ShadedOak's Story

Chapter One

Sadness now haunted her days, and regret filled her heart. She often had nightmares of what had happened, ones that refused to let go. ShadedOak had now been traveling for six days, and was far from her birth home. Cliffs loomed ahead of her, stabbing high up into the clouds. When she reached the top, she could see a narrow entrance in the cliff.

 Leaping down the steep slope, curiosity flickering in her eyes, she approached it. She jumped as two cats emerged from the darkness. One was a gray she-cat with dark-blue eyes, and the other was a very-pale-gray tabby with glowing amber eyes. They looked just as shocked to see a cat at the entrance.

 ShadedOak realized with a gasp the younger one was Blizzardsky, her friend from when she trained in the Dark Forest. It seemed Blizzardsky recognized her was well, and raced forward to greet her.

"How did you get here?"She touched noses with her friend, purring so hard she couldn't speak.

"I have no idea! I've been traveling for so long." The joy of seeing her friend made her forget that she was still injured.

 Another cat emerged out of the shadows, a blue-gray and pale-gray tom with green eyes. His gaze flicked curiously over ShadedOak, but was not hostile. The gray she-cat bristled, eyes blazing.

"Blizzardsky, explain yourself. How in the name of StarClan do you know this cat?!" She snapped.

The very-pale-gray tabby winced, turning to other cat, "Mother, this is ShadedOak, a friend from..." Her voice trailed off, unable to explain without giving away that she had trained in The Place of No Stars.

"From dreams, we met through dreams for a while, but then they just...disappeared and I never saw her in my dreams again," ShadedOak finished for her. 

Blizzardsky shot her a grateful look, looking back at her mother.You shouldn't be having friends outside of your clan. What if you get into a battle and you have to fight them?" Blizzardsky's mother pointed out coldly.

"Before you get into a fight, I think it would be good to point out that cat is injured. I can plainly see wounds on her," The other cat padded over, eyes calm.

"What are you suggesting, Leafbranch?" She replied, eyes flashing.

"Well, Echostar, I am suggesting we take her in for a while. Those wounds look like they hurt, and they might be infected," Leafbranch mewed calmly. 

 Echostar huffed, and with a sigh, replied, "Fine, we can. But only  for a little while." A touch of kindness glinted in her eyes. "Now let's go, we're wasting sunlight."

The four cats set off down the rocky slope, soon reaching a Thunder Path. Monsters roared across in both directions, sending waves of their stink across the cats. She flattened her ears, tail lashing.

"I really hate Thunder Paths," ShadedOak muttered. Now that she wasn't focusing on anything else, her wounds stung, and she ached deep in her bones. 

Echostar raised her tail, signaling for them to run across. All four ran at the same time, racing for the soft grass. Blizzardsky stumbled slightly, but got up quickly and got to the grass just as monster passed where she had just been. Once everyone had gotten across, they group set off over the moor.

With the wind rushing through her fur, everything felt right somehow. Like she was where she belonged, yet not at the same time. Yet also, it felt familiar as well. Glancing over at Blizzardsky, she could tell her friend felt the same about the moor. Soon, they were half-way across the moor, outlines of trees in the distance.

Suddenly, she realized they had stopped. Echostar was bristling, hostility in her eyes. Looking over in the direction her eyes were fixed on, she groaned. Of course there had to be a patrol on the back!

A cloud-gray tom led the way, his ears flattened in hostility. He froze as he spotted ShadedOak's icy gaze on him, as though he had seen it before, and there was fear and shock in his eyes. A few of his clanmates shot him annoyed, and curious, looks and walked ahead of him.

 He shook out his pelt, and walked back to the head of the patrol, facing the ShadowClan cats with hostility. "What are you doing on WindClan land?" His voice was as cold as the wind blowing down the slope.

Echostar's eye narrowed, "Isn't there some rule that allows cats to travel through your territory to get to the Moonstone? Or I am unaware of that?" Her voice was cruel and mocking. 

The tom hissed in anger, and leaped at the ShadowClan leader. Another warrior leaped at ShadedOak, and reared up to meet her. But when she saw her eyes, she froze. "Willow?" She stammered. 

"What in the name of StarClan are you talking about?" ShadedOak backed away in confusion.

Glancing around, the WindClan warrior nudged her over to a quiet area. "Was your mother's name Willow?"

"No, but it was Willowfrost. Why do you ask?" ShadedOak glanced back at the small battle, anxious to be helping her new friends.

The she-cat's eyes widened, and she answered. "Because I'm her sister, therefore you must be my kin."

"What?!" Shock flared in her eyes. Shaking it away, she answered hastily, "We'll have to talk later. Somewhere quieter. And safer."

"Look for me at the Four Trees on the full moon," The light-brown she-cat murmured, and melted away into a rabbit warren.

By now, the battle was over, and everyone was licking their wounds. Echostar was growling at the tom who had attacked her. "We're going now. And don't expect any friendliness at the next gathering!" She whirled around and raced for the trees the others at her heels. 

When they had reached the safety of the pines, Echostar sat down heavily, anger glowing in her eyes. "I must tell the clan to keep vigilant when on the WindClan border," She muttered to herself, and then continued through the trees, the others following.

The strong scent ofcats touched her nose as they approached the camp, surrounded by thick, thornybushes. Leafbranch beckoned ShadedOak over to the medicine den while Echostar called a clan meeting, which was a hollow in the ground, underneath the camp wall. 

The sharp scent of the herbs in the den reminded her of bittersweet memories of helping Stormrunner sort through his herbs. The pale-gray tom pulled out a few leaves of horsetail, and cobwebs. He began chewing it into a poultice, and spat it out onto a leaf when it was ready. 

The tom gently licked in into her wounds, the sting of it making her wince. When he had finished, he pressed cobwebs over them to keep it in place. 

"There, that should do it. Also, the news I'm about to tell you might shock you, unless you know," The medicine cat mewed. "I am very glad you got here when you did, because your kits may not have made it in the wilderness alone. Luckily the infection didn't have time to go too deep."

"Wait...you said kits..." Shock and joy flared in her eyes, and her voice softened, "So I will still have a part of him with me after all."

Leafbranch purred, eyes shining, "Medicine cats can always tell." 

ShadedOak chuckled unexpectedly, answering. "I think Stormrunner knew as well. I wonder if he'll be there when they're born?" She murmured, the question half to herself. 

"Do you want to tell me about him?" The medicine cat asked gently, "It's ok if you don't, I can tell it pains you to speak of deceased loved ones."

"Well...If there's time I can tell you my whole story, I honestly need to get it off my shoulders," She answered quietly. The tom nodded, curling his tail over his paws.

"Before you start, I'll deal with Echostar's scratches, and get you some food. You must be hungry," He stood up, meeting the clan leader at the entrance to the den, the horsetail poultice in his jaws.

ShadedOak waited patiently, and a few heartbeats later, he came back in the den with a rabbit. Setting it down beside her, he motioned for her to begin telling her story. Taking a bite of rabbit, she began to tell her story.

When she finished, she settled into a soft moss nest in the medicine den, belly full for the first time since she had left SkyClan. A wave of peace washed over her. Perhaps her future wasn't so dark after all.