Shadow Warriors

Chapter Seven

Sagepaw awoke, curled in her mossy nest, to the pattering of rain above her. Bleariness clouding her eyes, the apprentice rose into a sitting position, her ears poised as shuffling sounded from outside of the den. A flash of white was visible in the dim lighting at the den's entrance.

"Cloudyfoot?" she whispered, voice sticky from sleep as a pair of yellow eyes lit from outside the den. Her mentor moved slightly so that the cloud-spotted moon could cast into the den. He made a beckoning motion with his tail, seeming very off-kilter and uncomfortable. Confused, Sagepaw picked her way out of the den, nearly stumbling over the sleeping form of Quailpaw. The white-and-brown cat wrinkled her nose as the rain wet her pelt. "What do you need?" the apprentice asked softly, glancing around the nearly-empty camp.

Mintstorm, a gray-furred ShadowClan she-cat, was positioned at the entrance, half asleep as she guarded the Clan. Her striking blue eyes made it easy to figure out who she was. A dark-pelted tom was slipping into the warriors' den; Sagepaw guessed that both the tom and Cloudyfoot had been on the night hunting patrol, as both cats had soaked pelts.

"I need to. . . take you somewhere. Stormshine and I were assisting Larkshine in some herb collection, and he asked me to do something for him. . . involving you."

Confused, Sagepaw tipped her head to the side. "Why doesn't Larkshine take me? And it's rainy and the middle of the night—can't we do this tomorrow?" With the shadows that danced in the corners of her vision and the eerie wind that was whistling through the pines, the apprentice realized that this would be no typical excursion. Viperfang was plaguing her life; he had infected her sleep, and now he would infect her waking hours. The apprentice had no proof that Viperfang was meddling, but a deep, instinctual, inner voice was teller her otherwise.

"This is urgent," replied Cloudyfoot in a louder-than-typical voice. A shushing noise came from the elder's den. The white warrior's ears flattened, and he spun on his paws, facing the camp exit.

Sagepaw trailed after her mentor, giving a bleak glance at Mintstorm, who was doing her best to stay awake. She kept her pawsteps heavy as they traversed through ShadowClan territory; pine needles crunched beneath her pads. As they crossed the training clearing, Sagepaw unsheathed her claws, letting them sink into the rain-soaked ground and tear up small chunks of dirt.

The white-furred apprentice slowed as the pungent scent of ShadowClan border rose into her nose. "Are we going to stop now?" she asked tentatively, pausing as Cloudyfoot turned around.

The tom flicked his tail over the edge of the border. "See that Twoleg nest?" he asked. Sagepaw nodded. "We're going to go in there. The Twolegs only come 'round in Greenleaf, so there isn't anyone there right now. . . be careful, though."

A lump grew in her throat. Why would we purposely go into a Twoleg nest? she asked herself. Pointless danger. With a bitter taste in her mouth, Sagepaw placed a single paw over the border. The emptiness of an abandoned forest greeted her as she took a few more pawsteps.

"Scent the air!" called Cloudyfoot from behind the border. "And tell me what you smell. . . is there a cat-scent?"

Sagepaw obeyed, opening her muzzle and dipping her head toward the ground. The pungent smell of a kittypet reeked on the grass, and the apprentice jerked her head back. "There's a kittypet. . . probably male, probably very fat." Cloudyfoot let out a light chuckle, though he showed no signs of completion. With a sigh, the she-cat went back to sniffing. "Uh, I think there is ano—"

The ShadowClan stopped herself. A very familiar smell was haunting the clearing. Viperfang. The reek of blood and the bitterness of his mysterious scent was hanging in the air as she took a shaky step backwards.

"What?" pressed Cloudyfoot, his tail lashing back and forth with a hint of anxiety. "What do you smell?"

Sagepaw forced her fur to lie flat, but then an idea popped into her head. "Fox!" she shouted, letting every hair on her pelt leap into a standing position. Cloudyfoot reacted by standing and bolting, his white pelt only a blur in the darkened pines. She could only follow, sprinting through the trees like her life was actually in danger.

Finally, they slowed after swerving toward the lake, to avoid leading the 'fox' to camp. Cloudyfoot turned to her, his claws unsheathed as his gaze swept the trees behind her. "Be careful," the tom cautioned. "It could attack." Sagepaw nodded and turned so her back was facing the water.

"The scent seemed a little stale," she finally pipped after a few heartbeats of staring into the trees. "I don't think it was nearby."

Cloudyfoot seemed to let out a breath that he had been holding. "Alright. Let's get back to camp and get some rest."

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[edited by le amazing Annco]