Omen of the Sun Book Three: Dusk

Chapter Twenty

Goldleaf

Goldleaf paced around his den, looking for an escape route. It seemed the Dark Forest had thought of everything. There also seemed to be some kind of boundary in place, sealed with some sort of magic. After what Goldleaf had seen so far, he wouldn't be surprised. He scratched at the dirt encasing of the walls, wondering bleakly how long he'd be stuck in here.

Why was he here, anyway? What had he done to deserve this? He'd become Applestar's mate just to protect Sunpool. He hadn't been that great of a cat in life. He'd done some things he regretted. But he didn't understand why he was here now when he was supposed to be enjoying a basically eternal afterlife.

Unless...

He knew Applestar. He thought. He had trained with her, played with her, talked to her, gotten to know her. Although she had been the one initiating the conversation and most of the time he had thought it was pointless and annoying, he hadn't been able to deny her talking. Which was going to work in his favor now.

Applestar was done with him. She was off, having kits with that mysterious tom Sunpool claimed was named Mint. If he wasn't important, she would have left him.

But he was important. She had proved that by imprisoning him in the Dark Forest. The only logical solution was that he had to do something for her. He was going to help defeat her. The more he pondered the idea, the more he realized that yes, he was definitely right.

So, he had to get out of here.

Think! What would he do if he were imprisoning Applestar here? If he had magic at his disposal, what would he use? I would seal her in here with no way to escape. But there would have to be something that he could do...

He had heard that prophecy that night when Sunpool had officially joined the Clan, and suddenly, it came rushing back to him. The gold, lightning, and cinders shall rise. If he wasn't mistaken, Lightningfeather and Cinderstorm had both acquired some kinds of powers. He had seen it when he was keeping watch on them. So, if he was the gold, and they were the lightning and cinders...

He should be able to use the power.

It'd be extremely convenient if he had the power to break down walls, or break through magic. Yeah, that'd be awesome.

He channeled his thoughts and to his surprise began to fall.

He glanced down. His paws had been moving faster than he could track. He had been digging down into the ground, churning up dirt with his paws.

Of course.

He got the power to magically churn up dirt.

Goldleaf groaned but started digging at the dirt. It was hard going. He pushed at the dirt and concentrated, but only moved a little bit every moment. When his paws were so tired he could hardly think and he had lost feeling in them moons ago, he finally pushed his way up to the surface, breathing in the not-very-fresh-but-still-fresher-than-it-was-in-the-den air.

I'm free.

He was free. But it shouldn't have been that easy. Applestar was no fool. She must have put a loophole in the enchantment to allow him to get out.

It was another test. Another test in an endless loop of tests.

He'd have to find his way out. He couldn't do anything until he was back in StarClan, surrounded by good cats who had good intentions. He glanced up at the sky, trying to remember every navigation trick he'd been taught as an apprentice: follow the sun, the brightest star in the sky. There was one issue: he couldn't see the sky because of the leaves.

I'll have to just wing it and choose a direction, Goldleaf realized. This has to end somewhere.

Or did it? It really didn't. Goldleaf wouldn't have been surprised if it had. Vaguely, he wondered what was underneath the ground. A portal to StarClan would be foolish to hope for, but maybe it led to somewhere nice and warm.

Yeah, no.

Goldleaf turned to the right and was just about to set off when a voice behind him spoke. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Goldleaf turned, eyes flashing. A dainty, slender white she-cat had materialized out of nowhere, it seemed. "Snowdust."

The she-cat dipped her head. "In the flesh. Or," she corrected himself, "more like in the spirit." She laughed at her joke.

Goldleaf didn't. He waited till her eyes were closed as she laughed, and then sprang forward, legs pushing forward.

In a flash, Snowdust was on him, slamming him to the ground, her claws digging into her spine. For such a dainty she-cat, she was heavy.

"I don't think so," she snarled, hot breath tickling his ear fur. "You're not going anywhere, Goldleaf."

Goldleaf bucked, momentarily forgetting, or maybe just not caring, that this was the cat who had, singlepawed, wiped out an entire Clan. Snowdust was very thin; he could use this to his advantage. He had more weight, more wiry muscle. Snowdust clung on and sliced with her back paws, jaws snapping at his ear tips. Goldleaf jerked his head to the side.

So that's how she did it, he thought, dizzy. She hit so many cats at the same time. Half-concentrating, he had barely a second to admire the she-cat's battle skills before she sliced deep into his flesh again.

Goldleaf snapped into action, arching his back in a stance that he hoped would fling her off of him. He yowled as her claws ripped into his skin as she was jerked away from him.

Snowdust was back in a heartbeat; she seemed to be unstoppable, and Goldleaf suddenly realized that she was more agile and fast than him, the way his mentor had long ago taught him to fight with his brain, and search out weaknesses and advantages he had when fighting an opponent. Not a problem, he assured himself, jumping out of the way as she lunged for him.

Snowdust landed in a crouch, her paws splaying out on the leaves, unsteadying her. Goldleaf took the opportunity and bounded at her, claws outstretched.

But they didn't hit their mark.

Snowdust had rolled out of the way just in time, and instead of landing a laceration on her chest, he had just nicked the top of her ear. It was bleeding freely, and he felt a vicious, savage pleasure that he had made her bleed, soiling her pretty white fur.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Snowdust touched her tail tip to her ear, and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

Then she leapt, claws shredding with glancing, well-aimed blows, and it was all Goldleaf could do to defend himself from the fury of the blows that just kept coming, and coming, and coming...

Goldleaf was aware that he was loosing energy. He bit his tongue hard as Snowdust landed a claw to his chin and retaliated with a slash, slamming his paw down hard on her leg, making a long, jagged rip tear that spurted blood. Snowdust hissed, baring her teeth in a way that made her lovely features contort.

She advanced on him. "You're done," she informed him. Goldleaf stared at her, accepting his fate, when a voice called from the other end of the clearing where he and Snowdust had fought.

"Am I too late?"

I UPDATED

I need to work out a better schedule ASAP

But I tried to make it long for you all, because I've been slacking on updates for a while...

But good news! Testing is all over, and school's almost over, so hopefully my schedule will clear up a bit and I'll be able to finish the book and the series and the rest of the unfinished stuff I have XD

What do you think about Goldleaf's power? *Sigh* *XD*

Happy Memorial Day (in advance) and thank you to any soldiers and/or veterans who have fought for the freedom of America. *Salute*

~Rainfeather