Poolpaw stared at her friend's sleeping form. Her words kept repeating in Poolpaw's mind. Twistedbrook will be waiting.

What did she mean?

Shaking her head, she yawned and curled up in her nest. Her mind drifted, until she blinked open her eyes to find herself in a forest.

The trees were dark and looming. There was no moon, and sound was absent. Poolpaw shivered.

Where was she? This didn't look like Starclan and she was sure it wasn't a dream.

She heard a distant mew. Following it, she stumbled upon a clearing.

Two cats were sitting off, half hidden in the trees. In the middle of the clearing, there was two cats fighting. One was dark brown, and had the most startling ice blue eyes she'd ever seen.

The other cat was stained red, and Poolpaw realized it was blood. Stifling her gasp, she studied the cat. Her ear had a nick, and blood was streaming from it. The cat had a twisted and bent leg, which was also bleeding. Poolpaw had the feeling she knew this cat, but she couldn't think who it was.

Only when the cat tuned around did Poolpaw recognize her. Those green eyes were unmistakable.

She never thought she'd see her best friend here, slashing and biting at her opponent with such fury. It almost made her sick, the way Cloverpaw didn't hesitate to claw her opponent.

She shook her head, backing away. She couldn't leave, though. Not yet.

Eventually the battle ended. The other cat had his paws pinned on Cloverpaw's head, and his teeth were at her neck.

One of the watching cats stepped in. "Good job, Snakepaw." Then he led the dark brown apprentice away.

The other remaining cat stood silent, watching as Cloverpaw struggled up. He cleared his throat.

Cloverpaw looked up at him. He frowned. "You could have done better. And you didn't put enough force into your strikes. If this was a real battle, you would have been dead."

Poolpaw thought Cloverpaw had done well. Aside from the fact of all the clawing and biting...

"I'm sorry, Deathshade," Cloverpaw mumbled. "I'm just sore."

Deathshade hissed. "I don't care. I taught you better." With that, he leaped on her.

Cloverpaw immediately reacted, rolling to the side and jumping up to slash a claw over his face. She missed by a mouse tail.

Deathshade quickly had her pinned. He didn't look impressed.

Lowering his head to hers, he whispered, "You need to train harder. You won't get away with that lack of skill in the upcoming battle."

He slipped away into the trees.

Cloverpaw sighed and blinked to get the blood out of her eyes. She started heading in Poolpaw's direction, and Poolpaw ducked behind a tree.

Cloverpaw lifted her head up and scented the air. Frowning, she crouched and slipped out of sight. Confused, Poolpaw looked around. Then a heavy mass of fur leaped out from the trees and flattened her to the ground.

Yelping, Poolpaw felt Cloverpaw lower her fangs to her neck. Then the weight off her vanished.

"Poolpaw?" Cloverpaw exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

She sounded scared, furious, and... guilty.

"I could ask you the same question," Poolpaw replied with an even tone.

She shuffled her paws. "I-"

Poolpaw interrupted her. "Why are you training here? Where is here?"

Cloverpaw ducked her head. "It's the Dark Forest," She whispered.

Poolpaw gasped. She had heard about the Dark Forest. She knew it was a bad place.

She shook her head. "Why?" was all she could ask.

Cloverpaw flattened her ears. "I don't have to tell you anything." She said.

Poolpaw took a step forward. "Cloverpaw..."

Cloverpaw backed away. "Go." She looked away. "If anyone finds you here, you're dead."

Poolpaw bit her tongue. "I can't."

Cloverpaw's eyes turned to ice. "I warned you." She leaped on top of her friend.

Poolpaw let out a yelp. Cloverpaw had her teeth to her neck. "Cloverpaw?" She asked. "What are you doing?"

Cloverpaw hissed. "You've seen too much." She slashed a claw over Poolpaw's face and she screeched.

Suddenly the cold look in Cloverpaw's eyes vanished. She backed off of Poolpaw with a look of terror. Shaking her head, she mumbled something incoherent. Then she turned and ran off into the trees.

***

Poolpaw blinked her eyes. She got up and stretched. Her muzzle had a long scratch and it was still bleeding.

She pressed it in her nest and waited until the blood stopped. Then she headed to the entrance of the den. She froze when she saw Cloverpaw. She was bleeding in several places and she was shaking all over.

Poolpaw ducked out of the den as she started to wake up. She didn't want to face her.

A commotion by the entrance. Poolpaw picked up the scent of Shadowclan. Finchstar poked his head out of his den and cats started to stir. Cloverpaw slipped out of the medicine cat's den.

There was three cats, a brown she-cat, a black tabby, and the leader of Shadowclan himself. Poolpaw figured that this was important.

Finchstar exited his den and came to stand in front of the cats. "Greetings, Jaystar," He said. "What brings you here?"

Jaystar snarled. "One of our apprentices, Snakepaw, died from some severe wounds."

Finchstar looked surprised. "That's too bad. But why do you think it concerns us?"

Jaystar stalked a step closer. "Because before he died, he told us who inflicted those wounds."

Poolpaw's eyes widened. She took a step towards the medicine cat's den.

Finchstar didn't blink. "Well, who was it?" He asked impatiently.

Jaystar hissed. "Cloverpaw."