[This features Owlfeather (ShC) and Sparkblaze (DF) from Owlfeather's pov]

The day had been long and the sun and long since set behind the trees in the horizon when Owlfeathger finally got back to her nest. She had never minded work, it was a way to prove herself useful, to show she was loyal and trustworthy, and it also made her feel like she wasn't being lazy. But many new tasks had been added to her list of things to do since Dawnstar had left to fix up Thunderclan. She had taken up patrols since she wanted to make sure they were being sent out on time, and maybe she would even need to get a few slackers their punishments for either not showing up for their patrol, or completing it much to slowly. Meetings were also a task of Dawnstar's that would have to fall on someone if the leader didn't manage to return to Shadowclan soon, a task she would be more than willing to take on, she just needed to plan her days better.

Along all that there were her usual tasks, Redpaw was away in Thunderclan, but Sharkpaw needed to keep their training going to make sure they could become a warrior quick, Nettlepaw's mentor had gone missing, so Owlfeather had taken up training that cat as well. Of course, since she was the one assigning patrols she could simply not place herself on one to maybe get some more time with other things, but she quite liked patrols actually and wasn't sure she was all that willing to give up them first.

Well, since all these thoughts were keeping her awake anyway, she might as well start using that time to plan. The first things to do when the sun rose could be apprentice training, Nettlepaw, Sharkpaw, or both, depending on who was awake and how late their previous night had been. Patrols could be scheduled on dawn when the clan should already be up and running, but with energy left from the night, and most likely hadn't had time to plan anything else to do. After or before that she could place in a meeting if need be. Later in the day, when many would be taking a break for and most likely a meal, would be a good time to start keeping an eye on the freshkill pile, and snatch Nettlepaw to go on a hunting trip encase her clanmates were particularly hungry, or the hunting patrols had had any issues finding food that day, or just not having been reported. She could save the late hours for personal training, dealing with trouble in the clan, a check-up on the outskirts for missing clan mates who made their return, or any trespassing rouges to make a new pelt off for when Dawnstar returned.

With that sorted out, she could feel her eyeleíds begging to feel heavier and heavier until she was asleep. But while her sleep was usually without dreams of any sort, she was surprised to find herself blinking open her eyes, not in a normal dream, nor in her nest the next morning, but a gloomy forest. Her amber eyes narrowed and her long claws unsheathed almost without her noticing as she slowly turned to take in her surroundings fully. What looked like odd moss and misshaped fungi cast a faint, oddly pale glow over the otherwise so dim forest, and when she looked up she could see the trees stretching up and up and up, growing so high she couldn't see the crowns, just large, bare trunks that slowly faded in with what she could only guess was the sky up above. But it looked nothing like the sky, it had an eerie, dark red hue, not blue like the normal sky, and no clouds of any sort could be seen, nor were there stars, a sun, or a moon in sight.

The place was, all-around, what most would have described as creepy, or scary with its gloomy darkness, and silent tension, as if a predator was always right behind you, ready to leap as soon as you let down your guard even the slightest. Most being an important word there, because Owlfeather, while she had never visited this place, already knew what it was. Her whole kithod and apprenticeship under her father she had heard the stories, of how when a cat of their blood was ready, had proved their worth and showed they were loyal to Shadowclan, would be called here, to the Dark forest, for nightly meetings, secret training, and be granted the wisdom gathered by generations and generations of cats like them. It was a goal Owlfetaher had had her sight set on since she was old enough to walk. And now, it seemed to be her time.

"Owlfeather." The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once, but her eyes were well trained to see in the dark, and once she spotted the sleek shape in the shadows, the voice seemed to focus on that point as the cat spoke. She had expected it to be someone she knew, her father (even though she hadn't hoped for him), some uncle or her grandfather, but the light ginger cat's face was so unfamiliar she would have had no idea of who he was, if it wasn't for under which circumstances they met. "I can see you were looking forward to seeing someone else" The cat said, and even in the dim lighting, Owlfeather could swear she saw the cat smirk slightly. Yes, she had expected someone she knew, but she hadn't wanted to see really any of them. Though she was offered no time to give a response before they went on. "Well, hopefully, I will do just fine here in the begging."

The begging? Owlfeather did not have much knowledge on how all this would go down, but she had expected to be trained by one, maybe two cats, but would her trainer switch around? It seemed a bit useless, having different cats training her instead of getting down a good system with one. "The begging?" She echoed, in a questioning voice while raising an eyebrow. "In the begging." The other cat confirmed with another hint of a grin. "You see we have a little of a ranking system here. Once a cat dies they are assigned a rank depending on how much they did for Shadowclan in their life, their rank can change if they do well in their afterlife. You will start with a lower-ranking mentor, and if you would manage to prove yourself even better, you will be moved up, to someone better suited for you."

What the cat explained made some sense to Owlfeather. Why should someone great waste time training someone who wasn't good enough to deserve it. But one thought still nagged her. The cat had said 'if you would manage to prove yourself'. Proving herself had been something she had spent almost her whole life doing, was she supposed to do something even greater than she had already accomplished? "I thought I proved myself before you called me here." She pointed out. "Yes yes! I fact, we held off on calling you here for a little bit. Originally, we were ready to take you after Dawnstar started to like you already, since most will not manage that, but then, oh boy, being left in charge of the whole camp? With your former apprentice sure, but how many of your clanmates do you think will manage to accomplish anything of the sort in their lives hu? Besides, if you would have to ask me, I'd say she even prefers you over that Elmshadow anyway. Owlfeather, you're on good way to becoming one of the most successful cats of your family in generations! What I meant by you proving yourself you already have, but I was mainly thinking of what you would accomplish here, how well your training goes and how well this new knowledge will implement into your life outside of these dreams."

Again, the cat's words were reasonable, and she nodded slightly. "So what's your rank then." She didn't enjoy the thought of potentially wasting her time with someone worse before getting good training. There was logic in the system, but if what the cat said was true, that she was on her way to becoming as successful as he said, wouldn't it make more sense to skip these early steps and get started for real? Owlfeather had never been an all that inpatient cat, nor one who saw herself above others, but it was their words, not hers, that had said she was good, and this was it wasn't something she could outright disagree with. She had her flaws, so did everyone, but she knew how to handle them, and she was sure this training would help bring out her strengths and improve her imperfections.

"We don't really have words for rank like in the clans, just a pecking order of sorts. When you die and join us here you'll two will be placed into it somewhere, you'll know where. But let's move on to the actual training and planning shall we?" During the last sentence they spoke, the cat began to slowly walk towards her, something that at first made Owlfeather back a step and lower her head, but relax slightly as she saw the rather easy-going grin on his face. He was large, with bright, ginger, and orange sleek fur. And a pair of clear, bright green eyes looked back at her as the tom approached. His confident appearance was at the same time reassuring that he knew what he was doing, while it made her wonder if or not he would take this as seriously as she would. He seemed to carry himself with a self-assured pride, in the same way she saw many young cats boast around, as if they were the best at everything and could do no wrong. Sure, this cat at least seemed to know he wasn't the center of the whole world, but she was still worried this would be wasting her time.

"Right. I take it you know me, but who are you." It was a simple question and one she had expected him to see coming, yet he stopped and cocked his head in mind surprise as she asked, but of course, the grin that seemed to be a part of his brand by now was back as soon as it had left. "I hadn't expected you to be so interested in getting to know me, how flattering. But of course, I will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. You would know me as Sparkblaze." He said it with an expecting tone and gaze, as if awaiting some kind of reaction from Owlfeather. But the name rang no bells, it was no special name and she couldn't recall ever hearing it before. "Am I supposed to know who you are then?" As she said it Sparkblaze's tail seemed to droop a little, and a slight frown of annoyance came over his face, clearly displeased with her answer. "Well," he huffed, seemingly with a slightly hurt ego. "You might have heard of me, I was quite the warrior in my time" He shook his head slightly, and alas, the grin was back to annoy her.

"Moving on," He mewed and finally reached her. "We have much to do, and the night doesn't last forever. Plans and planning, along with the training, of course, let's not forget what you're here for. I take it you have some plans for what to do now when you and Elmshadow are taking care of camp yes?" She did, it was exactly what she had been thinking about right before falling asleep. "Some. I have made a plan for my day to keep everything going smoothly, while making sure I have time to do everything I need to, send out patrols, train my apprentices and Nettlepaw, keep Shadowclan in check, and make sure the freshkill pile is stoked. I've also been thinking about doing meetings, many apprentices need new mentors, and some kits are ready to start their training." Shadowclan needed to keep going, even if their leader, and sadly most of their good warriors were away fixing up another clan.

Sparkblaze seemed pleased with what she told him, and nodded along slightly. "It's good that you are taking up Nettlepaw's training as well, our family should always make sure we keep our bloodline among the stronger cats in Shadowclan. Especially after what happened to her mother. Don't worry, no one is blaming you for what you had to do" he mewed when Owlfeather tensed up slightly. "Someone needed to fix that flaw in our family. I also think you should consider holding the meeting, Elmshadow isn't quite competent enough, and we want to keep you on top of Dawnstar's list of cats she likes, try to get her some pelts two. "

She had relaxed slightly when he told her that what she had been forced to do to her sister was fine, but as soon as he started talking about her former apprentice her eyes narrow slightly. It wasn't a competition, they weren't fighting for Dawnstar's favor. "He has his flaws, I will not disagree with that, he has a mindset I don't agree with and the way he raises his kits doesn't at all set them up for any kind of success, but don't you dare forget that Dawnstar picked him as one of the cats taking care of camp while she is away. I will not start challenging him for what he is worth and has worked for, I trained him that way, that's the way he should be."

Again, Sparkblaze seemed surprised by her words, but this time it was an expression of confusion on his face. "You don't seem to understand, sometimes you will have to step on others to get your way, Dawnstar doesn't so as well. Remember, we want to make sure YOU are the cat she likes the most, who knows, if things go well you might be next in line to become something really great, image yourself as deputy, for example, Dawnstar seems rather disappointed with her current one anyway." As he finished a growl had begun to form in Owlfeather's throat. Being deputy or leader had never been something she aspired to be, and she wasn't going to try and sabotage her former apprentice to get a position she didn't have much interest in anyway.

"How do I leave." It sounded dumb to ask, but was done having this talk, she needed to get a good night's sleep to be ready to work the coming day, this was only wasting her time. "Owlfeather, please try and listen to me" Sparkblaze's voice was more pleading down, and that dumb grin was finally off his face. But she didn't care what he had to say, coming here had clearly been a mistake. She wasn't sure how to make herself wake up, but since this cat was clearly not going to give her the answer, she might as well try this. Squeezing her eyes shut she thought as hard as she could about her nest, about not being asleep anymore. And when she opened them again she could feel the early sunlight trickle down into the warriors' den, where she laid in her nest.