Omen of the Sun Book One: Secrets in Shadows ✅

Chapter Eleven

Sunpaw shivered as the stars began to return to the sky one by one, their light dim. Cinderpaw pressed against her, the two friends sharing each other's warmth as the cloud that hid the moon floated on. Suddenly, with a loud clap of thunder, lightning flashed in the sky.

"Clan dismissed!" Silverstar shrieked as rain began to pour down, stinging every cat's pelt. "Come on!" Cinderpaw called to Sunpaw over the pounding of the rain. Sunpaw nodded, and followed Cinderpaw's just visible pelt through the rain. Stonepaw and Frostpaw were just on their tails. Sunpaw wriggled her body under the rock, pushing herself into the dimly lit tunnel, shaking out her pelt and not noticing the discomfort she felt when she walked down the narrow tunnel.

Sunpaw curled up in her nest instantly, falling asleep just as soon as she lay her head down, wrapping her tail over her nose. She opened her eyes in the forest of blood. Oh, not again!

"Yes, again!" Came an unhappy mutter from behind her. Sunpaw spun around and saw the black tom with crystal eyes, his pelt blending in perfectly with the shadows so that his eyes were the only thing visible. "Lionscar."

"Sunpaw." Lionscar returned the greeting. "How did you know my new name?" Sunpaw asked curiously. Lionscar smiled indulgently. "We can see things that happen down in the Clans. That's how I know what just happened."

Sunpaw felt her eyes widen. "What was that yowling thing about?"

Lionscar shook his head, eyes trained on the slimy ground. "I don't know."

"What is this place?" Sunpaw asked. She looked around in the forest. The trees blocked out all light from the sky, a they reached so high, leaves so thick and dark that not even the faintest, strongest bit of sun or moonlight could poke through and light the forest. The rank scent of blood hung forever in the air, making Sunpaw wrinkle her nostrils. The ground was boggy, squishy and hot under her paws. She shivered.

"You can think about it later," Lionscar urged, breaking into her thoughts. "Let's work on training."

"But I don't want to work on training," Sunpaw protested, yawning. "I'm tired. Plus, I trained all day yesterday. Or today. I don't know."

Lionscar rolled his eyes. "Come on, just one little move? Please?"

Sunpaw sighed. "Fine."

"Show me that move we worked on the last time," Lionscar ordered. "I saw you do it in the battle with HollyClan, but I want to be sure that you've got it."

Sunpaw nodded, and dropped into a crouch, keeping low. She bunched her muscles, and sprang forward, grabbing Lionscar and attempting to flip him over. He stayed where he was though. Sunpaw darted back and, thinking fast, leaped forward and knocked him off his paw, crashing into him with her head. Ignoring the pain that came from hitting pure muscle, she flipped him over onto his back and jumped onto his belly, keeping her claws sheathed but slamming them down on his stomach. Lionscar growled and bucked once, throwing Sunpaw off. She landed on her back but twisted, knowing that he would land on her stomach half a heartbeat later. She rolled out of the way just in time.

Lionscar planted a paw down on her ear, making it ring. She snarled and wrenched it out of his grasp, and sot over to his tail, unsheathing her claws and scoring them down his tail again and again. Lionscar jerked his tail back and rolled onto his stomach, reaching out and slashing Sunpaw's legs. When Sunpaw instinctively dropped down to stop her legs, Lionscar rammed a paw into her head, making her fall back. He planted a paw on her chest. "Never," He growled, "Leave your head open to attack."

Sunpaw nodded weakly. Lionscar let his paw up. "Go back to your nest," He ordered. "And come back more ready to train tomorrow!"

Sun shut her eyes and when she opened them, she was in her nest. It was dawn, and she was exhausted.

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"Sunpaw!" Cinderpaw mewed loudly. "Time to get up!"

Sunpaw groaned and opened her eyes. She had managed to get a small about of sleep, and she had trouble keeping her eyes open as she dragged herself after her friend.

The brisk morning air woke her up, and she tugged a carp from the top of the frsh kill pile. "Share?" She asked, padding up to Cinderpaw. Her friend's eyes lit up at the sight of the fish. "Naturally!"

They ate the carp. "Lightningfeather, Greenflower, Cinderpaw, Skypelt, and Sunpaw, dawn patrol," Brightsky said. Lightningfeather, standing across the clearing, nodded, and walked over to Cinderpaw and Sunpaw. "Hello. You heard what we have to do?"

Although he was speaking to both of them, Lightningfeather looked directly at Cinderpaw. Her eyes widened, and when she spoke, her voice trembled. "Y-Yeah."

"I'll go get Greenflower and Skypelt," Sunpaw volunteered quickly. Cinderpaw nodded vaguely, still staring at Lightningfeather. Sunpaw rolled her eyes and padded into the warrior's den. Their worse than Frostpaw and Stonepaw!

"Skypelt," Sunpaw whispered in the sleeping warrior's ear. "Yes?" Skypelt mewed, jerking awake. Sunpaw took a step back. "We have dawn patrol."

"Oh, okay," Skypelt mewed, nodding, and Sunpaw saw her get up and step around sleeping warriors out of the corner of her eye.

Next, she woke Greenflower and they padded out together. Thankfully, Cinderpaw and Lightnigfeather had stopped staring at each other and were talking easily near the camp entrance. Skypelt led the patrol and it padded out.

"There's a weird smell here," Lightningfeather announced when they reached Sky Tree. Skypelt nodded. "And look, it's like someone made a nest here."

Sunpaw sniffed the air. The scent was vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it. "Well, we'd better report this to Silverstar," Lightningfeather decided. "Yeah, come on back," Greenflower said. The patrol padded back to camp. It was only then that Sunpaw remembered what the scent was like-

It smelled like Frost. It smelled like her mother.

Hey everyone! Yeah, an awesome cliffhanger! Woohoo! Sorry if I'm not updating as frequently as I used to, I'm busier and can't write at night. :( So. Also, please excuse any spelling/gramatical errors, or point them out to me I don't care. Just do it nice, or... yeah.

Well, that's all I have to say. Bye!

~Rainfeather