This is my first CoAD fic, so be nice. :) Please review!

SHADOWED
CHAPTER ONE

How Long Has It Been?

It was summertime, and the Raven Clan was busy. The camp bustled with action: women cooking broth, men carrying fish, children playing and running around. The heat of the sun was less now that evening was nearing, and the elders of the clan could be seen outside their huts, telling stories to their grandchildren.

Two men sat apart from the tribe, a small distance away from the camp, beneath a tree. One was old but healthy-looking, the other young but disturbingly pale. They sat in silence, quietly watching the activities of their clan.

"Malor's back," the young man said suddenly, his eyes following a handsome, broad-shouldered man, looking to be about twenty summers old. "Looks like he brought his share of salmon."

"He's a good hunter," the older man observed. There was another pause. The broad-shouldered man, Malor, took the several salmon he had to a young woman sitting at a pot and offered them to her with a flourish. "A good warrior, too."

"Rather arrogant," the young man observed.

"Less so than Hord was, Dark," the older man countered. "He's fair and will become wise in time. He will be a good leader for Raven Clan when I am gone."

"You still have many years left as our leader, Fin-Kedinn," Dark protested. "Don't talk like that!"

"I must choose my successor now," Fin-Kedinn said simply. "And I have no kin left in Raven Clan to make the decision easy. I did consider Tamun, but he is too easily persuaded and unsure of himself."

"Tamun is kinder," Dark said, but his protests were not violent, simply mildly interested. "He would listen to everyone. Malor is more biased."

"He will grow out of it," Fin-Kedinn said firmly. "I was biased and arrogant in my youth. Experience will grant him wisdom."

"That is true," Dark admitted.

There was another calm silence. The sun was nearing the horizon, and the shadows in the far off forest were long and dark.

"I wish Renn had stayed," Dark said softly. "She knew what she was doing, with all the Mage things... Durrain helped a lot, but she had to go too soon."

Fin-Kedinn sighed. "I wish she had stayed, too," he admitted. "With you as our Mage, she could have been my replacement."

"She went with Torak, though," Dark murmured. "It was all for the best, but still..."

"Still..." Fin-Kedinn echoed.

There was another silence.

"How long has it been since they visited us?" Dark asked.

Fin-Kedinn frowned, remembering. For the first few moons, Torak and Renn had visited frequently. After their fourth visit, they were happy to announce they had formally become mates. It pained Fin-Kedinn to see his niece all grown up, but she was happy, and so was Torak, his foster son.

But then all of a sudden, the visits had stopped. They still heard from their friends—a message from Willow Clan, or Auroch Clan, or Red Deer Clan told the Ravens Torak and Renn were doing well—but not in two summers had they come to either of the Raven Clan camps.

"Two summers," Fin-Kedinn answered his Mage.

"Two summers... and their last message?" Dark added.

Fin-Kedinn bit his lip as he thought. "Eight or nine moons, give or take."

"I'm getting a bit worried," the Mage said. "What if something has happened to them?"

"Torak and Renn dealt with the Soul Eaters by themselves," the Raven leader pointed out. "And they have Wolf and Darkfur with them."

"Yes..." Dark said slowly. "But still. Even if they're not in trouble, why have they stopped talking to us?"

"I don't know," Fin-Kedinn murmured. "I hope they remember us soon."

Dark sighed. "I do, too." He frowned, as if remembering something. "I met with a Boar Clan hunting party yesterday, while gathering some roots. The head of the party talked so much I stopped listening, but..." He cleared his throat.

Fin-Kedinn scowled at Dark. "Yes?" he asked, suddenly worried.

"She mentioned that a messenger from Red Deer Clan—from Durrain—was resting with their clan for a few days." Dark looked up at the Raven leader, meeting his aged, wise eyes. "It slipped my mind until now, but... I think he mentioned the messenger had news about 'some of my friends'. He must have meant Torak and Renn."

"What?" Fin-Kedinn asked in surprise. "Well, what news?"

Dark shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. We'd have to visit the messenger in Boar Clan."

"They're not far from here," Fin-Kedinn exclaimed, half-rising. "Let's go and—"

"Fin-Kedinn," Dark said, the slightest bit alarmed. "Calm down! The messenger—if he's looking for us—will still be there tomorrow. Or he'll come find us. It's getting late, we can't go haring off now."

Fin-Kedinn sat down, glancing at the setting sun. "Yes," he admitted. "I'll wait 'til tomorrow."

"I'm coming with you," Dark said. "You can leave Malor in charge."

Fin-Kedinn smiled. "Alright."

The two men sat in silence for a while. Fin-Kedinn was reinvigorated, excited to hear more news of Torak and Renn. He missed them. Even with Dark for company and Malor to train in the ways of a leader, he missed his kin and foster son with every breath. He even missed Wolf, his mate Darkfur, their son Pebble, and the ravens Rip and Rek.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the camp. Fin-Kedinn and Dark started and stood up.

Malor was talking loudly to a small man with earthen-caked hair. The earthen man—presumably from the Deep Forest—pointed over to the two standing men. Fin-Kedinn frowned and began to walked over to Malor and the Deep Forest man. Dark followed a step behind him.

"What's the matter, Malor?" Fin-Kedinn asked. Then he turned and nodded to the earthen man. "Greetings, friend." Up close, he recognized the clan-tattoos of the Red Deer Clan. His heart soared. Was this the messenger, come to see him?

"This man," Malor complained, "has hunted on Raven territory!"

"Please forgive me," the man said humbly. "I didn't know Raven Clan did not allow others to hunt in their lands."

"Peace, Malor," Fin-Kedinn ordered. "We have relaxed that law of late."

Malor scowled slightly, but bowed to the will of the clan leader. "Yes, Fin-Kedinn. I will remember."

Behind him, as Malor walked off, Fin-Kedinn heard Dark mutter, "Maybe he can learn."

The earthen man bowed to Fin-Kedinn. "It was only a squirrel."

"You are forgiven," he said easily.

"Thank you," the man murmured. Then he straightened. "I am Fiwur of the Red Deer Clan. I bear a message from our mage—"

"Durrain?" Dark interrupted eagerly.

"Yes," Fiwur said, blinking. "Do you know her—" he glanced at Dark's odd trappings and pale skin— "Mage?"

"Yes, she helped teach me," Dark said with a smile.

Fiwur coughed and glanced away from the mage. "Durrain says to tell you that your friends Torak and Renn have been sighted in our hunting grounds."

"Do they bear a message?" Fin-Kedinn asked hopefully.

Fiwur shook his head. "No one has been able to stop them long enough to speak to them."

"Did you see a wolf with them?" Dark asked.

Once again, the Red Deer man shook his head. "No. All we saw was a young man about the age of your friend who greeted me—"

Fin-Kedinn glanced at Malor's retreating figure.

"—a young woman around as many summers, and a small child about two summers old." Fiwur paused. "Durrain recognized the man and the woman, but not the child."

Fin-Kedinn's eyes widened. He forgot, momentarily, how to breathe.

"A child?" he whispered, swaying slightly.

"Fin-Kedinn?" Dark asked, concerned. He could tell the young man was hiding shock of his own.

"I think I need to sit down," he murmured.

"Thank you for your message," Dark told Fiwur. He turned toward the camp where many of Raven Clan sat watching them, and beckoned one man over with a call of, "Tamun!"

Tamun, a tall, brown-haired man, got up quickly and raced over. "Yes, Mage?" he asked respectfully.

"Please show our guest to a place where he can eat and sleep," Dark ordered. "Thank you, Tamun." Then the pale mage turned to Fin-Kedinn and said gently, "Follow me."

Fin-Kedinn felt dizzy and, above all, shocked. He pushed away Dark's helping hands and walked firmly to the tree the leader and mage had been sitting at previously. He sat down heavily, his face in his hands.

"A child?" he repeated as Dark sat down beside him. "Their child? And two summers old? Why didn't they tell us?"

"And where are the wolves?" Dark asked, puzzled. "Why are they avoiding us? It just doesn't make sense!"

"Is something wrong?" Fin-Kedinn wondered aloud.

"I hope they come to us soon," Dark murmured.

"If they don't I might have to chase after them," the Raven leader said heavily.

Dark pursed his lips, but said nothing. There was silence between the two men as the sun set, and it continued into the evening, up until they bid each other goodnight and went to sleep.