The Place of No Stars (book)/Prologue

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***Spoiler warning:** Plot and/or ending details follow.*

## Chronology

Below contains in-depth information for the prologue of *The Place of No Stars (book)*. If you are looking for a shorter summary of the entire book, please check the main article.
Chapter Number: prologue (of 23)
Page Numbers: 1-4

## Chapter description

Squirrelflight panics as she is dragged into the Moonpool by Ashfur. As the iciness of the water surrounds her, she's left with the thought that he is drowning her. However, she also thinks of her true mate, Bramblestar, and that Ashfur had only returned to the Clans to decieve her. With a thump, the ThunderClan she-cat finds herself on dry ground, confusing her. She looks around, wincing in pain from her fight with Ashfur beside the Moonpool. She catches her breath as Ashfur calls out to her, drawing her attention towards him.
The she-cat staggers to her paws and sees him in Bramblestar's body, noticing his amber eyes full of triumph. Despite the disguise, Squirrelflight knows that it is Ashfur and not her true love, Bramblestar. She recalls the previous moons, noting that the real Bramblestar had joined StarClan at the beginning of all this and how Ashfur's reappearance had sparked darkness for the Clans and caused nothing but trouble. With anger and disgust, Squirrelflight reminds herself that he had decieved her into beleiving him to be Bramblestar and that he had once tried murdering her adoptive kits and had not changed since dying. Ashfur paces towards her, but the ginger she-cat warns him off, wondering where they are. He asks her to guess as he removes himself from Bramblestar's body, leaving Squirrelflight watching in horror. The sight of watching Ashfur remove himself from Bramblestar's pelt reminds Squirrelflight that she needs to escape. As she looks around, she takes in the environment.
Around the them she notices sickly looking trees and a bare landscape. With a jolt, the ThunderClan cat realizes they're in the Dark Forest. She casts a nervous glance around, worried of the past spirits watching them. However, she is met with only a deafening silence, which she finds creepier than the alternative. Squirrelflight asks Ashfur if she's dead and he tells her that she isn't, but is there so that they can be together. She notices the adoration in his eyes and feels nothing but terror at the sight. She tries backing away, but stumbles over something. Reorientating herself, she notices that it is Bramblestar. She tries waking him up, but to avail as Ashfur tells her that he had served his purpose. Squirrelflight feels pure rage boil inside, wanting nothing more than to tear Ashfur apart for what he had done. However, she realizes that all she had done for both her mate and her Clan as she sits and thinks. She comes to the conclusion that refusing the gray tom may only end in suffering and wonders how her years of being a warrior may come in handy for properly dealing with her situation. However, the she-cat resolves herself to finding a way out of the Dark Forest and back to ThunderClan with the real Bramblestar.
## Characters

### Major

* Squirrelflight
* Ashfur
* Bramblestar (Body only)

### Mentioned

* Hollyleaf (Unnamed)
* Lionblaze (Unnamed)
* Jayfeather (Unnamed)

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Revealed in *The Place of No Stars*, page 1
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Revealed in *The Place of No Stars*, page prologue

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