"No! Starclan help! I can't breathe!" Eaglepaw cried, but there was no reply from his starry ancestors as the hole he was trapped in continued to fill with dirt. He tried to dig his way up, but the soil sucked him under until he was smothered in complete earthy darkness.
Eaglepaw yowled and sprang up from his nest, claws unsheathed. In front of him the dark gray tabby pelt of Loudpaw jumped back with a hiss. His piercing yellow eyes glared at Eaglepaw.
"It's about time, mousebrain!" he snapped. "A cat tries to wake you up and you attack him, shrieking for all the prey in the forest? Some Clan mate!"
"I had a dream," Eaglepaw rasped, trying to shake off his fear. He forced himself to sheath his claws and slow down his breathing.
Loudpaw's eyes narrowed. "I had a dream too, where I was eating a nice, fat mouse until you ruined it."
Eaglepaw's tail flicked with annoyance. He stalked past Loudpaw out of the apprentice's den and into the watery morning sunshine, where he marvelled at the small encompassing warmth that was early Newleaf. He stretched his snow-white paws and his brown pelt rippled with pleasure, the shock of his nightmare fading into memory.
"When you're quite finished showing off, I'll give you Duststripe's message."
Eaglepaw jumped at the sound of Leopardclaw's voice. The golden she-cat sat a few tail-lengths away with her tail wrapped neatly around her shadow-dotted paws. Her leaf-green eyes were light and teasing. Under her warm gaze, Eaglepaw couldn't help feeling a prickle of pride at her words. Then the rest of her sentence caught up with him.
"What is Duststripe's message?" he asked, wondering if his mentor was ready to train him for battle.
"He wants you to replace the elders' bedding with Goldenpaw while he's out on the dawn patrol," she meowed.
Eaglepaw's good mood immediately dimmed. He wished the Shadowclan deputy had more time to spare so he could teach him proper warrior skills. Even though Eaglepaw had been an apprentice for almost a moon, he'd only stepped out of camp twice. Leopardclaw noticed his reaction.
"Don't give me that look," she meowed. "I've already been assaulted by Goldenpaw's complaints. I don't need you to do the same to a cat who's not even your own mentor." Though her words were reproachful, her eyes glimmered with sympathy.
Eaglepaw sighed and padded sullenly to the elder's den, where he heard Featherpelt's gravelly voice.
"And Tawnypelt, Starclan's chosen, led Shadowclan alongside Blackstar over the treacherous mountains to this very lakeside forest you were born in."
"Wow, Tawnypelt was an amazing warrior!" gasped a smaller voice as Eaglepaw pushed his way between the brambles and peered around the dimly lit clearing.
Featherpelt was sitting in a thick clump of grass beside his dirty bedding, which Goldenpaw had begun to gather. His bushy white fur was flat along his flank where he had been resting, and his milky blue eyes were gazing just above Goldenpaw's ears. The apprentice's tabby pelt shone brightly in the weak sunshine and her green eyes were trained intently on the storyteller.
Far off in the corner lay a matted, flecked and unmoving gray pelt. Eaglepaw froze and dread tingled up his paws. For a moment he believed the oldest elder in all the Clans was dead, but then Stonepelt's ear twitched at a fly and Eaglepaw let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Looks like old Stonepelt still has some fight left in him.
The weathered tom had surprised all of Shadowclan by living through the latest leaf bare, but his once loud personality had vanished and been replaced by silence. Every cat in the Clan knew that Stonepelt's days among them were numbered.
"Tawnypelt lived on to have kits of her own, you know," Featherpelt continued, with Goldenpaw in rapt attention. Eaglepaw worked to keep in a frustrated growl. Every Clan cat could recite the story of the Great Journey backwards and forwards, and if he allowed Featherpelt to ramble on, Goldenpaw would never get the bedding done. He wasn't about to do it all himself!
"Wasn't Tawnypelt half Thunderclan?" he asked innocently after padding over to the pair. The elder jumped in surprise at Eaglepaw's approach and began to mutter about nosy apprentices. Goldenpaw shot Eaglepaw a withering look before reluctantly gathering up the rest of Featherpelt's bedding. Featherpelt stubbornly refused to accept Tawnypelt's half-Clan heritage, and any cat who reminded him of that fact shut him up quite successfully.
Goldenpaw stuffed the bedding under her chin and with one last angry look at Eaglepaw, stormed out to collect fresh moss, making it clear that it was the younger apprentice's job to wake up Stonepelt and clear his bedding. He left Featherpelt to his sulking and slowly approached the slumbering elder. He wearily nudged the matted pelt.
"Err, Stonepelt, do you want me to clear your bedding?" He expected the old tom to claw his ears for waking him, but instead the elder groaned and, blinking hazy green eyes, stumbled out of his nest to collapse a few tail-lengths away. with quiet deftness, Eaglepaw gathered up the bedding and swiftly began to leave the clearing. He glanced back to see that Stonepelt had not moved at all. Featherpelt settled down beside the frail old cat and began to gently groom him.
Eaglepaw didn't know whether to feel relieved for escaping Stonepelt's temper or worried. With a silent promise to talk to Nightfrost, the Shadowclan medicine cat, Eaglepaw left the two elders to each other and trotted back into the main camp.
It was almost sunhigh, and most of the clan was up and about. Sunstep was leading Darkshade, Thorntooth and Mudeyes into the camp with prey in their jaws. Squirreltail and Mothflight were sharing tongues just outside the nursery, where Poppykit was mewing animatedly to Gingerkit, who'd only been born a moon ago and was too small to stray from his mother's side. At the mouth of the apprentices den, Roguepaw was washing his ears.
It's about time that lazy furball got up! Eaglepaw thought before bounding out of the camp to collect the last of the bedding. He almost stumbled into Loudpaw at the bramble tunnel, who drew back with an angry hiss.
"Out of my way Eaglekit," he growled tauntingly. Eaglepaw's hackles raised in a challenge, but Mudeyes pushed his way between the two quarrelling apprentices.
"Since you seem to have so much time on your hands to taunt your den mates, Loudpaw, you can finish Eaglepaw's chores," the muddy brown warrior meowed. The gray apprentice sputtered angrily for a moment, but thought better than to disobey a direct order from a warrior. Reluctantly, he took the dirty bedding from Eaglepaw and turned back into the forest. Mudeyes gave a satisfied snort before returning to the camp. Eaglepaw's pelt prickled with unease. He didn't want his mother's half brother to fight his battles for him. Loudpaw would just find a way to get back at him later.
He hesitantly pushed his way through the tunnel and padded over to Roguepaw, who had finished washing and was watching the goings on in the camp.
"I'm glad you had a few more winks of sleep than I had," Eaglepaw meowed after sitting down. The terrifying dream still bothered him, but it was becoming less fearsome under the sun's light.
His friend blinked sympathetically at him. "I heard Loudpaw scolding you earlier, and we both know how he is when he's grumpy, so I got up as well," he explained. "And besides," he broke off into a yawn. "It's not sunhigh yet."
Eaglepaw snorted. "You're the last cat to wander out of your nest."
"Littlestar's not up yet," Roguepaw argued.
"He doesn't count. Littlestar's always the last cat to wake up," Eaglepaw retorted playfully. "Like mentor, like apprentice!"
Roguepaw's good humor dimmed slightly and that, and he turned his head to gaze unblinkingly at the den under the large tree where the Shadowclan leader slept. Eaglepaw felt uneasy at the familiar intensity Roguepaw's amber eyes emitted. The smaller cat drifted into these quiet reflections on a regular bases, but Eaglepaw still wasn't used to such behaviour. He figured it was a trait picked up from his parents, wherever-or whoever-they were. It made him wonder if Roguepaw ever thought about his kin outside Shadowclan, and whether or not he preferred to be loner. His friend certainly didn't mind being on his own. Eaglepaw hoped that this wasn't the case.
"Come on," he nudged his friend's shoulder and got to his paws. A few steps away, a huge oak leaf twirled in the breeze. Wriggling his haunches, Eaglepaw bunched his muscles and leaped. He overshot the jump, however, soaring right over his mark and landing in a bed of pine needles. Roguepaw purred with amusement as Eaglepaw sputtered and sniffed stray needles from his nose and mouth.
"Pitiful," he meowed.
Eaglepaw turned and crouched before him. "I'll show you pitiful," he warned before hurling himself at Roguepaw. With a mrrooww, the smaller apprentice rolled with him, until he was the one on top. He pressed a paw into Eaglepaw's cheek.
"Pinned like a mouse," he teased.
"Lemme go!" Eaglepaw muttered as best he good, hot with embarrassment. His opponent released him good-naturedly and stepped away to give him space to scramble upright. Eaglepaw shook himself, leaves and dust flinging everywhere. Roguepaw jumped out of the line of fire.
"Eaglepaw, Roguepaw, border patrol!" a stern call echoed across the clearing. Eaglepaw's attention snapped to the bramble tunnel where Duststripe, his mate, Snowbreeze, and Fogeye were waiting impatiently. The two apprentices started to make their way over, but Eaglepaw suddenly remembered that he'd wanted to check in with Nightfrost about Stonepelt. He beckoned Roguepaw closer with his tail.
"Just tell them I'll be right there after I ask Nightfrost something," he meowed quickly.
Roguepaw nodded. "You better hurry, Duststripe doesn't look too forgiving today," he teased over his shoulder as he bounded away.
Eaglepaw darted swiftly across the clearing and pushed his way into a cleft in a rock that was the medicine den. He spotted the large black pelt of Nightfrost expertly extracting a sweet-smelling herb from a shell of leaves.
"Nightfrost?" he meowed. The medicine cat turned to him and waited expectantly. The scar that stretched over one blue eye made the large cat intimidating. Eaglepaw dipped his head respectfully before continuing. "Stonepelt isn't looking too well," he reported. Nightfrost just stared at him as if he expected Eaglepaw to say more.
"Well...I was wondering if you could take a look at him," he prompted hesitantly. The black tom just turned back to organizing his herbs and said nothing. Eaglepaw's ears felt hot in embarrassment.
"Alright, when you have time then," he meowed pointedly before backing out of the medicine den. He spotted Duststripe's patrol and padded briskly towards them, shaking off his irritation with the unresponsive medicine cat. Eaglepaw knew he should have been used to Nightfrost's, well, frosty attitude by now. He was famous for his silence, and equally famous for his brilliant skills as a medicine cat. Shadowclan were lucky to have him, at least, that's what Eaglepaw was always told.
He couldn't suppress a growl of anticipation at the thought of his first border patrol. When he joined the group of warriors, Duststripe snorted grumpily. "I'm delighted that you could spend some time devoted to your duties," he growled. "I hope your not thinking of wasting your time playing medicine cat. I'll tell you now, you're not suited for it."
"of course not, Duststripe!" Despite the deputy's temper, Eaglepaw couldn't hold back a little bounce of excitement.
"What if Littlestar has something planned for me when he wakes up?" Roguepaw asked. Eaglepaw's tail flicked in annoyance. This was their first patrol together, why was Roguepaw set against it?
Duststripe snorted again. "We can't have an able apprentice just sitting around all day," he meowed. The able apprentice nodded hesitantly. Eaglepaw butted him in the shoulder.
"It's our first real duty as apprentices!" he cried jubilantly. Roguepaw purred in response to his excitement.
Duststripe turned to his mate. "Are you sure your strong enough to come with us, Snowbreeze?" he asked.
The beautiful white she-cat's gray eyes rolled dramatically. "I'm stronger than you are Duststripe," she teased. "It's a waste of my talent to just curl up in the nursery, especially when I don't need to." Snowbreeze had told the Clan two sunrises before that she was expecting kits, much to Duststripe's pleasure.
"You should keep her working as much as possible now before she actually has to stay in the nursery," pointed out Fogeye. The brown-and-white tom's whiskers quivered. "Because when she does, she'll be complaining to Starclan and below."
Snowbreeze cuffed him playfully. Duststripe sighed with exasperation, and led the way through the tunnel. A movement caught Eaglepaw's eyes and he turned in time to see Nightfrost disappearing into the elders den with a bundle of herbs.
When they erupted into the pine forest, Duststripe led the patrol across the twoleg path toward the clearing marking the border to Thunderclan.
"We're patrolling the Thunderclan border?" Roguepaw asked.
"Of course," Duststripe meowed gruffly.
Snowbreeze turned to the apprentices. "After Marshstar's speech at the Gathering we need to be vigilant," she explained. The she-cat looked worried and she paused to swiftly lick her belly fur.
Is she afraid for her kits? Eaglepaw wondered.
"I don't think Thunderclan killed that Windclan she-cat," Roguepaw murmured.
"We can't be too careful," Duststripe growled. The large brown tom's unsheathed claws ripped at the ground with each step. Eaglepaw's hackles raised in excitement.
Duststripe halted the patrol and turned to Eaglepaw. "What can you scent?" he demanded.
Eaglepaw eagerly opened his mouth to taste the air. The breeze picked up, bringing with it a distinguished smell. "Twolegs and kittypets!" he hissed, hackles sticking on end.
His mentor nodded. "That's just the wind blowing from a twoleg den," Duststripe meowed. Eaglepaw grew embarrassed over his reaction. Now that he thought about it, the scent was stale.
"However, the kittypets seemed to have ventured from their garden, so we should keep an eye out for those mangy prey-stealers," the deputy growled, nodding his praise to Eaglepaw. He blinked happily for impressing his mentor. The patrol started out again.
"I hope we find a Thunderclan patrol," Eaglepaw whispered to Roguepaw.
His friend blinked at him. "You don't even know any battle moves," he hissed back.
"You don't need any skill to beat those soft-hearted cats," he retorted. His voice carried on the wind up ahead. Duststripe's voice sounded from the front.
"Only mousebrains would even think to pick a fight with a patrol like ours," he growled. Snowbreeze snarled softly in agreement and brushed her mate's cheek with her nose. Duststripe responded with a swift lick to her ear.
Fogeye turned his good green eye to the apprentices who were padding at the back of the patrol and pretended to gag silently. Snowbreeze spotted him and buffed his nose with her tail. "Maybe I should talk to Mothflight and Poppykit about your aversion to love," She snarled with mock anger, teasing Fogeye with his own mate and kit. Fogeye stiffened in pretended horror and the group purred with laughter.
Suddenly, Snowbreeze's head jerked to the left, her eyes fixed on a clump of nettles. She raised her tail, and the patrol stopped again. Bending her legs until her belly just barely brushed the ground, she crept forward silently. The trees grew close and thickly here, so the white she-cat's pelt didn't stand out as much as it would in direct sunlight. Here on the murky forest floor, Shadowclan hunters thrived in the dimness. Eaglepaw watched with barely suppressed anticipation.
Snowbreeze froze as a garter snake slithered out from beneath the nettle bush, blissfully unaware of the warrior closing in. She took two more steps towards it, then paused. Her whiskers trembled as she judged the distance she would need to leap. Then, she jumped forward so fast that Eaglepaw almost missed it. The ghostly warrior landed squarely atop the snakes head, and it flailed helplessly for a heartbeat before she sank her teeth in, dealing the death bite.
"Well caught!" meowed Fogeye with a nod.
"And well spotted," Duststripe added, then he turned to the admiring apprentices. "This is an important lesson for you when hunting snakes. Second to rats, they are the most dangerous prey we hunt. What did Snowbreeze do to stop it from being dangerous?"
"Kill it?" Eaglepaw joked.
"She landed on its jaws so it couldn't bite her," Roguepaw answered.
"Exactly," Duststripe replied as the white she-cat padded over. She dropped the limp body before them and pried its mouth open with two forepaws. Its fangs were longer than Eaglepaw's haunch was thick. It gleamed forebodingly in the gloom.
"A bite from this bugger will land you in the medicine den for a quarter moon," Snowbreeze meowed. "Always be alert when hunting these things."
Both apprentices nodded.
Snowbreeze dug a shallow hole beneath the pine needles and blanketed them over the snake before they set out again, conversing cheerfully as they went.
Despite their good temper, the cats still contained an air of weariness. They joked about mates and kits, but in truth, the queens Mothflight and Squirreltail had been lucky. They both gave birth to only one kit each in the middle of last leaf bare, but could barely feed them. Gingerkit was born in the last stages of the freeze but Poppykit only scraped by.
Sunstep had lost two of her four kits, and still Loudpaw and Goldenpaw were frighteningly small and skinny by their apprentice ceremony, with barley any memory of their dead littermates. Sunstep was still recovering from her grief.
Roguepaw had been taken in by Shadowclan when he'd been found in the marshes in leaf fall. Brindleheart, Eaglepaw' mother, spent her last days working to keep her son and adopted kit alive before dying of Greencough. Eaglepaw's father, Eagleclaw, died under a collapsed badger set before he was born. With a shiver of fear, Eaglepaw was reminded of his nightmare.
He jumped when Roguepaw whispered in his ear, "Even Duststripe is beginning to lighten up. Why aren't you?"
Eaglepaw shook his head as if his negative thoughts were flies. Roguepaw was right. The sun was warm and shining, the prey was stirring in their burrows, and the Clan was healthy for the first time in moons. The dark days were behind him and a bright apprenticeship was ahead. Nothing could dampen this day.
Eaglepaw nodded his thanks to Roguepaw as the trees parted into the clearing that marked the edge of Shadowclan territory. The warriors dropped their casual air and crept silently along the tree line, marking their scent here and there. Eaglepaw hastily opened his mouth to taste the air but was disappointed to only catch the faint, stale scent of Thunderclan cats. Duststripe gave the clearing a final searing glare before turning back the way they'd come.
Suddenly the sound of loud paw steps pounded from the undergrowth and a fresh Thunderclan tang wafted from the other side of the clearing. Almost immediately, a plump squirrel darted from the bushes, closely followed by a very small gray-brown she-cat, whom Eaglepaw remembered as the new Thunderclan apprentice, Mousepaw, from the Gathering a few nights earlier. The Shadowclan patrol watched from the trees as the apprentice ignored the scent markers and leaped on the squirrel on their side, swiftly killing it.
A young gray tom barreled into the clearing and yowled, "Mousepaw, stop! That's Shadowclan territory!"
The she-cat's round eyes widened further, and with a muffled wail she pelted to the gray tom's side on the other side of the border, the squirrel in her jaws.
"Prey-stealers!" Duststripe yowled, abandoning the shadows and stalking into the clearing. Eaglepaw, with a rush of anger mixed with excitement, followed along with the rest of the patrol. Mousepaw squeaked with fear and dropped the squirrel.
"I didn't know!" she gasped.
"Any mewling kit knows and fears our scent!" Fogeye snarled. The gray Thunderclan tom stepped forward, shielding Mousepaw, his white-tipped tail flicking restlessly. A furious snarl built up in Eaglepaw's throat.
That squirrel can feed half the clan!
He pushed forward until he was standing beside his mentor. "These foxhearts need to be taught a lesson," he meowed loudly, so the intruders could hear.
Duststripe narrowed his eyes at the two Thunderclan cats, as if wondering what to do with them. Eaglepaw couldn't believe the deputy was hesitating. Their strong patrol could easily overpower the apprentices. Fogeye was tensed, ready to attack. Snowbreeze had her eyes trained on the squirrel, and Eaglepaw was itching to rake his claws through that arrogant tom's fur. Even the Thunderclan cats were braced to flee, knowing they couldn't hope to win this fight. Only Roguepaw and Duststripe were still and calm.
"What's going on here?" a dark brown tabby tom stepped into the clearing to join the two cats. Following him was a dark gray tabby with black stripes. His muzzle was badly scarred. The two warriors were tense, ready to jump into battle if needed.
"I wasn't aware that you teach your mewling apprentices to steal prey, Tigerfur," Duststripe growled to the large brown tabby.
"It was Thunderclan prey when Mousepaw was chasing it," the gray tom objected.
"Hush, Cragpaw," Tigerfur hissed.
"Mousepaw has been an apprentice for less than a moon," the darker gray tabby said edgily. "Its not her fault that she has mistaken your scent for crowfood."
Snowbreeze spat angrily. "Maybe she hasn't been taught our scent because your sense of smell is so dull you wouldn't scent mouse dung if it were underneath your paws, Bramblenose," she hissed.
The Thunderclan warrior drew his lips back into a snarl and began to cross the border. Tigerfur bit into his tail to pull him back. "That's enough, Bramblenose," he growled. The gray tabby said nothing, but his amber eyes flashed at Snowbreeze. When he was sure that Bramblenose would behave, Tigerfur turned to Duststripe and dipped his head. "I apologize for what has gone on today. This won't happen again," he meowed.
"You should give us that squirrel if you really feel sorry!" Eaglepaw snapped.
Duststripe stuffed his black-tipped tail over his nose. "It is disappointing, Tigerfur, that your warriors should insult mine after they have clearly trespassed on our territory," he growled, narrowing his eyes at Bramblenose. Again, Tigerfur dipped his head to the Shadowclan deputy, but this time he didn't reply.
"We will let this foolish apprentice off this time, but I swear to Starclan that if we get so much as a whiff of Thunderclan stench over our border again, your cats may not see another sunrise." He turned his back on the clearing and stalked back into the undergrowth.
Eaglepaw stared at him in astonishment. "But—" he protested.
Duststripe silenced him with a glare. "We don't need prey-stealers to provide our food, nor do we need to fight over a mousebrained apprentice's mistake," he snapped before stepping into the shadows. Eaglepaw was forced to do the same, swallowing his desire to snatch back that squirrel.
Snowbreeze bent her head to whisper in his ear. "You may not agree with everything he says, but Duststripe is our deputy and we must trust his judgment."
Eaglepaw sighed and watched as the Thunderclan patrol backed away into their territory. With a wash of resentment, he watched Cragpaw pick up the large squirrel in his jaws before melting into the trees.
ALLEGIANCES: SHADOWCLAN
Leader: Littlestar—small ginger tom with icy blue eyes
Apprentice, Roguepaw
Deputy: Duststripe—large thick-furred brown tom with one black stripe from his forehead to his tail tip
Apprentice, Eaglepaw
Medicine Cat: Nightfrost—large, scruffy black tom with a scar over one blue eye
Warriors: (toms and she-cats without kits)
Leopardclaw—beautiful golden she-cat with black spots and green eyes
Apprentice, Goldenpaw
Mudeyes—red tom with a brown belly and eyes
Sharpears—black and white she-cat with blue eyes
Thorntooth—thick-furred sooty gray tom with a shredded ear
Apprentice, Loudpaw
Sunstep—light golden she-cat with brown eyes
Darkshade—old, scruffy, very dark gray battle-scarred tom
Snowbreeze—lithe, pretty white she-cat with blue-gray eyes, mate of Duststripe, just started expecting kits for the first time
Fogeye—brown tabby-and-white tom with one green eye and one blind gray eye
Apprentices: (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)
Eaglepaw—brown tom with white paws and tipped tail, has piercing gold eyes
Goldenpaw—bright gold tabby she-cat with green eyes
Loudpaw—gray tom with black tabby stripes
Roguepaw—small, red tom with golden smudges and one chipped ear, has amber eyes, former loner
Queens: (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)
Squirreltail—ginger she-cat with a white belly and sweeping plume of a tail, half kittypet, mother of Gingerkit
Mothflight—brown and white she-cat with amber eyes, mate of Fogeye and mother of Poppykit
Kits: (less than six moons old, living in the nursery)
Gingerkit—orange tom with white spots on his head and neck
Poppykit—small back she-cat with amber eyes
Elders: (Former warriors and queens now retired)
Featherpelt—thick-furred white tom with blind blue eyes
Stonepelt—weathered sooty gray tom with darker flecks
Descendants of known Clan cat from the Great Journey
Leopardclaw, Thorntooth, Eaglepaw, Goldenpaw, Loudpaw