Warriors: The Darkest Shadow [Book 1]

Chapter 15

     A chilling breeze blew through the ThunderClan camp, a small sheet of snow had blanketed the ground, and leaves had fallen completely from the trees, leaving them as bare as the brambles in the forest.

     "Bluefeather! Is my daughter ok? I need to see her now! How does she keep getting hurt?" Shadepaw's mother screeched from outside the medicine den, flashes of ginger, tan and brown caught Shadepaw's attention.

     "Get back here Firekit!" A squeak sounded from outside, Shadepaw stared out through a hole in the dead brambles that surrounded the medicine den, to find Gingerleaf's kits playing in the snow. "Come on Harekit! Your supposed to be named after a hare, so that means your are as fast as one!" Firekit mewed teasingly.

     "Well I'm named after a robin, do you see me flying Firekit?" Shadepaw saw Robinkit snap at her brother, standing up for Harekit. "And besides, your named after fire, but I don't see your pelt on fire!" Harekit added.

     "Your gonna pay for that!" Firekit mewed playfully at Robinkit as he sprung onto her back, his claws sheathed. Shadepaw let a mrrow of amusement escape her throat as the two kits tussled back and forth.

     "Kits! Get back in here, its to cold out there!" Gingerleaf snapped at them from the entrance of the nursery. "Aww... Five more minutes, please Gingerleaf?" Firekit meowed to her with pleading eyes, his flame colored pelt blew wildly in the Leaf-bare wind. 

     Gingerleaf glared at her kits with a stern glare, then sighed reluctantly, "Okay, five minutes!" She said with a stern yet gentle caring glare, then she padded back in to the nursery. Shadepaw stood up, her leg was wrapped completely in cobwebs, and her throat was sticky with poultice.

     Shadepaw tried putting weight on her leg, but the moment she did, it felt as if every cat in the clans had clawed her leg off, over and over again. She lifted her leg up and limped outside, her leg itself wasn't bad, it was just the pain from the scar being reopened.

     "Look guys! Shadepaw is coming to play with us!" Robinkit mewed happily when Shadepaw limped over to them, "What do you kits wanna play?" Shadepaw purred in question. The three kits exchanged a mischievous glance, then looked back at her.

     "We wanna play clan battles! We can never play because its never fair, now we can!" Firekit said, "I call ThunderClan!" Robinkit exclaimed as she bounced over to Shadepaw, "No fair I wanted Shadepaw!" Firekit sulked. "We can take turns ok? The is enough me for every kit." Shadepaw purred to them soothingly.

     The three kits seemed satisfied with what was going to happen, then Harekit and Firekit started drawing a long line in the snow, after they finished they got on the opposite side of her and Robinkit. "We will be ShadowClan, you guys be ThunderClan, and the line is the border, we must fight over it, okay?" Firekit said, explaining the rules. "Can I add a rule?" Shadepaw asked the over explaining kit.

     The tom-kit nodded in acknowledgement, "Okay, and No Claws, your claws must be sheathed okay?" Shadepaw said, all three kits nodded in agreement, then Firekit cleared his throat.

     "Oh look- uh- um- Deadbranch, no cat is here to guard the border, perfect time to invade." He said in a croaked voice, it took everything in Shadepaw's power to not break out in laughter. Harekit exchanged a smug look to Firekit, then began speaking.

     "Oh yes, Fireflower, it is the perfect time to attack." Harekit said with a teasing look on his face, just as the kits went to step over the snow drawn line, Robinkit sprung out of the 'imaginary bramble bush' "Not on our watch! Shadepaw, attack!" The enthusiastic kit meowed as she sprung onto Firekit's back, Harekit jumped onto Shadepaw's back, unsheathing his claws just enough to hold on.

     Shadepaw swung him gently, and he landed in the snow, making a small kit shaped mark in the pawprint covered sheet of cold white cloud. "I surrender!" He squeaked, his voice had no real fear in it, "ShadowClan retreat!" Firekit squealed as he ran to the other side of what was left of the line in the snow from the kits' big tussle. Harekit leaped out of his hole in the ground and ran behind Firekit.

     "And don't come back, Fox-breath!" Robinkit shouted in triumph, kicking snow at the two tom-kits, but the kit's celebrating was cut short from a stern meow from Gingerleaf, the three kits padded reluctantly towards the nursery, their tails dragging behind them.

     "That looked like fun."  A chuckle sounded from behind her, "Hey Larkpaw, it was fun no doubt." Shadepaw said as she turned towards her newly ThunderClan apprenticed friend, "I got news! Today Smallstar said he would welcome me to the clan by giving me my official mentor!" Larkpaw said, he sounded as excited as a kit on their first snow day.

     "That's great news!" Shadepaw purred, brushing her pelt against his for a second, then a familiar sweet smell filled her nose, making her flash towards the entrance.

     Familiar green eyes emerged through the bramble woven tunnel, "Frogleap!" She exclaimed with affection, "Oh, Shadepaw!" The medicine cat said as he ran over to her, Shadepaw limped as fast as she could over to him. "How is your leg?" He asked, Shadepaw tried searching his eyes for affection, but all she could see was concern.

      "Its, better." She sighed as she hobbled over to the medicine den, but halfway there Smallstar called a clan meeting.

     "Let all who are old enough to catch their own prey, join under Highrock for a clan meeting!" He yowled, Bluefeather and Birdpaw sat at the entrance to the medicine den, while Cloudpaw and Blazepaw sat beside their mentors, Larkpaw padded up to the front of the Highrock, while warriors sat around it, forming a half circle.

     "As you know, Larkpaw is from ShadowClan, but he recently asked me if he could join ThunderClan, and I said yes, because as you know, we only have three warrior apprentices, ThunderClan has never had so few, so Larkpaw, do you promise to be loyal to ThunderClan?" Smallstar asked with an unreadable gaze.

     Larkpaw side glanced to Shadepaw, then stared up at the ThunderClan leader, "I do." He replied with sincerity glazed all over his voice. "Then by the power of StarClan, you will now be known as Whitepaw!" Smallstar said, a sudden uneasy look spread across Larkpaw's face.

     Smallstar's amber eyes swept across the gathered cats. His eyes resting on one she-cat warrior, "Dustwing, your old apprentice Ashpaw, has left ThunderClan, and I told you I would give you one of Gingerleaf's kits to apprentice, but Whitepaw needs a mentor now, would you be willing to give Whitepaw a chance.

     Dustwing nodded her head, but before Smallstar could make it official, Larkpaw spoke up. "Smallstar, with my deepest respects, I would like to remain as 'Larkpaw', the name is... Special to me." Larkpaw said, as he finished the last sentence, he cast a glare at her, but Shadepaw couldn't make out what his emotion was.

     Many cats gasped in horror as Smallstar stood, betraying no emotion.