Ivypool's Lament

|Chapter II|

Ivypool opened her eyes to see mist swirling around her paws. A thick layer of trees was around her, and she followed a path she was so very familiar with. She heard voices up ahead, and saw Hawkfrost talking to the Dark Forest apprentices. He looked over at her when she came up.

"You're late," Hawkfrost growled.

"Firestar had ThunderClan sit by the lake for a little while," Ivypool mewed, taking a spot in the line of cats.

"Don't be late again, now I'm going to be teaching you a new-"

Hawkfrost stopped mid sentence, staring off into the trees. Everyone turned around to see what he was looking at, and Ivypool instantly recognized the cat who had interrupted him. The strange cat they had met that night walked in between Hawkfrost and the apprentices.

"And who are you?" Hawkfrost challenged, lashing his tail.

"I could ask you the same, except I already know," he answered. "Why do you want to destroy the Clans anyway?"

Everyone gasped except for Ivypool, she had already known about the war against the Clans. Breezepelt didn't gasp, either.

"What? How did you know about our plan?" Hawkfrost hissed.

Tigerstar walked up, seeing the strange cat and how close Hawkfrost was to clawing him.

"What's going on?" He questioned.

The rogue seemed to take this as a que, and his left eye turned blue again. He pointed his paw at Tigerstar, then dragged him into Hawkfrost. They lay stunned under the thick layer trees. A light green barrier formed around them, keeping them from escape. Without any warning, Brokenstar leaped out of the trees, almost landing on top of the stranger. The stranger easily dodged, and picked Brokenstar up. He put him inside the barrier with Tigerstar and Hawkfrost.

"Now that you're all together, we'll end this here and now," he purred.

Ivypool didn't know what to do, Breezepelt looked like he was about to pounce on the rogue and rip his throat out. Everyone else was just terrified, unsure and confused about what to do or what was happening.

Everyone watched with gaping mouths as a skull like creature formed in the air. It had the colors of the rainbow, and was scary to look at. With the flick of the strange cat's tail, it opened it's mouth and shot a beam at the three Dark Forest warriors. When it stopped, they were all lying there, motionless and seemingly untouched.

Breezepelt padded forward, touching Brokenstar with his paw, and shaking him. He stumbled backwards.

"H-He's dead," he stammered.

Everyone else started panicking, trying to get away from the threat that had killed the Dark Forest leader. Ivypool just stared at him in horror, trying her hardest to wake up. She closed her eyes, and opened them to see cats sleeping around her. She let out a sigh of relief. Dovewing stirred beside her, her ears perking up. She lifted her head, staring at Ivypool.

"What happened?" She asked, her eyes brimming with curiousity.

"Come with me," Ivypool mewed, carefully padding out of the apprentice den.

She led her sister a little ways away from the hollow, stopping beside a bramble thicket. She waited for Dovewing to find a comfortable position.

"What is it?" Dovewing meowed.

"The Dark Forest, that rogue we saw, he was there," Ivypool started to explain. "He killed Hawkfrost, Tigerstar, and Brokenstar."

Dovewing's eyes grew wide with disbelief.

"He just killed them? Just like that?"

"Yes! I'm afraid that he's-"

"Afraid I'm going to hurt your leaders?"

Ivypool spun around, the rogue right in front of her. She scrambled backwards, bumping into Dovewing and falling over. The stranger purred with amusement.

"I'm not going to hurt you or your leader," he reassured her.

"How can we trust you? You came here, acting all tough and saying you want to lead the Clans! We don't even know your name!" Dovewing stormed, getting protective over her Clan and her kits.

"If it makes you feel better, my name is MS," he told them.

"MS? What kind of name is that?" Ivypool snorted.

"It stands for something, my name isn't just two letters," he explained.

"Then what is it? Your full name?" Dovewing prodded.

"It's unimportant right now," MS insisted. "The gathering is tonight, yes?"

"Yes," Ivypool answered.

"Right, I will be there tonight," MS meowed, disappearing.

Dovewing and Ivypool stared at the spot where he was standing a second ago. He just... Disappeared. Ivypool shook her head and started to head back to the hollow with Dovewing close behind her. Jayfeather met them at the entrance.

"Dovewing, you need to go to the nursery now," he told her.

"Now? But it's so early!" Dovewing protested.

"You're half a moon away from having kits. Go to the nursery, now," Jayfeather demanded, pushing her.

Ivypool followed them in, then went over to Brambleclaw to see if she could go on any patrols.

"Ivypool, perfect," Brambleclaw greeted. "You can go on boarder patrol with Squirrelflight, Hollyleaf, and Spiderleg."

Ivypool nodded and met the patrol at the entrance. They left, heading towards the WindClan boarder. As they walked, Ivypool wondered what StarClan would think about the oncoming gathering. She shivered. If MS leads us, what will any cat think?