Heyyyyyyy guysysssss sorryyyy I'm backkkkkkk

Sorry it's been so long, a lot of things happened and then my laptop broke on top of it all so I couldn't write or post, but we're back now! Hopefully!

So yeah basically I just planned a bunch of stuff in the meantime so hopefully updates should run quicker again.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh fnaf movie was great guys

Oh yes, and this chapter might seem a little patchy just because there were several gaps in between phases of writing, so I apologise for that.

Juniperpaw's appearance has also changed to a black-and-white tom because he looked too similar to Stagpaw

And I think that's it! Alright then guys, hope you enjoy reading this again!

TW: PRETTY HEAVY GORE, THE DESCRIPTION OF A CORPSE

"So…you're a bayer huh?"

Stagpaw nodded, "That's right."

"So we're a bit safer with you around then, eh?"

"Heh, uh, probably?"

Juniperpaw's conversation, though welcome, was only partially engaging Stagpaw as he nervously glanced around his scenery. The Hallowlands, as it turned out, got darker much faster than the above world. Once the sun sank below the mountain's peak, the canopy of trees blocked out any sort of starlight, moonlight, anything. From Stagpaw's estimations, it probably wasn't even dusk yet but it certainly felt like midnight. He'd been wrong to assume that the forests were just coniferous again; a mix of the evergreens and deciduous trees now populated the area in an eclectic mix. The leafless branches of an oak tree nearby curled up into the sky, clawing and furling like twisted limbs trying to grasp at freedom. He tried to squint through the gaps to see some sky, but there was nothing.

No freedom.

"I'm a mage, myself," the tom carried on, walking forwards with a bit more confidence than Stagpaw himself, "I can summon storms. It's ah…pretty powerful if I say so myself, heh."

"Oh wow, that does certainly sound cool!" Stagpaw turned, interested, "H-How did you find out?"

"Uh…just before…when I nearly flooded the territory with rain…it's a good thing Snowfluff was there…control over snow and freezing and stuff."

"Oh, uh, okay…"

"Yeah…it was kinda bad, but it was also equally cool. Y'know…thunder, rain, storm clouds…did you see any of 'em?"

"Oh, n-no, sorry…"

He supposed that was good, Stagpaw had an aversion to loud noises and thunder scared him. It felt pathetic to ever admit that, but it was true.

"Well it was great. Anyway, my Clan didn't really like me anyway, so…they tried to drag me down here as soon as possible. I tried to resist, tell them it was unfair, but no. Nothing." Juniperpaw shrugged, screwing his face up into a frown.

"Wow…uh…" Stagpaw was really struggling to find something else to say. This cat was like no one he had ever met before!, "...wow. Um, why don't they like you?"

"Pfft, I speak too loudly about their ideals. Tell 'em that the tradition is killing and traumatising more cats than it is helping them get to grips with their powers. Stuff like that."

"I uh…I see…" he shuffled his paws as he walked, turning his head suddenly at the rustle of a bush only to watch a sparrow fly away, "and uh…who was this…Ceeeeeeee-"

"Cedarstripe?"

"Yeah, her. Uh…what did you mention her for?"

"Well, she had this one son called Leafpaw. He got sent down here a couple seasons ago as a mage and never made it out. She'd already lost the rest of her family; this was the final straw. She hasn't been the same since. She was kinda what got me thinking, y'know, maybe we shouldn't be following this age old deadly tradition just because a couple cats did it in the past."

"Oh, that's…awful…"

He shook his head, "But she's not the only one, is she? She can't be! So many warriors just like her have lost kits, friends, siblings…even when they make it out they've changed forever!"

Stagpaw's thoughts turned to Foxpaw. Was she trudging her way home right now, terrified she would never see her brother again? Would she go mad?

The anxiety in his stomach worsened until he just felt sick. He slowed down slightly, a wave of tiredness overcoming him. Juniperpaw looked back at him, confused at first then understanding. His face softened as he backtracked slightly to stand abashedly in front of Stagpaw.

"Sorry, um…I'm aware I can talk a lot…about heavy stuff…a lot."

"Oh, uh, it's okay, I was just thinking about my sister."

He nodded, "I understand."

The black and white tom glanced around a bit, his ears swivelling in all directions. After a moment or so of consideration, he turned back to Stagpaw and suggested, "Uh, maybe we should find a place for the night nice and early, so we can get some food and some sleep before the spiritslayers come out."

A shiver ran down the light brown tabby tom's spine at the mention of the beasts, and he nodded quickly, "Yeah, that sounds good."

Juniperpaw nodded again, and they continued on in silence, each keeping an eye out for anywhere that could be good shelter. They didn't split up for fear of losing each other. Stagpaw had very quickly lost his grip on his internal clock, and -though he wasn't sure what time it was exactly- the day's travel had worn him out. He wasn't sure exactly how much sleep he would achieve, however.

A bit deeper off the quickly-vanishing path, they came across a sheltered hollow beneath the roots of a large, weathered tree. It seemed a storm had come and unearthed it slightly, or perhaps a fox or a badger had burrowed here, for where the roots rose slightly out of the ground was an opening deep enough for the both of them to comfortably sleep. Juniperpaw stayed in place to try and scrounge two nests together for them as Stagpaw scouted around the area, insistent on making sure it was clear of any dangers. Though it was terrifying to do it himself, he knew he wouldn't sleep easy that night unless he'd checked for himself and seen it with his own two eyes.

He returned to the shelter after he'd done a successful loop, scuffing out any pawprints he'd left as he went. Juniperpaw turned to him with a quizzical expression as he did, and Stagpaw nodded.

"All clear," he stated.

For now, he thought.

"Great. And, guess what I made," Juniperpaw moved to the side to proudly present the two small, patchy and rough-looking nests of moss that he had prepared for them. They...well, Stagpaw wasn't sure he'd get a good night's sleep in them, but Juniperpaw looked too pleased with himself for him to want to complain. Besides, it was just one night, and they'd have to be on the move again as soon as possible. Big, luxurious nests would be too slow to clean up again and would leave a scent behind. On top of it all, if he wanted more moss it would mean venturing out into the Hallowlands as it grew late. Stagpaw thought he'd stated enough about wanting to not do that to say it again.

"Looks great, thanks Juniperpaw," he smiled politely, stepping into the temporary den and claiming one of them as his. He tried not to cringe as he sat down.

"Glad you like 'em- ooh 'eck what happened to your tail?" the mage asked involuntarily, catching sight of the bandaging for the first time.

Stagpaw craned his neck to try and self-consciously glance at his stump. The bandages were intact, thankfully, and so was the herb bundle from Foxpaw and Swiftbreeze. He turned back to his new companion and replied, "I, uh, lost it in a fight with a spiritslayer."

Juniperpaw's jaw dropped as his eyes widened, "You- in a fight with a spiritslayer?! And you lived, I- that's so fucking cool, dude!"

"Oh, uh, heh, thanks…" he couldn't help but scrunch himself backwards in embarrassment.

"Wow, if you've got that kinda skill behind you, we should have no problem getting through this place!"

"Um, sure!"

"So…that's when you discovered you're a bayer, huh? Fighting against that spiritslayer?"

"Uh yeah!"

The lie was off Stagpaw's tongue before he could even consider it. He shuffled his paws slightly, but didn't make any means to amend himself. Juniperpaw didn't really need to know that.

"That's cool, that's so cool," Juniperpaw nodded, looking hyped, "and that bundle of herbs, that's a nice touch. Did you put it together yourself?"

"Oh, uh, no, that was from my sister, Foxpaw."

"She sounds like a lovely cat. Was she the ginger one that was with you?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"That's nice. I've got three siblings, and none of them came to see me off."

"Oh, StarClan, I'm so sorry to hear-"

"Eh, don't be, we fight all the time between us," Juniperpaw shrugged, "it gets on mother's nerves constantly, but at least we're out of the Nursery now."

"I see."

It seemed the PineClanner's life growing up had been much different to Stagpaw's. It was quite interesting to hear the difference really. For a heartbeat, he almost felt relaxed and less fearful, when there was a deep, echoing hoot, a horrible flapping sound and then the crunch of something heavy landing on a branch. He gasped in surprise, his fur fluffing out instinctively, and looked up to see what had made the noise.

A huge owl -or a bird of similar physicality- now perched in a tree opposite them, staring at them with not two but six wide amber eyes that lined its face vertically, three on each side. It was far larger than any bird he had ever seen, with thick, curving, sharp talons and a hooked beak. Its feathers were a dark brown colour, mottled with a strange deep blue pattern too. It surveyed them closely it seemed, scrutinising them harshly, before turning and launching off into the depths of the forest once more, leaving Stagpaw and Juniperpaw awed and uneasy again.

"Wh- by the Kings, what was that?!" Stagpaw exclaimed, his voice turning hoarse from anxiety and surprise.

"That thing looked like it came straight outta the Place of No Stars," Juniperpaw hissed, his claws flexing in and out, "one strange-lookin' bird."

"Ugh, I don't like this one bit…" the EskerClan apprentice closed his eyes for the moment, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down. It seemed he was beginning to do this a lot recently. He might have excellent breath control by the time he got out of this place.

"Hey, take it easy, man," Juniperpaw awkwardly tried to comfort, "I'm sure it didn't mean any harm to us. I mean it flew away and all…"

"Yeah…yeah, you're probably right. Phew…I already hate this place."

"No kidding."

Stagpaw watched the apprentice stand up again, shaking out his fur to keep any scraps of moss out.

"Right, well, we can't just sit here talking about doom and gloom. We should get to hunting. Look for any water sources or herbs. Do you know what those on your tail do- or any others?"

The brown tom glanced back to look at the bundle, "Well…I'm pretty sure they're for healing wounds, mostly. Stopping the bleeding and preventing infection, y'know. And as for other herbs…I'm not sure. I know poppy seeds help as painkillers and with sedation and all…oh, and catmint is the remedy for greencough, but nothing else. Sorry."

Juniperpaw shrugged, "Don't apologise dude, it's not your job to learn herbs after all. And besides, that's more than I know, really."

"Oh, uh, right…yeah."

"Come on then."

Stagpaw tried to keep a mental note of their position as they crept through the dark, eerie woods that surrounded them, but it was hard to do when everything looked the same; completely unfamiliar repeating walls of doom. He glanced at Juniperpaw several times as they proceeded, wishing he could just get on with this with his determination and logic rather than this overwhelming anxiety and fear. He didn't want to seem annoying or depressing. Maybe it would come with time. This was his first day after all.

Stagpaw had heard many horror tales about the scarcity of prey in the Hallowlands, so it was to his surprise that they came across a mouse fairly fast. Both of them dipped into a hunter's crouch as they first smelt then caught sight of it, and Stagpaw was surprised to notice that it had black fur. That wasn't too bizarre, though, really. It must have evolved for camouflage in the darkness down here.

Juniperpaw steadily and silently moved around to the other side of the mouse, and then lunged. The mouse squeaked in alarm and turned around and ran -straight into Stagpaw's jaws. He ended it as quickly as he could, personally hating the distressed noises the animals made in a panic. It was upsetting, yes, but down here wasn't the time to be feeling pity for little creatures. They needed the food.

"Ay, great catch!" Juniperpaw padded up to him, inspecting the catch.

"You too, good teamwork."

He had dropped the mouse to speak, but now going to pick it up again, Stagpaw noticed with a slight rush of surprise that the mouse had not one, but two sets of ears.

"Wh-" he studied it closer, inviting Juniperpaw to come and have a look too.

"StarClan!" he exclaimed, "First the multi-eyed owls and now this?"

"You'd think it's some kind of curse or something, like when the Ancient Cats had to move from the South East because of all those mutations that started happening. Have you ever heard that story?"

Juniperpaw nodded, "The Cursed Winds? Yeah, when I was younger I think. Maybe…but that caused all kinds of like- tumours and deaths in the cats at the time. I'm not sure it happens often enough in those who visit here to exactly correlate."

"I guess yeah…I could just be natural adaptations they've developed. It is extremely dangerous down here."

"And dark. Makes sense to have more eyes for seeing and more ears for hearing. I wonder what the food chains like down here…"

Stagpaw picked up the strange mouse once more and they continued onwards, scouring for any more prey. The forest was eerily quiet, like everything that lived down here had to communicate as little as possible for the best chance of survival. Thus, it surprised the both of them when the loud caw of a crow emanated through the forest.

Stagpaw jumped and Juniperpaw's fur bristled, and another mouse nearby that they had not noticed yet scurried away, to their disappointment. The two exchanged glances before continuing forwards. Both crows and ravens were seen as omens of death -and messengers between the living and StarClan. Not only that, but they were carrion birds. If they were calling, they might have found food, and that might mean danger for the two apprentices.

"Are you gonna try and catch one for food?" Stagpaw whispered.

Juniperpaw shook his head, "No, I want to try and see what they're gathering around."

"Are you sure that's safe?"

"Not really. You might wanna hang back a bit in case we have to run."

That made Stagpaw anxious, but he wasn't going to let his new companion go out there on his own. Besides, crows had the advantage of a view from the sky over the Hallowlands. There was a chance they could lead the cats to water, or berries, and serve as an early warning for danger. Crows weren't too hard to gain the trust of, Stagpaw seemed to recall, maybe they could prove allies?

His hopes were crushed as they got further to the sound, and an awful smell quickly became apparent. It was like blood, decay and prey that had been left out for too long mixing into one, and Stagpaw could only imagine what it came from. He was about to suggest they turn around, but it seemed they had already arrived.

He gagged.

Lying in the centre of a small clearing, surrounded by scavenging crows, was the rotting corpse of another cat. It was hard to tell how long it had been there, but the sight was horrible. They lay on their back, positioned as though they had gone down fighting and in pain. Their fur and flesh was gouged in countless places, and their chest had been torn right open to the ribcage. The crows were trying to pick out their organs through the gaps. Their mouth was hinged open in an eternal scream, and both their eyes were already missing. Random tufts of fur lay on the ground, bone and muscle shown in some places.

There was a stunned silence for a long time, only broken by the flapping and snapping of the birds' wings and beaks. Eventually, Juniperpaw inhaled sharply.

"Yeah. We should turn back."

"Uh, yeah…"

Stagpaw turned away but the sight was burned into his memory and the smell -the stench- was clinging to his pallet. He shivered as he tried to chase it from his memory, retracing his steps alongside the PineClan apprentice. It took another long moment of silence before Juniperpaw hesitantly asked, "...you don't think that was a spiritslayer, do you?"

"I-I don't know," Stagpaw answered honestly, "I've-"

More images from a time long past flew through his head suddenly, and he blinked in alarm as they came. Blood, death, teeth claws-

"No," he shook his head, "I don't think that was a spiritslayer."

"Right…" Juniperpaw didn't press why he knew, "well, they looked as though they'd nearly been eaten alive…picked apart…"

"But by what?"

"Did you see those little welts on some of the skin?"

Stagpaw turned to him quizzically, "What?"

"Oh, I uh, caught sight of some like- little stings or boils or something on the flesh. Yellow, looked infected."

"Oh…I didn't really look for too long…"

"Fair enough…"

Feeling a little sick, the rest of the walk went back in silence. Stagpaw still couldn't memorise any landmarks of the territory down here, but Juniperpaw seemed to. He trusted his judgement enough to follow.

They made it back in nice timing, and sat down together and stared at the mouse they had caught once again. Stagpaw shuffled his paws as he looked at it, feeling nauseous again. Just like midday, when Foxpaw had been convincing him to eat the mouse they had caught up there, for strength. God, that was just today. He was actually down here. And it was just as awful as he had expected.

He closed his eyes for a long moment as he stared out at the land just outside their temporary nests. Around about now, he'd be eating his evening meal with Foxpaw, possibly Smokepaw too. They'd chat about their day and play stupid games and talk for a while until they went to bed. Though nothing but daily routine, he longed for that comfort and safety now.

Stagpaw opened his eyes again. Juniperpaw seemed to be doing a similar thing, though whether he too was mourning his past life or just thinking was unknown to Stagpaw. He sat up straighter and indicated to the mouse with one claw.

"Share?" he asked simply.

Juniperpaw snapped back to life and grinned, "Sure."

They shared the meal slowly before returning to silence once again. Stagpaw guessed the sun had sunk by now. He was about to suggest sleeping in shifts when suddenly a low, eerie howl echoed out across the Hallowlands. The sound sent shivers down his spine immediately, and the fur along his spine bristled as more and more howls joined into the chorus, creating a unified bay of demonic terror that unearthed a deep rooted fear of predators and the hunt within Stagpaw.

Juniperpaw rose to his feet, eyes wide and his tail fluffed out, "Was that-"

"I'll take first watch," Stagpaw interrupted, voice firm, "I'll wake you up when I think it's midnight, okay?"

The black-and-white tom blinked at him, surprised, before nodding and replying, "Okay, I gotchu. I'm sure you can handle any spiritslayers that come our way, but just wake me if you need anything."

"Oh- yes, right."

Juniperpaw stretched and yawned before attempting to get comfortable in the nests. Stagpaw was surprised at his relaxed nature, before he peaked open a blue eye again and added, "That was fucking terrifying, by the way. Don't tell anyone."

Stagpaw laughed slightly, "It's okay."

Juniperpaw grinned before rolling over again. He didn't speak, so Stagpaw didn't disturb him again, knowing sleep was necessary here.

He turned around and faced the forest again, listened out anxiously as he heard the distant howls of the spiritslayers hunting through the night. He didn't know if there were any other cats down here right now on their trial, but even so he prayed for their safety. They he thought of Foxpaw, worried and alone, and prayed for her too.

Then he looked up at the stars, and -unsure if StaClan could see or hear him down here- he prayed for himself too.