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A starless sky greeted the tom’s eyes as he opened them. Dead, leafless trees covered in slimy fungus towered over him as he stood up. His ears could discern no singing in the skies, no scuttling beneath the undergrowth, only the sound of him padding across the rotting earth.
“Oh, hey Juniperclaw,” a she-cat’s voice startled the tom. He spun around and saw her, with stars covering her sleek silver pelt.
“Needletail? What are you doing here?” Juniperclaw looked around. “Is this StarClan? I thought StarClan would look a little more…”
“Um, about that…” Needletail meowed hesitantly.
Juniperclaw’s eyes widened. “Am I in the Dark Forest? Am I being punished for poisoning SkyClan’s prey? But I-”
“What? Nobody cares about that. You technically haven’t even broken the warrior code. Any more than I have, at least,” Needletail muttered the last part under her breath.
Juniperclaw tipped his head. “Okay? So, why am I here?”
Needletail took a deep breath. “Remember when I separated Violetshine from her sister and used her to get us closer to the rogues, even telling her to attack her own sister to pull her closer to me?” the silver she-cat meowed sheepishly. “Well… I kinda told StarClan it was you.”
Juniperclaw’s neck fur bristled. “You told them what?”
“Yeah, sorry about that…”
“And they believed you?” Juniperclaw unsheathed his claws and took a step towards Needletail, who took a step back. “You know this means I have to stay here for eternity. I can’t talk to my family ever again. I can’t talk to Dawnpelt, I can’t talk to Crowfrost, and I can’t even talk to Strikestone when he goes to StarClan.” He takes another step forward. Needletail takes another step back. “Why couldn’t you just admit your mistakes and apologize, as I have?”
“Wait wait, we can talk this out, please!” Needletail mewed disconcertedly. “Please, Juniperclaw, calm down. I swear by StarClan, we can get you out of here.”
Juniperclaw took a deep, exasperated breath. He sheathed his claws. His neck fur flattened. “Okay, Needletail. How do you suppose we do that?”
Both cats were silent for a few heartbeats. Needletail flicked her gaze around awkwardly. Juniperclaw glared at her distrustfully.
The she-cat turned tail and bolted away.
“Wait!” the tom spat, sprinting after her. “Liar!” But Needletail was faster, and Juniperclaw lost sight of her as he traversed through the forest.
No sight. No scent. No sound.
He was alone.
Juniperclaw sighed. It was going to be a long eternity.