This is my newest fanfic! It is dedicated to all the wonderful users on the Survivors Wiki, which I am a part of. Enjoy!
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Prologue
Two years earlier. . .
“Shadowheart! Wait! We need to talk about this.”
Shadowheart growled and stalked towards Skyfeather, his tail lashing. “That’s not my name anymore. You’re not my mate anymore.”
Skyfeather gasped, horrified, and back away. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve joined them.” Shadowheart’s voice was deathly calm. “I’ve joined the darkness.“
“No.” Skyfeather unsheathed her claws and tensed her muscles, but Shadowheart was faster. He lunged, slamming into her side and knocking her to the ground. Skyfeather yowled angrily and clawed at his face, but she was knocked aside and sent rolling across the grass. She leaped to her paws as quickly as she could and drew her lips back with an agonized hiss.
Shadowheart’s fierce yellow gaze bore into her, and she felt a shiver run down her spine.
“I can’t believe I loved you once.”
It was all my fault. All my fault for trusting him and falling in love with him and having his kits. She gently brushed her tail against her swollen stomach.
Shadowheart strode forward, brushing his shoulder against hers. “Love can be a powerful and deceiving thing.”
Skyfeather growled. “But you were my mate, Shadowheart! Don’t you remember how much we loved each other?”
“Love is dangerous, is it not? It’s led many down the wrong path before.” Shadowheart tilted his head, and his eyes flashed in the moonlight. Skyfeather’s blood ran cold, and she felt the overwhelming urge to flee.
“Stop talking like that,” she told him weakly. Her voice trembled as she spoke, and she couldn’t hide her fear.
To her dismay, he only seemed amused, and circled around her, watching her carefully. “This is the way of the darkness,” he muttered in a voice that she could barely here. “And the darkness is my calling.”
“No, it’s not!” Skyfeather cried. “Please, don’t fall to the darkness! You know all too well what will happen if you do. You’ll be destroyed.”
“You’re wrong! I’ll become too powerful to destroy.”
Skyfeather froze, her blood roaring in her ears and her heart thundering in her chest. “No. I know you were always too ambitious,” she whispered.
She barely had time to think before he was on top of her again, with his paws on her shoulders and teeth snapping at her neck. Skyfeather screeched and flailed around, trying to get free of his deadly grasp.
“What about our kits?” she yowled.
“They’re nothing but dead to me.” Shadowheart reared onto his hind legs, and with a furious yowl, leaped forward and plunged his fangs into Skyfeather’s neck.
Skyfeather’s screeching was abruptly cut off, and Shadowheart flung her heavy, blood corpse to the side. In the soft glow of the moonlight, he could see the slight curve of her stomach. He felt no regret for killing his mate and unborn kits.
“I’ve done it,” he snarled quietly. “I’ve joined them.”
He stepped forward, and suddenly, a small group of half-transparent cats appeared around him. The largest of them, a thickset black tom, dipped his head to Shadowheart with a snarl.
“Welcome, young warrior. Welcome to the Dark Forest.”
Chapter One
Echoheart
Echoheart trembled nervously, trying to rid herself of the terrifying visions that raged in her head. She crept away from camp, heading towards the lake, wondering if alone time would help her at all.
“Great StarClan,” she muttered under her breath, growling as she felt a tangle of burrs tug at her fur. “If only—”
She paused and looked up suddenly, blinking rapidly. Suddenly, the forest around her was clearing away, and the shadows were growing larger and larger. . .
No! Echoheart skidded backwards, hissing in fury as the darkness seemed to engulf her almost completely.
Her mind flashed, and suddenly, figures appeared from the darkness. At first, she thought they would surely attack her, but when she looked again, she saw that they were fighting each other.
A battle, Echoheart realized. There’s going to be a battle.
She recognized some of the cats in the fight, including her friend, Bumblewing, and her former mentor, Foxleg.
There were multiple other ThunderClan cats in the fight, but what shocked Echoheart was the fact that Rainwing, one of the most skilled senior warriors, fighting viciously against Brackenstar. Echoheart’s throat tightened as she watched the huge mottled grey tom lunge at the ThunderClan leader.
“Stop!” Echoheart yowled, but the fighting warriors didn’t seem to hear her. She sobbed in despair and fled from the scene, thundering through towards the lake as fast as her legs would carry her. Finally she was away from the darkness and the horrible vision that she’d had.
“Echoheart.”
Echoheart skidded to a halt, sending up a spray of dirt and leaves. She was comforted by the softness of the voice, yet she felt something ominous looming.
“Echoheart.”
Echoheart pricked her ears and turned her head slightly. She saw the sleek silver tabby pelt of her mother, Frostnose, padding towards her.
“Mother?” Echoheart gasped quietly.
Frostnose shook out her fur with a pained look. “I’ve come to tell you something important.”
Echoheart unsheathed her claws and raised her hackles. “What is it?” Her blood roared in her ears as she waited desperately and fearfully for the answer.
“It’s my sister, Skyfeather, and her mate, Shadowheart,” Frostnose replied quietly. “Skyfeather told me that Shadowheart—he betrayed her. He joined the darkness.”
Echoheart hissed. “What do you mean?”
“A long time ago, legend tells of a place called the Dark Forest. It was destroyed by Clan cats long ago, but apparently it’s come back.” Frostnose flicked her tail tip. “I received a dream, telling of new heroes that would rise to defeat the darkness.”
“And?”
“And you’re one of them.” Frostnose watched with wide eyes as Echoheart gasped and looked around wildly. Her expression was one of pure shock.
“Me? Part of a prophecy?” she meowed. “But I can’t defeat the darkness by myself!”
Frostnose purred and licked Echoheart’s ear comfortingly. “You won’t be alone. There are others in the prophecy as well.”
“But still, even with them—”
“Even with them, you can do anything.”
More coming soon!