**OLD** Valley Cats: Of Sky and Stone 1- Daughters and Darkness

Chapter Twenty-Six

 A few moments later, Twisterpaw was flying across the sharp pebbles.

 "Mother! Sister!" she yowled. Sure enough, Snowspirit and Magpiepaw were sitting amongst the CliffClan cats who hung at the edge of the clearing, congregating under a tall conifer tree.

 "There she is. I told you she'd be here." A tall and slender, pale gray CliffClan tom with darker flecks stepped between Twisterpaw and her target. The black-and-white apprentice skidded to a halt, almost colliding with the warrior.

 "Step aside, Shattersweep. I want to talk to her." Snowspirit said from behind the tall cat.

 "Alright, fine. Onyxpaw, come see this while you can. Look at her." the warrior, Shattersweep, lashed his long tail threateningly. A small cat stepped forwards, and Twisterpaw backed up in shock when she saw who it was.

 "Hello." the scrawny, scarred black she-cat spat. "Nice to see you. Still alive, that is."

 "More importantly, she's still in ForestClan. I sent you all the way there to get her, and you made it just fine. But I ask you to do one thing and you screw up your entire warrior's assessment." Shattersweep snarled at Onyxpaw, who glared back at the cat who must be her mentor.

 "You mean... Onyxpaw is the one who attacked me? But why?" Twisterpaw shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. This was all so confusing.

 "They were sent to collect you. To bring you to us. Because now, we are members of CliffClan. I was hoping that once you knew why we left you'd join us, but..." Snowspirit trailed off.

 "What do you mean? I have no idea what you're talking about!" Twisterpaw felt the only emotion she could feel in a stressful situation. Anger. She dug her claws between the pebbles, fluffing out her fur. "Why does everyone know things I don't?" she growled, frustrated.

 "Ah! You didn't even tell her anything!" Shattersweep snapped at Onyxpaw. "Oh, and look who it is. The legendary Galepaw himself." he turned to the dark gray tabby, who was now edging closer. "Wait. Where's the other one?" the tall warrior raised his head, searching the crowd for someone.

 "Brightpaw is being punished. Again." Twisterpaw said through gritted teeth, glaring fiercely at the warrior.

 "I heard. But where is the other one?" Shattersweep lowered his head, snarling with such force at Onyxpaw that even the desensitized apprentice jumped back. "She said she'd meet me at the gathering! How am I supposed to know where she is?" the scrawny black cat hissed.

 "I'll go fetch her." Shattersweep grumbled as he took off through the crowd.

 "Mother? Sister? Are you really CliffClan cats now?" Galepaw rushed forwards, burying his face in Snowspirit's thick white fur. "But why did you leave? I've been worrying about you ever since you disappeared!"

 He wailed something else, but Twisterpaw had turned her attention to her silent sister. "Magpiepaw... why?" she managed, stepping towards the gray-and-white tabby. Her sister shied away, casting her gaze down and pressing her shoulder even more tightly against her mother's flank. "Um... Mother told me to?" she mumbled.

 "So? Are you joining, or what?" Onyxpaw snapped, inching closer.

 "What?! No! Why would I?" Twisterpaw said hotly, whirling around to face her sister.

 "Because my warrior's assessment is a little bit more... engaged than the usual CliffClan assessment." Onyxpaw said, arching her back threateningly. "Instead of some kind of hunting or fighting assignment, I'm going to set out to reunite all of my siblings who were unfortunately scattered around the Clans during the war between ForestClan and WoodClan." she said menacingly.

 "Snowspirit brought us Magpiepaw already. And I guess Galepaw refused to come with them, since he's still in ForestClan." Onyxpaw thrust her muzzle in the dark gray tom's direction.

 "I thought we were going hunting!" Galepaw sniffled, muffled by his mother's white fur.

 "Anyways, I was assigned to come get you. But apparently you've been trained well for a non-StoneClan cat. After I was disgraced by my failure, I convinced our other sister to meet us at the next gathering." the black cat explained.

 "Other sister?" Twisterpaw echoed, feeling her anger being replaced with more confusion.

 At that moment, the pale gray-and-black warrior returned. "I got her. She even brought a gift for us." Shattersweep boasted. Behind him, carrying a mouse, was Possumpaw.

 "Possumpaw... you're our sister?" Twisterpaw stared at the light gray tabby. She vaguely remembered Galepaw telling her about the slender black she-cat being spotted in MeadowClan. That had to have been Onyxpaw talking to the apprentice.

 "Yes. I was hinting at it, but before I could talk to you I was-" Possumpaw was cut off by Snowspirit's yowl of joy.

 "Daughter!" the white she-cat raced forwards, pulling the quiet apprentice into an embrace. Galepaw was left, stunned, standing on the pebbles. His eyes were brimming with tears.

 "Wait. How many siblings do I have?" Twisterpaw turned back to Onyxpaw.

 "Well, there's you and me. Then there's Magpiepaw and Brightpaw, plus Possumpaw. That makes five of us. Right? I can become a warrior now?" Onyxpaw suddenly gazed up at Shattersweep, who had returned to loom over his apprentice. "My assessment is over, right? I passed?"

 "No. There's one more. But it's up to you to find out who it is." Shattersweep said gruffly.

 Onyxpaw let out a furious snarl. "Seriously?!" 

 She clawed at the ground, her dark blue eyes sparkling in the light of the full moon. Suddenly, another CliffClan cat walked over. This one was a blue-gray she-cat with intensely yellow eyes. Twisterpaw immediately recognized the mysterious CliffClan deputy, Shardclaw. The fuzzy cat was shorter than Shattersweep, but the fearsome warrior showed much respect to the deputy.

 "Hello, Shardclaw. What-"

 "Did you get Possumpaw?" the blue-gray cat snapped impatiently.

 "Yes, but-"

 "That's all we need. Our work is done here." the deputy waved her tail at the rest of the CliffClan patrol. "Let's move out!" she called sharply. Quartzstar pricked his ears at the yowl, then leaped off of the bench. The warriors and elders immediately began flowing towards the break in the clearing.

 "Wait! Mother!" Galepaw cried, catching Snowspirit's fluffy tail with his paw.

 "Galepaw, you can come if you want. But you won't be able to turn back. CliffClan apprentices aren't usually allowed at gatherings, so if you want to see your sisters any time soon, you'll come with us." his mother said gently. "We would love to have you in CliffClan."

 "Don't do it, Galepaw! You have no idea what you're getting in to!" Twisterpaw begged. Onyxpaw looked as if her training involved being beaten up four times a day, plus being starved and sleep-deprived to the fullest extent. She didn't want to risk her brother going through that.

 "I'm sorry, Twisterpaw. You don't miss them like I do. I need them in my life." Galepaw turned away, following the CliffClan cats out of the clearing.

 "No!" Twisterpaw wailed. But it was too late. Her brother had already disappeared into the crowd, along with the other mysterious CliffClan warriors.