Poppyclaw's Rage-Chapters 4 and 5 and a new banner are here!

The pink she-cat padded through the starry forest, belly heavy with kits. She padded near a large cloud of mist and bright light. Suddenly, a red tom struggled out of the cloudy barrier.

"Thornstrike..." the pink she-cat growled.

"Petalflower..." the red tom growled back.

"You have chosen the wrong path, Thornstrike!" Petalflower said.

"Don't play dumb; we both know that you've taken a mate from the Mainforest too." Thornstrike rolled his eyes. 

"Okay, okay, you got me." Petalflower sighed. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"To finish something that needed to be done long ago!" Thornstrike unseathed his claws. "You and the rest of the StarClan cats will be destroyed!"

"No!" Petalflower unseathed her claws as well. "We'll never let the Dark Forest win!" Just then, she was pinned down by Thornstrike's sharp claws.

A dappled tortoiseshell she-cat came running to them. "Thornstrike, get off of her." she snarled.

"What makes you think I'll take orders from-"

"Get off of her!" The tortoiseshell slashed her claws across Thornstrike's muzzle. The red tom staggered off of Petalflower, suprised. He shook himself and looked at the two. "My mate is expecting kits. When they get older, I will train them, and we will finish this battle!" He ran back across the border into the Dark Forest.

"Thank you, Spottedleaf." Petalflower gasped out.

"One of these days, there will be danger and I won't be there to help you." Spottedleaf let out a purr of amusement. "You're lucky that your mother is always here."

"Yeah." Petalflower smiled. She took one last glance at the Dark Forest border before she and Spottedleaf padded off. Oh, why does that fox-heart have to be my brother?

Swiftfoot yowled in pain as her kits were born. "Are you okay?" Sandfeather, the medicine cat, asked.
"Yeah." the ginger she-cat gasped.
"Well the kits are beautiful."
Swiftfoot looked at the kits. A ginger tabby she-kit, a red tabby tom, and a dark red tom. Swiftfoot shuddered as she remembered her evil Dark Forest mate, Thornstrike. "So, what are you going to name them?" Sandfeather asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Flutterkit for the ginger she-kit..." Swiftfoot decided. "And Flarekit for the red tabby..." She looked at the last one. "And for the red one.... how about Berrykit?"
Sandfeather purred. "Beautiful names. Your mate would be proud."
Berrykit... the small kit thought. I like that. He wanted to jump up and play with his siblings, but his small weak legs refused to let him get up. Am I going to be stuck like this all day?
Swiftfoot laughed, noticing Berrykit. "You'll be able to play soon, once your eyes open." She smiled. Whispering, she added, "I just hope you don't end up being evil, like your father..."

Berrykit yawned as his eyes opened, showing the world as a faint blur. After a few minutes, his vision cleared, revealing a ginger cat. He knew by the smell that it was his mother, Swiftfoot. He suddenly thought of something. I can see and hear now. Maybe I can walk too!

He took a clumsy step forward, before falling flat on his face.

He heard his sister and brother laughing at him. "That's not helping." he mewled, muffled. Swiftfoot helped him back to his feet as he spat the earth out of his mouth.

"Glad you opened your eyes, Berrykit." his brother, Flarekit, said.

"Yes." Swiftfoot purred. "LeafClan needs all the warriors we can get. And someday, you'll be an amazing warrior."

Berrykit loved the sound of that.

Berrykit and his siblings were playing in a pile of leaves, moons after they were born, when a Clan meeting was called.
Adderstar, a brown tabby tom, looked at the three kits. "Today is the day that you become apprentices." he said. "From now on, until you recieve your warrior names, you will be known as Berrypaw, Flutterpaw, and Flarepaw."
Berrypaw was so excited. He had been waiting for his apprentice ceremony ever since he had opened his eyes!
"I can't believe we're apprentices already!" Flutterpaw squealed.
Berrypaw couldn't either. He was so happy.  I'm going to become a strong and powerful warrior, he promised himself. and nothing will stop me.

Berrypaw and some other apprentices were training. "Remember," said Berrypaw's mentor Firestripe to the other apprentices. "Claws seathed."
Berrypaw thought that was a dumb idea. Only weaklings seath their claws. Besides, if you're supposed to be seeing how strong we are, having claws out would be the only way you could! If I were in charge, I'd make rules that made sense.
"Okay, Squirrelpaw." Firestripe looked at a brown tabby tom. "Pretend I am a badger. What do you do?"
Squirrelpaw showed Firestripe the technique. "Good job." Firestripe said.
Berrypaw didn't think that would be good enough to stop a badger in reality, but he decided to keep quiet.
~~~
When training was finally over for the day, Berrypaw couldn't wait to get some rest. He curled up in his nest by his siblings and fell asleep.
It seemed as if Berrypaw was taken here as soon as he closed his eyes. Now he found himself in a forest. It was foggy, and the moss on the trees seemed to glow, although there was no sunlight.
But perhaps the most mysterious thing about this place was the two cats that approached him and his siblings. One was a battle-scarred brown tabby tom with black stripes. The other was a red tom.
"Hello, young apprentices." the tabby smiled. "I am Tigerstar."
"And I," said the red one. "am Thornstrike."
"Well, do you three ever feel like your training is useless, like you'd get better training elsewhere?" Tigerstar asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes!" Berrypaw said. "How did you know?"
"Us Dark Forest cats can see all that happens in your world. And now we're coming to give you a special offer." the tabby grinned. "How would you like to have battle training from us Dark Forest cats every night?"
Flarepaw looked at Flutterpaw. "I like that idea!"
"Me too." Flutterpaw laughed.
Berrypaw was amazed. "You can really do that?"
"Of course!" Thornstrike said. "We can do anything. But before we get started, there's something I should tell you..."
"What?" Flutterpaw asked.
"Well, I am your real dad." Thornstrike meowed. "I met your mother when I first visited her from here."
"But, I thought she said our father was dead." Flarepaw said.
"The cats of the Dark Forest and of StarClan are the spirits of dead cats." Tigerstar said. "But that doesn't mean we can't teach you some moves. Let's begin."

Chapter Five
Petalflower looked at the foggy barrier. "His kits had been apprenticed, and that means-- Oh no. I have to stop them!" She closed her eyes, held her breath, and charged through the barrier.
~~
Thornstrike looked at the she-cat running in. "Petalflower, what are you doing here?" he snarled.
"Saving these cats from your bad influence!" she retorted.
"Nonsense!" Tigerstar spat. "We're helping his kits to become more strong and powerful than you could ever be." He unseathed his massive claws.
"Wait," Thornstrike whispered to Tigerstar. "I have an idea." He looked at Berrypaw, Flutterpaw, and Flarepaw. "Okay guys, this is your first battle. Don't worry, it'll be easy. She's helpless without her mother to protect her."
"I'm not helpless!" Petalflower hissed.
"We'll see about that!" Berrypaw leapt at her. Flutterpaw batted at Petalflower's paws, while Flarepaw tore at her ear.
Petalflower didn't know whether to fight back or not. These apprentices hadn't done anything wrong, but yet she couldn't just let them hurt her. She escaped from their grasp and backed away.
"Well what did I tell ya?" Thornstrike grinned.
"I'm not weak," Petalflower said. "but now is not the time to prove my strength. You are making a big mistake, remember that." She ran off, back into StarClan territory.
"Woah, that was so cool!" Berrypaw said. "We defeated our first opponent!"
"And there will be more to come." Thornstrike said. "When you are old enough, you shall be sent to a powerful trio of cats to kill them all. We shall continue training tomorrow night."
Thornstrike's words rang into Berrypaw's ears as he woke up. Who were these powerful cats, and what influence would they have on his later life?