Fall of the Clans Book One: The Spark

Prologue
Mapleshade paced the endless Dark Forest. How could she have been so foolish! Those stupid Clan cats defeated them, after all her years of hard work! For nothing! All wasted!
She sighed. There was no time to dwell on the past anyhow. She was fading quicker than ever. Her presence was barely there. So she sat. And she waited. Waited for eternal peace to take her. 
Before she did though, she heard something. Something she had only heard during certain moments in her life. Dogs.
They came in a pack of three, all big and slobbery and vicious. Mapleshade learned to not be so startled by them, but as she was nearly at her end, she was curious why She needed Mapleshade at this time. 
"I suppose you know why we're here," the head dog said, his eyes unusually intelligent for a dog's.
Mapleshade nodded. "Yes, but why now?" 
"That will all be explained by Her." 
Mapleshade wasted almost no time. She hoisted her nearly faded body off the forest floor and followed the dogs to the only place in the Dark Forest where there was change. If you knew how to find it, it was simple. If not, you would go your whole afterlife unaware of this place in the forest. Only a select few, such as Mapleshade, were chosen to hold this secret. 
The forest grew damp and misty, and small birds could be heard faintly chirping as though they were a mile away, although it was not possible. Mapleshade felt her coat grow heavy with moisture as she trodded through the mist. 
They walked until they came across a cave, a cave lit with fire. The fire was silvery and almost ghostlike, faintly giving an unsettling feeling to the darkest of cats, even Mapleshade. 
She held back her shudders and trodded inside. There was a seat, a throne if you will, made of complete black obsidian. The entire cave was lit with the same ghost fires as outside and on the throne was a dark brown she-cat. 
This she-cat had her eyes closed before Mapleshade walked in because suddenly bright flashing amber eyes flared down on Mapleshade. 
"Ahh, you got my invitation," the she-cat purred, lightly leaping off her throne. In the light, it was seen that this she-cat was absolutely gorgeous. She had the most piercing golden eyes and while her body seemed mostly dark brown, there were gradients to white and all the way to black. Her tabby stripes were intricate dark black mazes that stretched across her entire body like a tiger. Yes, she was absolutely beautiful.
"You didn't really give me a choice now did you?" Mapleshade responded. 
The strange she-cat chuckled. It was a laugh that was soft and light and echoed through the cave, like a ghostly whisper. 
"Are you getting feisty with me Mapleshade? Did your mother never tell you to speak so rudely about your mentors?"
"Don't play games, what do you want?" Mapleshade hissed. 
"What I want? Let's see. I want to know why you failed Mapleshade. I thought I trained you to be patient. To stay put. To lie in wait until the time was ready. I thought I taught you better than this. What happened?" 
"I've told you, I was fading!" Mapleshade growled. "There was no time to waste. I wanted to see Appledusk's face before he died beneath my claws a second time! What was I supposed to do? Fade away until there was no revolution at all?"
"You should have come to me!" the she-cat hissed. "I could have given you more time and yet you still refuse my help! That's one thing that will never change about you Mapleshade. You're prideful and you're arrogant. And now, you may never get to see your kits." The she-cat paused. "That is unless my new plan comes through."
Mapleshade pricked up. "New plan?"
"You didn't possibly think the revolution was my only plan. Rule number one Mapleshade. When in war, always have a Plan B."
"The war's passed!" 
"Not quite. That was a battle. StarClan has won many of those. But they are not aware that this war, this revolution, has only begun. And unfortunately, you won't be there to see it."
"What!?" Mapleshade shrieked. "You said that if you succeeded I would see my kits!"
"Of course you will Mapleshade. Because I'm killing them too."
Without another word, the she-cat ripped into Mapleshade's fading form. She watched as Mapleshade's body flickered for a while before dissolving. Before it could wisk away and scatter though, the she-cat absorbed the essence. 
Without this, you wouldn't have realized that the she-cat was fading as well. With Mapleshade's soul now in her body, she had a physical form once more. A necessary sacrifice. The she-cat grinned.
"I'm coming for you sister," she whispered into the darkness. "And you won't be there to see my true ascension."
Chapter One
Sleekwhisker sleepily opened her eyes. Where was she? All that she could remember was lying down inside of a hollowed-out oak before everything turned dark. 
She poked her head up and looked around. She seemed to be in a forest, though not one that was recognizable to her by any means. 
Suddenly, she felt a chill breeze blow from her right. She looked over and saw that there was this, path, almost. There was also a voice. It was faint and ghostly and it flowed with the breeze. Sleekwhisker, it called.
Unsure of what else to do, she followed it. She followed the voice. She wandered upon a cave. A cave lit with the most peculiar fires she had ever seen. They did not glow orange or yellow like normal. Instead, they were wispy and a pale icy blue-gray. Somehow, the oddness made it even more unnerving. The fires didn't even give out the warm heat that it should. When Sleekwhisker approached, the fires sent a shiver down her spine. 
Come, the wind whispered again. The sound seemed to echo from the strange cave. Unsure of what she was doing, Sleekwhisker entered the cave. 
It was darkly lit with the same fires as outside. It was damp and cold and Sleekwhisker did not enjoy the experience one bit. From the shadows, she saw movement. 
"Hello Sleekwhisker," the voice said. It was gentle and dainty, but it also felt oily and so terribly wrong. 
"Why am I here?" Sleekwhisker demanded. "Am I..." her voice trailed off. She was afraid of the answer. 
"Dead?" the voice filled in. "Why yes, you are. Welcome to the Dark Forest." 
"The Dark Forest," Sleekwhisker echoed. The name felt familiar. "So, I am dead. This isn't a dream?" 
"Tell me Sleekwhisker," the voice answered. The fires around them immediately blew out as a chilly breeze nearly knocked Sleekwhisker off of her feet. "Does this feel like a dream?" 
Sleekwhisker felt shaky. Never in her life had a voice frightened her so much as this voice did. There was something off about it. Cold, hollow, empty. And yet, somehow, it was also inviting. Like a queen calling for her kits to come back to the nursery. And order, but a reassuring one. 
She swallowed her fear and stared straight towards the voice as the fires lit again. "Show yourself. I like to see the faces of whom I'm conversing with." 
Sleekwhisker heard a chuckle from the shadows. Whoever the voice was must have had her eyes closed before-hand, because soon Sleekwhisker saw a pair of bright, menacing yellow eyes peer from the darkness. 
"You have some fight in you, I knew you were a good choice." The voice grew silent once more before a beautiful brown she-cat leaped out of the shadows and into the ghostly lighting. She stood in front of Sleekwhisker. Though Sleekwhisker was of equal height to this stranger, she felt like the she-cat was towering over her. 
"Wh-what do you want?" Sleekwhisker whimpered. 
"I want what you want dear Sleekwhisker," the she-cat said. "Revenge." 
Sleekwhisker swallowed. Clearly, this cat had been watching her. "What's your name?" 
"My name?" the she-cat responded. She let out a low sigh as her eyes met Sleekwhiskers. "My name is Dark." 
Chapter Two 
"So, am I supposed to know you? Also, how did I get here?" Sleekwhisker demanded.
Dark gave her a bored expression. "You died of starvation as a rouge which, might I add, for a she-cat as fierce as you, was highly anti-climactic. Once you died, I summoned you here. You did not get a choice in the matter. And of course, you're not supposed to know me! I was StarClan's little mistake that they simply decided to completely cover up and hide from history. Of course, since I'm immortal, even StarClan can't hide me forever."
The information stormed through Sleekwhisker's head like a hurricane. An immortal she-cat? StarClan's mistake? Dead? It was all too much. 
"Why did you bring me here?" Sleekwhisker mumbled. 
"Ah, I was hoping you would ask," Dark purred. She circled Sleekwhisker as she explained. "You may be aware of the attempted revolution that the Dark Forest attempted to create. After Mapleshade, my protege failed me, I absorbed her soul and waited for you. Though admittedly, I did speed up the process just a bit after killing and stealing all of the prey in sight. Their souls though were morsels compared to a full grown-cat, but they made a meal all together non-the less. You are a key point to my next step to the war against StarClan. But don't let that go to your head! You, like every other cat here, are expendable. I could replace you with the flick of my tail if I wanted to. But, you have potential that I personally admire. I brought you here to train you, and then have you lead a full force against clan life and StarClan themselves. The stars will fall beneath our claws and soon, you will have the power of the entire forest beneath you and much more! Allow me to train you, and I will explain the plan."
Sleekwhisker was skeptical of this stranger. How could two she-cats alone bring down all of the clans? Not to mention StarClan. But, seeing as she was dead, there wasn't much to lose. Instead, there was much to gain. "I accept your invite Dark," Sleekwhisker said, dipping her head to symbolize that now, she was Dark's apprentice. To bend to the will of her mentor. 
Sleekwhisker peaked up to see Dark smiling. "Then let your training commence."
Chapter Three
For years and years, Sleekwhisker trained under Dark. It was not exactly the kind of training that Sleekwhisker had expected though. Of course, there were some battle moves but a lot of it was strategy, learning how StarClan worked and how to be cunning and manipulative. 
It was all very new to Sleekwhisker, but she did her best to keep up. Occasionally, Sleekwhisker would receive lessons and stories from other Dark Forest cats such as Tigerstar. Dark had even taken Sleekwhisker out of the Dark Forest, something thought to be impossible, to see other cats like Scourge from beyond the clans. 
One cat that Sleekwhisker had been dying to hear from was Mapleshade. Her tale was an infamous one. Sleekwhisker knew that she had reigned terror among the living through their dreams and mind manipulation, tugging at the strings of fate. But every time that Sleekwhisker tried to ask, Dark would brush off the question. She also wouldn't answer any questions about her past which seemed strange to Sleekwhisker. 
Eventually though, one day, Sleekwhisker was given the plan. 
Category:Original Stories
Category:Fiction
Category:Warrior Cats
Category:Fanfictions (Semi-Canon)
Category:Fanfictions