THE STOLEN || OLD - being rewritten

Chapter 27 - { Scarlet Willow }

I found something evil in the dark,
And now everything holy in me is dead.

Dawn arrived quickly and to Darkpaw's surprise, she slept soundlessly and deeply throughout the rest of the night. Waking to the slightest amount of pale light seeping through the blackness. Stretching, she rose to her paws, her muscles stiff from the cold as she padded through the shadows and out into the light. It was still largely dark but through the gaping hole in the ceiling above she saw crimson clouds. Flicking her tail, she padded past the guards and followed the same path she took with Whisperstar, her paws slipping into the winding woven stone path. Turning her gaze to look at the boulder, she stopped in her tracks as darkness swallowed and her reality flickered in and out.

The massive boulder dimmed under a scarlet light and nine figures stood towering and powerful. Eyes widening, her breath caught in her throat as blood ran from their paws, streaming down the boulder and crashing down into a swarm of screaming, crying cats below. She recognised two of the silhouettes, one being Whisperstar, standing in the middle at the front and the intimidating form of Lazarus standing to her right. The others were unknown to her, but some were eerily familiar. As everything returned as normal, she flattened her ears. She remembered her dream the night she had met up with Roanpaw at The White Willow and suppressed a shudder.

Swallowing hard, she turned away and continued up the path to the surface, the guards at the entrance dipping their heads to her as she passed them. Breaking through to the surface once she reached the top, anxiety gripped her belly as her eyes connected with the red sky above. Red sky at morning is StarClan's warning. She thought nervously as she listened for the sound of the stream. Scenting the air, she found Lazarus' trail and followed it to and along the stream. Padding carefully and silently, she kept her eyes wide open and her ears pricked.

Something felt wrong. She could sense it in the air. The red dawn was only the first warning sign. Pausing at a clump of ferns as the stream slowly widened into a river, she peered over the bracken. There was the bent back willow. It's trunk was twisted backwards and it's vines swayed eerily in the still breeze. The silence was deafening as Darkpaw scented the air and cautiously padded out from behind the dead ferns, her claws ever so slightly unsheathed.

"I'm glad you could make it, Darkpaw," Lazarus' low toned meow struck Darkpaw's ears, making the tortoiseshell snap her head towards the treeline. "Some of my friends didn't think you would show up. They thought I'd have scared you off."

"It takes a lot more than that to frighten me off." Darkpaw replied with firmly.

There were other cats with Lazarus. Some of them had ugly scars on them. Behind their eyes was a menacing look as they stared at Darkpaw. There were four of them, their faces gnarled and worn as their ragged tails lashed behind them.

Lazarus waved her tail and from the bracken came two more felines, dragging her brother who was flailing and growling, hissing and spitting and snapping at them every chance he got as his claws tore through the air.

"Choose, Darkpaw." Lazarus mewed, a small smile curving the edges of her lips as she spoke, excitement lighting up her normally emotionless gaze. "Your life, or your brothers."

Darkpaw frowned, confusion illuminating her gaze as fear rose inside of her, tightening her chest. "What?" She echoed.

"Your life, or his. Which shall we play with?" Lazarus sat down, sweeping her tail over her paws. "Shall Shadowpaw fight one of my soldiers for your life, or shall you fight for his?"