I know, it isn't Love & Hate, but it's a song-fic and I worked really hard on it! (While I was on vacation…)
Enjoy! ^-^
I do NOT own the series "Warriors," Erin Hunter does.
I do NOT own the song "Young" by Hollywood Undead, either.
However, all the characters in this story DO belong to me.
We are young, but we have heart
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong, but we don't belong
Born in this world as it all falls apart
"Hurry, we need warriors at the south entry tunnel!" yowled a golden colored she-cat with dark brown tabby stripes and a beige underside that stopped as a tip between her eyes, engulfing her muzzle. Her eyes were bright orange-red. "But Tigerlily, we need warriors at the northeastern side, too!" another she-cat replied, this one was young, an apprentice. She was grey with black speckles on her belly, chest, eyes, ears, and the very tip of her tail. These black speckles were then overlapped by white ones. Her eyes were an icy blue that collided with her kind, innocent personality. "They're coming in hardest from the south, we'll have to focus over there, and then help the others to the north," Tigerlily explained harshly to the apprentice. It merely nodded. "Come, Icepaw, there's not much time, apprentices can help, too," a dark grey tom with light gray paws, a diamond shape on his head, and dark blue eyes meowed before running quickly along a tunnel of dirt. "Right!" Icepaw meowed enthusiastically, running after him.
At the end of the tunnel where it started to curve upwards toward the surface of the ground she was met with the sounds of battle and the stench of blood. Cats scrambled to their positions as others fought a group of badgers threatening to take over their tunnels. She scanned the mess of fur as the tom from before jumped into the heart of the fight. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a white cat covered in black and grey speckles get thrown aside, hitting a nearby boulder. "Mother!" she yowled, and despite the fighting, ran towards the limp figure. Before she could reach her mother a badger rammed it's head into her side. She quickly put her paws on it and pushed off, claws scratching it's nose as she did. Turning in mid air her paws touched gracefully with the side of the tunnel. She then pushed off again and screeched with fury as her unsheathed claws met with the badger's scruff. She turned and sliced down it's back before landing on the ground and running, once again, towards her limp mother.
"Mother, are you okay?" Icepaw asked, her voice wavering. When there was no reply she tried again. "Mother? Are you hurt? Please answer me!" Nothing. Getting desperate, Icepaw called out loudly "Mother!" She could feel tears welling in her eyes as she collapsed at her mother's side. "Please..." her voice faded until she was certain that not another word could be spoken. "Specklepelt! Icepaw!" a voice called, but Icepaw didn't budge, just lied there. She rubbed her muzzle into her mother's soft fur, as if searching for comfort that wouldn't come. Suddenly she could feel herself being lifted by her scruff, but tears blurred her vision, and sadness blocked out many of the noises around her. She struggled to get back to her soft mother's fur, but her limbs grew weak and she failed. She closed her eyes and mewled wordlessly like a kitten calling for it's lost mother. She dared not open her eyes afterwards, though. Her world was collapsing around her, and she feared too much to watch.
I see the children in the rain like the parade before the pain
I see the love, I see the hate, I see this world that we can make
I see the life, I see the sky, give it all to see you fly
Yes, we wave this flag of hatred but you're the ones who made it
"Icepaw," called a voice deep, soft, and comforting. She slowly opened her eyes to see her father, and leader of the clan, Shadowstar. He was pure black with grey paws, ears tips, and muzzle. He licked her softly between the ears and meowed "it's alright; we'll get you out of here." "But what about mother..." she mewed, though she probably already knew the answer. "Specklepelt is dead. She will be buried like an honorable warrior," Tigerlily meowed from beside Shadowstar. She then looked to Shadowstar, who nodded. She turned and quickly ran down a tunnel to the left. "Where's-" Icepaw was cut-off by her father. "Come, this way," he meowed, nudging her in the right direction with his head. She nodded in reply, forgetting her earlier question as she got up and tried her best to keep her weak limbs from going out beneath her.
She didn't notice much until she was climbing a steep upward turn to appear outside the tunnels. Outside she saw a few cats from her clan, including Ashstep, the warrior tom from before, and a queen named Morningsky, who stood over two kittens, one yowling sadly, the other quietly rubbing on it's mother's paw. Icepaw noticed that one kit wasn't Morningsky's. After scanning the crowd, she then looked to Shadowstar. "Where's the rest of the clan, father?" she asked, but he didn't meet her eyes, simply looked away and close his eyes with grief. Icepaw's eyes widened, but she then quickly and quietly looked to her paws. Was almost her entire clan... dead? Was the once great GhostClan turning into just that, a ghost clan? Suddenly she felt the ground tremble as Tigerlily burst from the tunnel she and Shadowstar had just come from. "The tunnels are collapsing. The badgers won't be able to escape in time, and all those that died will be buried in the home they died protecting," she reported. "Well done. You are a fine deputy, Tigerlily," Shadowstar meowed, though his voice was thickly lined with despair. Tigerlily's hard, orderly exterior broke at the sound, and she relaxed her muscles as her head turned towards the ground and her eyes closed, as if praying for the ones that died. Icepaw did the same, followed by the rest of what was left of the clan.
Watch the beauty of all our lies passing right before my eyes
I hear the hate in all your words, all the wars to make us hurt
We get so sick oh so sick, we never wanted all this
Medication for the kids with no reason to live
So we march to the drums of the damned as we come
Watch it burn in the sun, we are numb
We are young, but we have heart
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong, but we don't belong
Born in this world as it all falls apart
The clan traveled far after that, searching for a new home, but as the time passed more and more grew tired and they lied down to sleep. Icepaw was one of the last to wake up. She carefully passed the few that were still sleeping and made her way to the temporary fresh-kill pile. She noticed that many of the cats that had been sharing tongues stopped to watch her. What? Was her fur messy? She self-consciously gave herself a few licks before picking up a thin mouse and carrying it to a rock had had been warming in the sun. As she ate she watched her clan with confusion. Why were they watching her so closely? A dark brown apprentice warrior tom with lighter brown splotches with ear tufts and dark green eyes sat beside her. "Hi, Icepaw," he meowed with a smile. "Hello, Mudpaw," she replied quietly, still saddened by the death of her mother. She envied Mudpaw; he hadn't lost anyone in the battle. "Everyone's talking about you," he meowed, pushing her out of her thoughts. "Why?" she asked, genuinely curious. "They're saying you're the last shadow, and everyone's convinced that you should be named," he answered. Icepaw didn't hear anything after 'the last shadow.'
Shadows; fast-moving cats that are agile, smart, have very good senses, and above all, are known for being deadly GhostClan cats that can track, fight, heal, and kill, quickly. Her eyes darted around the temporary camp. He was right, there was no other shadow besides her. Even her mentor was dead. "No, how could this happen? How I could I let this happen?" She got up and darted across the clearing, leaving Mudpaw and her half-eaten mouse. She skidded to a halt in front of Shadowstar. "Father, the shadows, they're-" "dead. I know," he meowed, his eyes clouded. "B-but... What will happen to me?" she asked, fear was clear in her eyes and tone of voice, as well as her scent. "You have been trained enough. The day the badgers attacked I had planned on making you a full shadow, but..." his voice trailed away. "What..? But-" "Shadowstar, may I speak with you?" Tigerlily asked, padding up to the two. "Of course. Icepaw?" Shadowstar looked to his daughter, a sign to leave. She nodded quietly and turned to leave like silently ordered to.
She padded slowly out into the clearing, and then paused once out of ear-reach to look back at the two cats. It looked serious. "How is she?" Icepaw recognized the voice as Morningsky's and turned to see what was happening. "Not good, we can't leave until she's better," replied the only one that could count for a medicine cat in the clan: a dark gray tom named Hawkclaw. "What's wrong?" Icepaw asked as she slowly walked up to them. "It's Fallenkit, she's sick," Morningsky answered, her eyes were filled with sadness. Even though Fallenkit was not her own she had taken her in when the badgers killed the kit's father and her mother died giving birth just moments before. It, being so young, would be a miracle if it survived a sickness. "Icepaw," Mudpaw called, and she turned away from the sad scene to look upon another. "Some cats say they're leaving the clan!" Mudpaw explained as it happened behind him.
Icepaw quickly got closer to hear what they were saying. "So that's it? We're just going to sit here and die in hopes that a kit will get better? Aren't the lives of warriors and apprentices more important than one kit's?" a beige cat was hissing at Shadowstar. Shadowstar looked calm, despite his harsh tone as he replied "Yes, but it's more than just that." "I will not die here!" the beige one continued, and then looked around at the clan. "I'm going to leave this clan and start anew in a fresh, new territory. Those of you who want to follow must do so now!" it then turned and walked away. The clan cats looked at each other, hearts ripped between two. Then, one got up, and left silently. Another followed. Before she knew it Icepaw saw over five cats leave their clan and walk away.
Once it was over Icepaw turned back to the temporary camp and curled up under a fern. Soon she was asleep once more, rest being the only escape from the sadness and hatred around her. More days went on like this, waiting for the kit to get better. Everyday at least one cat would leave, and, despite the odds, Fallenkit survived. Finally, Icepaw awoke with a jerk as her name was called.
"Icepaw, get up, come on!" Mudpaw was saying, nudging her with his forepaws. "What? I'm up!" she meowed in a sleepy, whiney tone. "We're going to leave without you if you don't get up and moving!" he replied, then forced her to her paws. "Okay, I'm moving. See?" she mewed as she starting walking slowly forward. "Hurry, Icepaw, hurry!" Mudpaw meowed, running ahead of her. "Fine!" she answered bitterly, rushing toward the crowd of cats that started walking as she and Mudpaw reached them. "That's one thing that's not very shadow-like. You sleep in," Ashstep meowed as she came up beside him. Her ears fell at that. She wanted with all her heart to be a full shadow. If she was going to be the last then she needed to try harder to be a full shadow.
The clan traveled far, crossing rivers, plains as well as forests and mountains. After nearly two moons and hardly any sleep we find Icepaw still traveling with what's left of GhostClan, paws hurting terribly and night slowly taking over the sky. Mudpaw hurt, too, she could tell. That was one of the things about shadows, they knew where and when someone was hurting, often without even being told. That's why most shadows turn into medicine cats when they got too old to fight. Of course, if it was the enemy that was hurting, they could use that to their advantage. She sighed. The last shadow... It felt so unreal, so lonely. Why did it have to be her? Before her thoughts could finish the ground gave out beneath her.
With a sudden yowl of fear she found herself landing on her feet with trained expertise. She was amazed to find a long stretch of cave in front of her. "Icepaw! Icepaw are you okay?" Tigerlily called out from above. "Yeah! Come down here, it looks just like our old camp!" she mewed in reply, a smile crossing her face as excitement rushed through her. Was this their new home? She heard rushed paw steps behind her and turned to see Shadowstar and Tigerlily climbing slowly down into the hole she had made. "Look, look!" she mewed, running out to the center of the empty cave that spread wide then split into many different tunnels. "Doesn't it remind you of home?" she asked. "Yes, but be careful. We don't know if it's... taken, or not," Shadowstar meowed, looking around carefully. "I haven't scented anything. Anything at all, actually," Icepaw reported casually. Shadowstar nodded in acknowledgment, trusting the shadow in his daughter more than anything. He sniffed the air himself before meowing "Alright, Tigerlily, Ashstep, Mudpaw, and Icepaw, I want you all to carefully" he paused to add even more emphasis to 'carefully' before continuing "search the tunnels. If everything looks okay then we'll rest here for the night." Icepaw nodded, then watched as Tigerlily and Ashstep split off to search different tunnels while Mudpaw ran up to her to explore down one together. She turned and started to silently walk with Mudpaw beside her, looking around and every-now-and-then checking the air for smells. It seemed like forever before they finally reached the end, which emerged in a meadow filled with grass taller than a fox. Then, they turned back to report to Shadowstar.
As we walk among these shadows, in these streets, this fields of battle
Take it up, we wear the medal, raise your hands with burning candles
Hear us whisper in the dark, in the rain you see the spark
Feel the beating of our hearts, fleeting hope as we depart
It had been another moon, now. They had officially claimed their territory and camp, camp being the tunnels Icepaw had found. She was slowly getting over the death of her mother, Tigerlily had given birth to a single kit named Newkit, and everything seemed much more joyful. She was just sharing tongues with Mudpaw when Shadowstar called Ghostclan to the center of the camp, where the warriors had build a mound of dirt for him to stand on for clan meetings. Above him the hole Icepaw had fallen through now made a nice spot-light of moon rays.
Once all of GhostClan was sitting around the mound Shadowstar began "First of all, I congratulate Tigerlily and Ashstep for their new daughter, and first kit to be born in this new territory. Now, I believe it is time for something that should have been done a long time ago." He looked to Mudpaw with a smile.
"Ashstep, are you satisfied that this apprentice is ready to become a warrior?" Shadowstar asked, looking to the warrior.
Ashstep, in turn, nodded and meowed "Yes, I believe he is ready"
Shadowstar then turned back to Mudpaw and started "Then I, Shadowstar, leader of GhostClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Mudpaw, do you promise to uphold the code of our clan and to protect and defend it, even at the cost of your life?" Shadowstar asked.
It took a moment for the words to sink in for Mudpaw, but after a moment he popped back to life and excitedly answered "I-I do!"
Shadowstar nodded and continued "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Mudpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Mudfur. StarClan honors your strength and determination, and we welcome you as a full warrior of GhostClan." GhostClan chanted the new name proudly, for he was the first to be named in this new territory.
After a short moment Shadowstar lifted his tail for silence.
"Before we continue I would like to name another," he meowed, then looked to Icepaw and started,
"I, Shadowstar, leader of GhostClan, call upon the ancient shadows of NightClan to look down on this apprentice. She was born with the traits of a shadow and has trained hard to understand the ways of your ancient line, so I commend her to you as a shadow in her turn. Icepaw, do you promise to uphold the Code of Night and to remain loyal to your clan, even at the cost of your life?"
Icepaw looked around before looking back up to her father and meowing "I do."
"Then by the powers of NightClan, I give you your full shadow name. Icepaw, from this moment on you will be known as Iceshadow. NightClan honors your loyalty and patience, and we welcome you as a true shadow of GhostClan," Shadowstar finished. As he did the clan broke once more into chanting, this time both names were chanted proudly by all the clan members. When it was over Mudfur and Iceshadow sat back-to-back next to the hole just above the center of camp, their silent vigil, which was relieved at sunrise by Ashstep. Iceshadow curled up once in her grass-and-feather bedding and quickly fell asleep.
A moon later Iceshadow was talking with Shadowstar and Tigerlily when Mudfur padded up to her.
"Um, hi. Well, this didn't look too important, so do you want to go on a hunting patrol?" he asked, kind of joking around at first.
Iceshadow looked to her father, who nodded. She turned back to Mudfur with a smile, "Alright."
They took the tunnel to the meadow and headed for a slightly forested area. The distance to it from camp was a fairly long walk, but the GhostClan patrols had found more prey there than any other area, so it was worth it. By the time they got their prey and were heading back it was nearly twilight, but the sunset still lingered. "Looks like it might rain," Mudfur remarked through his mouthful of fur. Iceshadow glanced up and saw a spark of thunder ripple through the dark clouds above. "Yeah, let's hurry," she meowed, speeding up her pace just a bit.
"There's the tunnel!" Mudfur announced after a long walk. Before they could reach it, however, lightning struck the ground in front of them, lighting the grass ablaze. Mudfur dropped his fresh-kill in surprise. "Leave the fresh-kill, run around and try to get into the tunnel!" Iceshadow ordered, and with her fresh-kill still in her mouth she darted around and managed to reach the tunnel, Mudfur right behind her.
"Run! Warn the clan!" Iceshadow ordered again. Mudfur nodded and ran as fast as he could down the tunnel.
Iceshadow followed, still holding her fresh-kill. While Mudfur warned the clan Iceshadow dropped her fresh-kill onto the fresh-kill pile.
"Can we wait for the rain to come?" Ashstep asked. "It's all we can do," Shadowstar answered solemnly, then continued to calm his clan
"There's nothing to burn in the tunnels, and it's a long walk from the meadow to camp, we'll be safe until the rain comes." Sure enough, the rain came. Large drops of rain fell into the center of camp from the hole above, but most were safely out of the way of the falling water. Iceshadow jumped agilely out the hole onto the short-grassed area between the large forest and meadow. The rain was making her fur stick uncomfortable to her, but she just ignored it for now. She looked out over the meadow as the rain put out the fire that destroyed over half of it. She sighed and started walking over to it, but paused when she heard a faint yowl. Her ears perked, she looked around. Nothing seemed wrong. Was she hearing things? Again, a yowl, this time louder. She ran over to the hole again and hopped down into it, looking around again.
"Iceshadow? What's wrong?" Ashstep asked as he walked over to her.
"Didn't you hear that?" she asked.
"Hear what?"
"A yowl."
"Well, shadows are supposed to have heightened senses."
"Something's coming."
"What?"
"Something's coming!"
Iceshadow paused before turning and darting to the leader's cave. "Ashstep, get everyone out of the tunnels, hurry!" she meowed, then jumped into the cave to come face-to-face with the leader and her father. "We have to get everyone out the tunnels!" she said quickly without an explanation. "Why?" "Please, just trust me!" she meowed, then left the cave, heading for the nursery. "Tigerlily, Morningsky, get Newkit, Fallenkit, Drowningkit, and Twilightkit out of here!" she meowed, again, leaving without an explanation. She paused. It was getting closer. She looked around and saw everyone moving for the tunnels. "Not that way! Hurry, those who can climb out that hole. Those who can't head for the meadows," she ordered quickly.
"Why? What's down that way?" Morningsky asked.
"There's no time, please, just get your kits and yourself out of here! Its-" She stopped and looked towards the tunnels leading to the forest just in time to see a river of water rushing towards the now panicking cats. "Hurry! Someone get Fallenkit or Twilightkit!" she yowled, then rushed to the nursery and picked up one of the two kits still there: Fallenkit, then ran as fast as she could before jumping quickly out the hole.
There she saw Ashstep putting down Newkit and Mudfur helping Morningsky with Drowningkit and Inkkit. She set down Fallenkit by Morningsky and looked around. "Where's Twilightkit? Did anyone get Twilightkit?" Morningsky asked, panicking over the missing kitten.
Iceshadow looked around. She had barely gotten out of the hole before the water came, anyone trying to follow her would have had no chance. She rushed over to the hole and looked down to see Tigerlily thrashing in the water with Twilightkit. "Tigerlily!" she called, but before she could say or do anything more Ashstep dove into the hole after his mate. "Ashstep, no! It's too dangerous! Stay above the water, but let it take you to the meadows, it's your only chance!" she called, then darted to the meadows, hoping they would survive, despite the very little hope.
When she got there she saw the few that had made it out before the water came, the scanned the crowd and picked out some of them, but she was too busy to name all of them. Who she did recognize were Sunstreak, Mudfur's mother, Hawkclaw, the only cat close enough to a medicine cat to be called one, and Fadedcloud, a senior warrior from the badger attack of their first home. Ignoring the rest, she darted to the exit of the tunnel and looked around. She watched the rushing water pass by with growing worry, where were they?
After a while the water slowed to a more peaceful pace, but there was still no sign of Tigerlily, Ashstep, or Twilightkit. Iceshadow gave up. She sighed and turned away. She looked up to see that Mudfur, Morningsky, and her kits were catching up now. Mudfur caring the youngest: Newkit, now without a mother or father, much like Fallenkit, who lost her mother and father in the badger attack.
Looking around, Iceshadow realized there were fewer than she had first thought.
She also realized that Shadowstar was not among them.
In her fear she asked "Where's Shadowstar?" The cats looked around, apparently they hadn't noticed, as well.
"Father!" She suddenly burst, scanning the crowd again and again frantically. "Iceshadow, I think he's…" Sunstreak trailed off. "No! Don't say it! He's alive… he has to be," Iceshadow meowed, head falling as she broke into tears.
"Iceshadow, Shadowstar and Tigerlily are gone. The code of our clan says that if GhostClan is left without a leader or deputy than the shadows will either give the leadership of the clan to the leader's oldest child or choose amongst themselves who is worthy, you are the last shadow and the leader's child!" Fadedcloud meowed. "No! Stop it! He's alive!" Iceshadow hissed. She then collapsed to the cold, wet, ash-covered ground.
All together, walk alone against all we've ever known
All we've ever really wanted was a place to call our own
But you take all we are, the innocence of our hearts
Made to kneel before the alter as you tear us apart
So we march to the drums of the damned as we come
Watch it burn in the sun, we are numb
We are young, but we have heart
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong, but we don't belong
Born in this world as it all falls apart
"Iceshadow…" Mudfur meowed as he walked up to her. "It's nearly midnight, your father isn't coming back."
Iceshadow stayed quietly where she was, still on the ground in silent mourning. "I know…" she meowed after a moment, quiet and barely heard.
"The clan can't go on without a leader," he meowed after a moment.
"I know," she said, louder and more harshly this time. Mudfur flinched.
"Please..?" he mewed simply after a long, silent moment.
"Do you know why shadows are named under NightClan instead of StarClan?" she asked.
"Um, no, I-I don't," he meowed, unsure what that had to do with the leadership of GhostClan.
"It's said that NightClan was once a part of StarClan, but it's leader thought he was betrayed by a StarClan member, and so he left to start his own clan to one day take over StarClan and get his revenge. Later on he had built up a large clan and tried to carryout his revenge, but StarClan beat NightClan and made them fall into the shadows, never to be seen shining in the sky again. The NightClan leader, furious, sent some of his best warriors down to wipe out any who follow StarClan. They were called shadows. Shadows formed GhostClan, but they failed to kill all of the StarClan believers before their time ran out. Rogues and loners joined the clan and eventually GhostClan was made a safe haven for shadows and warriors alike, but StarClan could never forgive NightClan, and NightClan could never forgive StarClan, so shadows are still named under NightClan, and warriors are still named under StarClan," Iceshadow explained.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Mudfur seemed confused.
"What if… either NightClan or StarClan are trying to destroy the safe haven?" Iceshadow asked, looking up to Mudfur with a strong sense of worry. Mudfur felt like a knot had just been tied out of his throat. What if they were? That would mean that there'd be no peace between shadows and warriors anymore, it'd be back to how it was before: one big war between NightClan and StarClan.
Mudfur pushed the thoughts to the very back of his mind and put a fake smile up for Iceshadow. "Nothing like that will ever happen, but it might if GhostClan goes without a leader for too long," he meowed jokingly. Iceshadow smiled. "Alright, but I refuse to officially take the name of leader." "Good enough for me," Mudfur meowed, then padded back to the rest of the clan.
Iceshadow washed the ash off of herself in a nearby puddle and darted over to the clan. She was surprised to see the clan arguing with each other. "What is going on?" she asked, but no one answered.
"Stop arguing, all of you!" again, no one answered or obeyed.
Iceshadow climbed onto a boulder and looked down with disappointment and anger.
We will fight or we will fall till the angels save us all
We will fight or we will fall till the angels save us all
We will fight or we will fall till the angels save us all
We will fight or we will fall till the angels save us all
We are young, but we have heart
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong, but we don't belong
Born in this world as it all falls apart
"Quiet! Have you all forgotten that we are the safe haven? We are the only thing standing between peace and an all-out war, and here you are, arguing amongst yourselves!" she hissed.
Most of the cats looked away in either anger or guilt.
She calmed herself before continuing "Listen to me, even when we lost our first home we stuck together and made it through, what's different now?"
"Both NightClan and StarClan have forsaken us! We have no leader or deputy, who will lead us?" Hawkclaw yowled angrily.
"I will. I will not accept the name, but follow me, and I will lead you to our new home. So what if NightClan and StarClan have forsaken us? We will fight to keep the peace, if we must! However, we must always stay the safe haven, no matter what!" Iceshadow yowled, as she finished the clan burst into cheers and yowls that filled the night as the sun slowly rose, creating a new dawn for the cats of GhostClan.
We are young, but we have heart
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong, but we don't belong
Born in this world as it all falls apart
Yay, all done! If you wanna know what happens after this visit this site: manga-forest . proboards . com or just ask me.
Thank you! ^-^
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