Wild Shadows (Book Two; Series One)

Chapter 6

 Silvermoon watched her brother leave the camp, looking hopefully at Shinefire and Silvermoon. She dipped her head to her brother, but Shinefire was talking to her sister. She saw Shinefire frown slightly, but moved forward. "Come on guys! It's time we have the most fun we've ever dreamed of!" Fireshine purred, leading the three out of camp.

 First, they all started with hunting. "Hunting isn't really fun.. it's a chore." Cloudtuft commented. "You're just saying that because you're too fat to hunt!" Shinefire snorted. Cloudtuft  batted Shinefire on her ear in a playful manner. Silvermoon smiled slightly, feeling bad. She ran away from him last night.. "Well, Multistar had only agreed to this if we brought home a ton of prey!" Fireshine replied, crouching down.  Silvermoon just puffed out a sigh, crouching and sniffing the air herself. She wanted to catch something special for Cloudtuft. She saw a bat, surprisingly, hanging upside down from a tree. Silvermoon was surprised. Dustpaw told her they normally were inside the caves.

 "Psst! Silvermoon!" A voice whispered. Silvermoon turned her head, seeing the brown apprentice from across the border. "Oh, hey Dustpaw." She replied, padding over to him. "What's up?" Silvermoon asked. "Actually, I have my warrior name! Dustfur!" He purred proudly, flexing his claws and muscles. Silvermoon laughed slightly. "It suits you." She mewed. "Can I catch that bat? I wanted to get Goldenclaw something. He was my mentor, and he's getting allergies from the pollen!" Dustfur asked. "Well.. it's on our territory.." Silvermoon murmured. "Well, it's our prey.." The tom snorted. "Come on please? I promise I'll stop calling AlderClan names!" Silvermoon sighed. "I'll catch it.. If I do, it's yours, if not, too bad so sad." She replied. The young warrior padded over to the tree, sinking her claws into the thick bark. Silvermoon pulled herself up the tree, seeing the branch the bat was hanging off of. It was sleeping, so this would be easy. Silvermoon positioned herself onto the branch, keeping her balance neatly and crouching down. She met eyes with Dustfur, cheering her on silently. Silvermoon bit the bat's foot, it shrieked in pain, trying to fly away. Silvermoon pushed the bat down onto the branch, nipping at it's back and paralyzing it, before making the swift kill. 

  "Wow! You did a surprisingly good job for an AlderClan cat! You didn't even get scratched!" Dustfur complimented. "Thanks." Silvermoon meowed. As she was about to give it to Dustfur, she heard the bushes and twigs rustle and break. "Silvermoon?" Cloudtuft called. "Why are you giving him your hard-earned pray?" He snarled, curling his lip at Dustfur. "Who's this load of fluff?" The brown warrior hissed, puffing his fur out. "Cloudtuft.. it's his prey.. it got chased onto the other side of the border, I caught it for him.." Silvermoon replied, shrinking down. Her heart felt like it would explode out of her chest, she shrunk down, wanting to open a hole and leave. "It's on our territory!" Cloudtuft hissed. "It's our prey!" Dustfur retaliated. Silvermoon heard the two sides bicker back and forth, her vision cloudy and her ears ringing. She looked at the flowing river, the only thing she heard clearly.  Silvermoon saw Blackfeather, his eyes bleeding. Not with his blood.. the blood of others. She dropped the bat in the river, and it carried it away, and Blackfeather was gone. Her senses came back, and both toms were yelling at her. Silvermoon just ran off, finding Shinefire and Fireshine. "We were about to go find you and Cloudtuft!" Shinefire meowed. "Is everything okay Silvermoon?" Fireshine asked, rubbing her cheek against Silvermoon's. "I'm so sorry.. I can't do this.." She whispered, her throat tightening and her body shaking. "It's okay Silvermoon.. I'll take you home.." Shinefire replied. "I'll find Cloudtuft." Fireshine mewed, scampering off. "It's okay Silvermoon, I'm sure Badgersight it back by now.." The light ginger she-cat next to her replied.

 Badgersight wasn't back, nor was Branchpaw. So, Silvermoon just waited in the medicine cat den shaking. Smallkit was trying to make her feel better, by discussing how mice must think we are just bigger versions of them. It made her laugh, but she was still scared of Blackfeather.. He could be anywhere. Eventually, Hollyeyes visited her, the kits coming along. "They're going to be apprentices soon, only a couple days.." She murmured, smiling. Silvermoon smiled back. The kits were very large and healthy, besides Smallkit. He was much tinier and weaker, but she still thought he'd be able to become an apprentice. "Has Multistar revealed their mentors to you?" Silvermoon asked, helping Hollyeyes groom the kits. She was grooming Bearkit. He was a large and rounder tom, his ears also resembling that feature of him. "I don't know exactly.. but he considered giving you one." She replied. Silvermoon's eyes widened. "What? I can barely take care of myself!" She replied quickly. "He thinks giving you one will help you get over your trauma.." Hollyeyes softly murmured, pressing next to her. "Kits, leave." Her mother commanded, and all of them headed out, not wanting to argue. "Silvermoon.. Blackfeather is gone.. he can't hurt you anymore.." She murmured. "I know.. but he's in my dreams mom.. he's everywhere.." Hollyeyes just frowned, wrapping her tail around Silvermoon. "It's okay.. just don't even think of him! He doesn't even exist, okay?" She tried to cheer Silvermoon up. "Alright.. I'll try.." Silvermoon purred. "That's the Silvermoon we know and love!" Hollyeyes purred. "Don't even worry on being a mentor, it's hard, but it's rewarding.. your training the next generation!" That made Silvermoon resolute. She wanted to be the mentor Spidercatcher was for her, and make sure she was never like Redsnow or Blackfeather. She almost swore she could feel Spidercatcher there beside her.