My name is Darkshadow. I may be ThunderClan by blood but not by heart. My heart remains with the Dark Forest. I have been trained by the best and have killed many. Without my Clanmates finding out though, they are truly mouse brains. I only truly cared for one his name is Lightpelt and he loved me back. That is until he learned of my midnight training. He stopped speaking to me and started avoiding me until my dear mentor Beetlewhisker told me what had happened. Beetlewhisker was like the father I never had.
My true father, I refuse to speak his name, always ignored me. He never gave me a glance or spoke a word to me. It makes me happy that he was my first kill. Lightpelt should have been my second but the mousebrained StarClan cat protected him. All because he is part of this prophecy or whatever and now he has a mate. Even worse his mate is my…sister.
Yes I have a sister and she's the reason I never got my true father. The little prodigy had everything! Brains, looks, love, and what did I get? Nothing! Even now she's getting something that should me mine! Yes she's been pregnant with Lightpelt's kits! Now she has 3 little kits. Orangekit a ginger tom, Swiftkit a black and white she-cat, and Shadowkit a little black she-cat that looks exactly like me! I am not here to rant but to tell you a tale. My story.
I can believe I'm doing this. It was insane. There was no way I could survive the torture if the Dark Forrest found out! But nonetheless, I took a deep breath to prepare myself and jumped. My two nieces and nephew were just barley hanging onto the opposite bank of the river dividing ThunderClan from WindClan. I noticed them escape camp and swiftly followed them. I don't know why but I don't hate them. I… I actually love them. Now is not the time to be reminiscing your feelings focus on the task at hand! I mentally scold myself for going off topic. I land a mouse-tail past the bank and pull the kits up. Before I can scold them Orangekit speaks up.
"We're sorry Darkshadow but, we are seven moons old! We should have been made apprentices a moon ago!" The ginger tom speaks defiantly.
I sigh and bow my head. "I know young one. I will attempt to get Streamstar to give you your ceremony. Now come along let us return to camp."
After a short trip we returned to camp to find everything and everyone scattered looking for the kits.
"Darkshadow!" I hear my sister Silverstone hiss my name. "I should have guessed you took my kits!"
"Hold on a minute! You are the one at fault here. You had Streamstar delay their ceremony! You just can't grow up can you? I've seen the way you look at Shadowkit, just because she looks like me gives you no right to not love her!
"Stop this argument right now!" Streamstar screeches at us. "Darkshadow is right. These kits should have had their apprentice ceremony a long time ago. You three come up here" He motions at the high ledge for the ceremony that was about to take place. "Orangekit, Swiftkit, and Shadowkit you three are more than ready to become apprentices. From this day on until you become apprentices you will be known as Orangepaw, Swiftpaw, and Shadowpaw. Shadowpaw your mentor will be Darkshadow. I hope Darkshadow passes all she knows onto you." Nodding the Shadowpaw Streamstar turns his attention onto me.
"Darkshadow, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Sparrowpelt, and you have shown yourself to be strength and loyalty." I flinch when he says this. "You will be the mentor of Shadowpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to her."
Shadowpaw and I touch noses but I am in a state of shock. Out of all the cats in my Clan Streamstar picks me to be a mentor. A mentor to Shadowpaw but why did he have to say loyalty? Of all things loyalty! I zoned out and missed the rest of the ceremony. I only know that Orangepaw's mentor is Twistedtree and Swiftpaws is Willowbark.
"So Darkshadow what are we going to do first?" A curious Shadowpaw asks me.
"Go and get your new nest built in your new den. Then you may eat. Tomorrow we start by seeing the territory, then you'll have your first hunting lesson." I shot off my plan seeing as the sun is going down. Shadowpaw nods and runs off. I glance at the fresh kill pile but decide not to eat. I settle into my nest in the warrior's den and prepare for a night of training in the Dark Forest.
"So I hear you now have a apprentice." Thistleclaw, the new Dark Forest leader, called me as soon as I woke up. "Soon I'll have some one come and get her. We'll start her training and well start hard. Just so her real life mentor doesn't get to… soft." He whispers teasingly on her ear. "Now go train with your mentor."
I bolt off to see Beetlewhisker. The moment I get to his clearing I break down sobbing. I'm not afraid to cry in front of Beetlewhisker. Being a Dark Forest Veteran he gets a private clearing.
"Bee… Beetlewhisker I don't like Dark Forest anymore" I say in between sobs.
"Finally! I was wondering when you would see the light. I am stuck in Dark Forest until I can convince someone they are bad. Now I'll soon be able to rest peacefully!" He cries in jubilee. "Now let me tell you the plan…"
(A few moons later)
"Hurry Shadowpaw! We can't be late!" I urgently whisper to my apprentice.
Over the course of the last few moons Shadowpaw has prospered greatly under my watch and Beetlewhiskers too. We were planning. What we are planning has a good chance of getting us killed. I am fine dying as long as I take out some Dark Forest cats. The only thing is Shadowpaw. She is to young to be put under all this pressure or risk dying. I close my eyes and dream myself away. I flick my eyes open then nudge my apprentice awake. We run over to Beetlewhiskers clearing to finalize the plan.
"So we are clear how this is going to go?" I ask the other two.
"Yes, now you and Shadowpaw get out of here and relax all day tomorrow because we attack tonight." Shadowpaw nods her head and fades away. Before I go I need to tell Beetlewhisker something.
"Listen, if this attack gets to rough I want you to take Shadowpaw and get out of here. I want no arguments." Beetlewhisker nods stiffly and I fade back to real life.
I walk over to the apprentice den and without a word I pick up a sleeping Shadowpaw. As quiet as possible I walk down to the lake. Smirking evilly I hold Shadowpaw over the lake. I bark 'Shadowpaw' as well as I can while still holding her scruff. She sleepily opens her eyes. When she realizes she is not in the apprentice den anymore they fly open. Shadowpaw starts to say something but then I drop her in the lake. We laugh and play at the lake all day having so much fun. We haven't had this much fun in a long time. We get back to camp and Streamstar and Silverstone confronted us.
"Where have you been all day?" Streamstar asks me calmly.
"Streamstar I was teaching my apprentice to swim." I say flatly.
"Why in StarClan's name would she need to know how to swim?" A furious Silverstone hissed at me.
"What in RiverClan invaded and tried to drown her? She could swim and get away."
"Okay I approve of this reasoning." My leader says cheerily while Silverstone stares at him with a dumbfound face. "I knew giving you an apprentice would lighten you up." Since he got his reason he walked away and I walked to my nest.
(In Dark Forest)
"Thistleclaw!" I shout at the entrance of the tom's nest. "I want to leave Dark Forest and so does my apprentice!"
"Now, now dear. We can't let that happen."
"Then we will fight for our freedom!"
"Fine your choice. Dark Forest attack!"
I saw a wave of Dark Forest cats rushing at my apprentice and me. My vision became tinted with the color red and I charged. I started jabbing at tendons and pressure points not once taking out my claws. I was standing in front of my apprentice and shielding her from the majority of the cats but she was still fighting. I felt something heavy land on my back and I was tackled into the ground. Everyone stopped fighting to watch.
"I got you!" Thistleclaw laughed manically. "Now where going to see how long you last."
"Darkshadow!" Shadowpaw wailed.
"Someone grab her," Thistleclaw ordered.
"Beetlewhisker now!" I shouted to my mentor when they stated to move. Beetlewhisker shot out of the bushes and scooped up Shadowpaw. He then took off in the direction of StarClan.
"No! Don't go after them. It only means this one," he said motioning to me. "Has no help so we get to have fun." The whole Dark Forest started laughing manically as well before Thistleclaw silenced them. "How about we make her look pretty." Running his claws in swirling motions on my pelt drawing blood. He kept doing it all over my body. Right before I felt like passing out I heard a cry. I thought it was my imagination but Thistleclaw heard it to. He opened his mouth to order something but was beaten to it.
"StarClan attack!" Cats with stars in their pelts came out of the shadows and attacked my captors. I heard 'hurry', 'she lost a lot of blood', and such but I was to out of it to register they were talking about me. I was lifted up and carried out of darkness to light. I said to my self I am never going back to the dark. I couldn't feel my feet anymore so I knew I was going back to the real world. I felt a soft tongue wash away the blood that was on my face so I looked up.
"Daddy?" The cat opened his mouth to say something but everything turned to black.
The next few days were so confusing I only remember bits and pieces of it. I was found bloody by the medicine cat, Shadowpaw told the whole Clan what happened, I was about to be exiled but StarClan cats came down to stop it. Shadowpaw begging me not to die, me telling her she was and idiot and such. The one thing I remember clear as a blue sky in Greenleaf was Shadowpaw's warrior ceremony. She is now known as Shadowsight. Oh, I got a new name as well. It is Birdfight but I have no idea why. Well that's my story. It's my very own dark to light tale that will be told for generations.
