Warriors: The Unknown Threat Series Book #1: ShadowClan's Threat

Chapter 3: Shadepaw

SHADEPAW

            “We’re running low on juniper berries,” Jayfeather said. “I suppose I’ll get Brightheart to help me bring a few back.”

            Shadepaw nodded. “You might want to know that Icecloud said she found some by the Sky Oak,” she told him.

            “Thanks,” her mentor meowed. “I’ll be back before sunhigh, hopefully.”

            The blind medicine cat sniffed the assortment of herbs one last time before padding out into the clearing, which was illuminated by the faint dawn glow. Shadepaw grabbed some marigold to treat the wounds Floodface had received less than a half-moon ago battling against the fox near the WindClan border, coming to rescue her apprentice, Streampaw, who had accidentally walked into the fox’s den. As she trotted over to the warrior’s den, she noticed Cloudtail and Brackenfur were walking unsteadily towards the medicine cat den. Cloudtail had a long wound on his left side, but when Shadepaw looked at it closely, she saw that it wasn’t too deep. Brackenfur had a small gash on his left forepaw and his nose was dripping scarlet blood. Shadepaw turned back around and padded after them. She chewed up the marigold leaves into a paste and carefully dabbed it onto their wounds. As she pressed a wad of cobwebs onto their wounds, Shadepaw saw the look of grief in Brackenfur’s eyes and could not refrain from questioning them any longer. “What happened to you two?” she asked curiously.

            Both Cloudtail and Brackenfur hesitated. “Bramblestar told the border patrols to keep an eye on ShadowClan,” Cloudtail began. “We saw Blackstar leading Tigerheart and Rowanclaw into our territory. They were quite far away from the border. They were almost at the abandoned Twoleg nest!”

            The fur on Shadepaw’s neck bristled out of anger and contempt even though she knew that medicine cats were not supposed to have the same Clan rivalries as other cats. Then she saw Littlecloud, ShadowClan’s medicine cat, with his gentle, kind eyes that twinkled in the moonlight and his kindhearted smile that seemed to give off a warm glow. Shadepaw quickly reminded herself that Littlecloud was an exception, and the rest of ShadowClan’s cats were coldhearted and sinister. They were stealing ThunderClan’s prey! Perhaps Graystripe was right when he said that ShadowClan was always “up to something and up to no good”. “Typical ShadowClan! How dare they?” she snarled to the two injured warriors.

            “Anyways, we fought and finally drove them off. Blackstar ran like the whole of StarClan was on his tail! But…” Cloudtail continued.

            “I remember!” Shadepaw interrupted. “I heard Squirrrelflight tell you two, Thornclaw, and Foxleap to patrol the ShadowClan border…” she broke off, confused. “Where are Foxleap and Thornclaw?”

            Cloudtail and Brackenfur exchanged a glance that made Shadepaw feel uneasy. “Foxleap is dead,” Cloudtail meowed finally. “And Thornclaw is…”

            “Thornclaw is dead?” Shadepaw exclaimed, horrified. Her father couldn’t be dead! She wouldn’t believe, not until she saw his body with her own eyes.

            “No. He was injured the least, so he is bringing Foxleap’s body back to camp,” Cloudtail said.

            “Thank StarClan!” Shadepaw meowed with relief. “I couldn’t bear it if he was dead!”

            Cloudtail and Brackenfur rose to their paws, and walked out of the den together.  Shadepaw followed them, and grabbed a plump chaffinch from the fresh-kill pile. Just then, there was a rustling sound as Thornclaw pushed his way through the thorn barrier, dragging Foxleap’s battered body behind him. Barely any fur clung to the dead warrior’s body, and what was left was bloodstained, matted, and unkempt. Thornclaw looked like a StarClan warrior, strong and perfectly healthy when compared to Foxleap’s lifeless, disheveled body. Thornclaw’s only wound was a small gash on his belly that could hardly be seen through his thick, pristine fur.

            Looking upward toward Bramblestar’s den, Shadepaw saw the ThunderClan leader trotting quickly out of his den. “ShadowClan! Always causing trouble and stealing prey!” he hissed, angrily and loudly. Then, quieter so that Shadepaw had to strain to hear him, he muttered, “I hope Tawnypelt wasn’t involved.”

            Shadepaw felt a pang of sympathy for him. She couldn’t imagine Wavefur or Woodpelt, her siblings, being in another Clan! And she did know what it was like to lose a sister. An image of Streampaw, dragged into the camp by Floodface, burned in front of her green eyes. She could see the fatal wound on her sister’s neck, oozing blood which was beginning to form a crimson pool on the ground. The feelings of panic and desperation rushed through Shadepaw again. She felt her paws rushing across the ground and her claws quickly reaching for cobwebs. And she was racing back to her sister, frantically pressing the cobwebs onto the lethal wound. Streampaw’s sky blue eyes, distant and unfocused, opened for the last time and trembling, the young she-cat uttered her final words. “StarClan has…spoken to me,” the dying apprentice wheezed. “Tiger will meet the shadows, and a leader will be lost. Thunder’s second will find the stars and the lion will set the forest ablaze.” Streampaw’s flanks rose for the final time and with a shivering gasp, they fell still. 

            Shuddering at the thought of Streampaw’s ominous prophecy, she barely even heard Bramblestar’s next words. “ShadowClan must pay for this! The next time they set on paw over the border, they will be sorry!” Bramblestar declared. “If we scent ShadowClan over our border one more time, we must attack them instantly!”