Author's note: A retelling of an old folktale with a Warrior Cats twist, this is my first Warrior Cats fanfiction, but I have enjoyed the series for a long time. Well, time to give back. It was written just after Last Hope was published, which was admittedly a while ago, so the universe might be a little different. Hope you like it anyway!
Some time ago, Dovewing, a nice gray she-cat, was wandering around ThunderClan territory, only to find she was no longer in ThunderClan, but off very far away. She was tired, so she caught some prey, and decided to go home.
"Hello, young Dovewing," someone whispered, in a dark voice. Dovewing froze. She knew who that was. It was Sol, the most troublemaking rouge ever seen on Clan territory.
"Sol, leave me alone! The clans don't need you here."
Suddenly, Dovewing noticed the setting sun, and she had no idea how to get back to camp, so she decided to ask Sol for help. "Do you know where there might be shelter nearby?" Dovewing asked.
Sol stared down a path, farther upstream. "Yeah, up there, but there are horrors even I wouldn't speak of."
Dovewing decided though Sol was a slippery character, she could take the chance, and started up the path.
As she walked up, she felt slimy grasses replacing the soft undergrowth of the forest. A handsome tom walked up to her. He smelled like the foul place, but still had a little ShadowClan sent left underneath.
The young tom's eyes glowed. "I know you! You're Dovewing! I'm Tigerheart! Remember me?"
Dovewing looked suspiciously at Tigerheart. "Where are we?" she asked, changing the subject.
"We are in-,"
An ugly black tom with a croaked tail appeared out of the darkness and grinned evilly. "Tigerheart," he said. "You've called Dovewing to the rescue. You will never escape again from Brokenstar! NEVER AGAIN!"
The old tom stared at Dovewing. "If you can complete these 3 tasks, I will set you and Tigerheart free. If you fail, I, Brokenstar, will kill you myself! Leave now if you don't want to risk your life for him."
Dovewing thought of her Clanmates, of ThunderClan, of Bramblestar. She looked at the unfamiliar, but familiar Tigerheart. "Brokenstar, I accept these challenges!" Dovewing yowled.
Brokenstar stared hard into Dovewing's deep blue eyes. "First, you have to plant this cat-mint, and then harvest them by the time I come back."
Yikes, she thought. Why does the first challenge have to be absolutely impossible? Dovewing walked to the place that seemed the best for planting, even though it was all slimy grassland, like ShadowClan. Tigerheart watched closely and padded to her. Don't worry, his eyes seemed to say. He brushed his tail on her fur, and Dovewing fell asleep.
When Dovewing woke up, there were three thick bundles of catmint piled right next to her paws.
"What in StarClan?-," Brokenstar mowed, glaring at her. "Tigerheart, these are her challenges, not yours," he screamed. "The next task is to make a nest on that river." He pointed to some dark, slimy liquid running quickly between the thickly wooded area. Dovewing shivered, wondering how that could be even considered a river in the first place.
"And," Brokenstar added, "before next sunhigh."
Dovewing yowled. How much more impossible were these tasks going to get?
Dovewing padded over to the river. She gathered large twigs to support the shelter over the river. She tried to plan it out, but before she could, Tigerheart came over and brushed his tail against her. She fell into deep sleep.
The sound of water rushing right under her woke Dovewing from her deep slumber. She blinked her eyes slowly, adjusting to the darkness that never seemed to go away in the slimy place. She was sleeping on a bridge, with the water rushing right under her feet and Tigerheart sleeping next to her. Wait. A river under my feet! Dovewing thought frantically. "How?" she asked the sleeping tomcat.
Tigerheart got up and stretched. "Dovewing, don't you remember me? Running through the forest at night, having fun?" His words surprised Dovewing with memories of an exciting part of her life, but for the first time, she saw them clearly. She thought she had done those things with Bumblestripe, but somehow, she now knew they weren't.
"Tigerheart, I think I do, but I don't remember at the same time," Dovewing said hopelessly. "Why?"
"A long time ago, I belonged with ShadowClan," Tigerheart explained. "Still, I loved you, and we met on some of my greatest nights ever. I was a Dark Forest warrior, but at the final battle, I betrayed them, with many others. I was the only cat Brokenstar was able to capture back, and I suppose he altered everyone else's memories, too."
Dovewing nodded. "Then how did you plant the catmint, and how did you make this nest? Can you tell me, Tigerheart? Please?"
Tigerheart shifted his paws. "There are many secrets in the Dark Forest, Place of No Stars. I used those secrets to help you. Don't worry, you're almost finished-"
"Really, a nest on a river, and it's only sunhigh!" Brokenstar scoffed. "And Tigerheart, don't stare at me like that!" Brokenstar's orange eyes stared menacingly into Dovewing's blue ones, outraged. "Now, I'm going to give you the third and final task. Dovewing, you can't get out of this one." Brokenstar smiled sinisterly. "You are to eat deathberries!"
"No! Not deathberries!" Dovewing yowled.
"Yes," Brokenstar said, pushing forward a leaf with four shining red berries on it. "And, you have to survive!" He laughed his signature infernal howl. "You have until sunset." Brokenstar padded away, still laughing under his breath.
"We have to leave now," Tigerheart whispered. "You will never survive the deathberries. There is nothing I can do for this."
Tigerheart grabbed a marked stick, a holly leaf, and the leaf with the deathberries on it. He hustled Dovewing onto a trail and left, his dark brown tabby fur leading the way. "Let's get out of here," Dovewing said surly.
Around winding paths were more dark secrets, making Dovewing's fur stand on end. Without her senses anymore, every leaf rustle sounded like paw steps. What if Brokenstar finds us, Dovewing wondered. What will we do then?
In fact, he did. "He's coming," Tigerheart whispered. He looked around, and he quickly buried the marked stick. Dovewing and Tigerheart became deathberry bushes.
"Deathberries?" Brokenstar asked himself, seeing the bright red spheres of death. "I didn't know deathberries grew in this part of the forest." Brokenstar scratched a branch of the bush and left, disappearing from sight.
"Dovewing," Tigerheart whispered. The spell broke and they became their true selves again. A small scratch ran across his pelt, probably from Brokenstar's careless act.
"Are you okay?" Dovewing asked, running her tail across the mark.
Tigerheart nodded. "I've survived worse."
Soon, they heard paw steps behind them again. "Wait," Tigerheart whispered. He threw the holly leaf behind them. Tigerheart and Dovewing both became thick bramble bushes, fanning out like claws.
"Great, I lost them again," Brokenstar yowled. "What are these bramble bushes doing here? Brambles don't grow in this part of the Dark Forest." Brokenstar scrambled away, avoiding the thorns.
"Dovewing, over here," Tigerheart whispered, already shaking out loose leaves and continuing down the murky path. Dovewing shook her fur out and followed.
Down the path they slipped and slid, the slimy ground not suitable for running. As they got further, the air got damper and more humid.
"Is this normal?" Dovewing asked, shivering from the gathering cold. "What is happening?"
"I don't know what is normal," Tigerheart admitted. "The whole time I've been here, Brokenstar hasn't allowed me to go anywhere near here." Suddenly, the air became bone dry and Tigerheart stopped in his tracks, causing Dovewing to crash into him. "This is the edge of the Dark Forest!"
"This is it?" Dovewing asked, tasting for Clan territory. ThunderClan scent lay just beyond the threshold.
Tigerheart smiled. "This is–"
Behind them, a twig snapped. Dovewing whipped around, spinning on the boundary between the slimy Dark Forest soil and the drier ThunderClan territory. "Quick, do something!" she whispered.
Tigerheart swiftly buried the deathberries in the slimy ground. Fog spilled out of the buried berries, covering the border in a thick white blanket. Dovewing felt herself melding with the blanket, and she and Tigerheart disappeared into the fog.
"There is something very strange going on," Brokenstar said, stopping just before the edge. "There is never fog at the border. Never." He turned left and continued his way, sweeping the rest of the border.
Dovewing relaxed, separating from the fog. She and Tigerheart happily crossed the border back into Clan territory. They walked past the ThunderClan scent markers and Tigerheart motioned for Dovewing to stop.
"Bye," Tigerheart said. "I can't come with you. No one really remembers me, other than you. They wouldn't welcome me."
"But you're a ShadowClan cat!" Dovewing said. "You're…"
"I was, but I'm not anymore," Tigerheart said. "Goodbye, Dovewing. Come visit me." He brushed his pelt against Dovewing's and padded away. "You know where to find me."
"But, Tigerheart–" Dovewing said. She started to follow him, but then she noticed his pelt fading. "Tigerheart, Tigerheart, what's happening to you?"
"I'll find a way to come back, but not now," Tigerheart whispered, his voice floating away. "Goodbye, Dovewing. Go home, the adventure is over."
Good? Okay? Bad? Too weird? Let me know in the comments.
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