Shadows in the Night

Chapter Fourteen

//@daydreamingcloud won the contest for Claw's new name, and @Vectorsigma and @catisawesome got to choose FrecklexDusk's two kit's names. Enjoy~ ^^

"Bet you can't catch me!" Berrykit squealed and hurtled across the camp, his tiny paws pitter-pattering across the clearing. Emberblaze's kits, Brightkit and Nutkit, stumbled out of the nursery, and Brightkit gave an excited bounce before racing away. My kits, Duskfoot thought, though as usual regretful memories began to fill his mind, of a certain black and white medicine cat. 

An orange queen padded out of the nursery after her kits, and let out a long stretch. Duskfoot grinned at the sight of his mate, and met her at the fresh kill pile.

"What are you doing this evening?" Emberblaze asked as the two began to share tongues. The brown tom yawned and looked up at the darkening sky. It was a beautiful sight- oranges mized with dark reds and a touch of yellow. It comforted his conflicting thoughts about his decision- one that he regretted more and more with each passing day.

"I'm on the evening patrol." Duskfoot meowed, standing up twining his tail with his mate's. "Will you be alright?" Emberblaze locked her gaze with his, her green eyes shining with amusement. 

"Of course I will. Taking care of kits it tiring, but..." Her eyes were dark, without even a hint of amusement glimmering in their depths. 

Duskfoot immediately knew what she was thinking about, and he waved his tail in farewell, only to bump into a group of restless kits. 

Brightkit was chasing Berrykit around in circles, their black and brown and white fur blending together. Stormkit and Dawnkit, the two sisters, sat against the nursery wall quitely conversing. It was only Nutkit who shrunk against the ground, flattening her ears against her head. She was always the shyest kit in the nursery, but I can't imagine what will happen when she becomes an apprentice... Inching closer, he noticed that Nutkit was refusing the other kits' offers to play mossball.

"Nutkit!" He called and prodded his kit. The black, brown and white she-kit leapt to her paws, and wildly swiveled her head around, fixing her bright golden eyes on Duskfoot. 

"Hi Duskfoot!" She meowed, leaping up to cling onto her father's back. Duskfoot let out a sigh of relief. Nutkit just seems different from the other kits- Brightkit fits in so well, but Nukit seems so alone all the time...

"Can you play with me?" Nukit looked up at her father with pleading eyes, but he had to shake his head. 

"Sorry, but I'm on the evening patrol." Duskfoot licked his daughter's ears affectionally, before turning away to join Webfoot, who was leading the patrol. "I'll be back soon!" The brown tom raced over to join the large group of gathered cats, including the new apprentices, Hootpaw, Ripplepaw, Thrushpaw, Wolfpaw, Hazelpaw, and Scorchpaw. Among them were also new warriors Cheetahclaw, Mudfoot and Poppypool. 

"Webfoot," Duskfoot began hesitantly, "Isn't this too many cats to be on one patrol?" The deputy shook his head as if clearing his thoughts, and nodded.

"We're going to split up. There's been reports of rouges around the area, so we need to check our borders frequently and carefully," Webfoot replied, lashing his tail to attract the attention of all the gathered cats. He leapt onto a fallen log, and all eyes turned to him.

"I will lead one patrol, with Sootfur, Mosspelt, Duskfoot, Firestorm, Hootpaw and Ripplepaw. We will patrol the border we share with StreamClan. The second patrol will be led by Leopardfur, consisting of Sunstrike, Frostpelt, Silverstorm, Poppypool, Thrushpaw, and Wolfpaw. They will patrol the border we share with StalkClan." Webfoot turned to look at Mousefoot. "You can take Leopardclaw, and-"

Nightstar bounded out of her den, her green eyes glaring defiantly. "I will lead the final patrol," she meowed, trying to repress a growl rumbling in her throat. Webfoot narrowed his eyes and met her gaze, and for a moment the former mates seemed to be locked in a silent battle. Duskfoot gulped in worry. Neither of them have been quite the same as they were two seasons ago, before the fight... 

Finally, Webfoot nodded, dipping his head in respect as Nightstar took his place on the log. "I will take Mousefoot, Whitestripe, Leopardclaw, Hazelpaw and Scorchpaw. We will patrol the outskirts of our territory." With one last glare at Webfoot, she flicked her tail as a signal for her patrol to gather behind her.

"Wait!" Emberblaze called. "Don't we need to send out a hunting patrol? There's hardly anything on the fresh kill pile!"

Leaf-fall's almost here, and prey is harder to catch than ever. 

Nightstar let out a heavy sigh, and the clan exchanged worried glances. Nightstar is the most affected; she seems to have forgotten how to lead the clan. "Leopardfur's patrol can go hunting instead. Frostpelt, you should lead since you're better at hunting." Leopardfur winced at his leader's criticism, and backed away to the depths of the group. 

Following Webfoot's lead, Duskfoot couldn't help but feel worried that they were only leaving two warriors behind to guard the camp. Mudfoot and Spiderfall didn't look too happy about it either, and they waved their tails in farewell as the two guard became mere specks in the distance.

The patrol was uneventful, and Duskfoot found his thoughts wandering to Freckleleaf, the beautiful medicine cat who he was once in love with. He sighed. I can't lie to myself... every time I see her, I regret choosing Emberfoot instead of her, but how could we be together? She's a medicine cat, and besides.. she hates me for telling her I don't love her anymore. I wish that I could tell her that I was lying, lying to convince myself that I could leave her and be happy with another she-cat. I wish that I could tell her that when I think of her, my heart cracks into two. But more than anything, I wish that we could be together.

"Duskfoot?" Webfoot's call interrupted his thoughts. "Are you okay?"

Duskfoot shook his head. "Do you ever feel that love is a wonderful thing, but has the power to tear you apart?" Webfoot looked up at him, startled. His blue eyes were drenched in sorrow, and he nodded.

"Only too well, Duskfoot." The patrol continued padding along, and he couldn't help but admire Ripplepaw's quiet dignity, compared to his sister's bouncing gait. Hootpaw and Ripplepaw were both kits of Leaf, a cat who was considered evil, but both soon proved their worth by being two of the best apprentices LightningClan had ever seen. Especially Ripplepaw- he really changed his ways. I remember when he was a broken and ruthless kit, who wanted to follow in his mother's footsteps. Back then, his name was Claw. 

Suddenly, Duskfoot heard a battle cry, and cats yowling in pain. "Quickly!" Webfoot yowled, speeding off to the edge of LightningClan territory, panic evident in the deputy's voice. The patrol followed, crashing through the undergrowth. Please don't let my clanmates be hurt! As they got closer, the cries became louder and louder, before they stopped. The patrol raced into the clearing, and Duskfoot heard Webfoot gasp in fear.

Laying in the clearing was dead bodies- dead bodies of his clanmates. Suddenly, a black figure struggled to her paws. "Nightstar!" Firestorm cried, and hurried to support her leader. "What happened?"

The leader's blood stained black fur was ruffled, and she gasped for air before parting her jaws to reply. "Leaf happened," Nightstar growled. "She had a whole army of rouges, and clan cats who betrayed us."

Webfoot's patrol howled in panic, and Duskfoot widened his eyes in horror as he watched the healthy cats struggle to lift their unconsious and fallen clanmates back to camp. If one good thing came out of this, it's that it can't get any worse. With leaf-bare just around the corner, we can't afford to have injured warriors. 

Little did Duskfoot know that this was only the beginning of the trouble.

//Hope you liked it! If you did, please take one second to click the little star in the corner ^^

-Alliehuang