Frost Strikes Hard (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 9- Ferndapple

"Leap! Turn! No, turn!"
Ferndapple flopped exhausted onto the ground. Midnight training sessions with Spark were taxing, and made every bone in her body ache with an everlasting fire. Tensing her muscles again, she leapt clumsily, and shoved a paw out into thin air. It connected with nothing, and Ferndapple scrabbled wildly as she spun out of control and landed helplessly in a heap.
"My dear Ferndapple," purred Spark, her voice as smooth and soft as milk,"we need some practising, don't we?"
Ferndapple raised her head, shaking it from side to side in an attempt to clear the gathering dust. The dark forest was warm, and hot, wet air pressed hard on her shoulders. However, Spark's fur was clean and shining, her claws pristine like the fangs of an adder.
"Is-is it possible to have a drink?"
Ferndapple had barely flung the words into the air before Spark was upon her. She dug her claws in hard and flung Ferndapple's bruised body across the clearing, tearing great gashes in her side. Ferndapple felt blood spurting from the cuts as Spark pounced on her, hitting her with slashing blows, harder and harder...
And then a red haze engulfed her vision, and everything went black.

~Time skip~

Ferndapple blinked her eyes as she awoke from a dreamless, unwanted sleep. Her whole body ached, but she felt a strange cleanliness across her skin, and she was cool, even in the stifling heat. Worry came over her as she struggled to her feet and looked at her surroundings. Nothing... Nothing she recognised. Not a tree, not a withered bush. A shadowy palace of unfamiliar echoes. Then she heard a muffled cough echoing from the other side of the clearing. An unfamiliar white she-cat stepped out from the shadows. Ferndapple wondered how she could have hidden her white pelt, but as she looked closer, she noticed wisps of dark matter clinging to the she-cat's fur, wreathing around her and ready to engulf her in a cloud of black smoke at her will. The she-cat's milky white pelt was gleaming, but what worried Ferndapple was the long, faded scars that ran the length of her stomach, leading across her back and ending at her neckbones. The cat's blue eyes gleamed with desire, and as she smiled Ferndapple noticed blood on her yellowed teeth. She gulped. Oh, Starclan. The cat opened her wide, red mouth, and began to talk.
"Ferndapple, you may not know my face, but I know yours, and if you seek into your darker memories you will know me too."
Ferndapple suddenly felt a flash of realisation. At her apprentice assessment, the flick of a white tail in the bracken. At her warrior ceremony, those gazing blue eyes. So they weren't just a dream.....
The she-cat stepped forward.
"You are weak, small warrior. You think you can beat the dark forest. But nobody beats the dark forest!"
She had a manic, demented look in her eyes. Ferndapple's mind blazed warnings, but she was powerless to move, as though her feet were frozen. The she-cat approached further, and Ferndapple smelt her rancid breath, warm and wet on her face. The she-cat smiled, a long, calm smile that showed no kindness.
"You are ours now. There is nothing you can do to escape."
Ferndapple's eyes widened.
"But- what about my family, my friends- what about Pricklefang?"
Thoughts raced through Ferndapple's mind. To leave everything behind- for this? Her gaze hardened. No. But the she-cat smiled again.
"I feel your loss, weakling. When I was young, I felt your pain. But I don't feel it any more!" She cackled. "But there is one thing you could do..."
Ferndapple's voice instantly replied.
"What is it? I will do anything!"
The she-cat smiled once more, showing her long, yellowing teeth.
"Pricklefang. Kill him."

A/N thanks for all the reads and fantastic comments, especially from DarkForestWarrior ! I will update this more often now, so it won't be long!