Warriors: Path of Shadows

Chapter 1

Rain loudly hit the roof of the apprentices den as storm paw curled up in her nest. She was exhausted from a day full of training and hunting. She yawned and settled down, she closed her eyes and her ears twitched as cloudpaw came into the den. "Hopefully the rain stops soon" she mewed as she shook her pelt, spraying water droplets onto Stormpaw. "Cloudpaw!" She hissed as she sat up and started to groom herself. "Sorry" cloudpaw meowed quietly and padded over to her nest next to her sister. She settled down with her legs tucked under her and closed her eyes. Stormpaw glanced over at her sister and regretted how she had snapped at her. She and her litter mates, Cloudpaw and Nightpaw were closer than littermates usually were. Stormpaw sighed and curled up with her nose under her tail. Her breathing slowed as she drifted into sleep.

She opened her eyes to find herself in a dark forest. She blinked,confused because this wasn't a part of the forest in Brightclan territory. It was still night time but something didn't feel right. She heard pawsteps and whipped around and flattened her ears. "Hello apprentice" mewed a lean, gray tabby she -cat with piercing green eyes. "Who are you?" Stormpaw tried to relax but kept her ears perked up. "I am Fernstar and I have something to show you" she turned and headed into the forest. Stormpaw realized that she must be in starclan, Fernstar had been the leader of Brightclan before Robinstar. Stormpaw ran after her as she hopped over a small stream. Stormpaw followed, "Why am I here?" she asked as Fernstar stopped and sat down as if she had seen something. Stormpaw padded up to her and stared in front of them. A lake shimmered with the reflection of the full moon and the forest around them had turned to a stone hollow "Powerful forces of nature will rise up together against a betrayal of one of their own." Fernstar chanted as the lake and the stone around her began to fade. Stormpaw looked around for Fernstar but she had vanished "Wait! What does this mean?!" She yowled.

Stormpaw woke with a start as Silvershine prodded her with her paw. "Wake up, Its already sun high and  Badgerfur wants us on patrol" She turned and disappeared through the brambles. Stormpaw stood up and shook herself to clear her head. The dream quickly faded from her mind. She stretched and yawned widely before padding out of the den into the clearing. Ivyleaf sat outside her den sorting herbs into piles. Goldenkit sat next to her and watched intently. Applenose laid across the clearing in front of the nursery watching her other kits play and making sure to keep an eye on Goldenkit. Echoshade and Grayfur were sharing a squirrel by the fresh kill pile. Silvershine,patchfern, snowfeather, maplesong, and willowpaw were waiting by the tunnel. Stormpaw bounded over time them and Snowfeather led the way out of camp. Stormpaw followed Silvershine out the tunnel and into the forest. "Let's patrol by StreamClan border" Snowfeather suggested and they all followed as he headed into the forest. Snowfeather was the youngest warrior in the patrol but he acted as if he was a senior warrior and was often chosen to lead patrols. Stormpaw stopped and pricked her ears as she heard movement in undergrowth. She sniffed the air and found the mouse scuttling around at the bottom of an oak tree. She quietly stalked closer before she dropped into the hunters crouch. Before the mouse had time to run she pounced on it and killing it with a bite to the neck. "Nice catch" Willowpaw mewed as she bounced up to Stormpaw. Willowpaw was one of the prettiest cats in the clan just like her mother. She was small and had brownish fur with large spots all over her pelt. She was surprisingly good at hunting and fighting and she never looked for trouble. Stormpaw thought that she was amazing. "Oh uh thanks" she meowed as she dropped the mouse. The rest of the patrol walked up to her, "Good job,bury it and you can collect it when we get back" Silvershine told her and Stormpaw kicked dirt over the mouse. "Come on" Maplesong meowed and bounded off. The rest of them followed with Stormpaw and Willowpaw at the rear. They effortlessly jumped over a tree trunk and Stormpaw bounded ahead. Willowpaw followed and flicked her tail towards her den mate. "Your pretty good at hunting" she mewed softly and it caught Stormpaw by surprise. "Not as good as you and you're amazing at battle training" she said as she let her tail rest on Willowpaw's shoulder for a second. "Thanks I guess it's because I'm small, and don't think for a second that you aren't as good. You're amazing Stormpaw" she mewed as she turned and stared at her. Stormpaw felt something stir inside her as she brushed her flank against Willowpaw. "Hurry up you two" Patchfern hissed from in front of them. The both of them ran up to her and saw that they were already to the stream. Maplesong and Snowfeather were refreshing the scent markers and silvershine sniffed at a patch of brambles a few tail lengths away from the stream. "What is it?" Stormpaw asked as she padded up to her. Silvershines fur bristled, "There's StreamClan scent here" she hissed. Stormpaw sniffed and her senses were flooded with the scent of StreamClan. Patchfern hissed, "Here too" she was standing by a pile of boulders at the edge of the stream and willowpaw sat next to her, looking worried. "What's going on?" Maplesong mewed as He and Snowfeather bounded up to them. "StreamClan has been crossing the border" Patchfern spat and her tail was lashing back and forth. "We'd better head back and tell Robinstar about this" Snowfeather mewed. Patchfern nodded and signaled with her tail for the others to follow her as she bounded off.

~~~

Stormpaw dropped her mouse onto the fresh kill pile as Silvershine and Patchfern headed to Robinstar's den. The fern tunnel rustled and cloudpaw and echoshade entered the camp with fresh kill in their jaws. Cloudpaw padded up to her sister and dropped the blackbird she had caught onto the fresh kill pile. "Hey, how was patrol?" She asked as echoshade came over and dropped a squirrel and a mouse onto the pile. "Um fine, I gotta take some fresh kill to the elders" she mewed hastily as she picked through the fresh kill pile and found a plump vole. She picked it up and hurried to the elders den. The den was made from a very large hollow tree stump, lichen hung over the entrance. Stormpaw padded in and saw hawkwhisker and bramblepelt curled up in their nest while amberstripe was grooming herself. "That for me?" She mewed as she noticed Stormpaw. "Yep" Stormpaw set it down and amberstripe started hungrily eating it. "You can bring them some later" she mewed as she flicked her tail towards the sleeping toms. She swiped her tongue around her jaws and gobbled up the rest of the mouse. Stormpaw dipped her head and turned to leave the den. She pushed her way through the narrow entrance and saw Robinstar and Silvershine waiting for her. She immediately grew nervous. "What is it?" She mewed quietly as she sat down in front of them. "Silvershine believes that you should be made a warrior soon" Robinstar meowed and Stormpaw turned her head to Silvershine who dipped her head and Stormpaw turned back to Robinstar. "You will be assessed tomorrow" she stood up and walked across the clearing to the fresh kill pile. Silvershine leaned over and licked Stormpaw head. "You've earned it" she mewed, Silvershine padded off leaving Stormpaw alone. She was excited to finally become a warrior but she was also scared and she didn't know why. Cloudpaw bounced up to her while Nightpaw calmly followed behind her. "I can't believe it!" She purred as she sat down, Stormpaw could see the gleam of excitement in her yellow eyes. Nightpaw sat down next to her and began to groom himself. "Aren't you excited?" Stormpaw mewed to him. "Of course but I choose not to show it" he mewed calmly but Stormpaw could hear him purring as he said it. "I wonder what our names will be" Cloudpaw wondered out loud and Stormpaw wanted to know too. "I don't know but we'll find out tomorrow. The sun had already disappeared behind the trees and darkness started to fall over the forest. Stormpaw stood up and padded over to the fresh kill pile and plucked a starling from the top. She took up over to the apprentices den and started to eat. Out of nowhere cedarpaw walked up to her and sat down next to her. "I heard that you're being made a warrior tomorrow" he purred and laid his tail on her shoulder. She shook it off and dipped her head to him. "Do you wanna share?" She mewed awkwardly, it was easy to talk to his sister, Willowpaw but when it came to him she had no idea what to do. "Sure" he meowed happily as started to eat. Stormpaw looked up and saw Cloudpaw and Nightpaw picking through the fresh kill pile. "You'll be a great warrior" Cedarpaw purred as he pressed his flank against Stormpaw. "Thanks" she mewed before she stood up and headed into the apprentices den. She pushed through the brambles and saw that Willowpaw was already asleep, her soft snoring filled the den but Stormpaw didn't mind. She quietly settled down in her nest and quickly fell asleep.

Stormpaw opened her eyes as she felt that her nest was no longer under her. There was only cold stone. "What?" She gasped as she looked around and saw nothing but snow and mountains. She heard pawsteps and turned around to see a tail disappear behind of cleft of rock. Stormpaw lowered herself to the ground and slowed stalked towards the rock. She peeked around it, preparing herself for the worst. But she only saw Willowpaw calmly walking on the edge on a narrow ledge "Willowpaw!" Stormpaw yowled as she started to run to her and Willowpaw turned around but her back leg slipped and and she plummeted off the ledge. "Willowpaw!" Stormpaw yowled.

~~

"Wake up!" Stormpaw opened her eyes and saw Silvershine standing over her. "What was all that about Willowpaw?" She mewed as she sat down and cocked her to the side. "Nothing" Stormpaw said quietly, still shaken from watching her friend die. She knew it wasn't real but it still hurt. "Come on, it's time for your assessment" Silvershine mewed and stood up. Stormpaw did the same and followed Silvershine out of the den.

________

Yeah it's bad but whatever, the next chapter will be a little better. <3 I worked on it for a long time