[TWs: Gore, fighting, animal death, graphic descriptions of blood / gore / guts]

"Mama, tell me about one the Twelve Horrors," Beetlekit begged. Sunstep shuddered. "Beetlekit, darling, what is your obsession with these horror stories?" she asked slowly.

Beetlekit shrugged. "I like hearing them. Oh, please, mama?"

Sunstep sighed. "Okay, dear. Settle in. Let me tell you about the third of the Twelve Horrors."

. . .

Stonefall had been sharing prey with his elderly father when he heard the news.

"Stonefall, I don't know how to tell you this, but your mate and your kits were killed by a fox on patrol," Firefeather said regretfully.

Stonefall felt his heart break. His beloved mate and their darling kits, dead. Firefeather dipped his head and muttered a soft apology, then padded away in respectful silence.

Immediately, Stonefall's father curled around his son. But Stonefall quickly became enraged. "Why?" he hissed quietly.

Bouldershade, his father, tilted his head in concern. Stonefall went on. "Why didn't they do anything? Why didn't anyone try to save my family?!"

"Stonefall, calm down," Bouldershade said gently. "I'm sure the others tried."

"They should've tried harder!" Stonefall snapped. "My mate-- my kits! They're dead! My kits were only apprentices!" His eyes flashed. Bouldershade recognized that look.

That was the look of a cat who was about to do something heinous. Unethical. Treacherous.

"Stonefall, calm yourself," Bouldershade said firmly.

"Calm myself?" Stonefall echoed. "Calm myself?!" He raised his voice. "My family was murdered! How did they end up dead and nobody else?!" He broke away from his father and stood up.

Stonefall began to pace. "This was a murder. I know it was. Somebody deliberately murdered my family and fabricated the whole fox story!"

Bouldershade sighed. His son was bent on the fact that his family had been murdered by a Clanmate and there was nothing he could do to stop Stonefall.

"Firefeather!" Stonefall yowled. The red-orange tom showed up a moment later. "Yes, Stonefall?"

"Who else was on that patrol?" Stonefall demanded. Firefeather tipped his head. "Um. Daisyheel and Featherflick," he replied.

"Daisyheel and Featherflick..." Stonefall thought about that. "Where was the fox?"

Firefeather hesitated. Stonefall narrowed his eyes. "There was no fox," he accused. Firefeather flinched.

"You murdered them," Stonefall concluded, his eyes widening. "I knew it! Traitors!"

"No! No, wait!" Firefeather tried to protest. But he couldn't even finish the sentence before Stonefall attacked him. "You killed my family!" he snarled, pinning Firefeather to the ground.

Firefeather writhed. "Stonefall, listen! They were about to betray us all!"

"That's a load of foxdung and you know it!" Stonefall snapped. He slid out his claws and curled them into Firefeather's neck. Firefeather let out a gurgled yelp as Stonefall ripped through his throat.

Only heartbeats later, Daisyheel showed up, Featherflick at her heels. Featherflick let out a shriek as she saw her brother's corpse under Stonefall's claws. She jumped forward and bowled the stony-gray tom over.

Stonefall recovered his balance quickly and slashed his claws across Featherflick's side. The she-cat reeled with a shriek. Daisyheel stepped in for her, sinking her teeth into Stonefall's foreleg.

Stonefall snarled aggressively and sliced his other set of foreclaws across Daisyheel's face. With a pained shriek, Daisyheel broke away. Stonefall noticed she was stumbling.

"Featherflick!" Daisyheel cried suddenly. The red-orange tabby was dead. Suddenly, a weight landed on Stonefall's back. Before Stonefall could react, Bouldershade snapped his neck. Without a sound, Stonefall fell dead on the ground.

And when Stonefall woke up, he was in a dark, starless forest. Over him stood a black-and-white, apparently blind tom.

"Welcome, newcomer," the tom said, sitting down. Stonefall sat up, blinking. "Where am I..?"

"The Dark Forest," answered the stranger. "Nice to meet you. My name is Shatteredscream."

"Shatteredscream?" Stonefall gasped. "The Shatteredscream? The one from the legends?"

Shatteredscream grinned. "The one and only. I saw what you did, Stonefall." The black and white tom stood up and began to walk slowly around Stonefall. "You're strong," he went on.

"Yeah? So?" Stonefall followed Shatteredscream with his eyes. "What about it?"

"Join me," Shatteredscream offered. "Become one of the Horrors of the Dark Forest."

Stonefall sat up straighter. "What do I get out of it?" he asked, tilting his head. "Power," Shatteredscream answered smoothly. "You'll get your own sort of magic."

"Magic?" Stonefall echoed. He flicked his tail and grinned. "Count me in."

. . .

[ I'll post an extra chapter explaining the whole magic thing, along with a bunch of other rules the Horrors follow. ]

[ Also, I do have plans for Beetlekit. He's not just a filler character I swear ]