Birchstripe fell into pure darkness. He walked forward a few steps and looked around nervously. He circled around a few times, fearful of what might be lurking in the never-ending darkness.
"Is anybody out there?" he called desperately. The only answer was his own echo that slowly faded away.
"I'm here..." said a she-cat's gentle voice. Birchstripe knew her voice.
"Applepaw...?" Birchstripe murmured disbelievingly, turning in quick, panicked circles. "Is that you?"
"My name is Appleblossom now, brother," she said menacingly.
"Where are you?" Birchstripe called into the darkness.
"Dead."
Treefur woke up in a forest unlike any other he'd ever been to; there were no sounds, no smells, no wind to brush over his pelt. At first he thought he was back in StarClan, but he soon realized this place could never be that forest he'd been in that night. Treefur felt fearful and nervous as he padded on through the dark pine trees that loomed menacingly around him.
"Treefur!" a voice said behind him. He spun around quickly to find his sisters Lilypetal and Flowerheart behind him. They looked as nervous and as afraid as he was.
"Are you two okay?" Treefur asked them as they quickly padded up to him.
"We're fine," they said in unison. "We just got here," Flowerheart added.
Treefur sighed a sigh of relief. "Good. Now we need to find Bir-"
"You're not going to find Birchstripe here, young warriors," a cold, deep voice interrupted Treefur.
Treefur spun around behind himself to find a large dark tabby tom with many scars and terrifying amber eyes. "Who are you?" Treefur asked the stranger.
"I am Tigerstar," the stranger said. Treefur, Flowerheart, and Lilypetal backed away warily.
"Stay away!" Lilypetal warned, her back arched and a deep growl coming from her throat. "We know about you!"
Treefur looked back at her sister then back at Tigerstar. "What have you done with Birchstripe?" he demanded, trying to sound brave- he was failing.
Tigerstar looked up and sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't bring him up," he said. He looked back at Treefur, Lilypetal, and Flowerheart. "Your brother is gone. Move on and get over it."
"What did you do!" Flowerheart demanded furiously, unable to control her anger.
"Let's just say Birchstripe is lost and he'll never find his way home," Tigerstar mocked, smiling coldly. "You three, on the other paw... I don't know what to do with you now that you're here."
Another tom cat came into the clearing, his head was bowed down and he was mumbling to himself nervously. He looked up and Treefur, Lilypetal, and Flowerheart knew exactly who he was.
"Oakkit...?" Flowerheart asked curiously, her heart swelling with joy. Then she looked down thoughtfully and backed away. "What-what are you doing here?"
"I'm Oakleaf now! I'm not explaining this a second time!"
"What? Explain? Explain what?" Lilypetal asked, taking a pawstep towards her brother. "You talked to Birchstripe, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I talked to him," Oakleaf said. "I took care of him, too."
"What do you mean?" Treefur asked stupidly as Lilypetal started to cry and Flowerheart looked as if she were going to lunge at her dead brother.
Oakleaf rolled his eyes. "Treefur, you really are no smarter now than you were when we were kits."
"What'd you do to Birchstripe!" Flowerheart demanded, thrusting Treefur behind her with her front paw. Her back was arched and she was spitting and hissing viciously. She hesitated a moment then she lunged at Oakleaf and knocked him to the ground.
Soon the whole clearing was fighting; Treefur was fighting- and miserably losing- against Tigerstar, Flowerheart was fighting Oakleaf, and Lilypetal was battling a new cat who'd come into the clearing just a moment after the fighting started.
Treefur backed away from Tigerstar, panting hard. He had a long gash along his right side and his ear was torn. "StarClan help us!"
"You're... dead?" Birchstripe called out to the darkness and the voice of his sister Appleblossom. "But how?"
"It's really quite simple," Appleblossom responded, still not coming out from wherever she was speaking. "I went out to try and find a big squirrel for Foxheart the day of our warrior ceremony. I thought I could make him proud of me. But I lost track of where I was going and accidentally stepped out of Clan territory where some loners found me and brutally murdered me without any sadness or regard. I don't know what happened to my body after that. They probably dumped it somewhere and some rats feasted on it. But I don't care."
"But why are you here?" Birchstripe asked. "And why are you angry with me?"
"Because, Birchstripe, you never cared to come and look for me! You never cared!" she yelled furiously.
Birchstripe bowed his head shamefully. "I'm sorry..." he trailed off. He closed his eyes. "I should've looked for you, I know that now." He pulled his head up and looked around for any traces of his sister. "I'm so sorry, Appleblossom. Forgive me."