Allegiances
Riverclan
Leader: Talonstar- solid dark gray tom with yellow eyes and powerful, large paws
Deputy: Brackeneyes- pale brown she-cat with darker stripes and amber eyes
Medicine Cat: Fernwhisker- long furred cream tom
Warriors:
Beewing- gentle gray tabby tom, a senior warrior
Apprentice- Tornpaw
Rosetuft- silver tabby she cat with pale ginger fur on her ears, a senior warrior
Apprentice- Juniperpaw
Troutfur- large blue-gray tom with dark green eyes, a senior warrior
Reedtail- slender brown she cat with a long tail
Minnowheart- timid gray she cat
Apprentice- Frogpaw
Bluethorn- pale gray she cat with darker paws
Turtlejaw- tortoiseshell tom with a broad face and deep amber eyes
Otterfang- light ginger tom with a narrow face
Splashfoot- long legged gray and white she-cat
Murkyfoot- young black tom with one green eye and one blue eye
Waterbird- small young cream she cat
Apprentices
Tornpaw- gray tom with silver flecks and a missing toe
Juniperpaw- dark tortoiseshell she cat
Frogpaw- pale brown tom with powerful hindlegs
Queens/Kits
Speckledfish- oldest queen in the nursery, a cream she-cat with faded brown spots ( mother of Beewings' kits: Fallenkit, a gray tabby tom with one folded ear, and Carpkit, a large cream tom)
Shadedskies- young pale tabby she-cat expecting Murkyfoot's kits
Elders-
Rivergaze- pearly white she-cat with brilliant blue eyes, retired early due to poor sight
Pearltail- elderly gray tabby she-cat with a white tail tip
Thunderclan
Leader: Fogstar- uniquely dappled silver and white tom
Deputy: Hookedmoss- lean brown tabby tom with piercing green eyes
Medicine Cat: Lichenfoot- old dark brown tabby
Apprentice: Finchpaw- delicate calico she-cat with pretty golden eyes
Warriors
Dovefeather- pale calico she-cat, a senior warrior
Squirrelfur- long furred ginger tom, a senior warrior
Eaglecry- massive brown tom with a distinctively sharp meow
Apprentice- Pricklepaw
Treelegs- ginger tom with muscular legs
Icewhisker- broad shouldered pale tabby tom with pure unusually long whiskers
Blossomnose- calico she-cat
Apprentice- Whisperpaw
Quailfoot- quiet gray tabby she-cat
Foxblaze- solid dark brown tom with dark amber eyes
Robinsong- slender cream tabby she-cat with striking green eyes
Apprentices:
Pricklepaw- spiky furred brown tom
Whisperpaw- dark brown tabby she-cat with pale blue eyes
Queens/Kits:
Snakefur- sleek tortoiseshell she-cat (mother of Icewhiskers' kit: Mosskit, a tiny tabby she-kit)
Elders:
Barkmask- oldest cat in Thunderclan, a blue point tom
Windclan
Leader: Whispstar- long furred pale brown she-cat
Deputy: Morningdew- brown tabby she-cat with white paws
Medicine Cat: Furledtail- young ginger tom with a tail that curls at the tip
Warriors
Moorspirit- one-eyed golden furred tom, a senior warrior
Apprentice: Amberpaw
Cliffshade- gray-brown she-cat, a senior warrior
Rabbitleap- skinny gray tabby tom with wide blue eyes
Meadowfur- long furred ginger she-cat
Sleekclaw- sleek dark gray she cat
Apprentice: Moonpaw
Bristletail- black tom with a feathery tail
Clawedrose- young pale ginger she-cat with a scar marring her pink nose
Duskhead- russet tom
Floodeyes- gray tabby tom with watery amber eyes
Fawncloud- creamy brown she-cat with white flecks and spindly, elegant limbs
Apprentices:
Amberpaw- ginger tabby she-cat with amber eyes
Moonpaw- ginger tabby she-cat with pale blue eyes
Queens/Kits:
None
Elders:
Bumble- scrawny loner who was taken in by Windclan when she was discovered nearly dead due to a case of green cough
Shadowclan
Leader: Clearstar- silver tabby tom with warm pale green eyes
Deputy: Ripplehawk- young silver tom with wavering black markings and amber eyes
Medicine Cat: Blurrywater- tortoiseshell she-cat with one sightless eye
Apprentice: Larkwing- brown and white tom
Warriors:
Ratclaw- large dark gray tom with especially gray claws, senior warrior
Petalfall- ginger dappled she-cat
Runningheart- energetic brown tabby tom
Mossyfoot- pale tabby she-cat with one brown foot
Darkbird- black she-cat with fierce amber eyes
Falconswoop- brown tom with black speckles
Lurchingfoot- strong tabby tom with an uneven gait due to a slightly twisted forepaw
Mouse-ears- small gray she-cat
Apprentice: Brashpaw
Logfur- young dark brown tom with a thick build
Apprentices:
Brashpaw- a slender calico she-cat with piercing green eyes
Elders:
Sandfur- ginger she-cat with a ripped ear
Mossnose- once pretty tortoiseshell
Lostwhiskers- elderly pale brown tom with no whiskers due to them being singed off in a forest fire
Prologue
Shadedskies padded through the thick bed of reeds, her ears pricked toward the river and her paws gently pressing down so that the ground beneath her pads squelched satisfyingly. The sounds of the night cascaded down around her and the pale tabby flinched as an owl hooted nearby. Twitching her whiskers with amusement, the Riverclan queen reassured herself that there was no harm in a midnight escapade so close to kitting.
Fernwhisker and Murkyfoot had been fussing horribly and forcing her to rest, but Shadedskies was having none of it. However, her attempts to leave camp during the day had all failed. It just doesn't make any sense, I am young and ready to defend my clan. My mother always reminisces about how she only truly entered the nursery a few sunrises before she kitted. I have at least a moon! A snort escaped her, toms just can't imagine what it feels like because they don't have to worry about kit-bearing. If they ant someone to stay in the nursery, then they can go sit in there and worry.
No matter what any cat said, Shadedskies refused to give up on keeping active and patrolling. So here she was, wandering out in the night.
Shivering as a cold wind slid along her sleek sand hued fur, the young queen began to wonder how Windclan cats put up with the chilly nights of Leafbare out on the moor. It was only just Greenleaf and she already felt thoroughly frozen. A flicker of doubt passed through her, and Shadedskies pondered heading back to camp where her warm nest awaited her, but her stubborn nature made her continue on her way. She felt as if she spent a minute more in camp her muscles would turn to mush and all her training as an apprentice would go to waste. Besides, the river will settle me down better than bitter herbs.
Scenting the crisp night air, her nostrils were flooded with the familiar odor of mildew, crackly sundried reeds, and eventually the pure, faint taint of water. Carefully padding forward the queen picked her way down the sloping turrain, her ears flicking upward at the gentle burble of the river up ahead. A sudden scrambling noise made her pause, but she assumed it was simply a water vole or mouse.
Breathing a sigh of relief as the river came into sight, the she cat pushed her nose through the undergrowth and clambered down the pebbles on the riverbed. Settling into an awkward crouch so that she was not putting weight on her protruding stomach, Shadedskies gradually relaxed. She vainly attempted to keep her guard on, but the welcoming embrace of slumber overwhelmed her.
The young tabby dreamed that she was at a gathering, watching proudly as two tabby apprentices politely greeted warriors of other clans. Motherly instinct told her these were her on kits, and it wasn't hard to see the resemblance. Getting to her paws, which was much more effortless than it was in the living world, Shadedskies decided she ought to share tongues as well. She padded through the crowd of felines, trying to sniff out Mossyfoot of Shadowclan. At first she wasn't disconcerted by the lack of clan scent, but it eventually began to bother her. Glancing up at the high rock, she gasped to see a large, bulky hound with blood dropping from its jaws. At it's paws, were her kits. Yowling fiercely Shadedskies rushed the rock, only to be weighed down by a heavy paw on her neck.
Within heartbeats she awoke to a sharp pain at the base of her head. Roused immediately the tabby leaped to her paws with more agility then she thought possible, but it was too late; she was sorely outnumbered. Several felines had converged on her from all sides, and a wave of despair pushed over her. Murkyfoot was right...
Whirling around with her teeth bared in a snarl, Shadedskies tried to make a run for it, but her attempt was quickly blocked by a large, russet tom who merely smiled at her-but not at all in a pleasant way.
In fact the look spread chills down her spine, and as she took in all the cats around her the icy sensation of claws on her back only grew worse.
I know you-
The thought was abruptly cut short as a burst of darkness enveloped her mind, her eyes rolling back as she limply fell onto the shore. And within mere moments, all that was left to prove what had occurred was a single tuft of light tabby fur...
Chapter One
Riverclan
Sunlight streamed through the reeds, glowing warmly against the sleeping forms within the apprentice den. Within moments, Tornpaw awoke, wincing as the dried reeds in his nest prodded his haunches as he shifted into a sitting position. Quickly washing himself, the gray and silver apprentice licked his sleeping sister Juniperpaw goodbye before pushing out into the early morning light.
Watching as Troutfur lead Splashfoot and Turtlejaw out towards the Thunderclan border, the young tom realized he himself should be out and about. His warrior assessment could not be far off, as he was now nearing fifteen moons. Old, for an apprentice, but only due to being a very sickly kit. A sudden thrill of sadness pierced him as blurry memories of his sister and another fuzzy brown shape wriggling and coughing weakly beside him. Goosekit hadn't survived it. Silently glancing up at the clear sky, his current duty momentarily forgotten, the dappled tom tried to find comfort in the thought that his brother was in Starclan. But it should be me up there...
Sighing and shaking his head, Tornpaw felt the return of his urgency. It was time for him to focus on the living and not the dead. Looking around he spotted Beewing coming out of the nursery with a concerned Murkyfoot just behind him. The ebony pigmented tom had only looked as stressed once before, when he had first learned that Shadedskies was bearing his kits.
Rushing over, the gray tom wondered if had anything to do with her again; Murkyfoot had hardly left her side since the two met as apprentices. It was problematic that he expected her to rest in the nursery, as the tabby queen was young for kit bearing, and it had become apparent that she had no intention of sitting around like most other queens.
"What happened?" Tornpaw padded toward the two older toms, his keen amber eyes flitting back and forth between his mentor and Murkyfoot.
It was Murkyfoot who responded first.
"Shadedskies...she's gone," the black tom hissed quietly, his mismatched eyes revealing his panic. Initially it seemed annoying, but Tornpaw mentally scolded himself, knowing that he himself had been just as panicked when he had awoken the first dawn after becoming an apprentice and saw Juniperpaw was not in her nest. He had attempted to
"Tornpaw, I want you to come with me to help Murkyfoot track down Shadedskies," Beewing added calmly, resting his tail on the young black warrior's shoulder as he did so, "Talonstar and Brackeneyes know about her absence-as well as Speckledfish, but the rest of the clan has not been informed. It's likely she went out and fell asleep, so no need to cause panic."
Nodding, Tornpaw followed the two warriors with determination suddenly bursting within him. Although he was not kin to Shadedskies, she was a kind and energetic she-cat, and she was important to his clanmate. That was more than enough to drive the gray tom to put his full effort into finding her. Not to mention her kits were the future of Riverclan. If there was one major motivator for Tornpaw, it had to be the safety and guaranteed security of his clan. Ever since the loss of his brother-and the experience of failing him-the grey and silver tom had dedicated himself entirely to preventing future losses. Essentially, that meant becoming undyingly loyal and courageous.
But somehow he felt that he had yet to prove such traits. Perhaps this was his chance.
Released from the sudden influx of thoughts, the apprenticed focused on the warm Greenleaf breeze gently tussling his dappled fur. The familiar scents of damp soil, reeds, and even heather met his nose, but Tornpaw froze as a wisp of unfamiliar feline smells washed over him. Scrunching up his nose in disgust, he glanced at Murkyfoot and Beewing but the two older warriors were murmuring quietly several tail lengths away. Not bothering to wait, Tornpaw cautiously padded forward tasting the air despite the unpleasant aroma of thunderpaths and damp fur.
As he pushed through the reeds, he realized that not only had rogues been here, but so had Shadedskies. A tuft of pale tabby fur fluttered from where it had gotten caught beneath a few shifted stones, and Tornpaw recognized the queens smell around it. Eyes lighting up, the apprentice tried to identify how stale the scent trail was. If he was right, it had only happened some time just before dawn.
"Beewing, Murkyfoot, I've found her trail," he hissed, waving his tail urgently so that they would be able to spot him more easily beyond the reeds.
A blur of dark fur rushed out from behind him and the apprentice swerved to avoid Murkyfoot who in his panicked state had unleashed his claws and mindlessly thrown himself onto the shore. Wincing as the older tom stepped on his tail, Tornpaw muttered under his breath but didn't bother scolding the black warrior. It wasn't his place, and Beewing certainly would not approve of him yelling at a cat who was already experiencing a series of negative emotions.
"It was Windclan wasn't it?! Those filthy mouse hearts!"
"Murkyfoot, there is not any evidence of Windclan activity, it seems like rogues or loners," Beewing had just emerged by the riverside, and he had been in time to hear the other warriors remark. Pity flashed in his gaze, but also determination to discover what had happened. Swiveling his head to look at his apprentice, a question rose in his gaze. It was as if he wanted to see if Tornpaw agreed with murkyfoot.
Glancing at Murkyfoot with wide eyes, Tornpaw shook his head hesitantly. There was no trace of the moor dwelling Clan.
However, that did not change the fact that for an unknown reason one of his clan mates had been kidnapped. And some strange instinct told him that Shadedskies disappearance was merely the beginning.
Turning to see his mentor gently nudging Murkyfoot back towards the camp, Tornpaw followed with renewed determination; He would find out what had happened even if he lost his life in the process.
Thunderclan
Grunting in a fashion her father Hookedmoss would have scolded her for, the sleek tabby carefully entered the elders den with moss piled in her jaws and tucked under her chin. With a gasp for air, she released the burden, her dark blue eyes filling with embarrassment as Barkmask twitched his whiskers with amusement.
"You know, if you just stopped fussing over me like I am a queen about to have kits, you wouldn't have so much trouble making my nest. I only need a third of that," he meowed gently, amber eyes flickering with affection.
But Whisperpaw shook her head stubbornly, "If I left it up to you, your nest would be a couple of sticks and you'd eat one mouse every moon. You're too selfless, someone has to take care of you."
"I am grateful," the elderly tom responded sincerely, tugging the new moss into a nest, leaving half, "now take the rest to the nursery for Snakefur and Mosskit."
Curling into his newly made nest and abruptly closing his eyes, the blue-gray feline made certain Whisperpaw had no opening to argue. Instead, the dark tabby apprentice merely gave the tom a quick lick before briskly padding out into the camp clearing, the recently collected bedding in her jaws once more.
Waiting until Icewhisker ran out of the nursery with Mosskit chasing after him, the she-cat ducked into the spacious den, nodding a greeting to Snakefur. Upon noticing her, the tortoiseshell queen mewed in thanks before slipping out to give Whisperpaw room. Using one paw to shove away the old moss and weeds, she dropped the new moss and carefully arranged it with precision.
Wrinkling her nose at the unpleasant remains of the older nesting material, she took a deep breath before tucking it under her chin and rushing to the outskirts of camp to drop it in the dirt place where she kicked dirt over it.
Frustrated that she already felt tired, Whisperpaw sternly scolded herself. She had been an apprentice for nearly five moons, she ought to be getting used to the work load. Still, although her thoughts were quieted her muscles protested her every movement.
Entering the camp clearing once more, her eyes rested on Blossomnose. The young calico warrior was waiting by the gap in the brambles that lead out into the forest. Glancing at the other warriors in the patrol, it was a hunting patrol. Both Foxblaze and Quailfoot were known to be excellent hunters, so it only made sense. Hookedmoss wouldn't waste their abilities on a border patrol.
At the thought of hunting a thrill of excitement went through her from nose to tail tip. She was not the best fighter, but hunting came naturally.
Once the lanky dark furred tabby joined the patrol, Blossomnose wordlessly lead the way into the forest. Whisperpaw hoped that her usually warm and talkative mentor wasn't being quiet out of anger or frustration. Just the day before they had been battle training and Whisperpaw had lost nearly every time.
Her suspicions were only confirmed when Foxblaze gave her a sympathetic glance before attempting to start a conversation, "So where are we headed?"
Blossomnose spun around with a resigned sigh, probably realizing she couldn't lead a silent patrol. She met the gaze of each member of the patrol evenly, and when she rested her eyes on Whisperpaw a flicker of an apology passed between the two.
In only a few seconds it felt as though the entire attitude had changed, the tension sliding from the atmosphere.
"Towards the lake, we may not catch fish like Riverclan but water prey tend to be plumper. Prey hasn't been running as much and with a gathering do soon, the clan has to look strong," the calico replied to Foxblaze finally, and he nodded his acceptance.
"Well if any cats can feed the clan it's us," Quailfoot added as silence once more blanketed the patrol. It was surprising that the quiet she-cat had been the one to speak first, but her words seemed to encourage the cats.
A sudden playful light entered Whisperpaw's mesmerizing deep blue eyes and she raced ahead of the rest of the cats, meowing a challenge over her shoulder.
"Whoever catches the most gets pick of the freshkill pile!"
Sudden noises of excitement and hushed challenges arose from behind her and a satisfied smile crossed her face. In that moment it seemed that all was right with the world. This is how it always should and will be.