Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.
Chapter 18: The Power of Dreams
Tigerclaw slipped into his nest.
Thisteclaw was shifting in the moss beside him. "Remember, not a word to anyone else." Tigerclaw nodded. "But what if I don't get to the.. The..."
"The Dark Forest."
"Yeah. What if I don't get there?"
Thisteclaw buried himself deeper into his bedding. "Then I'll come find you. Now go to sleep."
Tigerclaw sighed. All this seems like a dream anyway, so I might as well have another wacky dream. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on his hatred for StarClan and the soft-hearted warrior code.
Warrior code... How stupid. 'An honorable warrior does not need to kill other cats to win his battles, unless they are outside the warrior code or it is necessary for self-defense.' What kind of rule is that? If they can't defend themselves, they deserve to die! Curse StarClan for their making of the code. Only-
Tigerclaw found himself standing in a dark, damp place where the fungus lit up the trees. There were no moon, no stars, no prey, no life. Where am I? Is this the dark forest?...
"Tigerclaw!" The dark tabby warrior turned at the sound of his name. It was Thisteclaw, bounding towards him. "Wow, you were very fast to get here for the first time. Now come on, it's time you met the others."
"Who are the 'others'?" Tigerclaw asked as he and Thisteclaw padded along the decaying leaves. "The others are just the other cats who walk in the Dark Forest. Mostly dead, not alive." Flicking his tail, he began running ahead. "Hurry, we want to begin the New Dark ceremony before dawn comes."
Tigerclaw broke into a run as well, catching up to the grey-white tom. "What's the New Dark ceremony?"
Not pausing to look back, Thisteclaw replied, "you'll see."
• • •
"Ah, you're here quite early."
Many cats scattered the clearing where Thisteclaw had led Tigerclaw to. It was the thick furred, torteishell and white she-cat who had spoken. "I hope your apprentice is going to stay loyal to us Thisteclaw. My apprentice had too much goodness in him. Ran off. I have some things to settle with him, and he'll pay."
Thisteclaw dipped his head to the scarred, thick furred she-cat. "Tigerclaw, meet Mapleshade."
"Greetings Mapleshade. I promise I'm going to stay loyal to the Dark Forest." Tigerclaw meowed. "Who was this apprentice of yours who ran off?"
Mapleshade growled. "Ain't none of your business you nosy river rat!" Thisteclaw interrupted before Tigerclaw could say something back. "Come on, let's not waste so much time. We still need to do the New Dark ceremony."
"Of course of course..." Mapleshade was muttering. "My apprentice didn't even make it to this ceremony."
Thisteclaw jumped up onto a stump in the middle of the clearing. "Let's all cats loyal to the Dark Forest come here for Tigerclaw's New Dark ceremony!"
A ragged light grey tabby tom quickly padded over to Tigerclaw. "I'm Silverhawk. I was Thisteclaw's mentor in the Dark Forest. Just say 'I will' and 'I promise' at the right moments." Tigerclaw nodded.
Thisteclaw looked down on the gathered cats. "This a victorious day for the Dark Forest. Gaining cats little by little, we will soon have enough cats to battle the four clans, destroy the warrior code, and in time, destroy StarClan. But we will only achieve that if we recruit loyal and dedicated warriors."
"Tigerclaw, I have faith that you will be a great asset to us. Will you use all the strength, power, and hatred to destroy the warrior code, the four clans, and StarClan?"
Tigerclaw replied confidently without hesitating. "I will."
"Do you promise to be loyal to the Dark Forest, but keep it a complete secret from everyone except your Dark Forest clanmates?"
"I promise."
Thisteclaw stood up. "Then I name you my apprentice yet again, as I shall train you to be even stronger than before!"
The Dark Forest cats let out yowls. "Tigerclaw! Tigerclaw! Tigerclaw!"
"Tigerclaw! Tigerclaw! Wake up, you overslept!"
"Mmm..huh?"
Tigerclaw opened his eyes. Goldenflower was standing over him. "Oh. Hi... Goldenflower." Tigerclaw mumbled, pushing himself to his paws.
The ginger she-cat leaned gently into Tigerclaw's fur, nuzzling him.
When Goldenflower licked behind his ears, he blushed, though his thick tabby fur concealed the faint red glow. "Tigerclaw... I have something to tell you." The ginger tabby she-cat whispered into his ear.
Tigerclaw turned to her. "Yeah?"
Goldenflower's warm yellow eyes glowed as she purred. "I'm excepting your kits."
• • •
Kits! I spend one night with her, and she is excepting kits! That one night was one and a half moons ago! I can't believe this!
Tigerclaw was hunting for prey alone, telling Bluefur that he could hunt better this way. The sun was high in the sky, and Tigerclaw wasn't sure how he would react to the kits when they came. Even Thisteclaw had got all sappy and sweet around Snowfur when she was around...
Snowfur had been killed by a monster several moons before, and Thisteclaw had been furious with Bluefur, convinced that she allowed his mate to die. Whitestorm, Thisteclaw's son, had grown stronger and more confident since when he was a kit. I'm not going to allow a mate and and kits to get me soft! I'm going to be stronger than ever! Thisteclaw promised me that.
After successfully catching two squirrels and a black bird, he headed back to camp.
• • •
"... And I was so scared I was going to flunk my warrior assessment! But I finally caught a squirrel and two mice. I thanked StarClan like, three times!"
Goldenflower was blabbing on about her warrior assessment and thanking StarClan. Tigerclaw wasn't really listening. Instead, he was concentrating on eating the rabbit he was sharing with his mate.
Mate. It was hard to think himself as one.
As Goldenflower finally paused from talking to take a bite out of the rabbit's flesh, Tigerclaw stared into the trees, chewing on the stringy meat.
How could one day make such a difference? I'm an apprentice to Thisteclaw again, training to be a Dark Forest warrior, and I'm told by the clan that I'm a powerful warrior, and now I'm a mate, a 'father-to-be'. And this all started with that strange dream of the Dark Forest.
I'm going to be starting a new story, basically about random Warrior legends I am going to make up. Yes... I don't know when I'll be posting that up, but I hope it's soon!
R&R!