{{Lost Shadows}} Book 1 in The Moon's Prophecy

Chapter 3

Goldenpaw's pelt burned. "I-I was just joking! I-I..." he ran out of things to say and hastily started talking to Lostpaw.

"What are you doing?" Lostpaw hissed.

"Grabbing a vole and running away. For a moon." Goldenpaw mumbled.

"You can't do that! They'll send a search patrol and find you!" Lostpaw grumbled while Goldenpaw started running.

"That's why we're going to the tunnels that you showed me." he panted, already pelting through the mountains.

When he reached the tunnels, he skidded to a halt and continued to mumble random things to Lostpaw.

He stumbled through the tunnels and saw Storm Shade and a small brown tom hissing at each other. He decided to stay in the tunnel and watch.

When time unfroze, Goldenpaw saw what was happening.

"I'm sorry, Sandy River! You're stuck down here! You can't come up to us!"

"Why not?" Sandy River mewed sadly.

"YOU GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!" Storm Shade yowled, as loud as monsters.

Sandy River padded out, his head down.

"What brings you here, young apprentice?"

"I need to hide for a moon so my brothers and sister don't make me into the laughingstock of the Clan," Goldenpaw mumbled, scratching the rock.

Storm Shade had remembered how he was like this when he was younger all ways trying to run away from problems.

"I'll be more than happy to take you in." Storm Shade meowed, jumping off of the rock.

"Really? That's great!" Goldenpaw yowled happily.

"Make yourself at home." Storm Shade mewed, fading.

Goldenpaw left the tunnels to fetch some moss for a nest, sniffing the air for patrols so he could avoid them.

                   **innocent time skip**

At dawn, Goldenpaw returned to the tunnels with bedding. He had also made a fresh-kill pile next to his nest.

Storm Shade had re-appeared.

"I see that your shadow is gone." Storm Shade meowed, his tail flicking.

"What?!" Goldenpaw looked down to see Lostpaw gone.

Goldenpaw panicked. He might be wandering around the tunnels or telling Moonpaw where I am!

"Storm Shade! I need to hide! Now!" he yowled frantically.

"Alright, there's a tunnel that goes close to SwoopClan territory. Just don't leave it!" Storm Shade called as he started to run.

Goldenpaw ran towards the tunnel. As he ran he smelled his Clanmates a few fox-lengths away. His claws dug in the rocks as he made his way through it. He stopped and opened his eyes. I'm in SwoopClan territory! He had run so far that he was in the heart of it. A patrol.. oh no!

Not his Clan, but a SwoopClan one.

He panicked, not knowing what to do. The moment he had a plan, he felt claws digging in his back. Goldenpaw shrieked in pain sounding like a kit.

"Pathetic!" a cat hissed.

Goldenpaw looked up to see a dark brown strong-looking warrior.

Snickering at him.

"Who are you?" Goldenpaw mewled, his voice tight with pain.

"I'm Darkthorn, the deputy of SwoopClan and I'm going to make you wish you never came here!"

The minute Darkthorn was about to finish the golden apprentice off, he felt claws scratching at his belly.

"Ai!!" Darkthorn squealed. "It hurts!"

"Quick! Help him!" another warrior snarled.

Goldenpaw gazed around trying to find the cat who saved him. But he was in so much pain that the darkness covered him.

**innocent time skip**

Goldenpaw woke up and seeing Sunpelt, Ashcall, Moonpaw, Flamefur, and Waterfang all standing close to him.

"What happened?" he meowed, still weak.

"My precious warrior, you're alive!" Sunpelt exclaimed while Ashcall pushed his nose into his fur. 

He looked at his back covered in cobwebs and a chervil-goldenrod poultice. What the...?

"I hope this won't delay our training." Flamefur purred with a hint of amusement.

"I feel like you're laughing at him, Flamefur!" Moonpaw hissed. "He got shredded into fluff and you think it's funny!"

Loud paw steps were heard in the den entrance as a giant white cat pushed in. "What I'd like to know is were in Starclan you've been!" Whitestar growled.

Goldenpaw's eyes flashed. "Where I've been...?" his ears went down as he felt every cat's gaze bearing down on him. "I-In the tunnels..."

The leader's cold gaze rested on him and his lips drew back in a snarl. "The tunnels!? How'd you survive for these moons? Why, another SwoopClan patrol could've found you-" he stopped as he heard the cats chuckling quietly.

His narrowed eyes seemed to make the cats quiet.

"Well, I uh...." Goldenpaw mumbled, trying to come up with an excuse.

Waterfang, out of nowhere, collapsed onto the floor. Goldenpaw looked around to see that Lostpaw was gone again. Great. The medicine cat is being weird... But as he finished his thoughts, Waterfang got up again.

"I had a vision!" he yowled. "From StarClan!" Whitestar looked at the cat expectantly. The medicine cat shook his head and described how a dark cat had come and told him that he was living as Goldenpaw's shadow.

Whitestar looked at the cats in surprise. "W-what? How is that possible?"

"That's what I thought too!" Goldenpaw meowed.

"I already knew that..." Moonpaw grumbled, shuffling her paws.

Whitestar stared around the den, then locked his gaze on Moonpaw. "How in StarClan's name..."

"We met him in StarClan together!" the golden apprentice meowed as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I wonder where Lostpaw went, Goldenpaw thought. Suddenly he felt a chill up his spine, and, as he looked up, it seemed as the other cats felt it too.

"How's it the middle off newleaf?" Waterfang growled.

Rain then started pounding the den. All the  cats except Waterfang and Goldenpaw stumbled out and ran across the camp to the warrior's or apprentice's den.

"Why did I leave?" Goldenpaw murmured, his voice tainted with sadness.

"It's not that bad. Waterfang meowed. "You'll be back soon, better than ever."

Easy for you to say! Thought Goldenpaw. You're  not the one covered in herbs.