Warriors: Everlasting Shadows ~Book 3 Series 3~

Chapter 4

Silvershy's POV:

"Someone's coming!" Wrenpaw hissed, darting deeper into the shadows of the Prison. The other prisoners followed the apprentice's lead, bunching together near the back of the dark den. Silvershy flattened her ears, sitting up from her spot by the far side of the den and peering over at the gleaming den entrance.

Moments later, Strike stalked into the den, his red eyes scanning over the Clan prisoners. "You lot have some new friends." The winged tom stepped aside to reveal four rogues being pushed into the den. "Play nice, I'll be disappointed if I have to kill any of you today."

Silvershy stared at the new cats with round green eyes. Their heads were hung in defeat, their pelts riddled with wounds. But the she cat in the lead still had a furious fire burning in her pale green eyes.

Behind the rogues, Shadeheart padded inside with a plump rabbit and mouse in his jaws. "Food for the prisoners." The dark tom murmured, dropping the fresh kill in the space between the rogues and Clan prisoners.

Strike shot Shadeheart a fierce glare. "That rabbit was meant for the Enforcers."

"The prisoners deserve a little treat." Shadeheart held his Uncle's stare, stepping away from his gift. "And I can always go out again to catch more rabbits."

Silvershy blinked at Shadeheart. Why was he still risking his life by helping them? All he achieved was more punishment to himself and the prisoners. He should be waiting for the time to strike! Not showing everyone how unloyal to his mother he is! It was an effort to hold back a growl.

"Leave." Strike muttered, lashing his tail at Shadeheart. The young warrior dipped his head and slunk back out into the main clearing. Silvershy watched him go with a barely audible sigh, wondering if she would ever be able to leave the Prison and to go back to normal clan life.

Shaking her head, the silver she cat looked around at her clanmates. All eyes were glued to the rabbit. Their tongues rasped over their jaws hungrily. Not even the plumpest of rabbits would satisfy all the hungry prisoners. 

"Oh, this is going to be interesting." Strike grinned, noticing the starved looks on the Prisoners' faces. "Go ahead, the rabbit's all yours."

Silvershy bit back a shriek as cats immediately began shoving past her, everyone desperate to grab the rabbit sitting only pawsteps away. The silver she cat pressed herself hard against the den wall, baring her teeth in disgust. They were acting like rabid foxes!

Closer to Strike, the new rogues darted away with hisses and snarls as the starved warriors all piled on the rabbit at once. The mouse was trampled under the cats, soon rendering it inedible.

As the hungry prisoners ripped and tore through the soft rabbit flesh, Silvershy quickly lost her hunger. She glanced around the den to see one of the sick cats, Briarcloud, writhing in pain on the ground. One of the she cat's hind leg's had been trampled on and broken during the mad rush.

Silvershy peeled herself away from the den wall and padded to the Echoclan she cat's side. "Hey, it's okay, we'll get it fixed."

"That's right, we will." Marigoldfur appeared in the edge of her vision, some cobwebs already in her jaws. "I haven't got much," the medicine cat sat down by the broken leg, "but it's enough."

"No, no." Briarcloud whimpered and attempted to shuffle away. "Don't waste all the cobwebs. We can just use.. Moss or something else for me."

Silvershy sighed. "She has a point."

Marigoldfur growled. "I'm not letting her die of this injury."

"I won't!" Briarcloud mewed, but she was ignored.

Marigoldfur had already started wrapping the cobwebs around her broken leg, securing it in a brace. "We need comfrey." The medicine stated with a grumble. "But this will hold it."

A fierce snarl interrupted them, and Silvershy snapped her head in the direction of it to see two of the prisoners exchanging some violent blows, a tiny morsel of rabbit sitting between them. She looked at Strike. The Enforcer watched with a crazy grin.

"Stop this!" Beechpaw wailed, trying to get in between the two fighting cats. The scrawny apprentice was flung away and the two warriors continued to fight for the single mouthful of rabbit.

We have to get out of here before we forget who we used to be! Even if NoName eventually is killed, there will be nothing to go back to! Silvershy bared her teeth and snapped. "Stop fighting!"

The warriors paused and looked at her, panting and bleeding from their fight. Cedarclaw and Ripplenose. They were both from Smallclan, could something as simple as a rabbit tear these life-long clanmates apart?

"Aw, such a killjoy." Strike rose to his paws, lashing his tail at Silvershy. "Even without your powers you still like to cause trouble. Watch out, because you might be the next one to be executed." The black and red tom turned and left the den, leaving the prisoners to sort their troubles alone.

The new rogues were standing far away from the clan cats, horrified expressions on their faces. "Will we turn into that?" One of the toms asked with wide yellow eyes.

"Of course not!" The rogue she cat snapped and sank her claws into the ground. "We're not weak like them."

"Excuse me?" Silvershy hissed, stepping closer to the rogues.

The she cat twitched her whiskers. "You're not that bad, I have to admit. What are you, their leader?"

Silvershy snorted. "No. Our leaders are dead."

"There was more than one leader?" The rogue pricked her ears.

"We're the remains of four great Clans." Marigoldfur explained. "We've been under the Dark Forest's rule for over four seasons now."

"That's a shame." One of the toms muttered. "We won't be staying that long, we're escaping right?"

The she cat shrugged. "We'll have to devise a plan."

Silvershy's ear pricked. "Yes. A plan." She felt her heart fluttering in her chest at the thought. "We can escape."

"You're not coming." The rogue she cat growled and glared at her. "You'll ruin the plan."

Her heart plummeted in her chest. "No, you have to let us help you." Silvershy stepped closer, her eyes staring into the she cat.

"How can we trust you?" One of the toms pushed her back with his paws.

Silvershy stumbled backwards and glanced behind her at her clanmates. They had resolved the conflicts over the food, and the rabbit's mangled carcass lay strewn about the den. The prisoners had wasted no time in stripping off every whisker-length of flesh from the prey. They needed to escape, they had to. Before it was too late.

The silver she cat turned back to the rogues. "Alright, here's the deal. We work as a team, all of us, and create a plan of escape. If we fail, you kill me."

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