Kyoya sat in camp. His friends had all went out on patrol. When Kyoya had asked Brambleclaw if there were any other patrols he could go on, Brambleclaw had told him that he wouldn't be sending out anymore patrols. So Kyoya just sat and relaxed, waiting for the patrols to return. Jayfeather, ThunderClan's medicine cat, was eating a mouse beside a bramble and looked as if he were deep in thought. He looked very angry.

Briarlight hauled herself over beside him. Kyoya winced, wondering how she could manage without her hind legs. Briarlight went over to the fresh-kill pile and grabbed a vole for herself and went back to Jayfeather. Brightheart came over after awhile. She had a sympathetic look on her face, but when she ran her tail along Jayfeather's spine he shook her off and stomped across the clearing to the camp entrance, Briarlight and Brightheart staring after him. Firestar saw this and quickly followed him.

Things sure have changed, Kyoya thought. So many familiar faces were gone, and so many things had happened to the Clans, and Firestar acted like a battle could happen any moment.

The camp entrance rustled, and Kyoya could scent multiple cats, signaling the return of a patrol. Kyoya looked to see Sorreltail, Berrynose, Hazeltail and Masemune. Masemune trotted over to the area they were staying in and puffed out an annoyed breath. "Nothing happens and they all are still acting so tense! It's annoying!"

Kyoya rolled his eyes and laid his head on his paws, not wanting to listen to Masemune's annoying ramble. Eventually sleep engulfed him. He opened his eyes into his dream, but something seemed off. When he looked up there was no sky, only darkness. Everything looked gloomy and dark, and the whole place smelled foul. Kyoya growled with frustration. "Why can't I just fall asleep and not dream?" he growled softly.

"Kyoya," whispered a voice. Kyoya's ears shot up and leaped to his paws, instantly on his guard.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Kyoya growled, unsheathing his claws and baring his teeth. A cat came out of the bushes. He was a dark brown tabby with a scar across his muzzled. It took Kyoya a moment to realize who it was. "Tigerstar!"

"It's been awhile, Kyoya," Tigerstar greeted him, sitting down and rapping his tail over his paws, calmly.

"What do you want?" Kyoya growled, not letting his guard down. He knew what Tigerstar was capable of.

"To talk," Tigerstar answered simply, licking his paw and rubbing it over his ear.

"Where are we?" Kyoya asked, still not letting his guard down.

"The Dark Forest. It's where cats who are rejected by StarClan go when they die," Tigerstar replied.

"Why am I here?" Kyoya questioned.

"The cats here have realized their mistake, and want to make it up to the Clans, so we've chosen cats from every Clan to train and make them better warriors for their Clans," Tigerstar explained. "We've matched some of the Dark Forest warriors with cats from the Clans that they would train best, but some of us still can't find anybody to train."

"I'm guessing you're one of them?" Kyoya guessed.

"Correct. You catch on fast. I like that," Tigerstar purred, getting up and weaving around Kyoya. Kyoya kept his gaze fixed on him. "What we do here is we help the cats of the Clans acheive their untimate goals, but the cats without apprentices either have to be trained or sit back and watch. I don't want to be apart of that group. I need a cat to train, but none of the cats in the Clans are a match for me. But now I think I've found the perfect cat."

Kyoya blinked and looked at him. "You can't possibly mean me? Like I want to be trained by anyone, let alone you!"

"Think about it, Kyoya. You'd become a much better fighter if I were to train you," Tigerstar meowed. "What's your ultimate goal?"

"My goal...to beat my rival, Gingka, of course!" Kyoya answered. "I want to be better than him at everything!"

"And if you let me train you, I can make that happen," Tigerstar replied. "Think about it. People have always turned to him for help, haven't they? They never look your way for help because they have Gingka. But if you were to become stronger than him, then people might actually ask you to help them because you're stronger than Gingka. You'd be able to beat him at everything, and you'd be the strongest!"

Kyoya sheathed his claws and smiled at the thought of being stronger than Gingka. Maybe Tigerstar really has changed. Maybe I should give him a chance. After all, he offered to train me to where I'll be stronger than Gingka. It wouldn't be very smart to turn that chance down, now would it? Besides, if I discover he hasn't changed I could spy on his for the Clans.

"Alright, Tigerstar. I'll allow it this time," Kyoya meowed.

"You've made the right decision, Kyoya. I promise to make you the strongest cat in your group," Tigerstar vowed. He turned toward the trees. "We'll start tomorrow by introducing you to the others. Until then, go through life as if this never happened, and don't tell anyone about this. It's our little secret, Lionpaw."

"My name's Kyoya," Kyoya growled.

"Not here. Until you've made it to warrior status, you'll be known as Lionpaw here in the Dark Forest. It's weird not calling someone by a Clan name," Tigerstar meowed, before padding into the trees. Kyoya was about to go after him when he awoke. He sat up and stretched. Masemune had fallen asleep, thankfully.

With the extra training I'm getting there's no way anybody will beat me, not even Gingka, Kyoya thought with pride. He then thought of the name Tigerstar had given him. Lionpaw...it had a nice ring to it at least. Yawning, Kyoya laid back down to rest some more.