Warrior Cats Fanfiction: Whispers of the Shadows Book 1 Rivers Descending

Chapter Four

    Silverpaw bounced from side to side in front of the stream that surrounded Aspencloud's den. She stared up at the juniper bush, wondering when Aspencloud and Dawnpaw would come down from the branches. Her sister had been there ever since she staggered into camp with news that she, Ferntail, and Tanglebrook had been attacked on the ShadowClan border. With a sinking heart, Silverpaw looked over to the mound of brown tabby fur. Her clanmates had cleaned off all the blood, but could not hide the gaping hole in Ferntail's neck, the one that had killed him. 

    Those fox-hearts, thought Silverpaw. I'll shred them! Silverpaw looked back into the medicine den, praying for her sister to come out soon. Dawnpaw wasn't dead, and wasn't close to it, but still- Silverpaw resisted the urge to look back at her father's body again. 

    Suddenly, Aspencloud leaped down from the juniper bush, landing on the exposed roots below. A tentative black and orange paw came afterwards, then Dawnpaw came down as well. A yellow and green paste covered the long, deep scratch that trailed from the apprentice's right eye to the bottom of her nose. Spiderwebs were stuck on the entire thing, holding the poultice in place.

    "Dawnpaw!" Silverpaw said, leaping into the stream. Her silver paws churned through the silent waters, and she clambered onto the dry roots. "You're okay!" She padded to her sister and reached up to nuzzle her face. Aspencloud whipped her tail around and pushed Silverpaw backwards. 

    "Be careful, Silverpaw!" she hissed. "It took a lot of time to get Dawnpaw to hold still, so when I finally put the poultice on, it's going to stay on. Don't mess it up." Aspencloud whirled around and vanished into the holly bush. 

    "And don't get your face wet!" the medicine cat added as an afterthought. "That means not a lot of swimming!" The sisters walked to the edge of the holly bush roots and swam to the other side of camp. Silverpaw saw how Dawnpaw was despretly trying to obey Aspencloud's instructions, and gasped with effort to keep her entire head above water. When they got on land, Silverpaw leaned against her sister and purred.

    "I'm so glad your safe," she said, leading her into the apprentice's den. The two sisters settled into their mossy nests. Silverpaw rolled onto her back and stared at the brambles that made the apprentice den. Jagged sea shells were woven in, and shiny Twoleg toys that were left behind on the beaches.

    "Yeah," Dawnpaw said," At least it was only a scratch."

    "That's not a scratch!" Silverpaw said, rolling to face her sister," that's a scar! You could have lost an eye!" Dawnpaw shook her head and yawned. 

    "Well, look at Ferntail," she said. Their eyes wandered to the clearing where his body lay.

    "I hate ShadowClan," growled Silverpaw, her paws twitching angrily. It took all of her effort and control to not run to the ShadowClan camp and tear them to pieces. A voice came from outside of the den.

    "Silverpaw! Hunting patrol. Now!" Iceleap called.

    "Why me?" asked Silverpaw, dragging herself from the den. She looked back at her sister, who was curled up in the moss, flank rising steadily. Her orange and white fur was messy and splayed across the nest. Silverpaw padded through the entrance and saw Iceleap, Poppythorn, and Troutpaw waiting.

    "Hunting patrol," Poppythorn said, her amber eyes narrowed. 

    "Are you sure?" said Silverpaw, whose heart suddenly started beating faster. "Do you think that ShadowClan will attack us?" 

    Iceleap led her apprentice to the entrance, white tail lightly resting on Silverpaw's shoulder. "If we fear ShadowClan, we are already beaten. The Clan needs food, and will need strength in the moons to come.

    Poppythorn bared her teeth. "They better not try it. Or else...well, they know what's coming." The she-cat scored her claws on the packed dirt, leaving behind a series of white marks.

    Silverpaw reached down into the water and plucked a trout from it. The flying fish ungracefully landed on Troutpaw's tail, who leapt up in surprise. Silverpaw killed it with one blow from her paw.

    "Scared of a trout, Troutpaw?" she said teasingly. The Troutpaw playfully swiped at her. 

    Poppythorn growled at the two apprentices. "Stop dithering, you two! There are fish to be caught!" 

    "I think you mean RiverClan fish to be killed," said a sly voice. Immediately, Poppythorn and Iceleap immediately dropped to the ground, in a defensive crouch. Troutpaw and Silverpaw looked at each other, then unsheathed their claws. 

    ShadowClan! thought Silverpaw. Her heart beat faster and faster as she curled her lip. The wretched creatures were on her territory, stinking and scaring her Clan's prey! Two grey cats stepped from the trees, followed by a small orange and white she-cat, probably an apprentice. Three? Silverpaw scoffed. It would take more than that to beat RiverClan, especially when they were near a river. A huge black she-cat stepped from behind the other cats. 

    "What are you doing here, on RiverClan territory?" hissed Iceleap, her white tail lashing angrily. 

     The orange and white apprentice looked scared. "We need RiverClan's help!" 

    "Sure," Poppythorn growled," Right after you attack our dawn patrol and kill one of our warriors? Nice try, foxheart!" 

    "It's true!" said the black she-cat. "Rubypaw's telling the truth! We need to see your leader!" 

    "If you need our help, then why bring such a large patrol into our territory?" Silverpaw scoffed. She tooa step forward. "We're supposed to trust you when you outnumber any patrol?" Iceleap sat up and turned. 

    "Silverpaw!" she hissed," These cats need our help, and you are not helping us!" 

    "You're right," said Rubypaw. She hung her head. "We're ShadowClan. You shouldn't trust us."

    Troutpaw tipped his head and padded closer to the other cats. "RiverClan doesn't think that way! WindClan and ThunderClan may, but we don't!" 

    Speak for yourself, thought Silverpaw. Her sister was almost blinded by those cats. She wasn't going to forget it in a hurry.

    "Well," said Rubypaw, smirking," I guess you should have thought differently!" She lunged at Troutpaw, her hind legs pummeling her stomach. He rolled with her, and the two apprentices crashed into the trees. Yowling, Poppythorn sprang at the black warrior, chomping down on his ear. Silverpaw raced into the crowd of ShadowClan warriors and slashed one of them down his flank. The small grey tom looked at her, blood welling up on his flank. Silverpaw hissed and leapt over his head, expertly landing on his back.

    "You filthy liars!" Silverpaw shouted, as the warrior struggled beneath her, "You don't deserve to be called warriors! StarClan must be really disappointed in—" Her voice was muffled as the warrior rolled and flipped Silverpaw onto her back. Seizing the chance, the warrior bit her on the shoulder, rendering her helpless on the ground. 

    I feel like a fish, Silverpaw thought, as she struggled, pain from her shoulder moving her on. The massive weight of the warrior was lifted, and Silverpaw looked into the white face of Iceleap. 

    "Come on Silverpaw," her mentor said. Silverpaw stood up and looked around. Poppythorn and Troutpaw were pursuing the ShaodwClan warriors, presumedly chasing them all the way to the border. She looked up to her mentor.

    "Iceleap, what does this mean? We've been attacked twice today!" 

Iceleap curled her lip as she pointed herself in the direction of the ShadowClan border. "War," was her response.