The Arrival

[kiwiattack]

Black fog rolled into her vision, obscuring everything until all was lost in a blackness darker than night. Death. A small light appeared in the darkness, her paws took her towards it. Suddenly the starry pelts of hundreds of cats lit up the darkness. "Aerlene! Come forward," a loud voice commanded. The cat called Aerlene stumbled forward sheepishly, tail held low.
"Tonight you come before Starclan to be judged," the voice seemed to emanate from one particular cat, a massive silver tom with a pelt that shone like diamonds. The tom's eyes glazed over, as if he was looking at something unseen by the others. After what seemed like moons the tom spoke once more, his voice disgusted. "Be blinded by the darkness that is Nightclan!" he spat. Confused mews broke out amoung the cats of Starclan.

Aerlene woke up to darkness, complete, udder darkness. "H-help! I've gone blind!" She screamed to no one in particular. Keep calm Aerlene, you're all right, she told herself. In a much cooler tone she asked, "Please, will someone help me."

[Member]

Blackstripe walked towards the cat who laid on the ground, begging like a little kit to save her from the darkness of the territory. He narrowed his eyes, his mind already seeing her as pathetic. What did she do to get herself here? Steal a little prey from over the border? It would be like StarClan to send their problems here. They were just so weak.

He felt that he should let her experiance a second death. Just get it over with. She wouldn't be able to take it. He'd love the feeling of her blood going through his teeth as he suffocated her with his jaws. Blackstripe glanced up at the everlasting moon that barely illuminated the forest and then beack at the ground to the dead grass that lay bare i many places, just as grey and pale as the leafless trees around.

He pawed at the new, frightened cats head. "Open your eyes and stop mewling like a kit," he snarled.

[kiwiattack]

Aerlene opened her eyes, then narrowed them at this rude tom. Just as she was getting ready to throw him a disgusted look she noticed her surroundings. "Where am I?" she asked.

[Member]

Ah, so naive. "Where else? You think StarClan is this dark?" The gray and black tom tilted his head mockingly, as if she was just a kit. "You're in the Dark Forest for making the great StarClan unhappy," Blackstripe sighed. How come he just happened to come here? Wasn't this Listlessscreech and Siren's job? Introducing the new ones?

[kiwiattack]

Ugh, this guy's a real jerk. "I was a loner, I didn't grow up with stories of Star Clan or the Dark Forest," she snapped. Manners Aerlene! But to be honest she didn't really care just what this arrogant, rude, cat thought of her, and besides, she had been having a bad day.

[Member]

"Oh, well at least you're not as weak as I thought you'd be." She seemed to be just as testy as everyone else. "Oh, and don't get used to be around everyone. StarClan," he flicked his tail deeper into the darkness, "somewhere over there, yeah, they have this policy of eternal solitude or something like that. Though, you might run into someone." He shrugged.

You know, this would be a lot more fun if Icetail were here. Even if he didn't like him, he knew how to get right into other's fur.

[kiwiattack]

Aerlene snorted at him. She didn't like the thought of being alone out here. For some reason, she was scared. What could I have done.. She wracked her mind, yet she couldn't think of any absolutely terrible thing that she had done to be thrown into this place. Whatever she did, she couldn't bear this place alone. She hung her head, her eyes glowing faintly in the dense night. "Can I please... Stay with you for a little bit?" Even though she thouroughly disliked this tom, he was better than nothing.

[Member]

Ugh. Blackstripe narrowed his eyes. Really? He had to walk around with this cat? Well, he could refuse, easily. She could walk around here by herself just like evryone else! What made her special? Nothing. With that, he thoroughly refused.

"No. Help isn't a big thing around here. Besides, don't you want to get used to being alone now? I mean, it'll happen eventually."

[kiwiattack]

"Fine," she mewed with just a small hint of sadness in her voice. She hadn't really expected him to say yes anyway. She surveyed the surrounding area. No prey scent, no scent at all other than a sickening musk. She thought that she'd might as well stay here for awhile, at least until she became more used to this darkness. Without another word she padded away closer to the edge of the forest and attempted making a den. She pulled together a miserable amount of moss and lay down. She knew that she'd never actually be able to sleep comfortably here, but she tried her best.

[Naruto]

"You summoned me, Blacktail?" A sarcastic mew drifted through the forest. A large gray-and-white tom padded out of the drooping ferns. He was old. Ish. His form was slightly see-through, black stars shining in his fur. It was Icetail, Blacktail's some-what friend and some-what foe. Sometimes they couldn't stand each other. Sometimes they laughed at other's misery together. Meh. Whatever.

His gray-green eyes landed on the she-cat. "Another weak newbie? She'll be as pathetic as Runningblaze was! At least spare her the pain of war with a second death. I thought you had more compassion, Blacktail." He changed his look to one of disgusted horror. Mocking, of course. His ridiculously long tail twitched as his cold gaze roamed over the both of them. So comfy here, in this suffocating darkness.

[Member]

Blackstripe grinned at the suggestion of just killing her from his "frenemy" (as the more annoying sort like to call it). He thoroughly enjoyed killing someone. But last time he did it was... what? Thirteen moons ago with that Sandsplatter girl? Yeah, it was.

"Now, Icetail, I haven't even asked her yet," he started in a tone that said his suggestion would be rude without asking, "but you tempt me to forget my manners. It wouldn't have been hard. She wanted someone to," he stopped to snicker at the idea, "'Stay with her for a little bit.' You know, so she won't be alone." Had he said yes, of course. Now when was the Welcome Waggon getting here.

[Naruto]

Icetail smirked. "Oh Blacktail, you always were the gentleman." He dipped his head in mock courtesy to the she-cat. "Stay with you? Oh how pleasurable! I'd do it for free, but I'm not as 'careful' as my friend, Blacktail, here..." His voice was seductive, yet tipped with poison. If Icetail was left alone with a cat he thought he could kill, he'd do it. In one fell swoop.

[Member]

"Oh, of course! He'd probably trip on a rock and accidentaly pull you into the dried out river over there. You could break your neck on one of those fine stones! Sharp as rocks they are! Speaking of the river, just yesterday"-of course when saying yesterday he means when he last went to sleep-"it had mud in it. I may have been tipsy then, though." He looked closely at the newer cat. Around her the paled, translucent figures of other cats seemed to be huddled near her. All of them speaking to each other, but no sound actually coming from their mouths, at least, none that could be heard.

[kiwiattack]

Another cat had emerged from the darkness, it scared Aerlene how she hadn't detected his scent. Even though she was already dead, she felt as if losing her life here wouldn't be all that hard to accomplish. She half listened-half slept as the two cats talked. The tone in their voices almost sickened her, she didn't think she was weak. During her time in the waking world she could make the mightiest of cats fall with simply a word, a look. Indignantly, she sat up, her eyes illuminating the dust filtering down. She didn't say a word, yet the blaze in her eyes made her message clear. I am not weak.

[Member]

Blackstripe watched as Arelene got up, looking at them both with what he would think were threatening eyes. He looked over at Icetail.

"She won't last too long," he said to him and looked back at the loner cat. Yeah, she'd be absorbed into herself and be one of those emotionless zombie-like cats. Mhm. Yeah, that was her alright. She'd just roam here, and in no time, she'd be faded, just like the cats around her. The forgotten cats. Though, she might as well be that way now. No one remembered a loner. Unless of course she had a mate or something. But soon enough she'd fade away into nothing, like they were.

[kiwiattack]

Her best attemt at a threatening stare didn't seem to garner much of a reaction. Even more flustered than before she padded lighly towards the blackness of the forest. Her anger faded as she realized she was in total blackness. The sky was even dark, not a hint of light. Aerlene suddenly found herself feeling depressed. An eternity here. Forever. Whispers around her seemed to dull her pain. She listened intently, but couldn't quite make out what they were saying. One voice rang louder than the others.

"She is weak, she won't last a moon before she's like us. Withered to nothing. Look at how soft she is, almost as bad as a kittypet," it sneered.

Her eyes and throat tightened, "What have I done to deserve this?" she moaned quietly.

[Naruto]

"You died," Icetail supplied to the she-cat. Turning back to Blacktail, he smirked. "Yep. At least we won't be forgotten for some moons... The tales of our devious schemes might even let us live past the war!"

[kiwiattack]

Aerlene couldn't help rolling her eyes. How did that stupid piece of fox dung even hear me? Now she wanted more than anything to prove that she would survive here. She padded deeper into the suffocating forest, there were absolutely no landmarks here, and she couldn't help but feel that she was traveling in a circle. At least I can't hear those two bat-brains anymore, she thought.

[Sponsored content]