Warrior Cats: Shademist's Destiny

Chapter 6

Claws scrape the ground outside.

"Shadepaw!" My mentor shrieks. I hear her pawing at the rocks outside.

"Enough. She's dead." Jayfeather growls.

"No! She can't die!" Dovewing yowls.

"No cat could survive a fall like that. You killed her."

I hear a strangled cry.

"It was never going to heal,was it?" She whispers.

He mews softly,"No. It slashed her eyelid and probably into the eye itself. The swelling would have gone down,but the scars wouldn't have ever faded."

I twist my head to call out and tell them I'm alive, but my mouth is full of dirt. I spit it out, turning to see my body trapped by dirt and rubble.

I yowl in pain as I try to twist myself free. I grit my teeth and heave myself out of the pile. My hind leg drags uselessly behind me. It was crushed badly,and it's the same one I hurt after the hawk incident.

I snarl in frustration. I scrabble at the pile with my claws, trying to escape. It's no use. I can barely move, exhaustion dragging at my muscles. I shake my head.

I have to get out of here! I pull myself to my paws and leap forward with all my strength, breaking free.

I limp along, using my whiskers to guide me through the tunnel. I end up in a cave, feeling the paw prints of many cats on the ground.

Scents from ThunderClan mix with WindClan, but both are stale, many seasons old. A battle was fought here? When was that? I shrug to myself.

I hiss as my hind leg crashes into something. I lower my head. It's getting late, maybe I should just fall asleep....... I lie down and curl up on the cold floor of the cave. I drift off quickly.......

Flashclaw steps up to me.

"I'm sorry about Dovewing." I shrug.

"It was bound to happen anyway." He nods.

"Come with me." He leads me into a forest, where the dead leaves on the trees block out the sun.

The ground is hard and cold, no vegetation to hide in. I shiver. Where are we?

"I brought you here to meet some friends." My night mentor mews.

"This is Scorchpaw." He nods to a pale orange tom with black paws. It's the ShadowClan cat who attacked me!

"We've met." I growl.

"And his brother, Owlpaw." Sure enough, the other apprentice from the battle stares down at me, brown pelt bristling with unease.

"I'll leave you three to acquaint yourselves." Flashclaw pads off into the mist.

"Uh...hi." Scorchpaw mews awkwardly. I flick my tail.

"Is there something you want to say?" His face turns slightly pink with embarrassment.

"That's a nice shade of red you're wearing." I scoff as his brother snickers. He is silenced with a glare.

"I'm sorry about your mother." He offers, yellow eyes blinking. I lower my voice to a snarl.

"If you think that will bring her back, it won't. I could have saved her if you hadn't done that." He looks scared.

"But that wasn't me!"

I snort.

"Liar!"

He steps back.