Mountainshine found herself in a dark forest where no light dared to shine. She looked around and began to wonder if she was even in StarClan. Surely StarClan didn't look this scary?
"Hello?" she called out to the darkness. Nothing. Not a sound or movement. She began to think she was alone in this dark forest until a flash of amber caught her sight.
"Hello, Moutainshine," a familiar voice greeted. Mountains nine hesitated to reply and then a dark tabby shape appeared in front of her. She blinked and recognised this cat.
"Tigerstar, is that really you?" she asked. Tigerstar nodded.
"I'm surprised you're here."
"Why are you? After all, this is StarClan. . . isn't it?" Mountainshine questioned her mate.
"No," Tigerstar replied. "This is the Dark Forest. We do not have a place in the ranks of StarClan so they sent us here. You know, because we are evil."
"Oh, I thought StarClan wouldn't look like this. Are there any other cats here or is it just us?"
"Other cats," Tigerstar replied. With a flick of his tail, other cats began to come out of the darkness. Mountainshine could only recognise three cats--Darkstripe, Hawkfrost and Brokenstar-- while the others were unknown to her.
"It's Mountainpaw," Darkstripe mewed with surprise. "I thought she would be with those goody little StarClan cats."
"No, I'm in the Dark Forest," Mountainshine replied to the black-and-grey tabby.
"Darkstripe, her name is Mountainshine," Tigerstar corrected for the she-cat. Darkstripe blinked.
"Oh, I knew that," he lied. A tortoiseshell she-cat looked over her shoulder and Mountainshine could see her teeth were yellow.
"Snowtuft, quit cowering away and get back here!" she yowled and a white tom slid out of his hiding place. Mountainshine felt horrified when she saw a long scar that snaked from the tom's ear-tip to belly. She guessed that must have been what had killed him.
"Greetings, Mountainshine," a dark tabby greeted as he stared down at the new-comer. "I am Brokenstar, a former leader of ShadowClan." Mountainshine could remember hearing about Brokenstar from her parents when she was just a kit.
Tigerstar had told Mountainshine about all of the Dark Forest warriors. After thinking she wouldn't be able to cope in the Dark Forest, Mountainshine now knew she could.
