Ghosts of the Clans (COMPLETED)

Chapter 2

"Hi, Redpaw! How did your training go?" As soon as he entered the camp, Redpaw's sister, Olivepaw, greeted him, dropping a fat thrush onto the fresh-kill pile. "Not well," he grunted, padding over to sit beside her. "Oh." She pushed her nose into her shoulder, but Redpaw shook her off.

"Well, battle training is easy, actually. So what's wrong?" Olivepaw asked, shifting her paws. "Sure, it should be, but it isn't! Whitewater's fur is too long for me-  you're lucky to have Crowfrost," Redpaw blurted out, then clamped his jaws tightly shut, afraid that other cats had overheard him.

Before the tortoiseshell she-cat could reply, her mentor, Crowfrost, walked up. "Hey, Redpaw, Olivepaw. Just to let you two know, Whitewater and I are planning to let you two train together in the afternoon. Meet us at the training hollow when you're ready." "Sure!" Olivepaw purred, her tail curling up in delight. But Redpaw simply rolled his eyes at her. If you had a mentor like mine, you wouldn't be so enthusiastic.

"Don't look so sulky, Redpaw. You have your mother's temper." Their father, Pouncetail, had arrived. The dark brown tabby tom gave Redpaw's ears a lick, his yellow eyes softening with the memory of his former mate, a rogue she-cat named Penny. Every cat had thought that Pouncetail had found Olivepaw and Redpaw in the woods, but he had told them the truth- that he had fallen in love with a rogue named Penny- and she had kitted Redpaw and Olivepaw.

Now, Redpaw shifted uncomfortably. He never remembered his mother, except for a memory of dense woods and feeling extremely cold despite a body wrapped around him. But, is Penny a good cat? Strong and beautiful, like Pouncetail always describes her? He pondered. In the end, he just shrugged awkwardly.

Noticing his discomfort, Olivepaw felt a stab of pity for her brother. Always so insecure... to break the tension between him and their father, the tortoiseshell she-cat suggested, "Let's share some prey. It's already sunhigh, and remember, Redpaw, that we have training later."

Redpaw grunted and pulled out a vole from the fresh-kill pile, while Olivepaw turned to Pouncetail. "Can you tell us more about Penny, please? Like how you used to when we were still kits." she begged the dark brown tabby tom, rubbing her muzzle against the soft fur of his neck.

Pouncetail relaxed and sat down, drawing a paw over one ear. Sitting down beside Redpaw to take a bite of the vole, Olivepaw noticed that the mottled tom had pricked up his ears. "Tell us how you and her had us," her brother meowed, all defensiveness gone.

Pouncetail heaved a huge sigh, gazing up at the sun rising above the treetops over the pine forest of the ShadowClan camp. He waited while Ivytail and Kinkfur left before starting.

"It all started when I was an apprentice, eleven moons old. My mentor was Tallpoppy, and she gave me a small assessment to prepare for my upcoming warrior assessment that was taking place a moon later. She wasn't supervising, but I had to catch four birds, a mouse and a frog by sunset. I had set off a while before sunhigh, and had already caught a blackbird and the vole, so I was feeling pretty confident.

But then, when I tried to catch a frog- which were almost impossible to me at that time- I slipped and fell belly-deep in the mud. The mud dragged me down, until I was struggling to surface. I remember thinking that I would die! I yowled at the top of my lungs before realising that I had strayed to an unexplored part of ShadowClan territory. There was an abandoned Twoleg nest nearby as well.

But I didn't, and at slightly after sunhigh, just as I was about to give up and go to StarClan, teeth gripped my scruff and hauled me upward. I could feel the mud around me, sucking me down, but that cat was stronger. She dropped me on safe ground and wiped her dirty front paws and muzzle on a moss-covered tree, then introduced herself as Penny.

Penny was a tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, kind of like Olivepaw but with white patches. Her eyes were exactly like you, Redpaw, bold yellow with a sturdy glint in them. She also has the same lean shape as you, ever so graceful. Her right ear was torn badly, showing that she was no stranger to fights. Though her scruffy appearance, I fell in love with her immediately. It wasn't her looks, but her personality.

Days passed, and I found myself going to the place where I had met Penny more and more often, always at a little after sunhigh. She taught me how to hunt frogs- Great StarClan, she was an expert! After some visits, and talks, she confessed her feelings toward me, and asked to be my mate. How could I say no to that?

But things began to fall when I became a warrior. My ceremony was held at sunhigh, and I had to stay at camp, as Blackstar had advised me to rest. I knew that I would be questioned if I left for too long, and knowing that the Twoleg nest was far away from camp, I didn't dare go.

You see, Redpaw, Olivepaw, I had never told her that I came from a Clan. She was once a kittypet, and had escaped with her mother, Sunny. But Clan cats killed Sunny after they invaded their territory, and Penny was left alone. So she has always been waiting to avenge her mother.

So, during my vigil, when I was watching the moon over the camp, Penny came. She had followed my scent trail that I had evidently disguised poorly- and was now at camp. Upon seeing me, her yellow eyes widened in shock, then darkened with disgust and rage. She then hissed at me, calling me a betrayer and that she was carrying my kits before fleeing.

At dawn, I was acclaimed as a new warrior, and yet my heart carried no joy, but pain at losing Penny. I carried my duties for two moons, trying to put her at the back of my mind, but one night I had a fateful dream that carried my paws back to the abandoned Twoleg nest. 

In the dream, I was sprinting in a forest, following the cry of two kits. I tried my best to find them, but no avail. Then, suddenly, they loomed in front of me, mangled, bloody, limp...and lifeless. Penny was also curled beside them, shuddering and her throat badly bitten. She looked up as I approached, and growled that I wasn't worthy to be her mate, for I left her to die.

I woke up, cold and shivering, with a sense of dread. I used the dirtplace to escape, and practically flew to the Twoleg nest- just in time. Penny had started kitting, and one of the kits were stuck inside her, which needed an extra set of paws. Not caring whether she wanted it or not, I raced to her side and moved the kit until it slipped out, jaws open in a cry. It was you, Redpaw, and I still thank StarClan everyday that I had been there to save your life.

Olivepaw had already been born, and I caught a couple of voles and some water for Penny. She was weak, but still had that steely look in her eyes when she realised that I was there. Not caring that I was a Clan cat now, she pressed her nose against my flank.

For a half-moon I took care of them, finding excuses to get away with warrior duties. And when the half-moon was there, Penny, instead of waiting for me, came close to the ShadowClan camp. She handed me you two without meowing a word, then left after brushing her pale ginger-tipped tail along my side, saying good-bye silently. I was confused, but took the two of you into camp, claiming that it was a mysterious she-cat's kits, and they had been abandoned in the forest."

Olivepaw and Redpaw stared at their father, the vole forgotten and their eyes wide with amazement.