Disclaimer: I may own Shadepaw and the other OC's along with the plot butWarriors will never be mine (that is, it won't be mine until I become part of the official Erin Hunter author team)

I hope you enjoy this chapter and I apologize if there are spelling/grammar mistakes; it's half past eleven and I should be asleep but the two reviews for the last chapter motivated me to update today.


Chapter Two

~ Never Underestimate a She-Cat~

Shadepaw's whole body was tense and on high alert as she crossed the border into RiverClan territory. According to Littlecloud, StarClan wanted her to head towards the island used for gatherings, which was where she would meet the other cats in the prophecy. Keeping close to the ground, she crept along the lake shore like a pale shadow, silent as the night itself. That was, until…

"Oww! Why are there so many reeds in RiverClan territory?" Flamepaw cursed from behind her. She turned to see him hopping madly on three paws, the other paw dangling close to his side.

"Shut up before some cat hears you!" Shadepaw hissed. It was night time, but that didn't mean RiverClan didn't send out night patrols like she knew Blackstar did.

"Well you'd make a fuss if you cut your paw on a reed as well," her brother retorted. "This is stupid, anyway. I don't see why Blackstar can't know about this," he grumbled.

Shadepaw sighed and turned to face her brother. He was now licking his paw vigorously. She hadn't wanted to bring him; she had been looking forward to spending some time without him, actually, but Littlecloud insisted it was what StarClan wanted. So there they were, trying to make their way to the gathering island under the cover of darkness remaining undetected. So much for that plan, Shadepaw thought when she heard rapidly approaching paw steps. "Because Blackstar wouldn't let us go. We're only apprentices for StarClan's sake, now hush. I can hear cats coming towards us," Shadepaw whispered, lowering herself until she was lying on the ground with her legs bunched under her, ready to run if she needed to.

"Who's there?" the voice of an unfamiliar tom cat, RiverClan by the scent, spoke harshly. After a heartbeat of silence, the tom spoke again. "I know there's some cat there… ShadowClan, if I'm not mistaken, and only one or maybe two of you. Either reveal yourself now or I will attack."

Shadepaw glanced over at her brother whom she could see through darkness-adjusted eyes. He shook his head at her, still sucking his paw. Shadepaw narrowed her eyes at him before, not moving, she spoke up:

"You're right, there are two of us. And there's only one of you, so it is you who should fear attack," she meowed in her best warrior voice, hoping the RiverClan cat couldn't tell she was only an apprentice.

"I suppose, but I never have considered she-cats the equal of toms, especially in battle," was the RiverClan tom's reply.

"What?!" Shadepaw hissed. "Take that back!" she warned, unsheathing her claws, anger glinting in her steely eyes.

"Make me," came the insolent reply.

"Oh, I will," Shadepaw promised, preparing to spring.

Before she could attack however, Shadepaw felt Flamepaw's hot breath on her ear. "Don't do it, he's only goading you to show yourself," he hissed in a low whisper.

Shadepaw gave her brother a look through narrowed eyes. "I'm no coward. Go to the Dark Forest if you don't like it," she hissed back before springing forward in the direction of the RiverClan tom's voice, making sure to kick Flamepaw in the process.

Shadepaw landed on top of something soft and slimy. "Eww, gross," she muttered .

"Going to insult me rather than fight me?" the RiverClan tom taunted from somewhere… underneath her?

"Mousedung!" Shadepaw cursed, realising she had landed on the RiverClan tom. Just then he flipped over and she slid off his slimy pelt with as easily as if he had just bathed in oil. Not giving up, Shadepaw slashed an unsheathed paw at his exposed belly fur, but her claws didn't even pierce his skin. "Stupid RiverClan tom with his oily pelt and fishy breath," she growled as he stood up and jumped on her. The two rolled over, both fighting for the upper paw.

"No cat ever won a battle with insults alone," the tom panted. "When are you going to start fighting properly?"

"Right about…now!" Shadepaw dug her back paws into the mud, making sure her forepaws were spread either side of her opponent's shoulders, trapping him underneath her against the ground.

"You're an apprentice!" the RiverClan tom exclaimed, seeing her for the first time.

"And the RiverClan tom wins the mouse for stating the obvious," Shadepaw teased, enjoying having the upper paw. "Now, when are you going to start fighting properly I wonder?" she grinned down at him.

"Oh, I don't know," he pretended to think. "How about… right now?" and with that he bunched up his hind legs against Shadepaw's stomach and pushed her away with a strength she hadn't been expecting. Shadepaw lay on the ground, winded, as he loomed over her.

"Had enough?" he enquired. "It just goes to show that I was right, she-cats are useless, especially in battle," h meowed nonchalantly.

"Never," Shadepaw gasped. She had never been in a battle before and had only just began her training because of her delayed apprenticeship and really had no idea how to recover from being winded and get back into the battle. She was saved when Flamepaw revealed himself.

"She's a new apprentice, only just begun her training. Why not fight someone your own size who's closer to your own skill?" Flamepaw challenged the RiverClan tom.

"Hey! I could fight both of you together and win. I haven't given up yet," Shadepaw staggered to her paws, but neither tom listened to her.

"I know you," the RiverClan tom said suddenly, peering at Flamepaw through the darkness. His eyes weren't as adjusted as the ShadowClan cats eyes were, but he could make out the orange tinge of Flamepaw's fur. "You're the kits of Dawnpelt and Starlingwing, right?"

"Yeah?" Flamepaw answered warily.

"Will you two stop ignoring me!" Shadepaw growled, taking up what she thought to be a fighting stance with her four paws spread wide.

"What are you doing on my territory? Trying to get to the gathering island?" the RiverClan tom asked, not taking any notice of Shadepaw with his gaze fixed unwaveringly on Flamepaw. Shadepaw felt anger boiling in her blood and flexed her claws.

"What's it to you?" Flamepaw shot back.

"Apart from the fact that you're trespassing and I have every right to challenge you? I 'm also on my way there," the RiverClan tom replied, the hostility gone from his voice.

"You mean… you're the cat from RiverClan who…" Flamepaw slowly began to connect the pieces.

"That's it, if you don't stop ignoring me then I'm warning you both, I won't hold back," Shadepaw promised darkly, still to no avail.

"Who got picked by StarClan in a prophecy, yes," the RiverClan tom nodded, relaxing his body.

Right, I've warned you, so expect no mercy, Shadepaw thought to herself, dropping into a crouch.

"Great! Do you know what's going on then? What's your name?" Flamepaw also relaxed, his voice now much more friendly.

The mousebrain, it could be a trap. Shadepaw slowly crept up behind the RiverClan tom.

"I'm Stonepaw, what about you? Sorry, I don't know any more than you di I'm afraid. Why are there two of you?" the RiverClan tom replied.

"Stonepaw?" Flamepaw echoed.

"Yeah, in less than a moon I'm supposed to finish my training," the apprentice that looked much more like a warrior replied.

"Oh. Well, I'm Flamepaw, two moons into training, and that mousebrained furball who attacked you is my sister. I don't know why we were both chosen, but Littlecloud said StarClan intended for us both to go. My sister's also eight moons old like me but she only just started her training a few sunrises ago due to an accident that delayed her apprenticeship. She's called-" Flamepaw began but before he could say her name, Shadepaw jumped forward, boxing Stonepaw over the head with unsheathed claws and then doing the same to her brother faster than either tom thought she was capable of.

"Owww…" they both moaned simultaneously.

Shadepaw sat down and curled her tail around her paws neatly. "That'll teach you to ignore me," she told them pleasantly. "Now, haven't we got an island to find?"

Stonepaw blinked. "For a new apprentice, your sister can pack one Dark forest of a blow," he told Flamepaw with a groan.

"And don't talk about me as if I'm not here, or there's more where that came from," Shadepaw informed Stonepaw, trotting away. The two toms hastened to catch up.

"And, Flamepaw?" Shadepaw asked her brother sweetly.

"Yeah?" he grumbled, annoyed with her for hitting him.

"Never tell another cat anything about me without my permission," Shadepaw said. To Stonepaw, she added, "Still think she-cat's aren't as good as toms?"

Stonepaw looked at her as he padded along side, his eyes glowing with amusement. "Nah. I only said that to make you angry so you would show yourself, I never believed it for a moment," he admitted.

"Why, you… come here!" Shadepaw growled in mock anger, chasing after him as her raced away, leaving Flamepaw to try and catch them up.


When they finally reached the tree bridge, Shadepaw bounded across lightly and gracefully, even though she had only crossed it once before. Stonepaw followed her confidently and they both sat down, panting from their run, to wait for Flamepaw.

"You know, you're not half bad for a ShadowClan cat," Stonepaw said into the peaceful silence.

"Thanks," Shadepaw blinked in surprise.

After a moment, Stonepaw poked Shadepaw in the ribs with his paw. "You're supposed to say, 'you're not so bad yourself," he told her in a light, joking tone.

Shadepaw rolled her eyes, but she didn't get angry like she did when Dashpaw tried to teach her 'manners'. "That line is just so cliché. I prefer to use my own lines, not take lines that belong to other cats which are used way too much," she replied, poking Stonepaw back. "But, I guess that even for a RiverClan cat…" she trailed off.

"Yes?" Stonepaw pressed.

"Even for a RiverClan cat, your pelt is extremely oily and your breath stinking so strongly of fish it could knock out a badger and mask its scent at the same time," she finished with a cheeky grin.

Stonepaw laughed, nudging her slightly harder with his nose so that she almost lost her balance. "You never stop insulting cats, do you? I see what you mean about not wanting to use lines that are said so often, but seriously, they're also good manners. Did your parents never teach you anything about etiquette, or are all ShadowClan cats as rude as you?"

Shadepaw hesitated at the mention of her parents. Swallowing, she bent her head and pushed against Stonepaw with all her might, making him topple, only saving himself from hitting the ground with his fast reflexes. "My parents never really cared about teaching me manners," she said in as nonchalant a tone as she could manage. Stonepaw gave her a studious look, but didn't press the issue as she carried on, "my brother's best friend, Dashpaw, frequently tries to improve my manners though," she said with a slight hint of laughter in her voice at the memories. "I always tell him to stuff it."

"To be honest, I'm not surprised," Stonepaw told her, staring down at her with mischief twinkling in his green eyes. For a moment he paused, appearing to gauge how far he could push her without upsetting her, before adding, "It shows that you were brought up like a rogue, with your attitude." Stonepaw then shoved her with all his strength, which sent the smaller apprentice sprawling on the ground.

As she lay on the ground, she thought about how her initial reaction to Stonepaw's comment about her parents would have been to snarl at him but as she got back onto her paws she realised that she didn't mind so much when he said it.

Instead of gracing him with an answer, Shadepaw bunched her pawn beneath her, waggled her tail, and ran at Stonepaw, shoving him hard so that he lost his balance and fell, landing amid the sand on the shore.

"Oh, you asked for this," Stonepaw warned her with amusement colouring his otherwise serious tone. Not giving Shadepaw time to reply, he jumped to his paws and slammed into her. But she was ready and as soon as he made contact, she tangled his paws with hers, bringing him down with her.

They began wrestling in the sand but Stonepaw, being stronger, ended up on top. Shadepaw, remembering her opponent's earlier trick when she had him pinned down, pummelled the older apprentice's belly with her hind legs. It didn't send him flying off her but she managed to wind him slightly, enabling her to slip out from under his grip.

Before they could continue wrestling however, Shadepaw spotted a flash of ginger illuminated by the moon out of the corner of her eye.

"Look Stonepaw, my brother has finally reached the tree bridge," Shadepaw commented, sitting down to watch him.

"So he has," Stonepaw joined her. "By the way, you never told me your name. I promise not to tell it to anyone else without asking you permission first," he added with a smirk.

Shadepaw rolled her eyes and poked him. "My name's Shadepaw," she meowed.

Meanwhile, Flamepaw seemed to be having trouble crossing the tree bridge. A strong wind had picked up and the tree seemed to be swaying slightly.

"Oh, no," Shadepaw groaned, knowing he was going to fall off.

"Are you worried about him?" Stonepaw asked her.

Shadepaw uttered a laugh. "Worried? More like embarrassed. My first time and I cross it easily – it's not that hard, really – but his third time and he's going to fall off," Shadepaw sighed. Stonepaw gave her a strange look.

"He might not fall off," the tom pointed out.

A few seconds later… *plop* Flamepaw lost his balance and fell like a stone into the dark water beneath him. Shadepaw groaned again.

"Told you," she said, looking at Stonepaw.

Stonepaw's eyes were fixed on the place where Flamepaw had disappeared. "Can he swim?"

"Oh StarClan, I didn't think of that," Shadepaw muttered and nudged Stonepaw. "You'd better go rescue him."

"Me?" Stonepaw asked her.

"I can't swim, and we can't let one of StarClan's chosen drown before he's completed the quest," Shadepaw answered. The sarcasm in her voice was obvious and she nudged Stonepaw again, harder this time. "Go on," she urged.

Stonepaw flicked her ear with his tail and then bounded into the water leaving the ShadowClan apprentice sitting on the shore.


Author's Note: I'm aware that in this chapter I used a couple of words that Warriors wouldn't usually say but I couldn't think of any 'warrior cat' language to replace them with.

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