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Snowtuft sat in the barren hollow of a tree's roots, licking his wounds. For a few fleeting moments, the scent of blood would overtake the stale nothing of the Dark Forest, a last taunting reminder of the vitality the cat once shared with the living.
He could still remember the sensation of Shredtail's claw digging its way through his pelt, disfiguring even his spirit. Hawkfrost's eyes glinted with detached amusement as he forced him down, commanding another to do his vile work.
"Have you finally stopped your moaning?"
The white tom's jaws clamped shut. He looked up to find himself in the shadow of a shadow, cast from Tigerstar's presence in the branches above.
Even now he could not help the pulse of awe and excitement in his chest.
I hate myself a little, he admitted, daring to gaze at the tabby a little longer. Okay. More than a little.
"Yes, Tigerstar," said Snowtuft, licking the blood clean from his muzzle. "Do you need me for something?"
The tabby scoffed and slumped down, branch after branch. Of course, he doesn't. What a daft question.
"You want to walk among us," he said. "You want to have power."
"Yes."
"More than anything?"
"More than all the stars in the forsaken sky."
"Why?"
Snowtuft stiffened. The angry red of his wound flared against his white pelt. He had dug here a thousand times, searching through the muck for names and faces long forgotten. Their images were as thin as birch bark worn to its last threads.
Tigerstar's tail flicked. "Well?"
"I don't know. I can't remember."
He winced at the sound of his voice. Was that accusation, or was it sorrow?
The white tom glanced up, expecting a snarl or a swipe across the face. Instead, he found Tigerstar looking across the Place of No Stars, a contemplative twitch to his tail. The former leader of ShadowClan had not been here as long as many of his peers. No doubt the threat of a fading mind had occurred to him, but it only spurred urgency into his mission.
"Power without purpose bears as many fruits as these trees around us." Tigerstar picked up Snowtuft's paw, carefully coaxing out his claws with the tips of his own. "You are not without your uses. Let me sharpen your claws to my purpose – my vision for the clans – and perhaps I will let you have a taste of that power."
Snowtuft's head split, aching with a memory brought to life. Once the paw touching his was not cold, but tender. The cat behind the veil, brown-furred and as sharp as they were strong proposed something to him in distant days.
How did it end?
"Is… was there ever an Owlclaw in the Dark Forest?"
Tigerstar's ear flicked, and he let Snowtuft's paw down. "No cat by that name has ever walked here, to my knowledge."
Of course not.
"There is nothing for you in the past," Tigerstar went on. "There is only one thing that matters. Can I count on your loyalty, Snowtuft?"
Memories blew away from his focus like fallen leaves in the wind.
How does it end?
He couldn't answer this, either, but he remembered so well the delight of the invitation.
Snowtuft knew he was a fool, but he could not bring himself to let go of the feeling yet. He straightened his aching body up and curled his tail in salute.
"You have my loyalty, Tigerstar," he said. "I swear by all that I have left."
The words, foul as they tasted, came electric from his tongue and even Tigerstar's pelt seemed to liven to hear it. He nodded at Snowtuft once.
"Good. Remember, loyalty will be rewarded. Disloyalty will be punished. So long as you answer to me, my son will have to find another plaything. Go, rest, and be ready for when I call you."
After that, Tigerstar spoke no more. He turned and walked into the fog before Snowtuft could answer, leaving the tom alone with his thoughts.
Aching ear to tail, he pried himself from the hollow and began to wander again. Now that the pain of claws was dull, the teeth of hunger reminded him yet again of where his spirit dwelt.
"How will it end?" he asked.
The Place of No Stars answered as always, with silence and darkness.