Shadows in the Night

Chapter Twenty-Two

Duskfoot purred as he watched Ripplepaw stalk a squirrel. Hootpaw and Brightpaw sat nearby, with their paws curled neatly under their chests, watching the young tom intently; and Leopardfur's ears were pricked as he scanned the undergrowth for any sign of movement.

Duskfoot sighed. I can't help but worry about Nutpaw... and I should be worried! She's my kit, and StarClan knows where she is!

It had hardly been a few sunrises since Stormpaw and Nutpaw had disappeared, and many search parties had been sent out to look for them. Though the warriors had been able to track their scent up to fourtrees, the scent trail had been lost after that.

Emberblaze was solemn, but she wasn't very worried about her kit. And Duskfoot knew why.

"It's alright, Emberblaze. The patrols will do their best to find Nutpaw," Nightstar had announced in an attempt to soothe the flame orange she-cat. To the LightningClan leader's surprise, Emberblaze simply gave a curt nod, and bounded off to join a patrol.

Freckleleaf, on the other paw, was quite distraught about the entire situation. "What if one of them gets hurt? They won't know what herbs to use, and they could poison themselves!" Duskfoot had to jab the black-and-white spotted medicine cat in the ribs to get her to quiet down.

The forest had been eerily silent ever since the apprentices had disappeared- almost too silent. The threat of Leaf and her band of rogues was growing stronger everyday, and Nightstar had ordered more battle practice so that LightningClan could be prepared for attack. But Duskfoot felt like however much they prepared, it would never be enough.

Because Leaf was determined to come get them.

The brown tom suddenly look up as he heard Hootpaw utter a shrill shriek. "Hootpaw?"

Ripplepaw pounced, then paused to cast a questioning glance towards Duskfoot, before neatly picking up his catch and trotting over to the warrior. "What's happened?" He meowed.

Brightpaw's lips were curled back in a snarl, and her ears were pressed back against her head- but it was obvious to see how scared the young apprentice was. Her claws were unsheathed and digging into the earth, and her tail was quivering. At the sight of Ripplepaw and Duskfoot, Brightpaw relaxed slightly, loosening her grip on the earth.

"H-hh-ootpaw...." She trembled, choking the words out as if every syllable lodged a sharp thorn into her throat. "They took her...."

"Who?" Duskfoot demanded, pacing in agitation. Without a second word, Leopardfur raced back to camp to let Nightstar know of the news.

"That black and white tom..."

".....Do you know him?"

Suddenly, Brightpaw's amber eyes lit up with recognition, then immediately darkened again, the temporary brightness being replaced with a dark, eerie glow. The apprentice flexed her claws, and hissed-"Black, or whatever they call him now. Leaf's kit."

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Shadefur snapped awake as she felt a paw graze her shoulder. "Get up, you useless lump of fur!" Snake snarled, unsheathing his long, sharp claws and digging them into the earth. She sat up, and wobbled on her unsteady legs, struggling shake the grogginess out of her system.

"Quick, or you're going to feel these claws in your fur." The white tom hissed, before trotting away while waving his tail in satisfaction. Shadefur grudgingly padded to the edge of the clearing, barely flinching as Blacktail stepped on her tail.

I've gotten used to it. Even the most terrible of things seem normal now.

New captives seemed to come in every day, so the black and white she-cat barely blinked when she saw a new hostage being dragged in through the sharp thorns bordering the camp's entrance.

There was something different about this apprentice. Something about the way that Sidewindercliff and Snake treated her.

She wasn't the same. This new captive was special.

But Shadefur didn't give it another thought, and simply glanced away, tucking her white paws neatly under her chest.

Of course, she was disgusted. But things like this happened so often that Shadefur could barely bring herself to care about a single cat being captured by Leaf and her sidekicks anymore.

She tried her best to be a "loyal" LeafClan cat. Obviously her allegiances didn't truly lie with these filthy, dirty excuses for cats, or any of the former clan cats that had joined Leaf because they thought that life here would be better. Shadefur didn't understand how anyone could even think that life here was good.

No, Shadefur pretended to be loyal so that she would have a nest to sleep in at night, and a scrawny starling to nibble at. She did this- though quite grudgingly- so that she could stay alive. For she had seen what had happened to the cats who stood up for themselves.

"LeafClan! Assemble!"

Shadefur stood up, and padded towards the centre of the clearing, laying flat on her stomach. The dirt mingled with her soft belly fur, and she desperately wanted to scratch an itch on her ear. But she kept still.

Adderear, Badgerclaw, Sidewindercliff and Snake sat themselves at the base of the rock, while Leaf calmly sat at the top, washing herself as cats poured out of their dens.

"I'd like to present someone- veery special to you all today," Leaf purred, trying to make her voice sound sugar sweet.

Shadefur hated to admit it, but if she didn't know what Leaf was really like, she might have fallen for it. But now she knew better

Perhaps she's talking about that cat I saw being dragged into camp.

A small, young light brown she-cat was shoved to the front of the crowd. Her large yellow eyes were blinking in confusion and fear, and Shadefur felt a pang of compassion for the young cat.

Murmurs swept through the crowd.

"Who is she?"

"What makes her so special, anyways?"

"I smell clan scent on her..."

"SILENCE!" Leafstar hissed.

"You must all be wondering....

"This is my dear, dear daughter. Sweetie, i'm so glad that you've finally come home."

Dun dun dun!!!!

I'll try to get the next chapter out soon, thanks for reading and please vote! :3

-Allie