The New Clan
Warriors
Darkness Within
Prologue
Stonedapple slithered out of the warriors' den. He flexed his shoulders and padded forward. He stalked through the camp entrance. Snowcloud was dozing instead of guarding. As he entered the forest, he gave a small snort. Following Poppybreeze's scent trail, he tracked her to the edge of their territory, where Twolegplace sat. He heard loud purring. Poppybreeze was lying on her side while two apprentice-aged cats raced around her. When the three caught sight of Stonedapple, they stopped and stared. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" he growled. Suddenly he leaped at her. She screeched in pain and confusion. In a matter of heartbeats, his Clanmate was dead. Her kits cowered in fear before darting into a Twoleg nest.
Chapter 1
It had been a moon since Poppybreeze's mauled body had been brought back to camp. Stonedapple had told everyone it was a dog that attacked her. Featherpaw knew that the Clan was still grieving. She stretched out in her nest. In two more moons, she'd be a warrior. "Let all cats old enough to hunt gather beneath the Darkrock for a Clan meeting!" yowled Moonstar. Featherpaw darted into the clearing. She sat near Daisytail. She noticed Smallpoppy looking proud and Leafpaw and Bramblepaw sitting happily in the center of the clearing. Moonstar jumped down from the Darkrock. He blended in with the shadowy boulder. "I, Moonstar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has worked hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Leafpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?" he mewed. "I do," she answered. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Leafpaw, from this day forward you shall be known as Leafbird. StarClan honors your courage and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of NightClan." He repeated the ceremony for Bramblepaw, who was shaking with excitement. "Leafbird! Bramblepool! Leafbird! Bramblepool!" the Clan chanted. Featherpaw glanced around. Stonedapple was the only one not cheering. Instead he was looking at Goldenfur through narrowed eyes, his claws sliding in and out.
Chapter 3
Sweetpaw slid silently out of camp. She padded stealthily towards the OakClan border. A heavy weight dropped onto her back. Paws pummeled her back. She was about to yowl when she realized that the cat's claws were sheathed. "Thunderpaw," she groaned. He hopped off her back. "It's Thunderheart now," he meowed. He was a warrior already? Sweetpaw looked at his sleek gray pelt and blue eyes. She saw his affection for her in everything he did. They twined their tails together and purred.
Later that night, the pair built a nest under a bush. Sweetpaw curled up with a sigh.
Chapter 4
After a moon had passed, Sweetpaw had started to feel heavy and clumsy in training. She always felt tired. She padded into the medicine den, prepared to ask Mistfur what was wrong with her, when a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks. Weaselfoot was growling, "She's way too young to have kits. It'll be another moon before she's a warrior!" Mistfur sighed. "Do you think I don't know that? I'll try to help her when it's time to kit. She should be ready soon. Her belly's huge! For now, just send her to live in the nursery." She ran back into her den, feeling lost and confused.
Sweetpaw groaned. After just two days, she had started to kit. She had been at it since sunhigh. Now it was a little past moonhigh. "The first one's coming," Mistfur whispered. Her apprentice, Dovepaw, pushed on Sweetpaw's belly as a new spasm hit her. Sweetpaw yowled as a tiny bundle plopped onto the moss. All too quickly, a second bundle slipped out. Finally, she was resting with three kits close to her belly. She drifted into a deep sleep, hardly hearing Mistfur meow, "Three she-kits and no toms."
Sweetpaw blinked open her eyes. She gazed at her kits with pride in her eyes. But the pride soon changed to fear when she realized one kit had five legs, one had half of one ear missing, and the smallest had no tail and a twisted front leg.
Chapter 5
Featherpaw couldn't believe her ears when she heard Sweetpaw had kitted. And she was shocked when she saw the kits. Spiderkit, Rabbitkit, and Twistedkit were all deformed. The trio was huddled together outside the nursery. "Hey Rabbitkit," she called. Rabbitkit just blinked blankly ahead. With a chill, Featherpaw realized that the pale gray kit was deaf. And with the cloudiness of her gaze, she was probably blind, too. Spiderkit pounced on a leaf, his extra leg making his landing awkward. Featherpaw sighed. Would these kits ever become warriors? She turned and found herself face-to-face with Whitepaw. He held a sparrow in his jaws. "I thought you might be hungry," he mumbled. "Uh… no thanks," she meowed. Whitepaw pointedly turned his back on her and trotted to eat with Stonedapple and Daisytail. Goldenfur was looking fondly at Bramblepool. Mistfur was carrying an herb bundle in her jaws. The Clan seemed peaceful. All was well.
Chapter 6
Sweetpaw woke early. Rabbitkit was lying at an awkward angle. As Sweetpaw gently nudged her back into place, she realized how dull Rabbitkit's eyes were. The tiny cat wasn't breathing either. Sweetpaw wailed aloud. Spiderkit wasn't in the mossy nest. Sweetpaw thundered into the clearing. Twistedkit yelped in surprise, but she didn't care. She kept running until she reached the edge of the forest. SnakeClan was on her left, OakClan her right, and LakeClan in front. It was too early for patrols so she bounded into OakClan territory. As she tore into the camp Thunderheart tumbled out of the nursery a kit in his mouth. Sweetpaw swiped at his face and yowled, "You did this! You ruined my life! I'm not even a warrior and I have kits! I had three but two are gone! I hate you! My Clanmates talk about me behind my back! My own mother shuns me!" She lunged for him. He yowled and dropped the kit. It was perfect. She grabbed Thunderheart's throat in her jaws and bit down hard. He sank to the ground. As she dashed through the camp entrance, Sweetpaw heard shrieks. Satisfied, Sweetpaw kept running. She didn't even see the lake in front of her and she fell in. Sweetpaw franticly waved her paws, but she kept on sinking. Darkness swam over her vision. Sweetpaw's paws stopped flailing. All went dark.
Chapter 7
Featherpaw woke to the sound of wailing. She heard Sweetpaw run out of camp. Maybe her kits ran off. Featherpaw curled up tighter and slept on.
When Featherpaw heard Sweetpaw had been missing since dawn, she knew something had happened. She had watched Twistedkit, who had done nothing but cry. Now that it was sunhigh, Featherpaw knew it was time to take action. She trotted through the camp entrance and headed toward Crossedrocks. The warm rocks were at the edges of all of the territories. Featherpaw stopped dead. Floating in the lake was Sweetpaw's body. Featherpaw turned tail and fled back to camp. "Moonstar! Goldenfur! Come quick! I found Sweetpaw!" Featherpaw yowled. Moonstar and Goldenfur raced over to the camp entrance where Featherpaw was waving her tail franticly. Mistfur thundered out of her den. "Do you need herbs?" she mewed quickly.
"No, it's…she's…Sweetpaw drowned." Featherpaw mewed quietly. Daisytail trotted over, along with Weaselfoot, Poppypaw, Stonedapple, and Bramblepool. Twistedkit limped over and whimpered meekly, "Where's mother and Spiderkit? I'm hungry." Angry and confused yowls drowned him out.
"She's in the lake?! She knows she can't swim!"
"Who's the kits' father? Is he even in our clan?"
"Of course not! Our clan is better than that!"
"SnakeClan's been stealing our prey!"
Everyone stpped and stared at Stonedapple. He growled and unsheathed his claws. "They need to pay." Moonstar looked back and forth between his daughter and Stonedapple. Finally he sighed and said, "Stonedapple, lead a patrol to the exact location of the prey stealing. You get Bramblepool, Liondawn, Snowcloud, and Mistypaw. Featherpaw, you lead a patrol to retrieve Sweetpaw. You can have Windpelt, Mousefoot, and Dovepaw.