Warriors - The Weight of Darkness

An Unexpected Truth

Ivypool is drowning; drowning in blood.

The young she-cat kicks and flails her paws, desperately trying to stay afloat, but the tide of crimson does not cease to rise. The scarlet drops stain her fur, wrapping around her like a second pelt that refuses to budge. The blood starts flowing from her claws, then rises up to her shoulders, and now clings onto the fur at her throat. She screams, but no one can hear her. The she-cat takes one last gasp of breath and resigns her struggling, allowing the tide of blood to consume her whole. There is not a single soul to hear her cries of despair and pain. She is completely and utterly alone.

Ivypool shot up from her nest and gasped for breath. Scattered moss and bracken surrounded her trembling body; she had been dreaming again. The young silver and white she-cats paws were trembling with fear, the dream still vivid in her mind. I'm safe now, in the clans. In the world of the living. They can't touch me here.

Ivypool forced her fur to lie flat and willed her racing heart to steady; she didn't want her clanmates to scent her lingering fear. Three days had passed since she murdered Antpelt to prove her loyalty to the Dark Forest. Nearly every second after that moment had been plagued with never-ending nightmares and guilt. I didn't have a choice she reminded herself. Cats had been killed before for the good of the clans. She just didn't expect it to be so appalling.

Ivypol had never realized how delicate life was, not until she stood over Antpelts fading body. Watching it dwindle away into the shadows, never to be seen or heard again. All it would take was one wrong move and she too could be crushed like the petals of a delicate flower. With a shudder, Ivypool realized that she had no idea where her spirit would ascend to if she were to die now. She had lived most of her life in the shadows, admiring and working with the worst cats in the history of the clans. Murderers don't belong in Starclan she reminder herself grimly.

From outside of the warrior's den Ivypool could hear the clan milling about and getting ready to start a new day. She had overslept yet again. Having finally recovered from the shock of her dream Ivypool padded out of the den and into the sunny clearing. Despite all that was happening in the Place Of No Stars, it was just another day in Thunderclan. Sunlight filtered into the clearing, warming the rocks of the Stone Hollow. Mousefur was complaining, Brambleclaw was sorting out patrols, Molekit and Cherrykit were scampering around the clearing, and her sister Dovewing gave her a wave of her tail through the crowd.

The two sisters had a rockier relationship than most littermates but for now, they were on smooth hunting grounds. Her sister was part of an ancient prophecy that claimed that three cats, kin of Firestar, would have the power of the stars in their paws. The clan medicine cat Jayfeather and Dovewing's former mentor Lionblaze were also part of the prophecy and both had extraordinary powers that set them apart from the rest of the world. As Dovewing's sister, she was one of the few cats who knew about the prophecy. At first, it had been another source of jealousy, but as she realized the true weight of responsibility she began to pity her sister rather than envy her.

"Hey, Ivypool!" Dovewing chirped, bounding up to her with her usual cheerful energy.

"Brambleclaw wants us on a hunting patrol, better not keep him waiting." she teased with an affectionate nudge. Ivypool nodded and gave her pelt a quick groom. A hunting patrol is exactly what I need to get my mind off of my nightmares.

Ivypool followed Dovewing to meet with the other members of the patrol: her father Birchfall, Hazeltail, and Rosepetal, who were waiting for them near the camp entrance. To her relief, none of them looked at her close enough to glimpse her disheveled appearance. Only her fellow dark forest trainees and a few other cats including her sister knew about her nighttime visits. If the rest of the clan knew what I did what would happen to me? Ivypool wondered. I would probably be exiled, or worse.