Creating Warrior Cat Names: A Simple + Amazing Guide

Chapter Three

        Ivypool crept silently through the clearing, unsure of where she was. The wind blew softly to the west, every blade of grass swaying inaudibly to the tender breeze, and even the birds had lost their voices. Clouds wreathed the night sky, faintly illuminated by the moon. Then she noticed forbidding, twisting trees to her left and she froze.

            "Welcome back, Ivypool." A ginger cat with the palest green eyes slinked out of the shadows, and she was so faint that the forest ferns were visible through her chest. She lifted a paw casually and began to groom herself. "I was wondering when we would meet again."

            "Well, I wasn't," Ivypool spat.

            The beginning of a snarl curved Mapleshade's lips. She lifted up her head, letting the fur fall back over her battle scars, and regarded Ivypool with narrow eyes. "No one undermines my authority, and especially not traitors like you."

            "Traitors?" Ivypool said incredulously. "How am I a traitor if I am loyal to my Clan?"

            At top speed, Mapleshade raked a claw over her throat. "Your loyalty belongs to us bofre anything else," she hissed, retracting her paw. "Hawkfrost always spoke of your dedication to the Dark Forest. Yet, why is it that," Mapleshade murmured, deadly soft, "that you were the first to betray us!"

            Her claws exploded out in front of her, but Ivypool was faster and leaped away. A heavy weight fell on her shoulders from behind and she lost her balance. A familiar scent filled her nostrils. "Redwillow?" Ivypool asked tentatively.

            Redwillow nodded, expressionless, and began to circle the clearing idly. To the left, the Dark Forest stretched without end, but the right side of the meadow was painted in a silvery sheen cast by tall misty trees.

            Mapleshade stepped into a shadow and seemed to disappear. Her translucent eyes glared at Ivypool, discernible only due to rays of moonlight, who in turn stared steadily back. "Did you think, Ivypool, that when you left us, there would be no retribution?" She paused, a scowl developing on her faint face. "That we would let traitors go?"

            Redwillow tightened his loop around Ivypool, so that she felt the occasional burst of fur, as well as a burst of fear. He had come to guard her. Ivypool straightened her spine, deeply aware of Mapleshade's glare. She needed to lie, fast. While she could fight off Redwillow, Mapleshade would be difficult to overpower after spending most of her existence training. Ivypool could not forget how Spottedleaf, a StarClan cat, had bled to death under the mercy of Mapleshade.

            "I was afraid," Ivypool answered.

            Mapleshade's lip curled with suspicion. "Afraid of what? We have trained you for many moons not to fear anything." She moved forward and her rank breath tainted the air. "Surely, even a newborn kit should have known better?"

            Ivypool kept her ground. "I was afraid of Bramblestar. He distrusted me, and I knew that he would kill me."

            Redwillow sneered at Ivypool. "Blackstar killed me during the battle, after that stupid Lionblaze noticed I was allegient to the Dark Forest. What excuse do you have?"

            "Enough!" Mapleshade announced. Her gaze drifted away from Ivypool momentarily. "I thought you should know, Redwillow, that Blackstar died last night."

            "What?" Ivypool demanded, but neither cat acknowledged her.

            Redwillow shredded the meadow grass with triumph. "I knew it was only a matter of time. While I have never experienced it in my lifetime, I heard the most awful tales from the ShadowClan elders." He smirked at Ivypool. "ThunderClan will be next."