Gorsekit froze in terror. "Swiftheart!" She shrieked, doubling back and dashing out into the clearing. "Swiftheart! It's Fernleaf!" The medicine cat poked her head out of the thorn camp entrance.

"What is it?" Swiftheart asked, blinking in surprise as she noticed Gorsekit's frantic look.

"Fernleaf. Hurt!" Gorsekit managed to say between gasps. Swiftheart's eyes turned cold as ice, and she sped towards her den. When Gorsekit reached the medicine den, Swiftheart was already at work, giving Fernleaf herbs frantically. Gorsekit watched in terror. Her mother's pelt was matted with scarlet blood, her throat bubbled. Somebody had done this... Gorsekit stared in utter shock as Fernleaf jerked, and fell limp, her eyes turning clouded and empty.

"I'm sorry." Swiftheart murmured solemnly.

Gorsekit backed to the entrance of the den, her fur bristling with shock, anger, and pure terror. Swiftheart reached out to touch Gorsekit's shoulder with her tail tip, but Gorsekit flinched away. "No!" She snapped. "No!" She spun around, dashed across the clearing and burst into the nursery. Jaykit looked up from a piece of moss, and Crowlight looked at her quizzically.

"What's wrong?" The black-furred she-cat asked smoothly. She had no idea what just happened.

"No. This is a dream, right? Crowlight, please tell me this is just a dream!" Gorsekit cried, her voice breaking into a wail. "Fernleaf can't be dead, can she?!"

Crowlight stared at the gray-white-and-cream she-kit in shock, while Jaykit began to back away, his blue eyes round in terror.

"She can't be dead, can she?" Gorsekit repeated in a whimper.

Crowlight opened her mouth, and sighed. "I'm sorry, I truly am." She said gently, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.

"No!" Gorsekit cried, and slumped to the ground, sobbing, before slipping into the depths of sleep.

***

Gorsekit woke up in a shadowy clearing, ginormous trees loomed over her, their branches blocking out the sky. Green mist swirled around Gorsekit as she got to her paws, bleary with sleep, she looked around, a strange sadness drilling deep into her heart. She examined one of the trees. It was old an rotting, mold climbing up the trunks, an eerie blueish-green glow shining from the mold.

"You seem lost." A voice sounded behind her. She spun around, bristling.

"Wh-who are you?!" She demanded when she spotted a dark tabby.

The tom thrust his muzzle forward until it was less than a mouse-length away from her face. "May I ask, who are you."

"I'm Gorsekit." She snarled, taking a huge effort not to tremble. "And you don't scare me!"

"You're a tough one." The tom conceded.

Gorsekit lifted her chin. "I am. And I'll shred you if you don't back off!"

The tom chuckled, and shifted back. "Hawkfrost." He rumbled.

Gorsekit tipped her head to the side. "Huh?"

"You asked my name, and I told you. It's Hawkfrost."

"But... Didn't you die forever in the Great Battle?" Gorsekit mewed bluntly.

"Yes, yes, yes. But that's old news. The cats that come here always have a... Couple extra lives." He said, choosing his words carefully.

Gorsekit blinked. "Is it the same for StarClan?" She mewed. Hawkfrost's ear twitched irritably.

"Let's not talk about that." He growled with a twitch of his tail tip. Gorsekit's fur bristled.

"If you were a good cat, you'd be in StarClan, not the Dark... Dark..." She tipped her head to the side. "Oh yeah! If you were a good cat you'd be in StarClan, not the Dark Forest!"

Hawkfrost cuffed the she-kit around the ears. "What makes you say that?" He asked mockingly. "Would you like to figure out?"

Gorsekit flinched. "Why would I?" She snapped."I'm a better cat than you. Of course I'd go to StarClan!"

Hawkfrost drew his lip back. "Want to see for yourself?" He growled threateningly.

"N-No!" Gorsekit exclaimed in shock. Then with a feeling of dread, she remembered what had happened earlier...

She lifted her chin, looking Hawkfrost square in the eyes. "I don't know you, and never will I want to. I've learned all that I need to know about you." She spun around, and stalked away, only to be stopped by a hiss, not coming from Hawkfrost, but from somewhere ahead of her.