Lilypetal's POV

My fur practically felt like it was on fire as I continued to stare back at the calico tom standing in the middle of camp. I was actually surprised by the amount of shock and rage that I felt, as it had been seasons since the Clans had ever been aware of his presence.

But I guess that was just how much of a horrible impact he had left on me. I had only just arrived into the Clans, but I still vividly remembered how much Sol had infuriated me - manipulating Blackstar into not believing in ShadowClan, for one, and also just seemingly wanting to cause trouble among the four Clans for absolutely no reason.

To my relief, all that this devious tom had done had clearly lingered with my Clanmates as well. It only took one glance around the camp clearing to see how uneasy many cats looked as soon as they laid eyes on Sol.

My eyes first rested on Dustpelt, who had seemed to pause in his travel towards the dirtplace. "I don't believe it!" the dark tabby tom growled, his eyes widening as he then began to pad towards Sol. "What are you doing here?"

"Sol!" I then heard Cloudtail exclaim from where he was curled up with Brightheart in the sun. "It can't be!"

With these exclamations, more and more cats began to flow into the camp clearing. Cats urgently emerged from their dens and many heads turned. I glanced to the side to barely catch Goldenshine, Swiftflight, Jayfeather, Molepaw and Cherrypaw walking out from the medicine den. Goldenshine abruptly stopped in her tracks as soon as her gray eyes fell on Sol, before they seemed to be overcome with unease and confusion.

"Sol!" I then heard Squirrelflight hiss beside me, and I felt her fur begin to bristle against my own. "Oh, no..."

I pressed comfortingly against my friend, then watched as Cherrypaw and Molepaw seemed to pad up to Sol like he was a Clanmate of theirs. Both of their eyes were wide with awe and intrigue.

"Are you really Sol?" Cherrypaw breathed. "Mousefur has told us about you!"

"Yeah, are you the cat who stole the sun?" Molepaw added in after his sister.

I then had to tell myself to remain calm, sinking my unsheathed claws into the ground as I heard Sol speak. "Yes," he meowed evenly, dipping his head to the apprentices. "But I gave it back again."

Oh, please!

"What do you want?" Graystripe meowed sharply to Sol as he padded up to join the crowd that was forming. "Every time you set a paw in our territory, it means trouble."

"Right," Dustpelt agreed, thankfully. "If I were you, Sol, I would turn around again and go back to where you came from."

My anger continuing to rise, I then couldn't help but intervene. Why Sol thought that he could come into our camp so nonchalantly after all that he had done, annoyed me more than I could have ever thought. "And if not that," I began, picking up off of Dustpelt's words, "At least turn around, walk out through that gorse tunnel, and get out of our territory, please." I then let out a quiet snort and muttered my next words. "Or maybe taking the dirtplace passage would be better suited."

I actually heard a few quiet purrs of amusement as Sol then turned towards me, and my fur began to rise even more as I met his yellow gaze. "So good to meet old friends," he replied, raising one of his paws and giving it a single lick. "There's always such a warm welcome in ThunderClan."

I suppressed a humored sniff. You must have been struck by lightning and shredded by another group of cats you've visited if you think that this is a warm welcome...

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Firestar padding ahead of our patrol and approaching the calico tom. "Why are you here, Sol?" he asked sharply, clearing trying to keep his voice calm.

Just as he had the first time he arrived in ThunderClan, he answered as if he wasn't being pressed by several indignant cats at once. "I was just passing through. I couldn't go on without stopping to greet my friends in ThunderClan."

And I eat maggots for dinner. "Passing through?" I repeated, taking a step closer to Sol. "Are you sure that's all?"

I actually found myself somewhat intimidated as Sol suddenly broke his gaze from Firestar and quickly turned to face me, his yellow eyes seeming to flash with warning for a single heartbeat. At nearly the same moment, I felt fur brush beside me, and I realized that Thornclaw had quickly made his way up to stand next to me, clearly sensing the threat in Sol's gesture like I had.

I pressed closer to my mate as Sol spoke, his gaze burning into mine. "Is that all?" he repeated, his voice ominously light. "Now, Lilypetal, I have nothing that I need to accomplish here on this territory!"

Any fear I had maybe felt was replaced with bitterness once again. "Your scent on our territory says otherwise," I muttered in reply.

"Yes," I then heard Brambleclaw meow behind me, just before his dark tabby pelt came into view. He then paused just behind the ThunderClan leader. "Firestar, it appears that we have found our fox-attack witness."

An eruption of gasps and hisses towards Sol then rippled among the gathered cats. Cherrypaw and Molepaw, who were still standing fairly close to Sol, suddenly seemed quite scared. Swiftflight looked almost completely enraged by the blazing look in his blue-gray eyes as he sank his claws into the ground, and my daughter was taking on a similar demeanor.

Despite all of this though, Sol simply continued to stand in his place, his face looking smug and... confused? I didn't like it, and I was already dreading hearing what he could possibly say in response.

His eyes then widened as he scanned them around the cats of ThunderClan. "Fox-attack witness, you say?"

"Yes!" Berrynose growled, understandably looking infuriated by what he had just found out. "You stood aside and didn't lift a paw while a fox nearly shred my kits apart!"

"Swiftflight had to scare that creature off all by himself!" Foxleap them added in before flashing his former apprentice an apologetic look. "Which he has the ability to do, no doubt, but what kind of sick cat doesn't even think to go and help?"

Many eyes then shifted to look at Sol once again, and fell nearly silent as he grew quiet. I then exchanged a troubled look with Thornclaw as Sol then slowly glanced over at Swiftflight.

The calico tom's eyes then narrowed into slits as he let them rest on the young dark gray tom. "Swiftflight, that's who."

What? How dare Sol say something like that? My mouth immediately dropped as gasps even louder than the first wave rose once again in the camp, and I looked around to see that many cats almost seemed alarmed by Sol's accusation. I then looked over to Swiftflight and instantly felt an overwhelming amount of sympathy as I saw how utterly bewildered he looked.

"What?" my kin exclaimed among the gasps and murmurs. "What are you talking about?"

Sol then met Swiftflight's gaze once again with wide eyes, then taking a step back and beginning to scan his eyes among the crowd. "Oh, how horrible it was!" Sol began, his voice filled with dismay. "I had heard the fox's growls when I was lingering about the WindClan border, so I padded deeper into ThunderClan territory to see what was going on. I began to run once I heard the screeches of those poor apprentices."

Sol's gaze then returned to Swiftflight once again, his gaze dark. "I emerged into the clearing, and I could hardly believe my eyes," he continued, then lashing his tail to Swiftflight. "A ThunderClan warrior, just standing there as his own Clanmates were about to be killed! So, I had to leap in and do it myself."

The Clan then fell completely silent, this story clearly being one that would be hard to process. But it's not true! I insisted in my mind. I hadn't been there at the fox attack, but I was sure that what Sol was saying was a lie. For one, he was Sol - that on its own could be enough. But I also trusted Swiftflight, more than I ever had in the past, and I knew that he didn't deserve one bit of this.

Before I could speak this aloud, Berrynose spoke and broke the silence. "You were the one that saved Cherrypaw and Molepaw?"

"But why would Swiftflight say that he did?" Blossomfall then called out.

Because he did, for StarClan's sake! Goldenshine then immediately cut in before I made my attempt to speak up once again. "You all can't be serious! Swiftflight said that he attacked that fox, because he did!" she exclaimed. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride for the way that Goldenshine was standing up for her kit. Thornclaw and I each gave each other a small nudge as Goldenshine then padded up to Sol.

"Sol, this is a whole load of foxdung, and you know it!" she continued. "I watched him with my own eyes, and even if I hadn't, I would easily deduce that it would be you - a liar, not him, that would do something so fox-hearted!"

Sol simply stared back at Goldenshine, his gaze hard. "Are you so sure about that?" he pressed before looking back at Swiftflight, who currently looked like the definition for "at a loss for words". "His past wouldn't do the best job of backing that up."

I nearly wanted to leap on Sol and throw him out of camp by the scruff at this point because of the outrageous words he was throwing out there. But I slowly began to well up with fear as I noticed that some of the cats in front of me actually looked skeptical.

But Swiftflight didn't seem to notice, and was staring back at Sol as his lips began to curl back into a snarl. "How do you-"

"Sol, so you're saying that you were the one to save my kits?" Poppyfrost then exclaimed, shouldering her way through the crowd and cutting off whatever Swiftflight had been about to say. Her gaze was eager as she stopped and stood just in front of Sol. "They didn't get a good look at you, so they surely could have been confused!"

Swiftflight's gaze then seemed to be overwhelmed with shock and complete betrayal as he shifted his gaze to Poppyfrost.

Cherrypaw was staring back at Swiftflight, her amber eyes filled with empathy and dismay. She then whipped herself around to face her mother. "But that doesn't mean that Swiftflight wasn't the one to save us!" she demanded. "I can be sure that it was him."

Poppyfrost narrowed her eyes back at her daughter. "Based off of what?"

"Based off of the fact that my son is a noble ThunderClan warrior!" Goldenshine growled, her fur beginning to bristle.

I could almost feel the tension among the cats continuing to rise in the camp clearing. Which meant, to my dismay, that surely some cats were believing Sol's story, and agreed with Poppyfrost's words. No, no, no...

But luckily, some of the senior warriors who had actually known Sol seemed to think otherwise. "And anyway, what was Sol doing, wandering around ThunderClan territory in the first place?" Dustpelt called out.

"Yeah," Cloudtail agreed. "Why didn't he come straight here if he wanted to visit, or make himself known to a patrol?"

Poppyfrost shot the white warrior a glare. "He probably wasn't sure about what sort of welcome he'd get," she hissed to Cloudtail before turning back to Sol, her eyes bright. "Sol, this is incredible!"

I then saw Cherrypaw's eyes flash with alarm. "Poppyfrost!"

Goldenshine exchanged a frustrated, bewildered glance with her apprentice as she padded up to stand next to her. "What makes you so certain of the fact that Sol was the one that saved your kits? You know, even though I saw Swiftflight do it," Goldenshine pressed through gritted teeth. "And Cherrypaw and Molepaw seemed pretty certain about it too, last time I checked."

"The only thing that Cherrypaw and Molepaw seemed certain of was the fact that Swiftflight was the one to take them out of the bushes, not save them," Poppyfrost insisted sharply. "And Goldenshine, as his mother, you'd surely defend him unconditionally - I'd want to do the same."

I stared, absolutely shocked by everything I was hearing. Poppyfrost, what are you thinking by making this argument?

Swiftflight then seemed to be pushed to his limit, taking a step forward and letting his voice rise. "She's defending me, because it's the truth!"

Foxleap then flashed Swiftflight a sympathetic glance before stepping up towards Sol. "Sol, my former apprentice may be a cranky furball at times, but he's not a malicious bystander."

"Exactly," Snowstorm then called out from where she was now standing next to her best friend. "Swiftflight would easily and willingly do this."

"I agree, most definitely!" Cherrypaw exclaimed.

"Well, of course, Swiftflight would..." Sol then murmured, his voice eerily quiet. "Well, would say anything to help his reputation."

I couldn't hold back a hiss of complete outrage. "You have got to be kidding me!" I growled. I then took a quick glance around to see that many cats looked exactly as I felt. Thornclaw's fur was bristled out to almost double his own size, while Goldenshine, Foxleap, Ivypool, Snowstorm also looked incredibly infuriated. Cherrypaw looked utterly dismayed and continued to stare worriedly over at Swiftflight. She looked as if she wanted to run up to his side, but clearly there was an impediment for that being able to happen, at the moment.

But unfortunately, besides this small group that could barely stand to hear Sol's awful words, many cats in ThunderClan actually seemed conflicted and skeptical, and were flashing uncertain and apologetic glances at Swiftflight, who didn't seem to know what to say all over again.

I could barely stand to see the look on his face, so I turned back to Sol as I tried to keep my fur flat. "Sol," I began tautly. "I'd suggest that you stop blaming my kin for something that they most definitely didn't do, and leave right now." I didn't care if I wasn't any sort of authority figure, but Sol was clearly causing trouble among the Clan that wasn't needed, and I said what I'd thought was best.

"No, he can't leave now!" Poppyfrost insisted, practically ignoring every word I'd said, except for the piece where I'd told Sol to leave. "Oh, Sol, thank you so much! You'll always be welcome here."

I felt sick to my stomach as I saw Sol's eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "Thank you, Poppyfrost," Sol meowed warmly. "But really, it was nothing."

I then felt Thornclaw shift beside me. "I don't believe this!" he growled.

"I do - and fighting a fox isn't nothing," Berrynose insisted as he padded up to stand next to his mate. He then turned to Firestar. "He can stay the night, can't he?"

Oh my StarClan, I swear, if he... I then nervously glanced over to Firestar, hoping with all of my might that the leader would immediately send Sol away. But once I got a good look at his conflicted gaze, I already began to brace myself for the anger and frustration I'd feel for his answer.

And sure enough, the time came when Firestar gave a small nod. "Very well."

My heart then sank as Berrynose trotted up to Sol and then beckoned him with his tail. "Come over here and take your pick of the fresh-kill pile."

I then watched, utterly vexed and exasperated as Berrynose and Poppyfrost escorted Sol over to the fresh-kill pile. And to my dismay, many more cats seemed to be giving in to the situation, murmuring their thanks to the calico cat as he padded past them.

Swiftflight still stood in the same place, looking completely defeated as he stared at the ground and shook his head slowly. I then flicked my ears as he suddenly stood up and began to storm off towards the camp entrance. Goldenshine, Snowstorm, Cherrypaw, and a few others stared after him, seemingly wanting to follow, but the dark gray tom was fast, and vanished through the gorse tunnel within a couple of heartbeats.

I was overwhelmed with so much sadness and sympathy for my daughter's son. My own head began to shake slowly as I completely processed this horrible situation, and it only took me a moment to realize just how much that I refused to accept this. I'm going to try and do something while I have the ability to!

I took a deep breath, stood up, and turned to Thornclaw, who was still right beside me. I touched my nose to his cheek to get his attention. "Hey, I'll be right back!"

Thornclaw immediately flashed me a worried, skeptical look. "Lilypetal, what are you doing?" he asked, a single eyebrow raising as he narrowed his eyes.

"I'm just going to talk to Firestar for a moment," I reassured my mate before beginning to pad away. "I didn't see the fox attack, but I don't care. Swiftflight wouldn't do what Sol is claiming he did." I trust my own kin, and unless he's been duping us with all this information he's telling us... which I know is not the case!

I quickly made my way to Firestar, who was nervously watching Sol from under the Highledge. He seemed so caught up in his own thoughts, that he was startled when he noticed me approaching him.

I gave him an apologetic glance before speaking. "Firestar, may I please talk to you?" And after the leader simply gave me a nod, I went on. "Listen, I'm sorry if I'm only making your thoughts more scattered by saying this, but... I don't trust a word that Sol said - I wouldn't care if he was hanging onto a ledge for dear life saying that he was the one that saved Cherrypaw and Molepaw from that fox."

I then had to take a deep breath before going on. "Swiftflight was the real hero, I believe, and my own daughter wouldn't lie about it, either."

Once I was finished speaking, I actually felt a pang of guilt as Firestar let out an exasperated sigh and closed his eyes. "I know, Lilypetal. I know," he breathed. He then opened his eyes once again and met my gaze. "But as much as I have my own opinions, I can't let them get in the way of what's best for the Clan. I don't trust Sol any more than you do, but it would surely cause havoc to send him away while cats believe that he was the one to fight that fox."

He then took another quick glance at the calico tom, who was currently being showered with compliments by Poppyfrost and Berrynose. "And he's only staying tonight - no more than that, and I'll make sure that that happens."

As much as the words weren't exactly comforting, I knew that Firestar was right. "Okay, I trust you, as always," I replied to him with a sigh. "I just... this bothers me. A lot."

Firestar gave me a nod as he turned to look at me again, his eyes warm. "I understand," he meowed, putting the tip of his tail on my shoulder. "And I'm glad that you told me so."

"Good. I am too!" I replied, actually beginning to feel a bit better by just getting my thoughts out. And after Firestar let out a purr of amusement, I gave him a small nod. "Goodnight, Firestar."

"Goodnight to you too, Lilypetal."

I flashed the leader one last warm loo before turning around and padding back towards Thornclaw, who was sitting back and watching as cats continued to surround Sol at the fresh-kill pile. He stood up straight - his chest out, his gaze hard and straight ahead with his eyes narrowed.

I couldn't help but let out a purr as I settled down beside him and ran my tail down my mate's flank. "You look pretty darn handsome when you're angry."

Thornclaw didn't look back at me, but he wrapped his own tail around my back and pulled me closer to him. "Good," he muttered. "I'm glad that I'm going to look especially attractive as I continue to be enraged by that sick tom's presence."

I snorted. "You and me both," I replied, shaking my head slowly as I looked back at the camp entrance where a certain cat had disappeared. "Poor, poor Swiftflight. This is completely unfair." And it was horrible to see just how easily cats seemed to believe something that was against him!

"Unfair doesn't even begin to cover it - and I was thinking that standing by during a fox attack was horrible," Thornclaw scoffed. After a moment, he then let out a sigh and took a glance up at the night sky, and then met my gaze. "It's getting late, and the two of us standing here riling ourselves up definitely isn't going to get us anywhere."

I flashed my mate an amused glance. "Want to share an extremely uncomfortable sleep together?"

"Exactly what I was thinking," Thornclaw purred, touching his nose to my ear before beginning to pad towards the warriors den. "Come on."

I trotted just behind my mate as we both crawled into the den. I then watched, trying to hold in laughter, as Thornclaw seemed to be staring at and observing where I had placed our new nest. He even let out a small grunt as he settled down.

I began to lash my tail as I padded up to the nest myself. "What?" I asked, my voice full of laughter.

Thornclaw's eyes were warm as he shook his head slowly. "If I weren't so tired right now, I would take some time to scold you on the placement of this nest..."

I let out a teasing scoff as I settled down in the nest beside my mate. "Oh, come on!" I purred. "Let me gossip with my friend until dawn!"

Thornclaw then rolled his eyes and nuzzled my head with his muzzle as I pressed up against him. "Hm, I'll think about it," he muttered.

I gave him a single, sharp nod. "You better!" I demanded lightheartedly before leaning my head on Thornclaw's shoulder. "Goodnight. I love you."

I felt Thornclaw twin his tail with mine and rest his muzzle on my head. "I love you too, Lilypetal. Goodnight."

I then snuggled even closer to the golden tabby tom before finally closing my eyes. But as I had predicted, it was difficult with all of the emotions and thoughts that were swirling around inside of my body and mind.

I mean, Sol had used his manipulative tactics to his advantage once again, I was sure of it. As much as the Dark Forest may have once affected Swiftflight and the choices he made, I knew that he was truly trying to worm himself out of that time now.

And plus, even if that wasn't the case - what reason would Sol have to save two ThunderClan apprentices, when all he had done in the past is bring the Clans harm? I couldn't see how any cat could possibly believe a word that he said, and I had been glad to hear that Firestar was as uncertain as I was.

And Poppyfrost and Berrynose... Great StarClan, I wish I could have told them how outrageous they sounded... but I wouldn't dare. I thought irritably. I just need to calm down and trust that Firestar will send Sol away, and ThunderClan will soon see that Swiftflight was the one to-

I then paused in my own thoughts as I realized that I wasn't in pitch-blackness anymore. In fact, I instantly recognized the Dark Forest, just where I had been in my dreams earlier in the day.

But what was strange was that this dream already wasn't going by its usually strange pattern that it had been for some days now. No kittypet flashbacks at all? I thought curiously before snorting. Hm, good riddance.

I then slowly began to scan the (unfortunately) familiar surroundings. But unfortunately this isn't any better.

I then turned around, instantly feeling stricken by rage as I came face to face with the gray-speckled pelt of Ashfur. He simply stared back at me, his blue eyes a mix of mischief and amusement.

And just like my last dream, he felt as present and real as if we were standing face to face in the real world.

My rage continued to rise as I lowered down into a crouch, and I felt my lips beginning to curl back into a snarl. "Dream or no dream, getting to lay one claw on your fur will feel like payback for all that you've done!"

I then was shocked to see that Ashfur was actually responsive to me, unlike the dreams I'd had before. He took a step back and raised his tail, his eyes still gleaming annoyingly.

"Ah, now I wouldn't do that if I were you," he purred, taking another step back with each time I advanced on him.

"Why not?" I hissed back. "You've given me more than enough reason to."

Despite not being given a reason yet, I held back, knowing that I couldn't exactly take anything Ashfur said lightly. But it didn't take me long at all to figure out what Ashfur was implying when the dark brown tabby pelt of Tigerstar emerged through the brambles - to my complete shock and bafflement. No... freaking... way... I could hardly believe that I was laying my eyes on a single cat that had brought so much harm to so many.

I had actually concluded that I'd lost the ability to talk once the large, muscular tom had begun to speak. "Ah, Lilypetal," he purred ominously. "This is so wonderful - we've finally been able to reach you."

I actually managed to flash the tom a confused look. "R-reach me?"

A shiver then ran down my spine. Oh my goodness... Swiftflight must have been right. Hm, another reason to find him more trustworthy than Sol.

Ashfur then broke into my thoughts. "We've been trying for days now, surely," he meowed bitterly. "But some nuisance has seemingly broken off your connection here almost completely."

Before I could ask Ashfur what he meant by that vague statement, he went on. "But that doesn't matter right now. All that matters is that you're here."

"And why am I here?" I hissed to Ashfur, hating that I had to listen to his voice for this long.

"Well, Lilypetal, we wanted to have a word with you," Tigerstar answered, taking the smallest step closer to me.

I took a step back. "I certainly could have some words for you," I muttered.

Tigerstar actually purred with amusement and nudged Ashfur. "You were right - she's quite funny," he meowed before looking back at me. "Anyway, Lilypetal, to put it concisely - we've been observing how you're performing as a Clan cat recently-"

"Observing me?" I repeated, hardly being able to believe such a thing.

"Yes. You've definitely found your voice among these cats," Tigerstar answered. "You speak your opinion - even telling your own leader your thoughts on this strange, scheming calico that's made his way into your camp."

"And after all that I've been through with you-"

"All that I've been put through with you," I muttered sharply, correcting Ashfur's words.

Ashfur eyes seemed to flash with anger at my interruption for a moment before continuing. "Either way, we can clearly see that you're a force to be reckoned with."

I took another step back, but not because Tigerstar had taken another step forward at all. Hearing praise like this from the two most horrible, evil cats that I knew to exist was unnerving to hear, in a way.

"It doesn't surprise me at all," Tigerstar went on, adding to my unease. "Scourge was your father after all - a very bloodthirsty, vicious cat... but he was determined and persistent, just like you are. You definitely have a lot of his ambition, and we'd like to use it."

The discomfort of being compared to my father was almost instantly overshadowed. "...What?" I breathed as I felt my legs begin to shake.

"You are surely well-aware of what we are planning beneath these trees, Lilypetal," Ashfur muttered. "The Clans have done nothing but diminish the plans we once had, and they need to pay."

I immediately hissed in response to those words. "They diminished your plans, because they were fox-hearted ones at that!"

Tigerstar ignored my harsh remark. "We need help, and although we are powerful, we could always use more recruits. We aren't enough."

"Well, that's a shame for you then, isn't it?" I growled mockingly.

Ashfur then padded closer to me, his gaze disgustingly soft. "Lilypetal, things don't have to be this way between us," he meowed. "If you were to ban with us - be another one of the Clans cats helping us with our plan - you would continue to thrive as the resilient, strong-willed cat that you are."

No way would I ever consider training in the Dark Forest! I immediately concluded. Thornclaw and Swiftflight left with completely good reason, and I'm not about to make their original mistake. "You are joking, right?" I then demanded to Ashfur. "I have felt comfortable speaking up in my Clan because it is something worth standing up for. So, what would I have to gain by banning with you?"

Ashfur's gaze then glowed with mischief once again. "I'm surprised that something hasn't occurred to you, Lilypetal," Ashfur murmured, his eyes narrowing. "Have you not even considered the fact that if you agree to this, all of the heartbreak that I've brought you could stop?"

I couldn't help but feel struck by those words, as that had been something I'd dreamed of for countless moons now. "Could... stop?" I repeated, my voice barely a whisper.

"Yes - work with us to give the Clans what they deserve - tell us their secrets, manipulate Firestar with that trust he has in you... there are endless possibilities," Ashfur purred as his eyes gleamed with malice. "And your constant living in fear could stop. All it takes is a 'yes', and that will be gone..."

I felt Tigerstar's gaze burning into me as I continued to stand silent. "So, what is your answer?" he pressed.

I stood, conflicted, for several moments. At this point, I had committed to doing absolutely anything possible to save my family and Clan from whatever Ashfur could possibly have in store, so was I actually considering doing this in the hope that it would be the solution?

Through all of the grief and loss I had experienced because of Ashfur and his need for revenge, I was blinded by the fact that he was clearly lying to me in this moment. And he was using all of that grief and loss to manipulate me.

Me doing something as simple as helping him would not get him to stop anything. In fact, it would just give him an easier passage to make me more miserable in some way.

It took me longer than I'd like to admit for me to come to my senses.

But I finally shook my head quickly and hissed as I flashed Ashfur and Tigerstar an enraged look. "You really think that I'm that selfish?" I growled at them, then turning to a certain gray-speckled tom. "Ashfur, me wanting to put an end to you treachery isn't a matter of trying to save myself - it never was, and even if it was, I wouldn't trust a word that came out of your mouth, anyway."

I then took a step back, took a deep breath, and gave the two toms before me a hard, cold look. "My answer is absolutely no - I'm not that stupid." And with that, I quickly whipped myself around and began to walk away.

"Ah, yes," I heard Tigerstar meow smugly behind me. "We should have known - you're so incredibly loyal to that Clan of yours, one reason why we figured you'd be so valuable. But surely you'd say no." I then thought that I could hear the heavy footsteps of both Ashfur and Tigerstar begin to pad away. "Well, we'll be waiting if you change your mind."

"You'd just be wasting your time!" I called back. "I'm the one that's going to be waiting for you!"

As I then whipped myself back around, planning to run through the forest until it faded to black and I awoke, I almost felt disturbed by my own tug that I was feeling. As risky as saying yes would be... am I making the right decision? I wondered anxiously. Saving my family might be worth this risk, especially when I could use being so close to Ashfur to my advantage...

I then shook my head quickly as I continued to pelt through the Dark Forest. There will be other ways - ones that aren't as ridiculous as this one, I tried to tell myself. I'm making the right decision.