He had spent most of his evening patrolling, hunting the land for trace signs of wolves until his paws were burning and begging for him to return to camp. It was foolish of him to go out alone, but he preferred it that way. He didn't want anymore of his clanmates getting hurt, especially when he had nine full lives of his own to spare. Better one or three of his lives than the singular lives of his clanmates, cats who had families and friends of their own. Besides, he liked to have his peace underneath the stars as he stalked the earth, with his mind drifting to be his beloved Ravenstar and to the grave situation they'd gotten themselves into with their unborn kittens. He tried his hardest to find a solution, so they could be one happy family together. But StarClan seemed content on keeping them apart. 

He just wanted to see her happy again.

Stormstar had stepped into his den late that evening, finding tranquility in the comfort of the darkness. He held a slight fear of it before, a sort of apprehension because he knew not what it held. But slowly, he had grown inquisitive of it, and through Ravenstar, he learned to love and embrace it. He had nothing to fear within the shadows. The tom had come to admire the peaceful landscape of WindClan in the dark, when the grass was still and the crickets offered their pleasant song. He had come to love the feeling of dew beneath his paws, no matter how cold its touch. Night had become his place of happiness, his secretive haven.

While their leader seemed like an open book, he had more secrets than they could ever imagine. 

The feline had curled up in his nest, content with his evening patrol before he finally slipped into a slumber. Although he had been anticipating that he'd be greeted by nothing but sleep, he found himself surrounded in a suffocating forest, with tall trees crowding his vision and darkness swallowing him whole. It felt like a nightmare- there was no peace here, not the serenity he found in the night with the DarkClan molly. This shadowed forest, it was no haven. Something about it was undoubtedly dangerous, and thinking on it, Stormstar did not feel alone. 

His head spun around in the direction of a snapping twig, dilated eyes desperately searching the shade behind the trees. But the fog and shadows, they were too thick for him to see through. "...H-Hello?" The awkward tom called out, beginning to feel as if something was stalking him. Was it the wolves? Had they infiltrated his dreams as well? But as he verbally reached out, he received no sensible answer. There was a strange vibration in the air, a sort of rumbling growl- or maybe taunting laughter, he could not tell. It sounded demonic. It sounded wrong. 

It became deafening, to where Stormstar cowered in his place and prayed that he'd wake up from the awful nightmare. But then suddenly, there was silence. In the midst of the stillness, he still felt as if he was not alone. Before he could even see anything, he felt himself tumbling into the gloom, with a piercing pain suddenly plunging into his throat. He cried out and tried to kick out at his attacker, but felt his claws connecting with nothing but air and dusk. 

"Hunters lurk in the dark."

The voice was all he heard once he sprung back into reality, greeted by dawn's light that barely trickled into his den. He was breathing hard- his heart was racing, pounding like the paws of pursuing wolves. Hunters? In the dark? He didn't understand- what was StarClan trying to warn him about? They already knew that wolves were hunting them- that much was obvious!

They...they couldn't have meant DarkClan, right? No. Stormstar told himself firmly, swallowing a lump in his throat. No. I won't let StarClan turn me against DarkClan. They've done us no wrong. He sat upright in his nest, nervously kneading his nest as he tried desperately to regain himself. With their medicine cat suddenly passing, he had no cat to talk to.