The Shadow Glare

Chapter 15

Ashpaw arrived in the camp carrying two mice and a pigeon, Windstorm beside him. The cats in the camp seemed sad and grief-ridden. Then he heard little mewls from the nursery.
Chickfluff must've had her kits while I was out of camp. But why is everyone so sad? What happened?

Then Pebblestar leaped onto the High Cliff and started to yowl the words for the cats to gather. Her voice sounded weary and tired. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the High Peak for a Clan meeting."

As cats began to gather, Ashpaw realized there was a body in the clearing. As he looked closer he recognized the body of Sandslip.
No, no, no, no! She was like family to me!

Soon all the cats were gathered and Pebblestar began to drone on tiredly.
"We have lost two members of our Clan today,"
Two? Who's the other one?
"Sandslip, mother of Shadowpaw and Riverpaw, was murdered by an ShadeClan cat. There was scent all over her body. Don't worry. She will be avenged. But right now, we just need to be careful. No cat must go to the ShadeClan border alone and any cat who does will be punished. I do not want any more cats to be hurt." Pebblestar gazed around as cats jumped to their paws.

"We need to avenge her right now!" Lynxclaw hissed.

"Yes I agree! We can't let them get away with murdering our cats!" Wildflame agreed.

Pebblestar jumped to her paws and lashed her tail as more and more cats joined in. "Stop!" She yowled. "I know that we must avenge Sandslip, but first we must find more evidence. We don't know if Pondstar is behind this."

Cats murmured in agreement. "I guess," Yellowear snorted. "Pondstar is soft. She wouldn't murder cats on purpose. But that doesn't change the fact that a ShadeClan cat did it!"

Pebblestar sighed as she began to speak again. "Chickfluff has kitted. She had four kits, but one of them died shortly after being born. The other three seem healthy and strong. Chickfluff and Weaselgrowl have named the three living: Snakekit, Cloverkit and Fluffkit. We wish for them to have a long happy life as warriors and hope that Sandslip and Chickfluff's kit are welcomed by StarClan."

Ashore suddenly awoke to a paw prodding him in the side. He opened his eyes and looked around. "Wha . . ."
Then he spotted the light brown pelt of Windstorm. "Come on!" She hissed.
Ash paw rolled his eyes as he got to his paws. He should have known. Windstorm had been waking him up every night. As he followed the light tabby out of the den, she started talking again. "What do you want to hunt for today?"

Ashpaw shrugged. "I don't care. Maybe we could just go for a walk?"
Windstorm purred contently as if she had been wanting him to say this. "Good," she mewed. "Let's go."
They went through the camp entrance which Lynxclaw was guarding. The light brown she-cat flexed her claws when she saw them and growled. "What are you two doing out here?"

Windstorm was quick to jump to an explanation. "We're going hunting."
Lynxclaw looked at the two young cats, nodding, a wistful look in her eyes.

"Have fun," she whispered.
As Ashpaw and Windstorm headed into the forest she started to seem more and more jumpy. A leaf swirled down in front of them; she jumped.
A twig snapped beside them; she jumped.
"What's wrong?" Ashpaw asked, starting to worry.

Then Windstorm lowered her muzzle to his ear and whispered. "I had a dream from StarClan last night."

Ashpaw jumped in surprise. Is Windstorm the she that can't tell anyone? But what must we not tell?
"What happened?" He asked.

"A StarClan cat called Flashstorm came to me in my dreams . . . He said that I have a hard destiny, and then he said something strange," her voice began to shake. "He . . . He said that he couldn't tell either," then she seemed to panic. "What is it Ashpaw?"

Ashpaw shook his light-grey head. "I don't know, Windstorm. I had a dream like that too. I . . . I think that's us."

Windstorm leaned into him and rubbed her muzzle along his jaw. "Well, if that's our destiny, why not? I love you, and I hope you feel the same way." Her blue gaze pierced his.

"I do . . ." Ashpaw murmured. "More then anything else."