Chapter 10
Early dawn light streamed through the thin layers of trees, casting dancing shadows across the forest floor. Firestar blinked away the last grip of sleep, and stood up. His jaws parted in a huge yawn, scenting the sweet, early morning smells of morning. For a moment, Firestar thought he was back under highledge, but the strange scents reminded him he was far away from his home. He stretched each leg, then started to look around. To his surprise, Shade was still perched in a tree, deep in thought and eyes fixed on a distant point. Before Firestar could call out, Shade started to mutter something under his breath and shake his head.
"Shade?" Firestar meowed, clawing his way up the small, knarled tree. Shade whipped around, claws unsheathed. But when he saw Firestar standing there, he immediatly turned back around. "Sh-Shade?" Firestar repeated.
Shade was silent for what seemed like a moon, then spoke in a low, strained voice. "I shouldn't have brought you here." He croaked.
"Why?" Firestar cocked his head to one side, mind racing. Did this cat think he could drag him and his companions so far from their homes to tell them he couldn't do it?
Shade didn't respond for a long time. He sat, half turned towards Firestar, claws tracing a knot in the bark. Finally he raised his head, eyes full of an unexpected determination. "You chose where we go from here on out. I will simply be your guide, whichever route you chose. It's not too late to turn back."
Firestar took a step back. "T-turn back? Are you crazy?! We've gone so far; we can't go back now!" He hissed. "What would we tell the clan when we got back?" His words seemed to have stung Shade, for the black loner recoiled slightly.
"I'm going hunting. I'll back at sunhigh for your dicision." Shade mewed abruptly. Without another word, he leaped from the tree, landed silently in the grass and took off into the bushes. Firestar stayed in the tree, feeling quite puzzled. He looked down to see his friends still lying peacefully in the grass below. The sight of something familiar slowed his speeding mind, calming his senses.
The sun broke from the cover of the distant mountains, filling the hollow with dawn light. Steaks of the pale light caught in Thunderclan's leader's fur, flashing off of it like fire. Firestar felt as though he could run forever, fight off all of Lionclan, and still have the energy he felt. He knew instantly it was a message from Starclan, that they were still with him, still guiding his every pawstep. "We're going. Whatever Shade is afraid of, we can overcome, together." Firestar could feel the comforting presence of Spottedleaf at his side. He closed his eyes, drinking in the medicine cats scent.
"Yes, Firestar, we can." Spottedleaf whipered back. "You are strong. But together with friends, you are even stronger. Don't let them forget." She touched her nose to the ginger tom's. She walked to the end of the branch and into the dawn light before disappearing, swallowed up by the shining rays of the sun.
* * * * *
Nightpaw blinked in the early morning sunshine. The singing of birds overhead still didn't dispell the tension clinging to the air. The feeling of eyes watching her overwhelmed her, but she shook it off. Today was the day she found out why Shade was so edgy.
"AAYEEEK!" Graystripe let out a screech beside Nightpaw, Sandstorm on his back, her teeth in his scruff. "What in Starclan's name was that for?!" He spit, shaking off Sandstorm who was laughing hard. "Not funny!"
The pale ginger she-cat recovered enough breath to speak. "Y-yes, funn *Whoo* -y. To- *Ha ha* -tally fu- *Snort* -nny." Nightpaw smiled.
"You are a very mean cat, you know that." Graystripe growled as he gave himself a quick wash.
"Yes, I know. And you scream like a she-cat." Sandstorm giggled. Her eyes suddenly filled with fear. "Badger!" She squealed. Graystripe let out a shriek that sounded most definatly like a she-cat's, dashing for the bushes. The she-cat collapsed in hysterics, rolling on the ground in laughter. Graystripe stormed out off the bushes, tail flicking in embarrassment.
"I'm going hunting." He huffed. Nightpaw followed behind him. They all needed a good hunting before the day ahead. "Hey, Firestar! Are you coming?" Graystripe yowled over his shoulder. Only then did Nightpaw spot Firestar crouched in a tree, eyes fixed on a point far away. The ginger tom flicked his tail to shown he was coming, not moving his gaze. They three other cats disappeared into the bushes, following different prey scents. Nightpaw breathed deeply, sifting a vole scent from the others. Gliding stealthily over the ground, Nightpaw soon spotted the vole scuffiling around the base of the tree. With one pounce, she had it locked in her jaws, not a squeak escaped its mouth.
The dawn sun that had awoken her was higher in the sky when the black apprentice returned to the others. To her supprise, they were huddled together, whispering quietly. Graystripe looked concerned, Firestar frightened, and Sandstorm all out mad. "But, it couldn't be!" Graystripe hissed. "Why would he lead us back here?"
Nightpaw decided evesdropping was not ethical, so she padded out into the open, making just enough noise for them to her her approach. "I don't know," Firestar was explaining. "But I be he had- Nightpaw!" He jumped away from the others, suprised.
"What's the secret?" She asked, getting to the point. When no one answered, she continued. "Come on, guys. I know there's something up. I'm not blind." Sandstorm looked at her caompanions before answering Nightpaw.
"Shade wants to go back." She mewed finally. Nightpaw took a step back, mouth gaping. "He talked to Firestar this morning and implied he doesn't want to go into Twolegplace. I don't blame him."
"He told me it was my decision, and he would guide us. I-" Firestars voice faltered for a second. "I think we should go in anyways."
"Firestar, are you nuts?!" Sandstorm snapped. "There's obviously somehing dangerous in there, and Shade knows it." She rounded on Graystripe and Nightpaw, raging. "What do you say?" She snipped.
"Graystripe took a step back. "I'm here to protect, not decide." Nightpaw was about to agree when she felt Firestar and Sandstorms eyes boring into her fur. The final decision was hers. The pressure was on, and Nightpaw felt it thick in the air. Her decision. Should they continue or turn their backs? Suddenly Nightpaw scent Shade's stale scent in the light breeze, bringing back memories of her early kithood. She heard her mothers voice in the back of her mind: "Be strong, sweet. Don't be a coward. Even if the road is hard, the winds of fortune will fill your wings in due time." The sudden flash of her past sent a knot shooting up in her throat, chocking her. But she had to stay strong.
"I'm not a coward. I say we do this." She felt the flames of determination that had flared inside of her since she joined the clans suddenly burned brighter, filling her heart and soul. The sudden stubborness sent a flinting smile across Sandstorms face, erasing the rage.
"She'll make a fine warrior one day, Firestar." She mewed without taking her eyes from the black apprentice. A rustling in the bushes interrupted the silence. Shade emerged from the wall of green.
"I agree." The loners eyes sparkled with an emotion Nightpaw couldn't place. "Have you made your decision?" He asked. The black apprentice turned away sharply, not wanting to speak to the traitor.
"Yes. We will be going into Twolegplace." Firestar answered. Shade closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, there was no expression, just pure cold.
"Very well." He turned and started off towards the wall of brick. "Stay close. I don't want to lose any cat." As he stalked out of the thin line of trees, Nightpaw caught a glimps of a long scratch starting at the base of his ear to his hind leg. It was freshly made. Nightpaw could barely supress a gasp. Where in the world could he get such an injury with no cats anywhere near? Unless...
The four clan cats followed Shade across fields and small thickets. The sky was light, but overlayed with dull gray clouds. Rain was threatening to fall, but a mist started to roll in, instead. Nightpaw could sense something was wrong, but no danger seemed to present itself. Soon they were at the Twolegplace, Twoleg nests stretching as far as the eye could see, which wasn't very far due to the thickening fog.
Shade led them along the side of a thunderpath, ducking a little to the side every time a monster came roaring past. The sky was starting to reden when the black loner turned to his companions. "We'd better get some hunting in before the sun sets. We'll spot out some shelter then find what we can." Shade turned and ducked into the next alleyway. Soon he had found a small outcropping amid the Twoleg rubbish.
"Here?" Sandstorm wrinkled her nose. Shade nodded, looking too tired to respond.
"I'm starving. Let's get hunting!" Graystripe turned and leaped onto the wall, sticking out his tail for balace. Firestar and Sandstorm followed suit while Shade and Nightpaw turned and left the way they came. The two black cats padded along the side of the red brick Twoleg nests, silent. Soon Nightpaw spotted a lonely pidgeon picking through some Twoleg rubbish, completely unaware of the two cats. The young she-cat stalked towards the bird, then pounced. It started upward, but Nightpaw was too qick for it; she twisted in mid-air and swiped at the birds tail. She landed with the pidgeon at her paws.
"Nice catch." Shade mewed half-heartedly. Nightpaw could tell something was on his mind. Even though she had not spoken to him since her dream in horseplace, she still wondered what was going on in his mind. She dicided to break her vow of silence.
"Tell me what is going on, Shade." She demanded, rounding on him. To her suprise, Shade didn't even flinch. In fact, the mask of innocence that he had on around the others was lost.
"Figured it out, now, have you?" He asked, eyes narrowing.
"I don't really know. I do know that you are my father and that you betrayed me." Nightpaw spat. "Ever since I was a little kit I always thought my father had a very good reason for leaving me and my mother, but boy, was I wrong!"
Shade looked away, taking deep breaths. Finally he faced Nightpaw. He spoke slowly. "You do not know the half of what was going on."
"Then tell me!" Nightpaw's eyes were starting to water, but she forced the tears back down.
"Fine!" Shade yowled. In a much calmer voice, he continued. "Before I say anything else, I want you to know that I never intended for you to happen." Nightpaw was about to snap back when Shade silenced her with a flick of his tail. "I was on my own when I first saw your mother." Shade's eyes flooded with memories. "She convinced me to lead the life as a traveler. My mentor had died recently, and she knew I was weak. So I followed her on her travels. Then she told me why she asked me to go with her." His voice suddenly darkened. "She told me she was expecting kits. My kits."
"Isn't that supposed to make you happy?" Nightpaw asked carefully.
"No! I was horrified. You see, my heart already beonged to another." Nightpaw gasped, but Shade kept going. "I got scared. I ran away. But I couldn't leave forever; the guilt was eating me from the inside out. So I tracked Star down. It took me four seasons, but I found her. Turns out she had three kits, but only you survived. I blamed myself. I should have been there to help."
Nightpaw's mind went reeling. So she was an accident, her mother a wonderer, and her father a traiter. What a family tree she had. "So you decided to leave us once again. I don't care about your life before or after, but for what? What did you leave us for!" Nightpaw cried.
"Again, you do not know the half of what's going on! It's not that easy." Shade tone was suddenly hard again, all trases of emotion erased.
"Yeah, neither is being the daughter of a traitor." Shade visibly flinched, but Nightpaw didn't care. She turned and started away as the rain started to fall around her. Her stumbling eventually grew into a full out run. She wanted to run far away, away from Shade, away from Twolegplace, away from her problems. But she had nowhere to run. She stopped suddenly. She had nowhere to go. No one she needed to get back to. She was officially a wonderer, like her mother.
"No, Nightpaw!" A voice called from the swirling mist and rain. "You are not a wonderer." It was Goldenflower, stars tangled in her fur. She bounded towards her, eyes wide with fear. "You can't give up on your promise!" She pleaded.
"Oh, yeah? Watch me!" Nightpaw turned to start to walk away, taking all her rage out on the Starclan cat. "Get some other cat to do it. Anyone clanborn can do better than me!" She spat. She started into a trot, then into a gallop. She couldn't tell if she was crying or not, if she was moving or not, she just knew she needed to get away. Her tail fur got caught in the Twoleg path, sending her head first into a deep puddle. It took her a while to right herself, then Nightpaw crawled under an overhang in a Twoleg nest, letting the tears come. She turned away from the last wisps of twilight, trying hard not to think of what tomarrow would bring.
Dawn: Confused? Thought you'd be. Don't worry. I don't expect you to get this chapter. Just keep reading and all will be revealed in their own due time.