Chapter 3

Eventually, Shadowkit got fairly used to clan life even if he was confined to the camp all the time. He got to talk with the apprentices and sometimes he'd start competing with Sonicwind because Sonicwind now had time to. Ever since Doublepaw because Doubletail, Sonicwind has been jumping on every chance he got to go on patrols because he was so bored. At sunhigh, he would avoid the other cats and give excuses for why he couldn't share tongues with anyone. Shadowkit thought it was weird for him to do so. He then remembered something that Sonicwind said when he first came to the camp.

"I want to be the great cat I once was before I got all of those responsibilities… All I'm doing now is attracting she-cats to me!"

Shadowkit occasionally saw Sonicwind glance at either Roseheart or Acorntail with a scared look on his face. If those two she-cats were Sally and Amy, then no wonder he didn't want to share tongues with anyone.

Days go by, weeks even and Shadowkit keeps a close eye on the moons. The moon grew, then disappeared, then came back again. It was getting closer to MoonClan's attack. Goldenpaw told him that the two clans used to come together for a gathering, like a status report, every full moon. Although, ever since Scourgestar became the leader, the gatherings stopped. The MoonClan cats no longer worshipped StarClan. They supported The Valley of Lost Echoes. He would wonder if the cats in that clan were possessed or something. The moon grew and grew. It grew into a half-moon really fast. The day of the battle was upon them. Every cat was running around in terror. Nobody rejected extra training. Shadowkit found himself in some training sessions with Sonicwind (even though he didn't think he needed them). Night fell upon them.

"Cats of SunClan, tonight we shall be facing our enemies in battle! You have been preparing for this for a moon, so hopefully, we'll be trained enough to surprise our foes and beat them! Now, we shall guard the tunnel with our lives. Vanillaflower, guard the kits! Wavefeather, I know that you're one of the queens, but you are a skilled fighter. You will help us in combat. If we are to defeat Scourgestar, Metalclaw, Eggstripe, and Darkwind, we must be at the top of our game," Knucklestar announced.

Shadow kit tried to figure out who they'd be in his world. Scourgestar would be Scourge. Metalclaw would be Metal Sonic. Eggstripe would be Eggman. What about Darkwind? Who was Darkwind? Who else would be in the clan that he'd recognize?

Vanillaflower wrapped her tail around him and began to drag him back to the nursery. Shadowkit hissed a protest. "Don't take me! I wanna fight! I WANT TO FIGHT! RIGHT NOW!" Shadowkit yelled.

"You'll be able to fight when you're a warrior," she snapped at him.

She kept them all close to her in the den. Emeraldkit was looking at Shadowkit again with those eyes. Shadowkit knew she was making a plan. She didn't tell him this, but he knew that she had a score to settle with MoonClan. She flicked her ears towards the opening to indicate that she knew what their escape plan was.

"Vanillaflower, I think I saw Swiftkit try to escape!" Emeraldkit squeaked pointing out into the clearing among the cats who were filing out of the camp. Shadowkit almost couldn't take seeing Goldenpaw's face. She was terrified. Goldenpaw always hated fighting. It made her nervous. If she liked fighting, she wouldn't have died on the ARK in his original world.

Vanillaflower's ears pricked as she looked around frantically. Swiftkit was gone! She saw him pelting towards the group of cats leaving. Vanillaflower gasped in horror and ran after him in a sprint. Emeraldkit signalled to Shadowkit.

"Let's go!" he yelled.

A cat stood in their way. He appeared from nowhere. Camoflight. "What are two young kits of four moons doing outside of the nursery? Isn't Vanillaflower watching you?"

"Uh…," Emeraldkit started. She looked to Shadowkit and whispered something into his ear. Shadowkit nodded.

"We need to find Cosmicleaf!" he blurted.

"Why do you need the medicine cat?" asked Camoflight not buying any of it.

Shadowkit thought fast. "Lightkit stepped on a large thorn and now there's blood all over the place! We need help! Get Cosmicleaf!" Shadowkit hissed.

Camoflight still wasn't convinced. "I want to see this for myself."

"Great! What now?!" demanded Emeraldkit.

"Mer-ow-ow-ow!" cried Lightkit. She was limping out of the den with a thorn in her paw. It wasn't that bad, but it was a good enough excuse. Camoflight was trying to yank out the thorn which was causing her to cry.

It was right then that Vanillaflower returned!

"What are you doing to that kit! You shouldn't be removing it Camoflight! THIS NEEDS A MEDICINE CAT!" she hissed through Swiftkit's fur.

Camoflight lets go of the thorn and stood up. A low growl came from his throat. Shadowkit heard him say, 'Over-protective queens…' under his breath. Shadowkit had to laugh. Cosmicleaf might actually be the only cat who'd let them out of the camp at all.

A few seconds later, Camoflight brought in Cosmicleaf. Cosmicleaf hastily treated the thorn and was able to see that Shadowkit wanted to speak with her. She quickly went over to him. "What?"

"Come with me," Shadowkit told her. They went behind the nursery to begin to talk.

"What?!" demanded Cosmicleaf.

"We need to help fight. It's important. I can't just stay here when I'm actually a great fighter in my world. I could help," Shadowkit explained.

Cosmicleaf thought. She then looked back to Shadowkit with a firm stare. "No. Just because you were a great fighter in your world, doesn't mean that you are in this one! Now, I must get back to work."

Shadowkit stood up straighter. He drew his lip back yet there was no true anger within his signs of hostility. "I beat you when you tested me! I defeated Sonicwind in a battle of speed! I even outwitted Camoflight just to bring you here! I even have the entire StarClan behind me! Are they sending a sign for me not to? Are they flinging clouds over the moon? No! I'm coming with you! I'm going to fight!"

Cosmicleaf realized with surprise that he was right. There were no clouds, StarClan seemed to be behind him, he knew more than any kit in history, he was reincarnated from a powerful and loyal cat to ThunderClan, and he has shown that he is already capable of being an apprentice even though he's two moons early. Emeraldkit with him, though…? The odds aren't going to support that.

"Fine. You can come. Emeraldkit will have to stay. She doesn't know what you know. You have the powers from beyond StarClan. She's a kit of four moons. Sorry, Shadowkit," Cosmicleaf explained to him.

"No! It's fine… I had a bone to pick with them. However, that can wait. My main goal was to, at least, get Shadowkit into the battle. He is one of my closest friends, after all. He should be the one to fight," Emeraldkit said backing off. She began to dash away into the den.

"Emeraldkit, thanks," Shadowkit told her as she left. To indicate that she heard, she smiled and flicked her tail with acknowledgement.

"Come with me! Hurry!" Cosmicleaf beckoned.

Shadowkit hid behind her as they made their way to the camp entrance. She quickly explained the plan to him. "I'm going to pretend to find you following me. I'll send you back to the nursery. When I send you off, go to the little space behind the nursery where we were before. Once everyone has left the camp, climb through the barrier around the camp and climb up a tree. The clan will go by the tree and you jump down once the cats have gone by. I'll be at the end so I can meet up with you. Understand?"

Shadowkit nodded his head. They continued and Cosmicleaf hurried to catch up with her clan. "Sorry, I'm late! I just had to help Vanillaflower!"

"Well, it sure took you long enough! Wait… There's another cat with you. It's the scent of Shadowkit!" Knucklestar hissed.

Cosmicleaf turned in false surprise to Shadowkit. He slapped a look of curiosity on his face as if he wanted to know where they were going. Cosmicleaf smiled warmly at him. "Sorry, Shadowkit. You must return to the nursery. We shall be back shortly! I can play with you then!"

Faker.

Shadowkit turned reluctantly and crawled behind the nursery. Nobody saw him do so. He could hear Vanillaflower scolding Swiftkit for running off. Shadowkit watched the clan cats talk a little longer about their strategy before finally leaving. Shadowkit scrambled through the barrier. He made his way up the nearest tree and waited. Waited… Waited… Waited…

Shadowkit sat in the tree far longer than he expected to sit. Right as his paws started going numb, he heard paw steps. They were the paw steps of a large group of cats. Shadowkit sat up and got ready to jump when he discovered that the scent was different. He didn't recognize this scent. The scent was sharp and revolting. It sort of reminded Shadow of Sonic's socks after an entire day of running! Only these socks had a fresh, pure scent to it as well that filled up Shadowkit's fur with fear. This was not the warm SunClan scent that he had gotten used to.

A green tom padded out in front of the tree leading a few warriors behind him. Some of the cats even looked only like half-trained apprentices. Was the leader naming them as warriors before their training was over? Shadowkit listened as they approached under the tree.

"Scourgestar, this should be the camp. Should we go over the plans one more time to see if these rookies understand what they're supposed to do?" asked a dark blue tom. He sounded strangely like a robot and glared at the young warriors.

"Very well, Metalclaw. Now, make sure not to forget. We are here because the other clan cats are out fighting the rest of the clan being led by Darkwind. You are the lucky ones who were chosen to help me raid the camp and take over the forest tonight! Rookies, you are to attack the nursery! Metalclaw, you will help me attack the warriors. Just remember, if the rest of the SunClan cats return, Knucklestar is mine!" Scourgestar explained.

Shadowkit was barely able to stop himself from gasping at the horrible news. He wasn't going to fight the patrol that was distracting everyone. He was going to attack the patrol that was the real threat. He scurried away through the trees trying not to make a sound. One of the warriors thought he had heard something in the trees causing Shadowkit to abruptly stop. He didn't dare breathe. Even the slightest movement could give away his position. When Scourgestar looked in his direction, his heart skipped a beat.

"Are you sure you heard something? What was it? A squirrel?!" he demanded.

"It had a strong SunClan scent on it!" the warrior protested.

Scourgestar laughed. Then his face turned stern. "You mouse-brain! We're about to attack and you're obsessing over squirrels!" He slashed at the cat with a growl. The warrior who was supposed to be an apprentice cried out in surprise as Scourgestar's claws raked across his face. The impact left him on the ground unconscious. Shadowkit realized just how powerful and scary Scourgestar was. If anyone were to get in his way, he would show them no mercy. He began to inch down the branch he was on. Thankfully, he didn't get caught again. Even though he thought he saw a few ears twitch his way, he knew that nobody would get in the way after Scourgestar's demonstration. He had to warn the camp. If he didn't, there might not be a camp to return to in the future.

He ran through the branches as fast as he could. The patrol of enemy cats didn't catch him eavesdropping on their conversation. He didn't know how many warriors were still at the camp. There was Vanillaflower he knew, but who else would be there to help guard the camp? Shadowkit dashed through the barrier. And wailed a warning call. A few cats hurried over to him.

"Shadowkit?! What were you doing out there?" asked Crocscale.

"Shadowkit, you should've been in the nursery! You scared me half to death!" Vanillaflower growled.

"I have something really important to say! Listen up!" Shadowkit yelled. Everyone grew quiet. Shadowkit noticed that there were more cats in the patrol than in the camp. There was Crocscale, Beepaw, Acorntail, Vanillaflower, and Jetstorm. He wasn't sure how they were supposed to win against Scourgestar if there weren't many cats to go against him. "There's a MoonClan patrol coming this way. They are going to kill us all and take all of the kits. They think that they can train them to battle us. Also, Scourgestar and Metalclaw is among them."

Meows of alarm came from the few cats in the camp. Emeraldkit dashed out of the nursery and bounded over to Shadowkit. "What happened?! Why are you back so soon?"

"MoonClan is coming!" he hissed to her.

A look of alarm crossed over her face. It then hardened when she understood the situation. Her claws unsheathed themselves. "I'm willing to fight them. Even if I die, I'll still fight."

Shadowkit nodded to her. She was showing extreme loyalty for a kit who came from the clan she was going to fight.

"Emeraldkit, I want you to go with Crocscale and Acorntail to help defend the nursery with Vanillaflower! Jetstorm, Beepaw, and I will defend the entrance! Remember, don't kill anyone unless if you really have to! MoonClan may be bad, but we can't just lower ourselves down to their level! Everyone, we will be having a surprise attack! Be sure to hide and don't let anyone know we're here or in the camp. They'll be looking for the kits so hide near there if the nursery is what you're guarding. If you have the entrance, you will join me in that large bush near the barrier. Understood?!" demanded Shadowkit.

"Why is he making the orders?" asked Acorntail.

"You're just gonna have to trust me!" Shadowkit hissed.

Emeraldkit looked at him long and hard. She dashed towards the nursery and hid out of sight as if to show that she trusted him. Everyone else slowly hid in any shadow or bush they could find. Shadowkit sniffed the air. The MoonClan scent was getting stronger. He prepared himself for a jump.

"Scourgestar! I found the entrance!" yelled an under-aged warrior. He scrambled into the camp. He looked around. "I don't see anything either. Their stench is all over the place, though. I can't smell anything!" the young warrior hissed.

"QUIET! You shall be punished when we get back to MoonClan camp. Because you simply announce for all to hear that we're entering an enemy camp, you put us all in danger," Scourgestar hissed.

The cats scouted the area and didn't find anyone when they looked everything over. The really weren't looking actually. They were just walking around and saying, "Nothing here!" Shadowkit rolled his eyes.

Scourgestar immediately stopped. He could hear whispering. He turned around and found the nursery. He found it weird that there was no queen to watch them… He figured that he should try to get them anyway. He was the most powerful cat in the forest, after all.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty…," he snarled as he poked his head in. Swiftkit glared at him, Lightkit trembled in fear, and Dawnkit didn't know what to do. Scourgestar laughed.

"S-Scourgestar?" squeaked Lightkit.

"No… You don't have to be so formal… You can call me… MASTER!" Scourgestar yelled slamming his paw down in front of them to frighten them. "Now, come with me…"

"Not on your life!" Swiftkit hissed slashing Scourgestar's face. He only left a tiny scratch. Scourgestar raised his fur and flexed his muscles for the kit to see. Swiftkit immediately regretted his decision.

"Are you going to fight me? Why I'm shaking in my paws! I'll have no choice but to finish you!" he yowled raising his paw.

"Now!" yelled Shadowkit.

Acorntail raked her claws into Scourgestar's side. She bit his ear and felt a wave of satisfaction come over her when she saw his eyes full of surprise and anger. He hissed and shoved her over which allowed him to pin her to the ground. Crocscale jumped onto his back and tried to bite at his neck. Scourgestar lets go of Acorntail allowing her to run over to another warrior. Scourgestar was able to shake off Crocscale and he bit down hard on his scruff and threw the large tom across the clearing. Vanillaflower gasped and then hissed with rage. She then started slashing at Scourgestar.

Shadowkit was facing Metalclaw who towered over him. Shadowkit unsheathed his claws and looked as if he were going to jump. Instead, he dashed quickly between Metalclaw's legs and unbalanced him. He kicked at the large warrior. For the first time, he was glad he was so small. Metalclaw sprang away from Shadowkit. The kit stood up as fast as he could, but Metalclaw took that advantage. He shoved Shadowkit to the ground using both of his paws and putting all of his weight on the tiny kit. Shadowkit realized how much danger he was in. He was a kit with a warrior putting all of his weight on his throat and chest. He hissed and tried to kick him off. Metalclaw pushed down harder with his tail twitching with satisfaction. Shadowkit now couldn't breathe with all of the weight on him. Metalclaw was going to suffocate him! He tried to cry for help but he didn't have any breath to do so. He was stuck.

Emeraldkit slashed at an inexperienced warrior like it was nothing. They were just apprentices. She watched as they ran out of the bramble tunnel. She searched the clearing for her next enemy. She saw Metalclaw and she fluffed her fur up half in terror and half in anger. Shadowkit was being either crushed or suffocated. Maybe both. She ran at the warrior and jumped on his back. Metalclaw didn't let go of Shadowkit when he tried to shake her off. She dug her claws into his fur. She bit down as hard as she could on his neck and clawed his ear. He hissed and finally let go of Shadowkit.

"You should not have interfered kit!" hissed Metalclaw shoving Shadowkit over to the side with a harsh swipe.

Shadowkit was dizzy and barely conscious. He sucked in a lungful of air and savored every second of it. He coughed as he tried to recover. When his vision finally cleared, he saw Emeraldkit looking at him. She helped him up to his paws. He still couldn't say anything because his throat hurt. He looked over at Metalclaw. He was panting and glaring at the two of them.

"Kits should not know as much as you two. However, I know you… I know you both… MoonClan cats! Your eyes give it away! This is not over young kits. I shall look forward to our next fight Emeraldkit and Shadowkit…," he said padding out of the clearing. The only cat left was Scourgestar. Everyone else was chased off. His fur was raised. Shadowkit figured that the rest of the other cats could take care of him. He heard Beepaw begin to give him a long lecture about why he shouldn't trespass. Crocscale slapped his tail over his mouth. There was a long silence as they waited to see what he would do.

"You… You think you've beaten me… However, I am still training all of my warriors… We shall, as an entire clan, attack this camp! Be prepared… We will be coming…," Scourgestar hissed. He turned tail and left. The cats were silent once more.

"We did it…," Acorntail said.

"The kits! Are they alright?!" demanded Vanillaflower racing into the nursery. She sighed with relief when she saw them curled up close to each other with big, round eyes.

"Is it over?" Lightkit asked with a squeak.

"They're gone… For now, at least…," Vanillaflower told her with a comforting lick.

Shadowkit didn't want to listen to anything else. He slunk away to the nursery and curled up as far away from everyone as he could. He jumped when he heard a bunch of cats burst through the bramble tunnel. MoonClan couldn't possibly be back already! Could they?!

Shadowkit ran back out to the clearing and calmed down when he saw that it was the rest of SunClan. The odd thing was that Sonicwind was leading them all. He was panting and looked around wildly.

"Where's MoonClan?! We smelled them here!" Sonicwind yelled.

"They were here. We were able to defend the camp just fine, though. They shouldn't be coming back anytime soon."

"Come quick!" Sonicwind yelled. He dashed back through the tunnel with the other cats hot on his paws. Shadowkit forced his legs to run after him. It was painful to breathe while he was running. His lungs and head were still trying to recover from the battle before. Relief washed over him when the cats stopped in a large clearing in the forest. The entire clan became silent. Shadowkit pushed his way through the crowd to figure out what was going on. He nearly choked when he saw that it was Knucklestar lying on the ground with a deep, nasty cut in his side and his leg was twisted awkwardly. There was a small pool of blood beneath him and Shadowkit whimpered because it hurt too much to say anything.

"I don't remember if it was his last life or not…," Sonicwind explained.

The clan fell silent for their leader. Shadowkit didn't know what Sonicwind meant by 'whether if it was his last life or not'. Goldenpaw moved up next to him and leaned on his side. Despite the fact that he was not yet an apprentice, she found his presence quite comforting. Cosmicleaf and another cream-colored cat shoved them out of the way and rushed around the leader. They backed up quickly when he jerked to the side inhaled a large breath. Shadowkit stood stunned. Sonicwind collapsed with relief. Knucklestar tried to stand up, but the scratch on his side was too deep and he only lost more blood when he tried. Sonicwind raced up to the leader.

"You'll be fine I promise! I'll help you get back to the camp and the medicine cats can fix you up! Do you remember anything?" asked Sonicwind helping Knucklestar onto his paws. Knucklestar cringed when the pain stung him when he stood.

I remember a paw coming down on my side and I died… However, I just can't remember seeing who it was…," Knucklestar explained.

Sonicwind sighed. "Well, can't be helped, I guess… Come on SunClan! Let's move!" Sonicwind bellowed.

When they reached the camp, Shadowkit didn't want to have anything to do with anything that just happened. He slunk over to the nursery. He thought that he'd go see Cosmicleaf and Creampaw while he still had the chance. They were too busy with Knucklestar to notice him walk in. Shadowkit waited outside. He heard Knucklestar say that he had to tell Sonicwind something. Shadowkit pricked his ears to hear what he said.

"Sonicwind, on the way back, I told the clan cats that I had only lost my fifth life. However, out of the nine lives, I got, I actually haven't lost that few. That was actually my seventh," Knucklestar explained.

Shadowkit backed away from the medicine den in almost terror. He could hear Sonicwind give a forced hushed reply. Even he was shocked. Shadowkit turned tail and ran to the nursery. He ran as far in as he could and curled up. He didn't know what would happen if the leader were to die. Sonicwind would probably take over. His name would become Sonicstar. Who killed the leader? Why didn't he want anyone to know? Wouldn't they gloat about it or do they have a bigger plan?

"Shadowkit…, Thanks for warning us… You could have saved the whole camp…," Emeraldkit told him.

"Yeah! You saved us all!" Dawnkit said with a happy bounce.

Shadowkit didn't want to hear their enthusiasm and congratulations. He wanted to roll up into a ball, fall asleep, and wake up as the hedgehog he was before. He heard Sonic's voice again. It happened every night. Before he went to sleep, Sonic's voice would beg him to come back to something. Come back to what? The more his neck hurt, the louder the voice became. Shadowkit tried to ignore it. The voice was almost too loud to ignore.

Shadow! Shadow! Come back!

Shadowkit shook the voice from his head. He didn't want to listen. He wanted to come back. He just couldn't.

Shut up Sonic.

Shadowkit turned over and closed his eyes. The voice then said something it had never said before.

2-9-14-0.

What?

2-9-14-0.

2-9-14-0? What did that mean? Words were flung into his head.

2 cats loved…

9 lives earned…

14 lost…

0 learned…

Those who were lost,

will, in turn,

take you down,

to be burned…

Shadowkit shuddered what was happening? Taken down to be burned?! Lost? Love? Lives? What did it mean? He struggled to figure it out, but a mysterious sleep came over him causing him to completely fade away in the darkness of his mind. He didn't remember the prophecy he had obtained. It was lost along with him in his mind.