The night of the Gathering, it was too late to go back to the Dark Forest by the time Jayfeather and the others came back from the Gathering, but the following night, Leafpool finally decided it was time to venture back to that horrible place and find Hollyleaf. So once again, she waited to fall asleep until she was sure Ivypaw would be asleep as well, and then walked her way into her dreams.

Just like the previous time, she knew immediately she had succeeded when she opened her eyes. Pale, dead trees rose up out of a dry, dead forest floor. A chilly breeze blew straight through her pelt to her bones, and the same melancholy layer of fog as always blanketed the entire forest.

Once again, she found herself horrified with the idea that her daughter had been here this entire time, and once again, the guilt clawing at her chest threatened to swallow her whole.

But she had to stay focused on her mission. She had to find Hollyleaf, and she had to do it without being caught by Tigerstar again. But how do I even begin to do that?

A few fox-leaps in front of her, Ivypaw was beginning to walk forward, toward the raucous cries of cats fighting. Leafpool hesitated. The group of fighting cats was where she was most likely to run into Tigerstar, but it was also Hollyleaf's most likely location. Given that Tigerstar and Hawkfrost were here with the living cats, it made sense that other dead cats would be too, and maybe her daughter would be one of them.

Either way, she thought it was a good idea to at least get a glimpse of the training that was happening here. Were there other ThunderClan cats aside from Ivypaw? How many living cats had they recruited to their cause? She felt like she had a duty to find out, for the sake of her Clan.

So slowly, being careful not to make any noise that could alert Tigerstar or Hawkfrost to her presence, she began to creep towards the source of the noise. She found herself grateful for her warrior training- hunting prey wasn't the only thing stalking skills were useful for.

As she got closer, she recognized Hawkfrost's voice. "What took you so long?" he snapped.

"I had trouble falling asleep," replied Ivypaw.

"Hmm," meowed Hawkfrost, unimpressed. "Well, you're late. You can warm up with Hollowpaw." Inching forward so she could see what was going on, Leafpool saw a small brown tabby tom step forward to face Ivypaw. I think he's from RiverClan, Leafpool recalled. It was interesting that cats of all Clans seemed to train side by side here. Despite their split loyalties to their own Clans, here they were all united by a common goal. It's like how the medicine cats of all four Clans work together, in a way.

But as she moved further forward yet to see more of the cats present, it was clear the scene before her was nothing like the friendship and camaraderie shared by the medicine cats of the four Clans. What she saw before her was pure brutality. All across the clearing, cats were fighting with a fury in their eyes that she never saw in ThunderClan's training. Worse, they were fighting with their claws unsheathed, and their blood pooled all around the barren forest floor. These cats had no regard for each other's safety or well-being- all that mattered to them was the fight.

To her relief, she didn't recognize any ThunderClan cats in the group besides Ivypaw. She was proud of her Clanmates for being too smart and too loyal to fall for the Dark Forest's tricks.

But there were still countless familiar faces. A number of cats from each of RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan were embroiled in the brawl. There were also nearly as many cats who she didn't recognize, who she assumed must be already-dead cats. Fortunately, almost none of the faces she saw were cats she was friends with, but she did recognize one tom as Brambleclaw's kin, Tigerheart. It's not surprising Tigerstar would try to recruit another one of his kin, Leafpool thought. Any cat that obsessed with his own legacy is going to want his own kin to carry it onward. Especially if that kin bears his own name.

As she scanned the clearing, she realized to her horror that Tigerheart wasn't the only cat she knew. On the far end of the clearing, locked in combat with Tigerstar and wearing the most hateful glower she had ever seen before, was Breezepelt. Crowfeather's son Breezepelt.

Leafpool remembered that night at the Gathering when Hollyleaf had revealed her secret to all the Clans. My loyalty is only to WindClan, and I have no kits other than Breezepelt, Crowfeather had meowed coldly. And now that kit was here, training among all of these evil cats.

"Come on Breezepelt, you can do better than that," snarled Tigerstar. "If you want your revenge, you'll have to become stronger than all of them!" Leafpool shuddered. It was easy enough to guess who Breezepelt wanted revenge on.

As much as she longed to race across the clearing and somehow save Crowfeather's son from this horrible, horrible place, she knew it would only get her killed, and Breezepelt wouldn't listen to her anyway. So she turned her back, and started to creep softly away from the clearing. Hollyleaf wasn't here, and Tigerstar and Hawkfrost were, meaning they wouldn't catch her if she went out in search of her daughter.

She had no idea where to start looking. From what she had seen of StarClan, it was massive, possibly infinite. If the Dark Forest was the same, she could wander here for countless nights before she found Hollyleaf. But that's exactly what I'll do, if that's what it takes, she thought resolutely. So, deciding any direction was as good as the next, she set off determinedly into the forest.

In a place like this, time lost its meaning quickly. She didn't know how long she had been walking, when suddenly she nearly tripped over a broad-shouldered orange-and-white she-cat. The cat's pelt was matted, as if she hadn't taken care of herself in a long time. But most startlingly, Leafpool realized with a start that she could see right through the she-cat's pelt to the trees on the other side. Her shape wavered and hung in the air like mist, as if she wasn't entirely there.

The she-cat was sleeping, and Leafpool stepped back quickly, hoping she wouldn't wake up and see her. But luck wasn't on her side tonight, because before she could get even a tail-length away, the matted she-cat opened one eye and stared directly at her.

Leafpool froze. There was something deeply unsettling about this cat. Somehow, she found herself more scared of this she-cat than of Tigerstar or Hawkfrost. I need to get away from her.

Before she could make an escape plan, she she-cat spoke. "Who are you, to disrupt my sleep?" she snapped, rising to her feet. The she-cat looked even bigger and more menacing standing upright.

"My name is Leafpool," meowed Leafpool softly, taking a few tiny steps backwards and wondering if the she-cat would catch her if she just turned and ran. As soon as she spoke, she wondered if she should have lied about who she was instead. Maybe she could have convinced this cat she was a Dark Forest resident too.

Amusement flashed across the face of the mysterious she-cat, putting Leafpool even more on edge. "Oh yes," she meowed. "Leafpool of ThunderClan. Former medicine cat. I know who you are."

"You do?" asked Leafpool.

"Oh yes," meowed the she-cat. "Leafpool of ThunderClan, fell in love with a WindClan cat and had his babies. Your lies went undetected for moons, and you thought you had gotten away with it, but when the truth came out, your life came crashing down. You lost your role as medicine cat, and you lost your daughter. Truly a tragic tale." Despite her emphasis that this was a tragic tale, the she-cat had a rather smug smile on her face that made Leafpool want to claw it right off.

"How do you know so much about me?" she asked instead.

"Oh, I see everything that goes on down there, when I choose to," meowed the she-cat casually. "Your story was of particular interest to me, because I found it so much like my own. My name is Mapleshade, by the way. And I was a ThunderClan cat, too."

Leafpool wracked her brain, trying to remember if she had heard that name before. Nothing was coming to mind. Mapleshade must have lived a long, long time ago. "I see", she meowed. She hesitated, unsure if her next question was wise but curious enough that she had to ask. "Why are you…" she trailed off, unsure how to ask it.

Mapleshade smiled. "Fading away?" she purred. "It's okay, you can say it. When cats, here or in StarClan, have been dead so long that no living cat remembers them, they disappear. Vanish into nothing. There are very few cats left who remember me. But I intend to change that soon."

Leafpool didn't like the sound of that. "Why are you here?" she asked. "What did you do to get sent here instead of StarClan?"

Mapleshade laughed, a short, harsh laugh. "As if I would want to be in StarClan, even if I could. That place is full of weak-willed cowards who clung to the warrior code like ants to a leaf in a puddle. I'm here because I was actually able to think for myself," she meowed. "Like I said, Leafpool, you are not so unlike me. Like you, I fell in love with a cat from another Clan. Appledusk of RiverClan." Mapleshade spat her former mate's name like it was venom. "I loved him, and was overjoyed when I learned I was expecting his kits. I thought StarClan had led me to him, so my Clan would surely be overjoyed with the blessing of his kits that I was bearing. But when the truth came out that they were half-Clan, I was banished. I tried to bring my precious kits to RiverClan, but they drowned in the river on the way there. You lost one kit, Leafpool. Can you even imagine the pain of losing all three of them?"

Leafpool shook her head. "I couldn't imagine," she meowed softly. "So is that why you're here? Just because you had kits with a RiverClan cat?" If that was true, no wonder this cat was so full of hatred towards StarClan. Leafpool knew as well as anyone how love could consume you. For that love to also lead to the deaths of all three of her kits, and her eternal banishment to the Dark Forest… of course she would hate StarClan.

Mapleshade laughed again, this time a longer, bitter laugh. Leafpool waited for her to stop, once again finding herself terrified of this she-cat. "Ah, well that was part of it," she meowed finally. "That, and the fact that I killed three cats in revenge."

Leafpool's eyes went wide. "You did what?" she meowed.

Mapleshade smiled, as if looking back on the memories of her murders fondly. "I killed three cats. One for each of the kits I lost. See, those cats led to the deaths of my kits. Ravenwing announced my secret to all of ThunderClan, leading to my exile. Frecklewish watched my kits drown and didn't even try to save them. And Appledusk cast me out, refusing to grant me sanctuary in RiverClan after our kits had died, and he took a new mate before our kits' bodies had even gone cold. Those cats deserved to die, for the roles they played in the deaths of my kits. But StarClan didn't see it that way. All they care about is their precious code."

Leafpool didn't know how to respond to this horrible confession. I was right to be scared of her, she thought. She's clearly out of her mind. "But their wrongs don't make your murder of them right," Leafpool argued. "Killing another cat outside of battle is always wrong." Why am I arguing with this cat? she wondered. I would be better off agreeing with her and leaving as soon as possible.

"Tell me, Leafpool," meowed Mapleshade bitterly. "If some cat took all three of your kits away from you in one night, and faced no consequences for it, what would you do to him?"

Leafpool thought about Ashfur, and how close he had come to doing just that. Squirrelflight had saved them by revealing the secret that she wasn't really their mother, but what if she hadn't?

"I would kill him," she meowed, surprising herself with the intensity of her words, and the conviction she felt when she spoke them. She had never thought of herself as the sort of cat who would hurt anyone. But she meant it. If Ashfur had succeeded in killing her kits, she would absolutely have killed him, and any cat that dared to help him do it.

"You see?" purred Mapleshade. "You and I aren't so different after all."

Leafpool opened her mouth to vigorously deny the old she-cat's claim, but she couldn't. Mapleshade had gone mad with grief after she lost all three of her kits. Could Leafpool say with certainty she wouldn't have? Or would she, too, have thrown away all of her cares about the warrior code and spent her entire life trying to avenge their deaths?

"Maybe you're right," Leafpool meowed softly. Mapleshade nodded, looking satisfied.

"This is what it means to be a mother," Mapleshade meowed. "Everything you are is tied up in the lives of your fragile, precious kits."

Leafpool nodded. She couldn't argue with that. Suddenly, she realized this she-cat might actually be able to help her with her mission. "I'm looking for my daughter, Hollyleaf," Leafpool meowed. "Do you know where I can find her?"

Mapleshade smiled. "Oh, we're under strict orders not to help you with that particular quest," Mapleshade meowed. "I have no respect for Tigerstar and his battalion of wide-eyed idiots. But I do value my existence, so… no, I don't have any interest in crossing him." Leafpool lashed her tail furiously, but she didn't dare argue. This she-cat could still destroy her in a single blow, and she didn't have any interest in making her mad.

"Thank you anyway," meowed Leafpool, starting to walk away. Please let me go, she thought.

To her relief, Mapleshade let her leave. She was nearly out of earshot when Mapleshade called after her, "Good luck!" And as she walked away, she heard Mapleshade laughing to herself.

Great StarClan, please never let me become like her, Leafpool prayed. But she knew StarClan wasn't listening.