Thundering Darkness

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Darkpaw limped through the forest on the hunting patrol, her gaze held high. It had been a successful day's hunting, and she, Batpaw, and Pebblepaw had all caught more than enough prey to prove their worth as hunters.

The newleaf air warmed Darkpaw's pelt, and she smiled, genuinely happy. It was true that she and the rest of her apprentices had spent way longer as 'paws than they should have, but it was because Troutstar had told Darkpaw that she had to spend a full season as an apprentice to prove her worth.

It had been astonishing to learn that Thornpaw, Batpaw, and Pebblepaw also were willing to stay as apprentices, even though they had proved their loyalty again and again. Pebblepaw had even led a rebellion to save Troutstar's mousebrained pelt, for StarClan's sake!

The three moon apprenticeship hadn't really been about learning traditional hunting and fighting moves; it had been about all the cats reintegrating into RiverClan. It had certainly taken Darkpaw a while to get used to hunting alongside clanmates, and patrolling borders on the RiverClan side.

"Awesome catch, Darkpaw!" Darkpaw limped around to see Shimmerclaw grinning at her. "I'm sure you and your denmates are excited to be warriors."

Darkpaw smiled faintly. That was another thing. Troutstar had changed up the mentors. She had been given Shimmerclaw, Pebblepaw had unfortunately gotten Troutstar himself, Thornpaw had been working alongside Mossypaws for the past while, the two of them working through restocking RiverClan herbs. Min had gotten Spakmist this time, while Batpaw had Snowflight."

"Thanks, Shimmerclaw," Darkpaw mewed around the carp in her jaws.

Shimmerclaw bounded away, and Darkpaw was left to continue making her way back to camp. Her leg had never fully recovered from the attack with Mightystar after infection had seeped into it, so she had a permanent limp on her left leg. Surprisingly, that hadn't been the hardest thing for her to adjust to. She and Shimmerclaw had been trying various new techniques that helped her catch prey with her disability.

Then there was Pebblepaw. Darkpaw grinned as she thought of the cat she had grown close to over Troutstar's mousebrained apprenticeship exercise. The cat who had saved her life.

Min now led the Paws United, of which she had recently left to help cats struggling in the Wild Lands. Min had promised to return in the next season. She had left alongside Spike, Foxglove, Snowflake, and Boulderpaw and Creampaw who had renamed themselves Boulderfang and Creamsplash.

On the ThunderClan side of things, Eaglestar had become leader, and his son Redmoth had become deputy. There was still some speculation as to the motives of the new leader, but so far Eaglestar hadn't done anything particularly foxhearted. He was merely a complete fleapelted piece of carrion at the gatherings, which had started up again.

Mousefang had retired to the elder's den, but other than that things in RiverClan had remained quite stable. Though, Darkpaw had been noticing Shimmerclaw begin to show her age.

There was still a lot to take in, and it would be a long time coming before everything was entirely alright, but Darkpaw was beginning to feel content. There were still mental wounds on every cat that would take a long time to heal, and some that would leave lasting scars, but every cat was taking steps towards reconciliation.

With one last jump over a miniature stream, Darkpaw made her way into RiverClan camp.

It was different from the way it had been before Nightpaw's death. For one thing, the cats had begun decorating their dens with little shells and colourful bits of nature. For another thing, every cat had a new outlook on life.