Warriors: What Is There To Do?

Epilogue- Coldpaw

Cold. Dark. This was no Starclan. There were towering, scraggly trees, the bare branches spiking into the sky — no sign of life to be found anywhere. There were only small sounds of rattling dried leaves against the wind. Black rot scattered the ground, leaving it damp and stagnant, accompanied with the odor of decomposing wood.

Memories whirled in Coldpaw's mind as she floated amid the dark sky; an endless void filled with lost souls drifting around, when suddenly the ground rushed to meet her.

With a spluttering cough, she jerked awake to find the breath knocked out of her. She choked, gasping to recover her breath. After a few heartbeats of panic, she slowly regained control of her breathing.

Coldpaw frowned, trying to make sense of what happened and where she was. The last thing she remembered was a light, the brightest light she'd ever seen... It all came back to her like a kick to the stomach. Shadowclan. Riverclan. The war. Coldpaw frantically glanced around, she had to get back to the battle! She couldn't just abandon her clan in the midst of a war!

She glanced at the dark ground, but not before something caught her eye. Her chest bore ugly, deep scars and her fur was flecked with dried blood. So that's what that feeling was: the pain, the light, and then this.

Breathing deeply, the little she-cat stifled a sob. She hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to her clan, to her family, to her brothers Pinepaw and Seedpaw. The cat who killed her showed no mercy when he attacked her, clawing and biting until she could no longer resist the pull of death.

Coldpaw shook her head vigorously, "...No, no, no! It's all just a dream, it—it has to be!" she wailed.

She couldn't stay here, she needed to find the other Starclan cats. But where was she? This place was obviously not Starclan... and it couldn't be the Dark Forest right? Coldpaw had done nothing bad in her short life, she was an innocent cat, so she couldn't possibly be in that horrible place.

The apprentice had a twinge of doubt however when she stared at her surroundings; the dark trees, the rot, and that awful smell. It was so similar to the elders' stories that used to be told to her as a kit when she had often wondered what the Dark Forest was like.

The elders explained to her that the Dark Forest was for very, very bad cats. Coldpaw had looked at them with her jaws gaped in interest and wonder back then, but now she was horrified. She'd done nothing bad! Yet, here she was.

Suddenly, a twig snapped behind her and she swiveled around with her fur bristling and tail bushed. "Who's there?" Coldpaw hissed, trembling with fear.

"Don't be scared, little one."

A cat came into view, stepping carefully out of the rotting undergrowth. His voice was laced with menace, "I've come to take you to the others. Come along," he purred before beginning to retreat back to the trees, obviously expecting Coldpaw to follow.

Coldpaw growled, "No, wait! Who are you? Where am I?"

"You know who I am, Coldpaw," the cat growled softly, his tone hinting impatience as he ignored her other question, "Now come. We have a lot of work to do."

Realization hit her like a stone; Coldpaw recognized the bluish, silvery pelt and the disgusting fishy aroma in an instant. She shuddered, remembering it all. The apprentice had no choice but to obey him, otherwise he might just kill her again.