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

Chapter Thirteen

   Silverpaw glanced at her sister, whose mouth was open. She playfully butted her on the shoulder.

"Shut your mouth before the fish wriggles out," she told Dawnpaw. Dawnpaw turned to Silverpaw, her mouth still agape.

"We're in a prophecy, Silverpaw! How are you not excited about this?"

"I am," Silverpaw replied. "But not as much as you. We can't think about the prophecy now, though. We can ask Aspencloud later." Dawnpaw looked blank, and Silverpaw sighed. "There's a battle going on, fish-brain!"

The orange and white apprentice shrugged. "We're not allowed to fight."

Silverpaw stared at her sister. "That's seriously stopping you?"

"Like I said before," the blue eyes of Dawnpaw were solemn. "If we die, then what would happen to the prophecy?"

"Dawnpaw!" Silverpaw said. "Please?" The orange and white cat just shook her head mournfully.

"Fine, I'll go alone," Silverpaw hissed, and stomped out from the willow's branches. Looking from side to side, she made sure that Aspencloud wasn't following. Silverpaw dashed from the willow tree, straight into the thick of the battle. She searched amongst the wrestling for the snowy white pelt of her mentor.

Then she saw her, her thick pelt turning grey in the water. Iceleap stood in the shallows of the river, panting. Blood dripped down her pelt, and turned the water pink. Silverpaw jumped back as two cats came rolling in front of her.

"Iceleap!" she screeched. Iceleap looked up and her eyes widened in surprise, seeing the silver apprentice crouching amongst the battling cats.

"Silverpaw?" she yowled," Get over here right now!" Silverpaw staggered to her feet and ran to the edge of the water. She waded in, until she and her mentor stood together.

"What are you doing here?" Iceleap hissed. "This is a battle, not an outing for kits!" Silverpaw opened her mouth, but a white tail enveloped her. "No excuses. One thing will be for sure, though. You will not be going to the Gathering this moon."

"Iceleap! Emberstar!" came a call from the shore. Curlfeather stood at the edge of the river, eyes wide and flank bloody. "Behind—" her call was cut short as a thick pelted tom leaped onto her and sent them tumbling into the dusty shore. Iceleap and Silverpaw looked behind them, fur bristling and ears flat. Silverpaw took in breath as she saw Thistlestar, glaring at both of them triumphantly. A river of blood ran from underneath his paws and into the river, turning the stones dark and slippery, and staining the river darker than before.

Underneath his paws, was... Emberstar.

Silverpaw waited outside in the clearing like many of her Clanmates. Dawnpaw sat beside her, tail curling around her back. They had forgotten the argument about whether to go into battle or not, for all that was on their minds, like all of their Clanmates, was worry for their leader.

Aspencloud emerged from the small, bramble covered den, blood covering her paws and pelt. Although the battle had been hard for the warriors, the medicine cat was rushing around trying to heal everyone and make sure that Emberstar didn't die.

"How is Emberstar?" mewed Softwing.

"Emberstar is okay," she said. "But needs rest. He will be in his den until moon high, at the earliest." None of the RiverClan cats moved, and Aspencloud lashed her tail. "You're not doing any good sulking and waiting for him, you know. Minnowtail!"

The deputy padded out from Emberstar's den. "Yes, Aspencloud?" she asked carefully. The medicine cat was always cranky after a battle, but the cats of RiverClan knew how to maneuver around her.

"Send the least injured cats on patrol," Aspencloud said. "I want Curlfeather, Tanglebrook, Fallowspring, and Carppelt in my den. Now." As the named cats limped to her den, Dawnpaw let out a sigh of relief.

"Good. I thought Tanglebrook was going to stare at me all day." Minnowtail walked to the center of the clearing and started assembling patrols.

"Softwing, Poppythorn, and Eeljaw," she said," go to the lake to hunt. I know that it's harder to fish, but all of the prey was scattered during the battle." The cats nodded and raced out of camp, their battle-weary muscles aching.

"Iceleap," said Minnowtail. The white she-cat tore her gaze from Silverpaw. "Can you take Troutpaw and Bramblepaw out, please? Their final assessment was scheduled for today, and I would like to continue as normal as possible." Silverpaw saw Troutpaw and Bramblepaw sit up straight on the edge of the assembled cats. Warriors! She thought enviously.

Silverpaw's mentor nodded. "What shall they be tested on?"

"Hunting," said the deputy. "Both on land and in the water. They already had their battle assessment, so that doesn't need to be done."

"Come on," Iceleap mewed to the older apprentices. The two toms followed the white cat out of camp, their tails straight and ears pointed.

"That'll be us one day," said Silverpaw.

"If we stop breaking the warrior code," Dawnpaw hissed softly. Silverpaw's heart sunk. What happened to my fun-loving sister? She thought.

A heap of fish lay in the middle of the camp. Most of the cats had already eaten, but there were still large pieces in the pile. It was almost moon high, and when the RiverClan cats would usually be settling down in their nests, they were seated in front of Emberstar's den, waiting for their badly injured leader.

"I can't believe that they passed their assessment," muttered Silverpaw, looking at Bramblepaw and Troutpaw. "Now they'll be even more annoying!"

"They never were," Dawnpaw mewed, confused. Her ears stretched tall as she exclaimed," Emberstar!"

The reddish brown tom was limping out of his bramble-covered den, moving slowly as not to break the carefully placed cobwebs on his wound that caused him to lose a life.

"Cats of RiverClan," he said. All of the murmuring ceased, and Aspencloud came out of her den, followed by Tanglebrook, whose paw had refused to stop bleeding for ages.

"I could not be more proud of you for your courage in battle today," Emberstar mewed. "Although I did lose a life, and we lost the battle, the war against ShadowClan is not over." He bared his teeth.

"ShadowClan did not fight today with the warrior code. They fought viciously, like rogues."

"You can say that again," remarked Curlfeather. "They wouldn't let us surrender."

Emberstar nodded in her direction. "That's why we need help from the other clans. I have decided to send Whiteear and Waterheart to ThunderClan and WindClan, to help us defeat ShadowClan." The two toms stood.

"You can count on us, Emberstar," Whiteear said. They sprinted out of camp. Emberstar looked to the two eldest apprentices.

"We will hold your warrior ceremony tomorrow," he said. Bramblepaw and Troutpaw looked at each other, purring. "Also, we need to shape up our battle skills."

"Starting tomorrow, we will have hunting patrols and border patrols like usual, but all cats not directly involved will go to intense training." The RiverClan leader lashed his tail. "This will be the last battle where RiverClan is defeated."