Dark Forest Territory

[hawkboi]

31/100

Troutpaw blinked and glanced away, thinking for a long moment. “Um…alright then. You can mentor me then.” She finally mewed with a nod.

@Willie Warf

[Watermeloon]

Originally Posted by Willie Warf

Beetle smiled " Well it would be my pleasure to mentor you!' He said with a smile. It was becoming easier and easier to slip into the facial expression the more he did it.

(Maybe one more post then we're done!)

Originally Posted by hawkboi

31/100

Troutpaw blinked and glanced away, thinking for a long moment. “Um…alright then. You can mentor me then.” She finally mewed with a nod.

@Willie Warf

Ghostpaw scoffed, yelling down her comfortable spot, "Yeah, and then he'll murder you in your sleep!" This was the Dark Forest after all. Plus, that Troutpaw had absolutely zero survival instincts. Fine, maybe like a small percentage, to be fair. But in the end, that fishy apprentice couldn't even finish the fight herself. That Bug guy had to save her. The ex-rogue spat on the ground beneath her lofty position, aiming perfectly just on the piece of dirt at Beetle's paws.

[Willie Warf]

Originally Posted by hawkboi

31/100

Troutpaw blinked and glanced away, thinking for a long moment. “Um…alright then. You can mentor me then.” She finally mewed with a nod.

@Willie Warf

Originally Posted by GhostlyStarfinder

Ghostpaw scoffed, yelling down her comfortable spot, "Yeah, and then he'll murder you in your sleep!" This was the Dark Forest after all. Plus, that Troutpaw had absolutely zero survival instincts. Fine, maybe like a small percentage, to be fair. But in the end, that fishy apprentice couldn't even finish the fight herself. That Bug guy had to save her. The ex-rogue spat on the ground beneath her lofty position, aiming perfectly just on the piece of dirt at Beetle's paws.

Beetle smiled "Great! I suppose you're waking up now, I'll let you wake in peace!" Beetle said as he sat smiling. He didn't flinch as he watched the fur balls spit landed in front of him. His smile faltered as he failed to perfectly hide his rage. He would wait for his new fuzz puff to wake up before showing this upstart apprentice why his legend was terrifying.

[taillow]

Fawnlight
She/her | Formerly RiverClan | No purrks

She knew she shouldn't be here. She really shouldn't... but during a rare venture out from her little alcove, Fawnlight had seen an opening. It was against her better judgement that her paws turned away from what they had set out to do, nearing the space where the light from StarClan seemed to flicker. Beyond the thin veil that crackled the trees grew darker, no light reaching the forest beyond. Round blue eyes had stared out, the grip of her jaws around the stalks of dandelions loosened enough for them to fall to her paws - not that she noticed. It was too difficult to ignore this... this chance being presented to her. Heart thumping in her chest, the former medicine cat looked one way, then another, before sucking in a breath.

It hadn't been as grandiose as she had been expecting, but it was startling. One moment the sun was shining down on her back, and the next it was as if the very darkness of night wrapped around her, thick and unforgiving. Fawnlight felt wary, suddenly, as if eyes were trained on her with each paw step further in she took. There was no breeze here, no sign of any life among the rotting forest. Shadows overtook everything and there was only a sliver of moon to light the sky. No stars shone above, and the eerie hoot of an owl perked her ears up.

This was no paradise.

Carefully the StarClan ancestor stepped forward, senses on high alert. The rapid thumping of her heart, the way she could practically hear the blood in her ears, she hadn't felt like that since- ...since she'd almost drowned. That had been moons ago, yet the feeling had never been forgotten. Thankfully that day she had been saved, clawless paws had rescued her from the grips of death. Tonight however, Fawnlight knew there would be no one to save her from this place if she got lost. She technically wasn't suppose to be here, but there had been an opening in the veil, and guilt was a powerful emotion...

She hadn't wanted to believe them at first, the rumors. The former medicine cat understood why he had been sentenced here, the actions he had taken damning him to a life of darkness. But Fawnlight knew him, she knew his heart. No cat was perfect, and every cat made mistakes. It had been difficult at first for her to get past that. She had been... horrified watching his actions. Disgusted. Despite this though, she still strove to see the best in him. In her mind, she recalled the cat who had taught her how to hunt, and had been there when she had caught her first fish. She recalled the cat who had been there when she had returned home after getting lost, the warmth of his embrace and the unconditional love she had felt. She recalled the cat who had given no thought to his life, risking it to save her from the dark waters that had almost laid claim to her life.

No cat was perfect, not by a long shot. But he... he was family. He always would be.

A snap of a twig had Fawnlight jumping back, head whipping around to locate where it had come from. Everything was doused in shadows and it was difficult to make out anything beyond the dead trees that rose up around her and the stench of rot that flooded her nose. Up ahead the caw of a raven drove her attention up and immediately her claws left their sheaths. She didn't know how to fight at all, but she would not allow herself to die in this place. At least... not until she found him.

"My, my, what's a starry furred cat like you doing here?"

The voice from behind her was not one she recognized. Spinning on her paws to lock eyes with a sharp blue, Fawnlight felt her heart speed up, blood turning to ice. This cat was like the darkness that surrounded them, a shadow incarnate. Piercing eyes bore into her sharper than claws and forced her to scramble backwards. "I'm not staying long, I swear. I-I'm looking for someone. His name is-"

"I know who you're looking for. But you don't belong here." Stepping out from the shadows, exposing a sleek pelt covering lean muscles and curved talons, the stranger flashed their teeth. "Best move along before I sharpen my claws on your pelt."

Fear was nothing new to Fawnlight, so she swallowed it back down and narrowed her eyes. "I don't know who you are," she began, keeping her tone calm with a hint of an edge, "but I'm not the same scared, timid cat I used to be. I can use my claws just as good as you can. You don't scare me." It was a half-truth, because right now the former medicine cat actually was a bit scared out of her mind. She wouldn't dare let the cat before her know that though. She couldn't let any weakness show here, not in this land where it was treated the same as prey and jumped on at first opportunity.

Blue eyes darker than her own flashed in the dim light, and a sinister smile curved along the cat's face. They studied Fawnlight for a moment, circling her slowly. The former medicine cat kept her gaze locked on them, body turning with them so that they were never behind her. "...Why are you so set on looking for him? I heard that you'd turned your back on him and your Clan long ago."

Wincing, Fawnlight struggled to keep her face from faltering. She knew more than anyone how deeply the truth cut sometimes, and for a moment she let her gaze shift away from the strange shadow cat. They were right - they had turned their backs on their Clan. Maybe... maybe if she had been there for those who needed her, things would've turned out differently. It was a 'what if' that kept her up at night, stealing away sleep like an unforgiving thief. Would it have made a difference if she hadn't been so dead-set on defending a cat who she wasn't sure anymore deserved her defense? Her heart ached at the conflict, at the possibility that perhaps she had gotten it wrong.

When had everything gotten this complicated? Where had the days of being a young 'paw gone, where her biggest worries were stocking the herb storage and making sure her Clan was taken care of?

"...I'm not perfect. No cat is. He wasn't. My brother wasn't. But... no one deserves to be alone." It took everything in her to keep her voice from breaking at the end, blue eyes refusing to meet the stranger's expectant gaze. "I just thought that maybe if I... perhaps if I could find him I could... maybe he would be open to..." Any words that could've completed her thoughts died in her throat as she shut her jaws, clamping her teeth together. "Look. I just need to find him." This time Fawnlight did lift her gaze to meet the stranger's, a rare spark of anger burning in them. "Are you going to let me do that or not?"

Something seemed to shift in the gaze of the other cat, something dark and malicious. They stopped their pacing, eyes now narrowed into chips of ice. Along their maw a smirk unfurled, and they lashed their black-as-night tail once. "...I could let you go." The small tint of indecisiveness that tricked Fawnlight into believing that perhaps this could not end in a fight. She had hope that this cat would truly let her be on her way. But it was naive thinking she knew, as the blue eyed stranger's gaze seemed to darken once more. "But it's been sooooo long since I've gotten to stretch my claws. And you happen to be the perfect refresher."

Fawnlight wasn't prepared for the explosiveness that flew at her, claws that pierced her chest and left her yowling. Like a vengeance this cat was relentless in their attacks, claws battering her side and drawing blood. It was difficult to see where the attacks were going to come from next and the former medicine cat did her best to shield her face and lash out where she could. "Better run along, little fawn. Don't you know a death in the Dark Forest is permanent?" Blue eyes caught the gleam of fangs and Fawnlight moved her neck out of the way just as the parted jaws clamped down on the air where they had just been.

"I'm not leaving until I find him!" Determination and pure grit allowed Fawnlight to continue to barely hold her own in this fight. A lucky swing managed to stun her attacker and allow her time to scramble out from underneath them. Her sides heaved with each breath as blood trickled down her flank. Meanwhile the stranger was shaking their head as if to shake off the blow the former medicine cat had managed to deliver. "Just - back off! Don't you have a nightmare to be apart of somewhere?!" This cat really was dead set on fighting her back, even though all she wanted to do was find her-

A loud growl interrupted her thoughts as the dark forest cat leapt for her again. This time though Fawnlight rose up on her hind legs, claws coming out to meet the stranger. One claw aimed to rake down the shoulder of her attacker while her other wrapped around their neck. The momentum shoved them both to the ground and immediately a sharp kick to her underbelly drove the air out of Fawnlight. She gasped, eyes going wide as her grip loosened on the cat's shoulder. The stranger took advantage of this and lunged forward with sharp teeth, latching onto the space between Fawnlight's shoulder and neck. Pain, red hot and flaring, brought tears to her eyes as she began to wildly thrash about to no avail. The cat's teeth were locked in, gritted together in a way that made escaping impossible.

The words of the cat rang in her head. Would she really, permanently, die if killed here? Fawnlight didn't know how that all worked. Were second deaths a thing? She really didn't want to find out, but the more and more she tried to free herself, the more blood she felt spilling from where the attacker's teeth were secured.

She didn't want to die again! She hadn't found him yet! She needed to tell him that she forgave him for his actions, that she loved him and that nothing would ever tear her from his side. She had to tell him that she would find a way to bring him to StarClan, no matter what it took. She couldn't die here, not yet! Not yet...

Out of the corner of her eye, a flash of brown fur blocks her vision. Almost immediately after a piercing yowl deafened her momentarily and the teeth on her shoulder were released. Fawnlight coughed, fighting for a breath as she jerked her head up to see what was happening. A tail-length or two away was the same brown fur she had just seen, and underneath them the cat who had attacked her. "I never got to kill too many of you back when I was living," came the deep purr, the gleam of a sharpened claw catching Fawnlight's gaze. "Consider this... making up for lost time." The claw struck down, and the blood curdling cry that followed had Fawnlight shutting her eyes and flattening her ears. She didn't need to look to know her attacker was drawing their last breath.

It wasn't until a rough paw nudged her in the side that she felt the numbness in her paws start to fade. Opening her eyes, Fawnlight felt the shock hit her full force. "O-Otterfluff?" What was he doing here? Surely he hadn't been sent to the Dark Forest?? His eyes were narrowed and he leaned down to nudge her again, this time forcing her unsteadily to her paws.

"We've got to go - now."

"But I need to-"

"He's not here. At least, not at this moment. Now go."

The sharp order seemed to jolt her into understanding. Fawnlight nodded numbly and started to stumble back towards the border. Tears fell freely from her face as she leaned against Otterfluff, the two of them making their way slowly back towards the flickering border. Behind them she could hear snarls and yowls, and the sharp slicing of a claw against her hind legs had her cry out. "We're not gonna make it!"

"Yes we are. Move it." With that Fawnlight let out a squeak as Otterfluff shoved her ahead with his paws, back onto the StarClan side of the border. She tumbled into the soft grass, sun shining down on her pelt once more. The blood from her neck had slowed, starting to matt together. Shakily she turned and looked across, eyes searching for Otterfluff. She caught sight of him flinging a shadowy figure away by the scruff before he turned and leapt back across the border after her.

"You cannot go over there. There is a border for a reason, Fawnlight." His words are like venom and they way they're spat made her flinch. The sigh from the brown tomcat reached her ears, and she felt the tip of his tail come to rest on her shoulder. "It is growing weak. Cats are beginning to be able to cross. Spirits... they can make it over here now; they were not able to before." His eyes meet hers, and Fawnlight does her best to slow her labored breathing. "...You do not want to make an enemy of them."

It wasn't fair! "But I-!" Fawnlight tried to argue, stopping with a hiccup when Otterfluff's stern glare cut through her. A moment or two of silence fell between them, during which she could feel the energy slipping away from her. Otterfluff seemed to notice it too, and offered his shoulder once again.

"Come on. You need to patch yourself up, and we need to get away from this border." She watched as he looked back over at the Dark Forest territory once more. Staring back at them were several pairs of eyes, each of which sent shivers down her spine.

Reluctantly, she got to her paws and gratefully leaned against her former Clanmates side. "What did you mean... he's not there?" Her voice is soft as they make their way back into StarClan's territory, back towards her little alcove. Had he made it into StarClan somehow? Had the spirited granted their forgiveness, much like she had? Otterfluff simply shook his head and offered a grunt in response, indicating that for now the topic was closed. Fawnlight sighed and looked back over her shoulder once last time as the Dark Forest territory started to fade from view, barely being able to detect the weakened veil any longer.

She would come back... she would finish this, she would get him over here; even if it cost her own life.

[ closed ]

[Goopysharkboi]

William let out a soft snarl as he stood up from his rock in the territory. As a kit-killing psycho who died and is a ghost here, he found things quite boring. Not just quite, very boring.

[Swiftheart <3]

/Cloudkit-Thunderclan kit/
Cloudkit blinked in alarm. The Dark forest?! B-but, how..?! Cloudkit thought to himself. He cowered as he saw several cats approaching him. "please.. don't hurt me!" he squeaked, tears watering in his eyes.

[SpiritWolf_yt]

Originally Posted by Swiftheart <3

/Cloudkit-Thunderclan kit/
Cloudkit blinked in alarm. The Dark forest?! B-but, how..?! Cloudkit thought to himself. He cowered as he saw several cats approaching him. "please.. don't hurt me!" he squeaked, tears watering in his eyes.

It's been moons since the tunnel attack on windclan and yet here he is he ended up dead and is in dark forest, his eyes shifted to a thunderclan kit. The scarred tom grinned deviously as he approached"Well well if it isn't a kit o don't see kits here often" he started appearing out of the shadow with unsheathed claws"Your adorable, you have a right to be afraid of us dark forests cats, why cry? Don't you wanna be a brave warrior who is better then everyone else?" the Tom said, his voice was a deep raspy voice, almost as if it sounded like it could break any moment.

[Swiftheart <3]

Originally Posted by ChristmasFawn

It's been moons since the tunnel attack on windclan and yet here he is he ended up dead and is in dark forest, his eyes shifted to a thunderclan kit. The scarred tom grinned deviously as he approached"Well well if it isn't a kit o don't see kits here often" he started appearing out of the shadow with unsheathed claws"Your adorable, you have a right to be afraid of us dark forests cats, why cry? Don't you wanna be a brave warrior who is better then everyone else?" the Tom said, his voice was a deep raspy voice, almost as if it sounded like it could break any moment.

Cloudkit shivered in fear. "i.. uh... I.." He stammered. Then he straightened up, thinking. "I don't know, but.. uh, how did.. I get here?" The kit asked. Scars on his head and side were quite obvious. "Rainkit always said I was the smart one of the litter.." Cloudkit murmured.

[SpiritWolf_yt]

Originally Posted by Swiftheart <3

Cloudkit shivered in fear. "i.. uh... I.." He stammered. Then he straightened up, thinking. "I don't know, but.. uh, how did.. I get here?" The kit asked. Scars on his head and side were quite obvious. "Rainkit always said I was the smart one of the litter.." Cloudkit murmured.

Komodo looked at the kit up and down"Aw little kit scared and don't know how they got here, it could be your asleep and this is your dream, or You died" he explained at the end he aggressively said the word 'died' a cackle escaped him as he circled the young kitten"You have scars so I assumed you got into a fight " he added lowering his head at the kit as he walked closer to see the kit.

[Swiftheart <3]

Originally Posted by ChristmasFawn

Komodo looked at the kit up and down"Aw little kit scared and don't know how they got here, it could be your asleep and this is your dream, or You died" he explained at the end he aggressively said the word 'died' a cackle escaped him as he circled the young kitten"You have scars so I assumed you got into a fight " he added lowering his head at the kit as he walked closer to see the kit.

“H-hey! Stop mocking me!” CloudKit stammered, trying to be brave. What would Sparkfire- Swiftheart’s daughter do in this situation?? She would be brave. She was so fierce. CloudKit wanted to be like her. “W-if I died, why would I be in the dark forest?” CloudKit asked