Shadopaw´s fate – dark legacy

The story takes place parallel to the "the darkest hour" – action. Have mercy, english is not my first language ;)

Shadowpaw is a young, well-trained blood clan – student, strong, loyal and ambitious. But one day her world changes: Tiger Star, the leader of the shadowclan and, allegedly, soon evenof the whole forest, selects her for a special mission. Together with him, she leaves the blood clan to live in the forest, as a member of the Tigerclan. When she finally falls in love with him , she does not yet know that his heart is full of darkness ...

Prologue

Shadowkit lowered so deep to the ground that it almost touched her nose , while Scourge circeled around them . His cold, high pitched voice almost hurt her sensitive ears .

"Why did you bring me a young one? "

The white queen blinked . " She is not young any more , now...she´s almost six moons old . This is already student age. "

Thoughtfully, the leader teared the frozen ground with his long claws. Then he nudged the reinforced claws against her shoulder. " Strong enough . " he muttered. "Look at me , Kid. "

Hesitantly, she lifted her head , and his cold blue eyes immediatly pierced into her dark blue ones . Involuntarily bristling her fur, she felt as like Scourge could see straight into her soul .

" Snow ? "He spoke to her mother without taking his eyes of her. The Queen raised her head .

" Her mentor will be Bone . " He turned his back on them . The conversation was over .

Chapter one

Shadowpaw gasped. Then she got up and shook herself.

"Again!" growled Bone. He jumped up to her, dived beneath her swirling claws and firmly nailed her to the ground again. His claws were sharp, and shadowpaw had to grit not to cry out loud. Then she threw him off with all her strength and came after the bigger cat, snarling.

"Alright, that's enough for today." He shook off the dust and simply walked away. She was out of breath, they had trained almost the whole day. Her limbs ached, but she did not complain. If she wanted to fight along, there would be a lot to learn, and she was eager to prove that she was worth it.

She limped back to their storage place and ran to her mother. Her snow-white fur was maintained as usual, and she raised her head proudly. She was a beautiful cat, and she knew it. There was no place for modesty in the blood clan. With a respectful nod, shadow paw sat next to snow and began to devour her prey.

After the meal, she began to wash her shiny silver, black spottet pelt thoroughly, then went gently with her tongue down to her mothers cheek. Snow licked her ears and they walked over to the student court. The other students just scuffled around something that looked as if it had been lost by a two-legged.

Amused, she went into attack position in order to participate in the game, as Bone nudged from behind.

"Tigerstar is here again. Quit that foolish behavior and sit up straight! "

Involuntarily, she sat upright and widened her eyes. She had missed the first visit of this mighty forest cat because she had been out hunting, and now she hoped she would be able to take a look at the cat who wanted to rule the forest.

Bones pushed her again, then he hurried to welcome Tigerstar, for he was still was the second leader. She fell into the respectful position of their clan: crouching, head bowed and eyes fixed on the ground. Looking down, she only saw Bones large, white black paws moving clumsily through the cat amount, and then huge, dark paws with very long, sharp claws that followed him. Shadowpaw pricked up her ears, but even though Tigerstar was probably even bigger than the gigantic Deputy of the blood clan - which she assumed because of the size of his paws - he glided noiselessly over the rough ground.

They stopped. "Where is Scourge?", she heared a deep, unfamiliar voice growl.

"Wait here." Bone trotted into a narrow alley, and a moment later the small black cat appeared behind the garbage cans .

His high, cold voice cut through the air .

"Do you despise your life in the forest so much that you need show up here every day? I thought we got clarified everything last time. "

Tiger Star hissed angrily. "I only came to make sure that your fighting force is capable. I don´t want to take any risks. "

As a scourge spoke again, there was little, amost unhearable sharpness in his ever-so-expressionless voice. "Do you think of us as incapable?"

"Not really. Nevertheless, I want to check on whose side I'm fighting. "

" Very well. Bones, gather together the warriors. "

The deputy bowed, then his paws retreated. Shortly thereafter, all the warriors of the blood clan stood side by side, holding their heads up and the fur proudly fluffed.

Shadowpaw winced when Scourge suddenly said her name. "Shadowpaw, Foxpaw and Cherrypaw are also going to accompany us. You may come forward. "

She suppressed a shiver, lifted her chin and stepped forward. At last, she could now lift her eyes to look at the stranger. He stood in front of scourge.

It was a hulking, dark striped cat with glowing amber eyes, which seemed to blaze in an orange fire. Supple muscles played under his smooth fur, and he had many, many battle scars, his ear was torn to a deep V. He carefully looked at the students, esteeming them all, his ardent gaze then remained hanging on her.

"They look small." He grumbled.

Scourge did not reply. Then Tiger Star nodded approvingly. "Your clan is numerous. The fight should be won with ease. "

The fiery eyes fierced into hers, and shadowpaw felt like if cold claws grabbed her heart. This cat could and should not be trusted. He looked at her coldly, then he turned back to scourge.

"In a few days, I will come back and observe the training." he growled.

The Blood Clan leader cocked his head. "So you think you could play mentor in our clan? We can educate our students on our own. Without your help. "He meowed irritably.

Tiger Star laid back his ears. "I am aware of that. I want to get an overview, that's all. There should not be anything in my way. "

Scourge nodded curtly, but Shadowpaw could see his supressed anger, hidden in his expressionless face.

"Verrry Well. We always train at sunhigh, so do not be late. "

And with that he turned his back to the visitor. Tigerstar bowed his head slightly, then he turned around and vanished into the fog. A light, spicy smell of forest breezed behind him.