Omen of the Sun Book Three: Dusk

Chapter Seventeen

Goldleaf

When Goldleaf woke again, he was in a dark forest he didn't recognize. By dark, he meant really, totally, completely dark, to the point where he, who had excellent night vision, couldn't see anything through the gloom.

Then his vision cleared, and he could see a little bit clearer through the darkness. He saw a cat making their way towards him, and immediately, his survival instincts kicked in, and he unsheathed his claws and tried to roll into a standing position. Even this small movement made his head pound, and he swallowed thickly, trying to get his painful head to stop hurting.

"So, our honored guest awakens?" A cat meowed. Goldleaf narrowed his eyes. He felt like he knew that voice... it was stirring something in his memory...

It was Applestar's.

"Applestar," he ground out. "Where are we?"

Two more cats approached and flanked her on either side, the fog making their features and bodies seem distorted. Neither of them were cats he recognized.

"Oh," Applestar clucked, sounding disappointed. "Don't you know? I'm sure you've heard dozens of nursery stories. Some of the most illustrious evil cats in history have come here after death. Aspentail. Nightfrost. Tornclaw. You know. The Dark Forest."

Vaguely, Goldleaf remembered some nursery story he'd heard moons ago, when he'd been alive. Applestar was right in saying that dozens of evil cats had come here after death. He supposed it made sense that they were communicating with living cats, like Applestar, because StarClan did the same.

"Alright," he groaned. His head hurt so bad! "Whatever. Doesn't surprise me that you're in here."

Applestar's eyes flashed. "Watch what you're saying, Goldleaf. There's a simple way I can shut you up forever."

"But you won't," Goldleaf mewed slowly. "If you took the trouble of getting me out of StarClan - which must have been difficult with the boudaries, and all that fun stuff - then you need me for something. I don't know why, but you wouldn't have purposely taken me from StarClan if you didn't need me."

"Maybe we just wanted something to do," Applestar suggested.

"You're not like that," Goldleaf countered. "You don't like to hard things unless a reward'll come from it. What is it this time, Applestar? What could you possibly want that would go this deep?"

Applestar placed her tail very gently under his chin and leaned close. There was an odd emotion in her eyes. "Power," she informed him. Then she stepped back. "Right! Shall we crack down to business, then? Let's make some introductions."

She pointed to the tom on her right. "This is Lionscar," she meowed. "He's the tom who brought you from StarClan. Lovely tom, yes indeed."

Lionscar dipped his head. Goldleaf deduced that his pelt was black, and not just hidden by shadows. When he lowered his head to Goldleaf's level, Goldleaf saw his eyes were crystal blue, unnervingly unique. "Welcome to the Dark Forest."