Lilypetal's POV
As I walked over to the warriors den, absolutely exhausted, I reflected on the most recent happenings in my life.
Thank StarClan that Swiftkit is okay, I thought to myself, but what in Silverpelt made him decide that escaping camp was a good idea, especially since he had been recovering in the medicine den before he left?
I was suddenly overcome with guilt. I had already apologized to Goldenshine profusely, but I still felt terrible that I had been on guard at the time Swiftkit had supposedly snuck out of camp. I tried to push the guilt away as I crawled into the warriors den.
Thornclaw wasn't in our usual nest yet. He's probably doing a later patrol, I realized as I lied down and tried to get comfortable.
I put my head down on the soft moss and watched the moon slowly rise up in the midst of Silverpelt. I then closed my eyes and began to drown in my own thoughts, not being able to fall asleep just yet.
As the Swiftkit situation left my mind, my head then filled with ease and comfort. Besides the situation with Swiftkit and his little squabble, the Clan and the rest of the lake seem to be at peace, I realized.
It was true. There hadn't seemed to have been any conflicts at all within ThunderClan or with the other Clans at all lately. We were letting each other be, which honestly seemed rare to me.
And, now that Ashfur was dead, I didn't have to worry about his treachery anymore. Unfortunately, it had to happen at the cost of Snowflight, but I was thankful that he now couldn't do more harm to Squirrelflight, anyone of her kin, or myself or anyone of my kin.
I suddenly felt a nervous pang in my stomach. Right? I then felt a strong sense of foreboding. I wasn't sure why.
Trying to shake off my nervous feelings, I adjusted myself to a more comfortable position in my nest and tried to let sleep overcome me.
Just as darkness seemed to capture me, my eyes opened again. I found myself in a dark, shadowy forest. The earth under me was wet and muddy. Tall trees hovered over the clearing I was in, and bramble bushes seemed to surround me.
Is this StarClan? I asked myself. If so, they sure do need to relocate.
I started to wander around the area, gaping my mouth to see if I could catch any other scents.
For some reason, I felt my fur start to bristle, and tension seemed to surround me.
If this is StarClan, why is it making me so nervous? I asked myself. A realization then shot into my mind.
This is the Dark Forest.
I continued forward. Just as a cat's stench flooded through my nostrils, I heard the shudder of bushes behind me.
I quickly unsheathed my claws and turned on the cat who was emerging from the bushes.
My heart seemed to drop to the floor as I immediately recognized who it was.
This gray tom with dark patches was a sight that I never thought that I would have to see again.
I had no words. I didn't know if I wanted to sink down to the ground and wail, or throw myself at him and shred his fur off.
Rather than either of these things, I found myself slowly starting to back away. I suppose my unconscious mind was reminded of all that this cat had done to me, my friends, and my kin.
You threatened Squirrelflight, attempted to murder Firestar, Jayfeather, Lionblaze and Hollyleaf... you killed my daughter, and I'm sure would've killed the other if you'd gotten the chance.
I felt a growl begin to rise in my throat, my teeth barring as well.
To my surprise, Ashfur let out a purr of amusement.
I dug my unsheathed claws into the earth. "You sick fox-heart!" I spat at him. "What could possibly be so funny?"
Ashfur purred again and then shook his head slowly and looked to the ground. "I just love how I've managed to intimidate you so much after all of this time," he meowed, smirking, "After all of the damage I've done, I finally have you cowering in fear!"
I lashed my tail and then managed to recollect myself. There is no way I'm letting this piece of fox-dung believe that I'm scared of him.
"Whatever. What else could you possibly want with me if you've supposedly done so much damage already?" I challenged him.
Ashfur licked his paw and ran it across his head. It was so tempting to just want to bowl him over and rip his throat out, but obviously I thought better of it.
"I thought that I might as well show you what I've been up to lately," Ashfur answered, "Considering you seem to be so comfortable with things right now."
I rolled my eyes. What a creep, I thought, rage bubbling up inside of me. But creep doesn't even begin to describe him, that horrible piece of-
"Almost too comfortable," Ashfur murmured, interrupting my thoughts. I blinked at him, wondering what he meant.
"I see you've been lingering around in your kittypet roots recently," Ashfur taunted, answering my thoughts, "I'm not surprised, you've always been weak."
I shook my head quickly and growled. "Like I'd ever go back to a Twoleg nest!" I snapped back, but then held myself back from saying anything else. He's trying to rile me up again by saying that.
I tried to move the subject. "What is this you're trying to 'update' me on?" I asked, rolling my eyes again and barring my teeth. "The more we stand here, the more I want to rip you apart!"
I guess I must have looked somewhat intimidating, as Ashfur had taken a step back.
"Steady there, Lilypetal," he teased, a smirk emerging on his face again. He then turned his back to me and began to crawl through some brambles. He stopped and turned his head back to me. "Follow me," he muttered.
Making sure to keep my distance from him, I followed. I had no idea what he was leading me to. I kept in mind that this might be a sort of trap, but if there was a chance that I could find out something that he was plotting, I would take it.
He killed Snowflight, I reminded myself. My own daughter. I'm willing to take this risk for her sake.
Ashfur picked up the pace in front of me, and I continued to follow him, staying at least a couple of fox-lengths behind him.
I came to a halt as I saw that ahead of me, Ashfur was now stopped, crouching down and seeming to be watching something from behind some bushes.
I narrowed my eyes and only took a couple of steps towards him. He lashed his tail to beckon me to come closer.
I snorted. "Yeah, right," I muttered, "Nice try."
Ashfur hissed at me. "Mouse-brain! At least get a little closer!"
I hissed back at him and crouched down in some bushes just a fox-length from Ashfur. He turned his head towards me and nodded it beyond the bushes.
My head shot to that direction, and I crawled a bit deeper into the brambles so I could clearly see what Ashfur was gesturing to. While doing this, I made sure to have one eye on the gray furball the whole time, as he could do anything to me at any moment.
Through the bushes, I saw two shapes in action. One was a smaller cat, and the other was a large, muscular one.
Trying to not let myself be seen, I crawled in a bit deeper so I could actually see who was beyond the bushes, rather than just going off of shapes.
My heart stopped as I began to process the scene in front of me.
There was Swiftkit in a small clearing. He was intently watching the cat in front of him. This cat almost looked identical to Brambleclaw, but he was bigger and had scars all over his body.
Tigerstar, I realized, a chill running down my spine.
I began shaking at the sight. What was Swiftkit doing here, training with the most dangerous cat known to the Clans?
Ashfur seemed to hear my thoughts, and let out a small chuckle. "Quite a sight, isn't it?" he meowed. "This kit, who I know is your kin and Goldenshine's son, has been training here for a couple of moons..."
My mouth dropped. No way!
"Swiftkit has been training with Tigerstar in the Dark Forest?" I whispered, making sure that Swiftkit wouldn't hear me.
Ashfur's eyes narrowed. "Not just Swiftkit has been training him," he answered.
My eyes widened, and another growl rose in my throat. "You!" I spat at him. "What are you doing to him? I have to get him out of here!" Just as I was about to jump out of the bushes, I felt large claws dig into my flank. I barred my teeth, trying to withhold the pain.
"Not over my dead body," Ashfur hissed.
I snorted. "It's too bad that I never got to witness that," I murmured, pulling away from him as quickly as I could.
Ashfur spat at me, then meowed with his teeth barred, "Swiftkit is the center of my plan," he explained, "And there's no way I'm letting you get in the way of it right now!"
I dug my claws into the earth in frustration, but then realized my advantage. "All I have to do is tell him, or have Goldenshine tell him to stop training here!" I meowed, reassuring myself. "He's a smart kit, he'll listen."
Ashfur let out a mrrow of laughter. "See, Lilypetal, that can't happen."
"Why not?"
"Because, if you say a word to him, he's dead."
I couldn't suppress a gasp. It had seemed like forever ago since I had last received such a threat from Ashfur, and now all of those feelings of anger and fear were being brought back.
"You..." I growled, barely being able to get the words out, "You terrible piece of-"
Ashfur cut me off, clearly amused, "-crowfood. Yes, I've heard that many times."
Just as I thought I couldn't take it anymore, and was going to leap at the fox-heart, all of the forest around me started to disappear.
"Time for you to go back, I suppose," Ashfur murmured, giving me that terrible smirk one last time. "Have a great rest, and remember what I said..."
Before I could give Ashfur one last spitting remark, everything around me went dark, and then I opened my eyes to find myself back in the warriors den. I was breathless, and I realized almost immediately that I was shuddering. I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. I was so filled with fear for Swiftkit, infuriated at Ashfur, and so exasperated that I couldn't do anything about his threats.
I lifted my head up and turned it to see that Thornclaw was now next to me, also awake, staring at me with deep concern.
"Lilypetal, what's wrong?" he whispered, his voice sounding slightly fearful, "Are you okay?"
I shook my head quickly. "No," I answered quickly.
Still in hysterics, I managed to explain to Thornclaw what had happened in a quiet voice, being aware of the other cats around me who were sleeping.
Thornclaw's eyes had widened as I told him. He then looked to the ground, seeming to be deep in thought. I briefly saw his eyes cloud with guilt, as I knew that he himself trained in the Dark Forest. As uncomfortable and worried as it made me, I let him continue, because I trusted that he wouldn't let himself go too far. I was trying my best in this moment not to challenge his choices again, as seeing Ashfur's plan made me question the Dark Forest's true motives.
"I can't believe this," he finally said.
"You have no idea," I whispered, snorting.
"One thing I definitely didn't have any idea of is the fact that Swiftkit is training in the Dark Forest," Thornclaw meowed, sounding exasperated, "I haven't run into him once, and Tigerstar and Ashfur are always everywhere, so I wouldn't know as to whether they've been taking time with Swiftkit or not."
I nodded, still in shock at the situation.
Thornclaw then looked at me thoughtfully. "Are you sure it wasn't just a really bad dream?"
I tilted my head, my heart's pace beginning to slow. I hadn't even thought of that!
Thornclaw continued. "Everyone has been negatively affected by Ashfur, but if anyone, you've had it the worst. What if your mind just formed a horrible dream?" he asked me, "Ashfur, Swiftkit training with Tigerstar, the threat..."
I let out a deep sigh, almost feeling lighter at the thought of it all being a dream. "One can only hope," I meowed, my voice slightly shaking.
Thornclaw also let out a sigh. "If by any chance that this wasn't just any dream, I'll keep an eye out for Swiftkit and make sure that he is safe. That's all that can be done right now."
Then he shook his head quickly. "If he is there training, I have to admit, I don't think it's a good idea for a cat so young to be there."
"You're telling me!" I muttered.
Thornclaw then blinked at me and then pulled me closer to him with his paw. "Let's just assume for now that it was a nightmare," he concluded, "If a bigger threat emerges, or if we clearly see that Swiftkit is in danger, we'll do something about it."
I nodded to him, then I let my head dig into Thornclaw's chest fur as I closed my eyes for the second time that night.
For some reason, I couldn't be completely assured by Thornclaw's words. As much as I wanted to believe that it had all been a dream, everything that I had just experienced felt so real - everything I felt, heard and saw.
Not being able to bear thinking about all of it much longer, I sent a prayer to StarClan, hoping that Swiftkit was safe.
StarClan, please let it have been an awful dream...
Finally, I let myself drift off into sleep once again.