"You want to get stronger right?" He let his tail slide along her back as he circled her. His voice was full of temptation. "When we killed... him, and I became leader, this place started becoming a place to train and better your battle skills rather than a place of bloodshed and death." He explained
She resisted the temptation to recoil. “This is a place where the warrior code is nonexistent. I will take no part in it.”
"We do have the warrior code here!" He mewed, taken aback. "Instead of forcing apprentices to fight to the death and with claws, they have a choice to stay, leave, fight with claws, or not. It is much better here now." His eyes shone with genuine hurt.
“Blackblood, claws aren’t allowed at all.” She tried to make him see reason. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be a part of The Dark Forest.”
(Good luck!
)
His eyes held a silent fury, but he remained calm. "It's not the place you think it is anymore..." He mewed softly. Then he thought of something. "Beetlepaw! Come here!" Beetlepaw nervously slinked over, avoiding the gaze of Snowfrost. "Beetlepaw, you want to be here, right?" Beetlepaw nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! I do!" Blackblood turned back to the crowd. "Pebblepaw!" Pebblepaw stepped forward. "You were here when the other leader was ruling, right?" He nodded. "Do you think it's better now?"
“Look, I appreciate what you’re doing here.” She chose her words carefully. She remembered when she was a kit and Blackblood had warned her to stay away from The Dark Forest. She didn’t believe he would hurt her on purpose, but no matter what it was now, she would never be able to shake off the dark feeling of foreboding she still associated with this place. “But I’m okay. I don’t really want to stay. I’d like to sleep.”
He sighed, realizing there was nothing else he could say. "Alright..." he gave in. He adressed his cats. "Proceed with training as usual." He called to them. The cats dispersed accept for Beetlepaw who stayed beside Blackblood, still nervously avoiding Snowfrost's gaze
“Thank you.” She turned to leave, grateful he had understood.
