|☾ ☼ ϟ ≈ ☁| Dark Forest V.2 |☾ ☼ ϟ ≈ ☁|

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Finding your way?

"Oh," Warblerpaw said, looking around at the forest. At first he'd been frightened, but now he could pick out small details he hadn't before, like the slight glow of the moss and the mushrooms, and the earthy scent of leaf mold. "I guess it's not so bad here, then."

He flicked his tail back and forth, stirring some leaf litter as he did. "How do you know what...way you're supposed to go?" he asked, a little shyly. He loved his parents and his Clan, but he never felt he could really speak his mind with them. He knew what they'd say: You're fine as you are, Warblerpaw! Just because you're Spiritstar's son doesn't mean you have to prove something! Just do your best, Warblerpaw! They all meant well, but they didn't get it. But he felt like Robinstar could, so he found himself lowering his defenses without meaning to.

Warblerpaw cocked his head, some of his usual arrogance returning, though more subdued. "I just wanna be the best," he said. "But not because of where I came from. I wanna be the best because I'm me."

Warblerpaw thought a moment. He wanted to be a good warrior, someone his Clan could rely on to bring them prey and win their battles. He also wanted to help Robinstar to atone for her past deeds, to show his mother that her sister wasn't completely lost. He wanted to be brave enough to live however he wanted without worrying about anyone else's opinions. He set his jaw, leveling his gaze with Robinstar's, his blazing green eyes meeting hers.

"I want to be strong," he said firmly.

"To live my life how I want!" he said with conviction. "I want to be strong enough to fight for my Clan and to scare off anyone who wants to threaten us, strong so that I can do what I want, whenever I want, and no one can tell me otherwise."

He drew himself up straighter; he was nearly full-grown, a large and formidable cat on the cusp of receiving his warrior name.

"Any stupid expectations anyone has of me," he said, narrowing his eyes. "I'll crush them."

Warblerpaw knew he didn't make much sense, but he couldn't seem to wrap his tongue around the words he wanted to say. In the waking world, he never faltered or stuttered; his words were like honey and his wit was sharp. But here, in the shadows and under his aunt's icy glare, he could feel a million emotions rising to the surface after being held at bay for so long, the dam finally crumbling under the stress of seeing his own mother die.

"I'll be so strong that Spiritstar isn't ever hurt again."

"I-" Warblerpaw was taken aback for a moment. To hear such a powerful cat praise him? He couldn't help but to preen a little. "Thank you, Robinstar."

After a pause, he continued. "You were strong when you were alive. Now, too, I'm sure." His brow knitted with guilt at his next words. "Plumwillow is an incredible mentor, really. But she's just about taught me everything she knows, yet I feel like I could do more," he said. "Will...will you help me get stronger?"

Warblerpaw chuckled a little, dipping his head. "I'd be grateful for whatever you can teach me," he purred. "Plumwillow is great! She's kind and a good warrior, but she isn't incredibly serious, which I like. We get along really well! I'm excited to be a warrior, but I'll miss her."

Warblerpaw's lip twitched with a little arrogance. "I'm only a moon away from being a warrior; I can handle it," he said plainly.

“Oh, I’m sure you can, with that confidence. Warriors with attitudes like yours are always the most successful, in my experience.” Robinstar crooned, wanting to inflate the young tom’s ego as much as she could, and spin his mind.

“Simple.” Robinstar hummed. “Every other night, when you are about to sleep, all you have to do is truly will yourself, want yourself to be here… and you will be.” She purred, before she quickly grew more serious. “Under no circumstances can you talk about this to others… I do not think they’re ready yet, for that.”

“None taken, dear.” Robinstar mused with a smooth laugh. She nodded, glad to see that he would willingly keep quiet about it. She looked thoughtful for a moment, before she continued. “I believe that your mother will want to speak with you soon. Perhaps she will have your assessment soon, once she recovers.”

"Of course. I'll be right here, again." Robinstar nodded, her voice soft with promise and a feigned pride that she had used on all the young members of Adderclan, all the apprentices desperate to please her and her mate. She sat down across from him, tail waving slowly in good-bye.

As soon as the younger tom disappeared, Robinstar's gentleness faded right back into a cold and calculating gaze. She turned, padding back through the forest as she awaited her next visit. Within a matter of minutes, the visage of her daughter appeared, and Jaguar greeted her mother with a low dip of her head. Lifting back up, Jaguar mewed.

"Nightshade and Hemlock are old enough now to hunt and fight for themselves. We've been scouting around Twolegplace, and it just might fall in our favor."

"Meaning?" Robinstar mused, padding along with her daughter now dutifully at her side. The dark furred she-cat mewed smoothly. "The Twolegplace cats are catching more wind of the Clans. They either despise them, or they want nothing more than to benefit from the Clan territories. If Fluffcloud and Eelshock are to serve as the new vessels for Adderclan's return, then they're going to need numbers. If they eventually get to attempt to overthrow the Clans, then I say that they find some new allies in cats outside the Clans. An even larger Adderclan, than the one before." She offered.

Robinstar digested the words, before she mused. "We'll bring it to your father, and see what he can do with Riverclan's proximity to Twolegplace."

"There's more." Jaguar sneered. "Thunderclan and Skyclan are sending joined patrols to Twolegplace to catch prey. What they are unaware of is that the twolegs have been setting up traps to feed the prey animals poison. When they bring that prey to their camps, they might very well just start picking themselves off."

Robinstar stopped at this, a gleeful and evil grin poking slowly from her muzzle. "Prey that your dear aunt is probably eating plenty of now as she recovers from falling and drowning in the waters below the cliffs. She may just be weak enough once she loses her next life that I can... influence her. Just like that Shadowclan tom. It worked once. Surely, Adderstar and I can make it work again. Skyclan losing the sanity and eventual life of their beloved leader will drive them right into Fluffcloud and Eelshock's paws."

"Into our paws." Jaguar purred deeply, knowing exactly what her mother was saying, and inwardly beaming under her approval once again.

Willow)

"Oh, stop wailing." Wrenflight scoffed as he watched the other Thunderclan tom pace around, calling out for his son. It was true, Darkeyes had seemed to disappear a while back, and even now his father was still snarling for him. Wrenflight rolled his eyes at the thought of ever calling for his son, his oldest at least. Silentflare didn't need to be called, as Wrenflight was sure that he would be here sooner than later. Rather, Wrenflight rumbled. "A prison? Anything that isn't Starclan is the opposite of a prison. Perhaps he's fleeing and hiding like a little kit."

---

(Cloning Emberpaw!)

Emberpaw startled as she looked around wildly, her stomach dropping with dread as she realized where she was. With such a dark, foreboding feeling, and based on what her father had told her in stories, surely this was not the kind of place that a cat wanted to be. She looked at Goldfire, gasping as she saw her clanmate again. She ran to him, voice choking. "I-...It was an accident, I didn't mean for her to fall, I shouldn't have climbed that ledge, I-" She trusted him, had missed him deeply when he died, and in that moment she didn't seem to care that he was clearly not in Starclan. Instead, she choked.

"...This is the Dark Forest... where cats who can never go to Starclan go, right?" She shuddered with fear and guilt. "Please, I- I'm not evil!"

---

"It's lies." Meadowbrook spat quietly, though it was clear she was actually a bit startled by the revelation of how difficult it was to see anything visual about Clovekit, as though a veil was thrown over her. Surely she could not be so bound to Starclan already? She hissed deeply, coldly. "I want my sister dead. I want her away from my daughters!"