A/N: Whew! Sorry I accidentally dropped out on you guys! Believe it or not, it's actually harder for me to update during breaks. I tried to remember, but... yeah... it didn't work out so well. So, yeah! If any of my readers are still interested in this story, here's the next chapter! From now on Into the Shadows will update every three days. :3 And now, review replies.
Im the Nights Shadow - I have, now! Sorry it took so long. :P
Paleberry - Thanks! I hope your patience has been rewarded.
zestia240 - Haha, thanks. I hope I'm writing the characters well; I'll try not to make them go OOC if I can.
Sandpaw steeled herself against the other cats' hostile glares as they entered the RiverClan camp. The dappled golden she-cat stepped forward with an air of authority. "Crookedstar," she called, "These young intruders attacked a patrol." She shot a vicious glare at the captive ThunderClan cats as she said this.
A magnificent brown tabby tom, whom Sandpaw recognized as Crookedstar from the Gatherings, strode forward from the fresh-kill pile. Mostly fish, Sandpaw noted in disgust. Even when she was scared out of her mind, she still had the spirit to make snide remarks to herself. Go figure. Crookedstar looked them over, and her gaze dropped to her paws. "Oh, really?" he mewed, more of a statement than a question.
Suddenly, Sandpaw felt a need to defend herself. At least to her, her actions had been perfectly reasonable; and though she didn't expect to win the RiverClan leader over, she could at justify herself. "Your Clan killed my father!" she accused. "Oakheart did."
Crookedstar's gaze darkened as he heard the name. "Who did Oakheart kill?"
Dustpaw nudged her hard with his shoulder, and Sandpaw remembered all too quickly that Oakheart had been Crookedstar's brother. But she couldn't back out, so she bravely declared, "Redtail! He killed Redtail."
Crookedstar looked a bit confused at Sandpaw's accusation, replying in puzzlement, "Oakheart did not kill Redtail."
"What should we do with the prisoners?" the golden she-cat broke in, hissing.
The leader sighed. "Escort them to the prisoners' den, Leopardfur."
"What?" Dustpaw and Sandpaw cried out simultaneously. But Leopardfur was already nudging them roughly toward a strange den of tightly woven reeds. She shoved them in with a hearty push and flicked her tail to Silverstream.
"Guard them," she commanded shortly. Silverstream nodded, moving forward to block the entrance. Sandpaw's heart sank. All her instincts begged for her to bowl over Silverstream and race out of the camp, fighting their way home if necessary. But she knew that would only result in more awfulness; she would be injured and dragged back to the den, might have to go to their medicine cat, they would post more guards, and just general mayhem. So she just let out a heavy sigh that came from the innermost parts of her body, and laid her head on her paws.
The day dragged on; it was mostly spent by Sandpaw staring mutinously at her paws and repeating over and over again in her mind, I hate RiverClan, I hate RiverClan, I hate RiverClan. Eventually, a pale brown tabby came over and relieved Silverstream of her watch, tossing the ThunderClan apprentices a small fish as she did so.
Sandpaw glared disgustedly at it, instead choosing to snarl, "What do you plan to do with us?"
The tabby flicked her sleek brown tail. "I dunno, keep you awhile, see how much ThunderClan wants you back." Her muzzle split into a lopsided grin. "You were asking for it, you know, ambushing a patrol like that!"
It's not funny! Sandpaw wanted to wail. She nudged Dustpaw; he only sat rigid, and shot a fierce glare at his companion at her touch. Great, now he's blaming me, Sandpaw thought furiously. He's the one who begged me to let him tag along!
After several minutes of tension-filled silence, the RiverClan warrior - who did not seem to be disturbed by the negative atmosphere - poked the fish with a paw and mewed, "Ya gonna eat that?"
Sandpaw shook her head tightly, and watched in disgusted silence as the guard wolfed down what would have been their meal. Just as she took her last bite, a little voice peeped, "Sedgecweek, Sedgecweek!"
"What is it Dawnkit?" the tabby (apparently Sedgecreek) purred fondly.
"Awe theiw weally FundowClan cats hewe?" A pale gray head popped into the den, the bright blue eyes set into it widening into round sky-colored globes. "Whoa, thewe awe!" she crowed. She scrambled past Sedgecreek and danced around the two apprentices, resembling, Sandpaw thought, a small, hyperactive squirrel.
Then Dawnkit paused, completely still, sniffing quietly. Her little black nose wrinkled up as she remarked, matter-of-factly, "You smell funny."
"No, you do," Sandpaw snarled. The little gray kit, startled, whimpered and dashed to hide behind Sedgecreek.
"Yeah," Dustpaw echoed, surprising Sandpaw, but when she glanced up at him he wouldn't meet her eye.
Sedgecreek wasn't pleased by their response. "Be nice, she's just a kit," the female guard responded with a glare.
And I'm just an apprentice! Sandpaw wanted to yowl, but she kept it to herself.
The two captive apprentices spent a long, fitful night in the den. Sandpaw's sleep was pierced by nightmares, and in the long waking hours with the moon high above her, guilt overtook her. All she could think was, It's all my fault, it's all my fault. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! When finally - by some miracle sent by StarClan, it seemed - the sun peeked above the horizon, Dustpaw still refused to speak to her. Instead, he laid down as far away as possible from her in the little den and stared moodily off into space. RiverClan had apparently decided they were too helpless to warrant a guard, and Sandpaw spent her time just staring hollowly out at the camp.
After awhile - a bit before sunhigh - she noticed that Mosspaw, the apprentice whom had alerted another patrol during their battle, was surrounded by the other apprentices: Heavypaw and two others.
"Wow, I can't believe you let a ThunderClan cat beat you," mocked a dark gray she-cat. "Pathetic!" The little tortoiseshell's head was bowed, not even responding to the taunts, as if she were used to this kind of abuse.
"I agree, Shadepaw," a silver she-cat nodded sagely. "What a useless furball!"
"Yes, you ran off to mama while I was fighting," Heavypaw sneered. Mosspaw flinched at this statement, which was apparently more cutting to her than the othesr.
What a bunch of mouse-brains! Sandpaw thought. She rose stiffly to her paws, ignoring Dustpaw's surprised look, and figured there wasn't any rule that she shouldn't leave the den. She strode over to the group of apprentices and retorted, "I may have beaten her, but she's the one who went to get help. You should be thanking her that she gave you somebody else to try out your lame teasing on."
Mosspaw stared at Sandpaw in utter shock, while Shadepaw hissed, "Aren't you supposed to be in your den, prisoner?"
Sandpaw lifted in her chin. "Oh yeah? Who said?"
As she spoke, a familiar brown tabby strode up to the group. Mosspaw jumped to her paws and cried out, "Sedgecreek!"
Sedgecreek dipped her head and growled sharply, "Shadepaw! Heavypaw! Silverpaw! To the elders' den. I'm sure they have ticks to take care of." The group mumbled under their breaths but did as they were told, glaring mutinously back at Sandpaw. Sedgecreek turned to her and meowed, "I appreciate you standing up for my apprentice. You really shouldn't be roaming around, though. What's your name, anyway?"
"Sandpaw," she mumbled.
"Sandpaw. Well, I never did figure out why you attacked us." Sedgecreek gazed at the ThunderClan apprentice, her blue eyes friendly and curious.
"Because - because Oakheart killed my father. Redtail." Sandpaw faltered at the beginning, but then ended her sentence with a fiery glare.
Sedgecreek cocked her head in confusion. "That isn't what happened. In the battle, Oakheart was buried beneath a rockslide. Then we were forced to retreat. I don't know what happened to Redtail, but he wasn't killed by Oakheart."