ShadedOak's Story

Prologue

ShadedOak clung to a branch, shivering, blood running down her pelt. Grief misted her eyes, salty tears dropping down to the ground. Her paws were soaked with blood. A rumble of thunder split the sky, followed by lightning. She lifted her head, eyes full of grief and anger.

A storm...Her heart whispered. He's watching over me now.

"Don't cry for me, I will always be watching over you," Stormrunner's last words to her would haunt her until she joined him, the she-cat knew. Her heart ached, from both the loss of her mate, her mentor, and her clan.

She sighed, scared and worried, "What will my clan face now?"

Curling her tail over her paws, she stared up at a patch of empty early-morning sky. There were a few tiny stars glimmering in the brightening sky, fading quickly as the sun rose. But soon storm clouds covered them, and rain poured down from the sky. Thunder rumbled, lightning splitting the sky.

The branch she was sitting on was soon soaked, but her claws were dug deeply into the bark. She sighed again, her thoughts going places she couldn't control. Suddenly she felt smaller than a mouse, unable to do anything to stop any action against her clan. The small warrior bristled, hearing paw steps below her.

"ShadedOak! Where are you?" It was Redglow, a trusted friend and mentor. But she was wary. Had he seen what she did? What had happened?

She took a deep breath, and jumped down from the branch, landing in front of the tom. "Here." She knew that she looked like a killer, a tearful one at that.

His eyes widened, shock rippling through them like minnows in a pond. "Are you alright?" His eyes flickered over the wounds and blood on her pelt.

She muttered bitterly, eyes glinting. "As much as I ever will be." Her claws dug into the ground to prevent herself from falling over.

"I saw everything...and I know that...that Stormrunner and Roseshimmer are dead." A sob chocked his mew, and tears formed in his eyes. 

A sudden urgency flickered in ShadedOak's eyes as she picked up the sound of paw steps. "Up in the trees!" She hissed at him. Leaping up onto the same branch, she dug her claws into the bark.

She peered down, eyes narrowed. Redglow's deep-blue eyes were hard, spotting rogues. Ice-blue eyes flashed, hard as stone. A pale-brown tom was sniffing at the spot where they had just been, glancing up into the trees. A black tom and a gray tabby were standing by him, eyes stony.

"I can smell that mouse-hearted traitors scent. He couldn't have gone far. The scent is fresh." Thorn hissed angrily, tail lashing. "I can also smell that she-cat...she should have been out of this territory by sunrise."

"But they couldn't have disappeared into thin air! Where are they?" The gray tabby paced, tail twitching.

Thorn signaled with his tail for his friends to climb up into the tree silently, thinking the clan cats didn't know the rogues were climbing up.

Fear and shock glittered in Redglow's eyes for a heartbeat, then was swamped by anger. He flicked his ears at the next branch, in another tree. She nodded, and raced for the end of the branch. Leaping, her tail streamed out behind her, caught by the wind. She chuckled at Thorn's look of shock, spotting her jumping to the other tree.

Landing neatly, she scooted aside so her clanmate could land beside her. They were visible on this branch, but away from vicious claws.

"We're enjoying the view up here, Thorn!" She called down, grinning. "Did you forget that SkyClan cats are better at climbing trees than rogues?"

A hiss of anger announced the other two rogues had made into onto the other branch, but were too scared to make the jump to reach the SkyClan warriors.

"Mouse-hearts! Come down here and fight fairly!" He hissed back up at her.

"Since when have you fought fairly Thorn? We're not coming down any time soon." She flashed back at him, tail lashing.

"Fine! Don't come down! You can starve for all I care," He flicked his tail, summoning his cats to his side, and disappeared into the undergrowth.

"Let's go into the leaves, I have something to tell you. We have to stay hidden anyways," She beckoned him to a notch in the branch, covered by leaves. "You must get away from SkyClan. It's not safe there anymore."

"But it's been my home since I was born!" He protested. "I couldn't leave it!"

"You won't be leaving it forever, just long enough to find cats to help you take the Gorge back from the rouges and Falconspark." ShadedOak murmured. "There's a place you can be sure of being safe that I know of."

His eyes glimmered with curiosity, "Where is this place? And how do you know it's safe?"

"It's a sanctuary for the injured, the broken, and the lost. I know it's completely safe because I helped build it." She explained softly.

"Oh...that makes sense. Is it close to SkyClan territory?" Redglow questioned.

"Yes, it is. Here's the directions..." She quickly explained, telling about certain landmarks, and what direction to go.

His voice softened, and sadness glistened in his eyes as she finished explaining, "Are you sure you can't stay?"

"I-I feel like I have no choice. There's a voice in my head that says something is waiting for me at the end of my journey," She murmured softly, regret flickering in her eyes for a heartbeat. "The next time you see my brother, can you tell him I'm ok? I get the feeling I won't be seeing him again." Her eyes glistened sadly.

"I can..." He lifted his head, eyes glistening softly. "Goodbye, and may StarClan light your path."

"May StarClan light your path," She dipped her head, and disappeared into the leaves forever.

ShadedOak gazed back at her home territory one last time. She would never be seeing it again after this. Not until she died and went to StarClan would she ever see Stormrunner again. Turning, she held her head high, and ran with the wind, toward her new life.