Ch.4
Shadepaw slowly walked toward the meeting place of the three young cats.
"Better we meet at night only. Viperstar is getting suspicious." said Bluepaw one day.
Having received their apprentice names about one moon ago, the three young apprentices would play all day, and Shadepaw was happy. Nobody talking about his looks, nobody talking about how he was a bad omen. Flowerpaw and Bluepaw seemed content with the way he was, and respected his battle prowess.
Panting, Bluepaw huffed out after they had wrestled, "I don't get how you're so fast! You seem to just appear!"
Shadepaw smiled at the blue she-cat. "I don't know… it doesn't feel like I'm moving that fast… but Rushfur says I'm just as fast as him."
That was true. Rushfur was the fastest cat in Desertclan, and his mentor. "You might actually be faster than me…" his mentor said proudly after they had raced two days ago.
He blinked back into the present, and the two she-cats were looking at him curiously. "Never mind! It's getting a little dark, so I think we should start heading back. Our clan might be curious. See you two tomorrow night at the gathering!"
The two of them waved their tails toward him as they walked off into the night.
Shadepaw was about to start heading back to the camp when he felt some mist. Looking up at the sky above, some rain fell into his eyes. Blinking them, he looked around. There was a large bush about ten tail-lengths away. Sensing that the rain was going to continue falling, likely harder than it was now, he proceeded to dash toward the only shelter nearby. After all, as nice as it would have been to stay under the trees, that was in Forestclan territory.
He settled under it, and looked up nervously to the sky, which was now pouring rain extremely hard. Then he heard it! The mew of a scared cat! He looked around quickly, and realized that there was a den underneath the bush, a small den. He thought about what to do. If there is a hurt cat down there, then I have to help! But I would risk being captured by something else… he thought, thinking about the consequences. He took a deep breath, and realized that he would have to enter the hole.
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Looking down, he saw a tiny little white she-cat inside of the den, who looked no older than five moons old. He looked around cautiously, to make sure it wasn't a trap.
"What's your name?" he asked cautiously.
"My… my name?" squeaked the kit. "My name is… Sky!"
"Sky? Ok… where's your mother?"
She sniffed sadly. "She left me here alone… she said she would come back for me, but its been so long. I haven't eaten in days…"
Shadepaw felt sympathy for the young white kit. He peered outside the den, into the pounding rain. With a sigh, he dashed out into the rain, and caught two mice in record time. When he arrived, the kit yelped in happiness and ran to his side, and the two of them started eating. After they finished, Shadepaw looked outside, and saw that the rain had stopped.
"Well… I'd better be going…" said Shadepaw. "May Starclan light your path…"
She looked at him with those round sad eyes. "Please don't leave me! I have nobody to go to!"
Shadepaw looked around nervously. She's only a kit… he thought. With a sigh, which he realized he had been doing a lot recently, he curled up around the young she-cat. His mind was racing. Tomorrow, he would leave her. But where, he thought as he fell asleep.
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"Ughh…" Shadepaw woke up slowly, and felt the dew in the air around him. Sky, the young she-cat, was shaking him.
"Wake up… wait, what's your name?"
"Oh… I'm Shadepaw."
"Ok. But can we get something to eat?"
"The sun hasn't even started rising though… oh, all right."
Shaking himself of his grogginess, he padded outside the small den. He started thinking about the young she-cat's name. Sky… wasn't one of the legendary cats named Skyflower? Could there be any relation? He looked at the kit curiously. Hmm…
She jumped up at a butterfly that had been happening to be flying outside the den, and landed with a thump. She looked at him with embarrassment, and Shadepaw smiled, which was rare for the tom. There is something about her… I just can't place it! He felt nervous, which was also unusual for him. That look… it made his heart thump nervously.
"Err… I was wondering if I should take you back to camp with me. I can't just leave you here, Sky… that is, if you want me to…"
She blinked, as if shaking away a bad memory, and said, "Sure. My mother told me all about the different clans, and Starclan even! She told me about…" Her voice trailed off slowly, and she blinked tears out of her eyes. She pressed her face into Shadepaw's pelt, and the tom didn't know how to respond.
She looked at him slowly. "I will come to your clan!"
As always, please review! You guys keep me going^^ Thanks! Northeasty
