

Settingsun appeared slightly shocked but regained her dignified posture swiftly. "I am in control of the sun, moon and stars. Every time a cat dies I am responsible for hanging another star in the sky. The sun does not rise without my permission."

Tinder nodded and finally looked up. He was slightly shocked when he saw how beautiful Settingsun looked. A purple flower was woven into the fur near her left ear. It was like a piece of StarClan among the dark, gloomy forest. "So what are you going to teach us?" he asked.

"The history, rules and past winners of the Games," Settingsun smiled. "Please, sit down and make yourself comfortable everyone." Tinder nodded, sat down and flicked his tail over his paws. The others soon followed suit.

"Before the Dark Forest was even known by the Clans, they were controlled by a darker force. And they were called StarClan. StarClan ruled over ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan and ShadowClan with evil rules. Much blood was shed during their reign. But those four Clans could do nothing but live their lives in fear of their ancestors. One cat tried to rebel against StarClan. His name was Tigerstar, and he would have succeeded if StarClan had not sent a saviour into the Clans. He was a kittypet," she spat the word like it was poison, "called Fireheart, who then went on to become Firestar and aided in banishing Tigerstar from the Clans."

"Moons later, Tigerstar returned to take over the Clan's once more. He successfully gained control over ShadowClan before sending in a group of blood thirsty rogues called BloodClan. Tigerstar had made an agreement; Help him destroy his enemies and he would give them some of the forest. Again he was successful in bringing RiverClan into his reign. ShadowClan and RiverClan were combined and became TigerClan, in respect to their leader; Tigerstar. But WindClan's leader, Tallstar and ThunderClan's leader, Firestar, refused. They banded together and became LionClan, under StarClan's forceful paw. BloodClan joined TigerClan but Scourge, leader of BloodClan, double crossed Tigerstar for his own gain, killing the mighty leader."

"All four Clans went to war with BloodClan a few sunrises later. They won, of course. But StarClan was not through with them yet. No, they decided that it was time for the Clans to move. So they sent Twolegs to destroy them, chasing them away from their home and sending them on a perilous journey to find a new home. Cats died on that journey, but StarClan did not care. All they cared about was ripping the Clans from the home they had lived in for so long and sending them to a place filled with many dangers. By this time, Tigerstar's two sons had grown up into strong warriors, as strong as Tigerstar himself. Brambleclaw was a fool, mind washed by StarClan's evil powers. Hawkfrost, however, he was strong in both mind and body and refused to give in to StarClan's hold. He let Tigerstar visit him in dreams, let him train him up to the warrior he is today. Tigerstar even tried to save Brambleclaw but StarClan's hold was too great. When Hawkfrost presented Brambleclaw with the perfect moment to kill Firestar, the leader that had ruined Tigerstar's plans for a better life, he turned it down choosing to instead kill Hawkfrost and save Tigerstar's life."

"But Tigerstar refused to be beaten. He waited and waited until StarClan decided to prey on the Clans again. They sent a loner to plague the Clans, sending them into a fit of worry until they snapped and all four Clans waged war on each other. Then they made the sun disappear, proving again that they were to be feared and respected, or else. That was when Tigerstar launched his plan. And when StarClan found out about his plan to cleanse the Clans of them, they retaliated by sending three kits, all related to Firestar, powers that they would be forced to use in StarClan's aid. Of course, those kits were more than happy to serve StarClan. Lionblaze, Jayfeather and Dovewing were perfect tools in the eyes of StarClan. Perfect pieces in a deadly game. But when the battle came, StarClan fled. They left the Clans they 'loved' so much in order to save themselves. But the good cats of the Dark Forest chased them down and killed every last one of them, freeing the Clans of their reign. But the cats of ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan and ShadowClan had been lead to believe that Tigerstar and his followers were evil and fought back against the Dark Forest. No matter how hard the Dark Forest tried, they could not be saved and had to be killed for the good of the future."

"Tigerstar got his revenge on Firestar. Brokenstar, Thistleclaw ad Hawkfrost killed the ones StarClan had groomed to save the Clans. Many lives were lost but many cats still lived on, choosing to worship the ones who had saved them from StarClan's evil rule. And that was how WaveClan, PhoenixClan, SnowClan and CedarClan came into being. Tigerstar then ventured far from those Clans and found another group of cats who were in need of saving. Thus RogueClan was born. However, Tigerstar did not, despite his great powers, foresee the arrival of RisingClan. But he was glad that another Clan could be saved by him."

"The Game of Blood was created to remind the Clans of how evil StarClan was. In the end, the winner will be a cat who has the strongest belief in the Dark Forest," Settingsun finished.

Silence fell over the group of cats. They had never been told the Games history like that before. But it did make sense to them.

Tinder smiled slightly. He liked Settingsun.

She was a smart, powerful, beautiful cat. The kind of cat he wanted to be mates with some day.

XxXxXxXxXx

Thornfoot was walked back to camp after Sinkingsun's long lesson. At first it had seemed interesting, hearing about how the Games were first made. But after hearing the fourth winner's entire life story, he had gotten bored. "Such a long day," he murmured to Shadepaw who was trotting along the path beside him.

"Very long," Shadepaw agreed with a yawn. "Do you really believe everything Settingsun said?"

Thornfoot missed a step and tripped over a fallen branch at Shadepaw's question. He didn't really know how to answer it. "I believe that she told us what she witnessed. Whether it's true or not is not up to us," he answered. They stepped into camp together and stopped outside Thornfoot's den.

"Goodnight, Thornfoot," Shadepaw mumbled in between yawns.

"Go to your nest before you fall over!" Thornfoot purred, twitching his whiskers. He watched as Shadepaw disappeared into his den. He's not from my Clan but he seems like a good cat. It's going to be hard facing him when the Game starts…

He slipped into his den and curled up in his nest. His mind was filled with a picture of Firestrike, sitting in the sun, her orange fur like a flame but her white spots gave her an angelic appearance. She looks pretty in the sun, he mused as he drifted into a deep sleep.

Woo! All done!

Only two more training days left! Then the Game will begin!

Tell me what you thought of the chapter, and of Settingsun's history lesson!

Oo! And check out my newest story; Sinking Into the Rising Dawn!

Only got one chapter so far but expect more!

Hunter Out~