Warriors: Shadows Of The Night

Chapter 23

The sky was beginning to turn red as the sun set above the forest. Thornwhisker was leading the patrol straight through the forest toward the DarkClan border.

"It's best to get that part over with first," Thornwhisker had said as the patrol started walking. Ravenpaw agreed with her mentor. If DarkClan were really up to something, it would be best to keep an eye on their border sooner than later.

As the patrol made their way through the forest, Ravenpaw thought about Nightshadow. She wondered if the black spirit cat would visit her later. I hope he does!

Then, Graypaw suddenly jumped, starling Ravenpaw and causing her to back into Iceclaw. The white tom let out an annoyed at her, and she muttered an apology and scrambled out of his way.

"I'm sorry!" Graypaw apologized quickly, with a guilty glance from Ravenpaw to Iceclaw. "Something startled me, that's all."

"What startled you?" Thornwhisker asked calmly.

"I don't know," Graypaw admitted, glancing over his shoulder into the deep shadowy undergrowth behind him, as though he was scared something would leap out at him. Berryflower padded closer to her son and gazed out into the forest beyond, the fur on her shoulders bristling.

"I can't see anything," Berryflower meowed, "Or scent anything out of the ordinary, for that matter."

Iceclaw rolled his eyes. "It was probably just a bird or some other prey creature. Now come on, we don't have all night. I'd like to be in my nest well before moonhigh."

"Fine," Thornwhisker meowed, "We'll continue the patrol. You might be right. Maybe it was only some sort of prey creature that startled Graypaw. That's likely, and it happens to the best of us." He turned and continued to lead the patrol.

"Sorry," Graypaw whispered to Ravenpaw, falling into step beside her. "I didn't mean to startle you as well."

"It's fine," Ravenpaw responded to Graypaw in a sympathetic whisper. When she had been younger, she had often been spooked by things during the dusk patrol. The forest almost felt eerie when it was dark.

That's when DarkClan is active, Ravenpaw thought, shuddering. They're such a creepy Clan! I'll never understand what kind of cat would want to live in a marshy territory that always feels wet and gross, and doesn't even have very much undergrowth.

Of course, she supposed that wasn't the strangest Clan. MoorClan lived out in the open moors, where they were exposed to the elements with no trees to cover them. She hadn't been there herself, but Ravenpaw had heard older warriors talk about it many times. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to hunt without the cover of undergrowth.

BrookClan was strange as well, in Ravenpaw's opinion. They hunted fish in the river that served as a border that separated their Clan from WoodClan. They knew how to swim and they enjoyed it. She had seen BrookClan cats swimming in the river before when she was out on patrol, and it had to be one of the weirdest things she had ever seen.

"We're almost at the border," Graypaw whispered, jolting Ravenpaw from her thoughts of how strange the other Clans were. She nodded and fixed her gaze ahead, slightly nervous. It had been some time since things were this tense between WoodClan and any of the other Clans, and she was worried that DarkClan would be holding a grudge because of the battle that had happened between them.

And what was the point of that battle, really? Ravenpaw stifled an angry growl. Shadepelt had just been minding his own business on our side of the border! There was no need for Shallowstar to have lost a life over that.