(Warriors) 🌹Flower In The Shadows🌹 Volume I: ✳Dark Seeds✳

Chapter Nine

"Brownpaw! Fernpaw! Crowpaw!" The Clan cheered. Fernpaw looked up at Shadeflower with eager eyes. She smiled down at her apprentice. Echofoot approached them.

"I'm proud of you, my kits." She purred. They were her first litter. Fernpaw smiled and touched noses wth her.

"I'll be the best hunter, Echofoot! " Fernpaw meowed. "And I have the best mentor!" He boasted. Fernpaw had to have heard the stories from Featherpaw, Jaypaw, and Robinpaw.

"Remember to listen to your mentors." Echofoot told all three of them, they nodded solemnly.

"We will!" Crowpaw insisted. His mother nodded. Shadeflower looked at Fernpaw. I will make you an amazing warrior of ShadowClan! She vowed silently. She looked around while Fernpaw and his siblings talked to their mother. She saw that Featherpaw, Robinpaw, and Jaypaw were preparing for their final assessment. She silently wished them luck.

"Hey Shadeflower, what are we doing first?" Fernpaw interrupted her thoughts with his question. She looked down at him.

"Well, why don't we go see the borders?" She suggested. "That way you know a little bit about the territory."

"Okay! Hey Crowpaw, what are you doing?" He asked his brother.

"I'm on elder duty." He said with a sigh and Mistyflame gave Crowpaw a look.

"Remember what I told you, Crowpaw." She said sternly and he nodded.

"I know, I know. I have Brownpaw to help! " he said happily, referring to his sister.

"See, you won't be alone!" Fernpaw reminded him. "I'm sure you guys will see the territory soon! Bye!" He said, turning his attention back to Shadeflower. She smiled at him. He reminds me of Oakbriar when she was an apprentice. Speaking of her sister, she had been so proud of Shadeflower when she found out she'd be a mentor. Oakbriar padded over to her.

"Have fun. And make sure you listen ,Fernpaw." Oakbriar meowed. "Stormfall had to go on a patrol, but he wanted me to tell you that he's so proud of you and that he wants to go hunting with you after you're training session with Fernpaw." Butterflies formed in Shadeflower's stomach when Oakbriar gave her the message. She nodded.

"Okay." She meowed, kind of nervous.

"Can we go now? I wanna see the lake! Everyone always talks about the lake! And the island! I wanna see the island too! Cmon Shadeflower! I wanna go!" Fernpaw was bursting with energy and Oakbriar was very amused. She chuckled as she went off to go hunting or something with Stormheart.

"Patience, Fernpaw, is a very key thing to learn. But yes, we will see the lake. It's beautiful." She meowed, beckoning him with her tail. She left the camp with Fernpaw right beside her, his dark gray tabby pelt brushing up against hers. He would grow to be a very strong cat. Shadeflower was happy to train him.

"Wow! The forest is so big!" Fernpaw stopped to gaze at the huge pine trees around them.

"That it is." Shadeflower meowed. "And this is only part of all the clans' territory. There's RiverClan, ThunderClan, and WindClan too."

"We don't share a border with WindClan, right?"

"Nope. A long, long time ago, when the Clans lived in the old forest, ShadowClan and WindClan were mortal enemies." Shadeflower recited the stories that had been passed down for generations and generations.

"Wow! Before the great battle with the Dark Forest?" Fernpaw was eager to learn and he had wide eyes.

"Before that." She meowed. "It was in the old forest."