Frozen Claws

Chapter 5

The barn as taller than the tallest tree Evergreenpaw had ever seen and as red as blood. It was like the twoleg dens Shatteredheart had taken her to see a few times, but much, much bigger. On top there was a shiny thing that spun and changed direction whenever the wind blew. Twolegs have weird stuff, Evergeenpaw thought as she stared at it.

"That's... that's the largest twoleg den I've ever seen." Evergreenpaw stared at the barn with wide eyes. "Amber, are you sure there aren't any twolegs inside?"

"Sometimes they go in, but there's plenty of places to hide. But don't worry, these twolegs won't hurt you if you don't cause trouble. They like it when Umbra-Shade and Shadow catch mice in the barn actually," Amber answered. "Come on." She darted under the fence.

Evergreenpaw stared at the barn for another moment before darting under the fence after Amber. The wood of the fence scraped against her skin as she squeezed through the gap between the fence and the ground.

Hopekit curled her tail closer to her body as Evergreenpaw squeezed through the fence so it wouldn't touch the snow.

"Amber!" Evergreenpaw looked up at the sound of the voice. A dark brown cat was walking towards them, their orange eyes bright with curiosity. "Who've you got there?"

"Umbra!" Amber meowed happily. She flicked her tail towards the two CliffClan cats. "Umbra, this is Evergreenpaw and Hopekit. Evergreenpaw, Hopekit, this is Umbra-Shade."

"Oooo clan kitties. We don't get many of you folk here. What brings you here? And why aren't you two with your clan?" Umbra-Shade asked.

"We, um, we got separated from them. Hopekit got injured and I was told a cat named Shadow could help?" Evergreenpaw couldn't explain it, but something about Umbra-Shade made her feel on edge.

"Oh sure! Shadow can definitely help!" Umbra-Shade answered. "See ya soon Amber! Might wanna get home soon, the sun's goin' down." They flicked their tail towards the sky, gesturing to the setting sun.

"See you soon Umbra!" Amber responded before she darted back under the fence, her ginger fur disappearing quickly as she ran away from the barn.

"So, it's Evergreenpaw, right? Mind if I call you Evergreen? You clan cats have such odd names, you know that, right?" Umbra-Shade meowed as they walked towards the barn. "You can call me Umbra. Everyone does."

Great StarClan, does this cat have no filter! "Uh, sure, I guess?" Evergreenpaw answered tentatively. "I really don't think we have that weird of names. Your name is pretty weird too, you know."

"Eh. Whatever. SHADOW!" Evergeeenpaw nearly jumped out of her fur at Umbra-Shade's sudden shout. "We've got visitors who need help!"

"New friends?" A squeaky voice mewed. A cat who looked almost... greenish jumped down from a pile of hay, his dark eyes seeming brighter than any eyes Evergreenpaw had ever seen.

"Ugh. I'm coming." A ragged black cat jumped down, landing in front of them. "Lemon, go get herbs or something. You, uh, clan cat, you can put the kit on that hay over there."

"Okay..." The black cat, Shadow, from what Evergreenpaw could figure out, had an authoritative aura about him. Evergreenpaw gently placed Hopekit on the hay. "Don't worry Hopekit. Help's coming."

"Move," Shadow growled, shoving Evergreenpaw out of the way. "Lemon, get out. You're distracting me and Blocky probably wants you back."

"Awwwwww. But—" Lemon started, but was quickly interrupted by Shadow.

"Go home. Now," Shadow ordered.

"Fine," Lemon huffed. He seemed disappointed by this, but listened to Shadow anyways.

"Is it bloody?" Umbra-Shade asked, their orange eyes shining as they craned their neck to try to observe what Shadow was doing. Hopekit squeaked fearfully at the bloodlust in their eyes.

"Umbra, you're scaring the kit." Shadow had a tone of warning in his voice. "Go hunt or something."

"But why?" Umbra-Shade complained, flopping dramatically onto a pile of hay. "I'm not doing anything evil." They let out a playful growl as they pretended to attack Evergeenpaw with claws out.

Evergreenpaw flinched away from him. "Don't do that," she hissed.

"Make me stop, Greeny." Umbra-Shade purred a laugh at Evergreenpaw's annoyance at the nickname.

"Umbra-Shade, go hunt. Outside," Shadow growled, glaring at them with harsh, yellow eyes.

"Geez, alright, fine, I'm going," Umbra-Shade grumbled as they walked out of the barn.

"Is it really bad?" Hopekit mewed worriedly, staring up at Shadow with her bright green eyes.

"No, no, don't worry." Evergreenpaw was startled at how quickly Shadow's tone changed from harsh to soft. "You're still alive, so it probably didn't hit anything important and there was a lot of blood, but it wasn't that deep." Shadow looked at the two clan cats. "You two should rest. You look like you've had a rough journey."

"We really shouldn't. We need to get back to our clan," Evergreenpaw meowed. She didn't feel comfortable at the barn, especially with twolegs so close and with Umbra-Shade nearby.

"It'll be dark before you even are halfway to your clan. Rest." The way Shadow said it made sound more like an order than anything else.

"Please Evergreenpaw! I'm tired," Hopekit pleaded, staring at Evergreenpaw. "Please?"

Evergreenpaw sighed, finally relenting after a few seconds of Hopekit staring up at her with wide eyes. It seemed impossible to say no to a kit. "Fine. For one night."

Shadow nodded. "Great. Choose anywhere to set up your nest. Just don't go in the corner over there. That's where Umbra-Shade sleeps and I don't feel like getting into an argument with them over something so small."

"Alright." Evergreenpaw padded over to a small pile of hay near Hopekit and laid down in it. She stretched out and yawned. I guess... I guess I am kind of tired, she thought tiredly as she drifted into sleep.