A Dark Path

Prologue

Troutpelt looked up at Blackstar, who was sitting by the entrance with narrowed copper eyes. "We need to speak."
Troupelt let out a sigh. Whenever she and Blackstar had "talks" like this, there would be a lot of yelling and having to leave Slugkit alone. The young kit had been named by his mother; he reminded her so much of Blackstar that it made her uncomfortable. She wasn't sure what she'd seen in him, but she'd ended up having Slugkit and Marigoldkit. They were brothers and Marigold looked a lot more like Troutpelt. He was bigger and tended to be stronger than Slugkit, but Slugkit was quick-witted, just like his father. Just another thing to make Troutpelt uncomfortable about him.
He had her eyes, but almost always had Blackstar's expression. He was an ambitious kit...Troutpelt just hoped that he'd put that ambition to good use, instead of a worse thing. Like Blackstar had.
Only Troutpelt knew that Blackstar had killed Stormstar, the leader before him. Blackstar had threatened her on several occasions so that she would keep his secret, but she hoped that, one day soon, she could take Marigold and rid herself of Blackstar and PineClan.
Blackstar snarled. "Hurry up."
"Fine." Troutpelt sighed. "Who will watch Slugkit and Marigoldkit?"
Campionwhisker perked her ears from nearby. Troutpelt's sister tended to stay in the nursery, if only to keep an eye on Blackstar. Her sister hadn't trusted Blackstar, not since the very beginning. Troutpelt didn't blame her.
"I'll do it." Campionwhisker mewed. "I'll watch the kits. You go ahead, Blackstar, I want to make sure I know what to do in case of emergency."
Blackstar narrowed his eyes, then huffed and turned, leaving.
"Be careful, Troutpelt." Campionwhisker mewed softly. "See that look in his eyes? He's up to something."
Troutpelt held Campionwhisker's gaze. "Are you sure?"
Campionwhisker nodded. "Positive."
Troutpelt turned and then sighed. "I will. I'll be back soon."