Warriors #4: Darkness Awakens

Chapter 4

Deep in my thoughts, I began drifting off into sleep, and before I knew it everything was black.

Then suddenly, out of the black, I could see the outlines of trees and bushes surrounding me. I could hear rustles of unknown creatures crawling through the shrubs and leaves. I was in the middle of a small clearing filled with grass. Dead grass.

I nearly jumped in my place as I heard whispers all around me. My ears flattened and I began to look around.

I am a pretty brave kit, but these new surroundings startled me.

Is this StarClan? I asked myself, it's definitely not as amazing as cats make it seem.

Suddenly, I heard paws land on the ground from behind me, and I let out a small yelp.

Realizing how stupid and wimpy I was being, I turned around to face whoever had just landed in the clearing with me.

It was very dark in this clearing. There were many trees hovering over it, so the entire area was very shadowy. So, I could not see what this cat looked like, but I could see their blue eyes glowing through the darkness.

From their voice, I could tell that it was a tom. "Hello, Swiftkit," the cat whispered,"I have been waiting for you."

I took a step back from this creep and unsheathed my claws.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"I have been watching you for a while," the tom continued.

Before I could respond, the strange cat stepped out from the darkness, and stepped into one of the small rays of light that struck the small clearing.

"I think that you have great potential," he said, with an ominous smile.

Now that I could actually see the tom, I was able to see what he looked like.

He was a larger gray tom with darker gray flecks. His blue eyes were glowing with ambition.

"Who are you?" I asked again.

He let out a small chuckle. "I'm surprised, the whole of ThunderClan quivers at the sound of my name!"

I had to take one more scan of the tom before I realized who he was. When it hit me, my ears shot straight up in the air.

"You're Ashfur!" I exclaimed, taking another step back.

Ashfur let out another mrrow of laughter, and took a step towards me. "No need to be afraid," he continued.

Stories of this cat began to come back to me. My mother sure did have a lot to say about him.

Ashfur had terrorized the Clan in so many ways, one of them being killing my mother's sister, Snowflight. At the sight of this, my mother ripped Ashfur apart.

I lifted my head from where it had been cringed back in fear. I tried to cover up my fear and look brave.

"I don't see why I should be, anyway," I commented,"My mother killed you."

That got him, because Ashfur seemed taken aback by my response, but then he shook his head quickly to get rid of the thought.

"I see you've heard of me," he muttered bitterly.

I simply just gave him a nod.

"Where am I?" I asked, looking at my surroundings again.

Ashfur smirked as I turned my head from left to right.

"You're in the Dark Forest," he said proudly,"Which is where you will probably get the best warrior training ever possible."

At these words, I stopped looking around, and all of my attention was on Ashfur.

"Dark Forest?" I questioned him,"Isn't that where the bad cats go when they die?"

"That's a way of putting it," he responded,"Or more like, where the cats go who actually have something to fight for, and who aren't lunatics and wimps."

I nodded, mesmerized by what he was saying.

I went back to what he originally said when he was explained where I was.

"What did you say about 'getting the best training ever possible'?" I asked him.

Ashfur let out another smirk. "Right. I am here tonight to visit you, because I want to offer you the amazing training that the Dark Forest can give you!"

I tilted my head. "But, I'm not even an apprentice yet!" I reminded him,"Why do you want to train me now?"

Ashfur answered,"The earlier you start training to be a warrior, the better."

I nodded slowly as he said this.

I was just as my mother had been as a kit. I wanted to be a warrior so badly. I dreamed about it every day.

To get an offer to train to be a warrior so early in my life, I couldn't resist.

"I can train you to be the best warrior of all the Clans," Ashfur told me,"You'll have all of the cats shaking at your paws by the time I'm done."

My ears flicked at the last part. This sounded amazing, but it was so weird to think so far ahead, let alone picturing cats shaking at my paws some day.

Ashfur watched me as I was deep in thought.

"So, what do you say?" he asked.

I met his bright and determined blue eyes, and I nodded to him.

Ashfur smirked even bigger than he had before.

"Wonderful. I will see you tomorrow night, then?"

I gave him another nod as he began to disappear into the bushes and fade away. In fact, everything around me was beginning to fade, the trees, the shrubs, everything.

Before I knew it, I was back in the nursery. I could see from inside the nursery that it was almost dawn. Everyone who had been in the nursery when I fell asleep was still there.

I looked back on the strange dream I had just had, and the decisions I had made.

I looked up at the moon from inside of the den, which I could barely see as it began to disappear behind the trees as the sun had. It was just me and my thoughts.

I looked down at the ground and shook my head slowly as I thought to myself,

What are you doing?