The time passed so slowly.

    Forestpaw thought she might be going insane.

    When Viperfang had caught her spying on her and Violetshadow's conversation she had sent her to some kind of small island in the middle of a murky pond, although the distance from the island to the rest of the land was too far for a cat to jump across. It smelled strongly of rotting flesh and it was filled with what Viperfang had told her were electric eels. If Forestpaw got in the water, she would be dead in seconds.

    How am I going to get back to the living world now? I'm even more stuck than before. At least before she could sneak out of her den and explore, what could she do now?

    She was almost tempted to stick an experimental paw in the water just to see what happened. But the part of her brain that wanted her to survive said no, so she didn't.

    Her only hope was that Viperfang might take her out and she might be able to run off. Would she be safe if she went to StarClan's hunting grounds, or would Viperfang be able to get her there? She thought that if Viperfang could get in while StarClan was there, then it would be infinitely more easy if they weren't.

    There was so much about StarClan and the Dark Forest that she still didn't know and it was killing her. Literally.

    I'll have to tell Amberpaw, she thought. He might be able to come up with some ideas.

    She curled up at the top of the island's peak and thought of her brother, gray and gold tabby pelt, bright amber eyes and when she opened her eyes again, he was standing before her.

    "Amberpaw!" she said, touching her nose to his.

    "I—I'm Amberclaw now," he said, although he wasn't smiling.

    Forestpaw paused. "Wow! That's great!"

    Amberclaw shook his head. "My mentor is dead," he said. "I was only made a warrior because Stonestar finally realized that maybe I've been training for long enough. EchoClan is falling apart, Forestpaw."

    Forestpaw blinked at her brother, then pushed her face into his scruff and he rested his head over her ears. "I'm not in a much better position myself," she murmured, her voice slightly muffled. "Viperfang's put me on this island with electric eels."

    Amberclaw pulled back and gazed at her. "Electric eels?"

    "They can shock you to death," Forestpaw said. "At least that's what Viperfang says. Although I'm not super inclined to test it."

    Amberclaw nodded thoughtfully. "I have a plan," he said quietly. "Let's just hope it works."

***

Forestpaw hadn't been enthusiastic about the idea that Amberclaw had come up with, but she had to admit, it seemed like their only option.

    She sighed as she opened her eyes. She was still in the Dark Forest, still on the island in the middle of an electric eel filled pond. But, if Amberclaw's plan worked then she would be out of the dark Forest in a matter of hours.

    It was the Gathering tonight, so Amberclaw hoped he would be able to excuse himself from going, although it would probably be more suspicious this time, since Stonestar would expect him to come so he could announce him as a new warrior, but he told her he could manage it. He would drag her body the rest of the way to the Star Hollow, and from there, he would try to enter StarClan's hunting grounds and by extension, the Dark Forest. She only hoped they wouldn't get caught.

    All she had to do was wait.

***

"You seem lost little one," a voice from behind Forestpaw said.

    She jerked around to see a lanky tom cat trotted up to the edge of the pond, and Forestpaw had half a mind to tell him it was filled with eels, but the other half of her didn't want to engage that much with anyone.

    When she didn't respond, the tom spoke again. "Mind if I join you over there?"

    Forestpaw narrowed her eyes in confusion. Is he being serious? She was suddenly a little more interested in what this cat might do, but she still didn't speak.

    The tom smiled lifted a paw.

    Time seemed to move in slow motion as he lowered his paw to the water and touched the sandy bottom. It was shallower where he was, but it got way deeper further on from what Forestpaw could tell.

    He took another paw step in, his face contorted smugly. Forestpaw just watched, keeping her face impassive, but her heart was racing as she waited for the eels to surge from the depths. Did he seriously not realize how dangerous the pond would be? The medicine cat in her wanted to shout at him to turn around while he could, but her mouth seemed paralyzed into silence.

    And then there was a flurry of motion in the water. It rippled and undulated as several eels leapt forward and swam rapidly toward the cat. He gave a little shriek as if he was hit by a shockwave. Electrocuted.

    Forestpaw had never witnessed anything like it, and she knew she never wanted to ever again. His body froze and fell back into the water with a splash. Forestpaw craned her neck a little to see him slowly sinking toward the bottom. The eels circled around him in the dark water and Forestpaw forced herself to look way, not wanting to know what would happen next.

    "Whoa. . . ."

    Forestpaw jerked her head around and saw another cat standing at the waterline. But she recognized this cat.

    "Amberclaw!" she said with relief. "You came."

    "Of course I did," he said, smiling slightly. "Now, we have to get you out of here fast. I don't think anyone saw me, but we have to be quick and stealthy."

    Forestpaw nodded. "I'm not sure how to cross it."

    "I came up with a few ideas on the way here," Amberclaw said. "Although I'm not sure most are preferable."

    The first one was the safest option, but it would also be the hardest to accomplish, seeing as Amberclaw was just one warrior and not strong enough to push a whole fallen tree across the length of the pond, one that would be strong enough to hold Forestpaw.

    "Okay, let's try something else," Amberclaw said with a grunt after unsuccessfully trying to push a dark tree log. He then scraped a large section of bark from the top, large enough for a cat to sit on, and Forestpaw realized where he was going with this.

    When he had carved the raft out, he dragged it over to the waterline and set it on the surface. He put both paws on it and aimed at the island. Then he pushed off hard and watched as it drifted over to the island. It veered a little, put Forestpaw was able to reach out and tug it toward her.

    She took a breath and put a forepaw on it, and then another, and then she was sitting on the raft. It held!

    It wasn't time to celebrate though. Amberclaw grabbed a long tendril of a vine and tossed it out to her. Forestpaw caught the line and held it steadily between her paws. Amberclaw gave an experimental tug and then held it between his teeth and pulled. Forestpaw was almost knocked off the raft due to the sheer force of it, but she couched and held onto the sides, keeping a firm hold on the vine.

    She made it almost halfway across the pond when she felt a slight shove from underneath her. She froze and so did Amberclaw. They looked at each other with expressions of silent panic. And then there was another bump underneath her and Forestpaw saw a quick flash of a long dark body in the water below.

    "Pull!" Forestpaw whispered shouted, her voice laced with fear.

    Amberclaw took up the line again and gave another great tug. Forestpaw's eyes flickered from him to the moving water and the streaks of moving creatures.

    "Faster!" Forestpaw said, claws digging in hard to the wood. "Come on, Amberclaw!"

    Her brother heaved one last time, and her raft almost made it to the shore, but Amberpaw had pulled too forcefully and the whole thing tipped forward, and Forestpaw landed in the water with a splash.

    "Forestpaw!" Amberclaw shrieked.

    Forestpaw thrashed her paws about in the water and hit the sandy bottom. She pushed off and and took in great gulps of air as her face broke the surface. She glanced behind her briefly and saw two large snake like creatures swimming fast toward her, sparks rippling around their bodies. She tried to run the the rest of the way out out the water, but her back leg caught on some round object and she fell, her face submerging again.

    NO! This can't be the end! she thought as she struggled to upright herself. Underwater, she could see dark bodies swarming toward her and she closed her eyes again. This is goodbye, I guess. I hope you make it out alive, Amberclaw.

    And then a sharp force tugged her out of the water by the scruff and she was breathing again and her paws were touching dirt and and dead grass. She opened her eyes and saw the waterline a few mouselengths away from her and she felt sense of relief suddenly overwhelm her. I'm okay.

    "Forestpaw? Are you alright?" a voice behind her spoke and she realized it was Amberclaw. He had dragged her out of the water and saved her from the same fate as that tom cat.

    "Yeah," she said, standing up on wobbly legs and shaking droplets from her fur. "Yeah, I'm okay. Let's go home."