Kitten of the Dark Forest

Ch. 1: The New Arrival

Mapleshade looked at the kit, confused. "A kit? In the Dark Forest?" she thought. "How is this possible? Kits grow up to be evil, they don't start out evil! This must be a mistake, perhaps some curious kit from StarClan or a young Clan kit that has wished to see the Dark Forest for themselves. Either way, I'm going to have some fun." Mapleshade grinned maliciously as she began to stalk the kit. It's light brown fur did not spike, and it's black tail waved calmly, so Mapleshade was sure her quarry had no idea that a monster was hunting it. Just as she was about to voice a threat, the kit turned it's head halfway over it's right shoulder to look at her with one eye. A gasp caught in Mapleshade's throat as she stopped dead, looking at the kit. It's large green eye stared straight at her, and it's mouth was not positioned in a horrified gape, but rather a smile, as though it was looking at Mapleshade like a juicy squirrel. Mapleshade finally regained control of her self, and growled, "who are you? What are you doing here? Answer me, or die!" Mapleshade expected the kit to cower, but instead it chuckled lightly, and turned it's head to face away from her again. Then it stood up, and began to walk toward Mapleshade. As it neared, it said, "Ah, I suspected as much from you, Mapleshade. Who are you to do anything else? Of course you would try to threaten me, but I guess you weren't expecting the reaction as the one you got from me," The kit, a tom, chckled coldly, and Mapleshade felt an emotion that she hadn't felt for some time; fear. She hissed in fear and confusion, then spat, "Who are you, and how do you know me, or even my name?!" The kit continued to get closer to her, then when his nose was a wisker-ength away from Mapleshade's, he laughed and spoke again. "Don't fear me, Mapleshade. I'm a friend. My name is Tinykit, and I live here now. It's no accident, I really do belong here. Don't ask why, I'd prefer not to speak about it until I feel it is right. You should look at ThunderClan if you want to get a clue. Heh." Tinykit seemed to stare off into the distance for a moment before returning his gaze to Mapleshade. He cleared his throat, and then continued. "As for how I know your name, I'll explain that, sooner or later." Tinykit looked up at Mapleshade, as though expecting her to reply. Mapleshade nodded her head and said, "Well then, I, uh, I guess I should bring you back to the camps. I bet the others will be very pleased with your arrival. Now, um, let's go." Mapleshade and Tinykit set off toward the camps, Mapleshade still uneasy. "This kit must be here for a reason," she thought. "Yes, he must be pretty dangerous. Well, I think it would be better to have him as a friend than an enemy. Perhaps I shall bond with him for real, he seems like he would be too smart to know if I was faking it." Upon reaching the camp, Mapleshade saw Silverhawk and Maggottail come to greet her. Silverhawk was the first to notice Tinykit, nervous as he was around Mapleshade so that he flicked his eyes about. "Mapleshade, who have you brought with you? Have you stolen a kit from one of the Clans?" Mapleshade shook her head. "No. Tinykit has died and joined us, for whatever crime he has committed. He, like everyone here, is a fully fledged Dark Forest member," she explained. Maggottail's eyes widened. "Wow, a kit in the Dark Forest!" he exclaimed. "He must have done something really bad to have been sent here. StarClan must have thought that they had no choice!" Maggottail smiled, then furrowed his brow as he seemed to become concerned. "Which group will he be in? We've never had a kit in the Dark Forest before, so we don't know how each group will react. What if they kill him just for the fun of it?" Mapleshade's eyes widened as she thought of this. Though Tinykit was odd, Mapleshade knew that no kit should have to die at the hands of another cat. The kits she killed were never meant to be alive in the first place, but this kit had no good reason to be killed. But before Mapleshade could voice her concern, Tinykit remarked, "Why must you stay in groups? It just makes you weaker. Well, I can't do anything about that. Yet. But who lives in each group?" Silverhawk looked at the young kit, perplexed at why he was speaking so boldly, then shrugged and said, "Well, there are three groups in all. Tigerstar's group consisted of cats who were either loyal to Tigerstar or Brokenstar. The only cats left are Thistleclaw, Darkstripe, Clawface, and Mapleshade. They live over by that large tree." Silverhawk pointed his tail to a thick gray tree with three cats by it, laying on some moss they gotten from the tree. "Another group," Silverhawk continued, his tail motioning to a clearing, "is the group that has loyalties to no cat but themselves. They just stay in a group for the thought of safety in this wretched place. The members are Snowtuft, Sparrowfeather, Redwillow, Rabbitsplinter, and Maggottail and I. The last group lives in that hollow tree by the river. Those are the cats that have been here since the beginning. Since they committed the first crimes, I don't think they can fade on their own. They must haunt here until someone kills them." Silverhawk pointed his tail toward a hollow tree by a black, murky river, and Tinykit observed four cats sitting in it, looking miserable and hollow like the tree. "All well, sucks to be them,"Silverhawk commented. "Their names are One Eye, Slash, Beetle, and Bee. And that's it. So, Tinykit, which group do you chose? Tinykit looked up at Mapleshade, and Mapleshade felt something stir inside her, but she couldn't tell what. "I think I'll stay with Mapleshade," he said. Walking away, Mapleshade caught up with him. "Why do want to stay with me, instead of going with the biggest group?" she asked. Tinykit looked up at her, and smiled his unsettling smile again. "I have a good reason, Mapleshade," he answered. "You only live for vengeance, to get revenge. And I like that. Together, Mapleshade, you and I can bring terror and death to the Clans. We will show them the true meaning of fear. We will make them pay for every time they have wronged us. We will lead the other Dark Forest cats to victory, and no one will be able to stop us!" Tinykit looked at Mapleshade with such bloodlust, such a thirst for revenge, that Mapleshade couldn't reply. But that wasn't the only reason. When Tinykit had turned to her, Mapleshade saw another outline of a cat around him, as though they were one. Though it was only for an instant, Mapleshade knew exactly who it was; Tigerstar.