I'm sorry for not updating, but I've finally gotten off of my butt and started writing, so enjoy!
mosskit of thunderclan: thank you! You don't know how much it means to me that you put this story on your favorites list. Again, thanks.
ScourgexScarlet: I'm guessing you mean Wingpaw. Thanks for the praise!
Fluffekinz: Thanks, I will continue, and also, thank you soooo much for adding this to your favs.
Nettlepaw looked into the dark forest. She was at the part of the path that led to Bigelm where it split in two; one path to Twolegplace; one to the Bigelm.
I'm sorry, Wingpaw, she thought, already starting towards Twolegplace. But this is important to me.
Even in the semi-darkness, she found her way to the border without difficulty. Warily, she sniffed again for EarthClan patrols, and then stepped onto the Thunderpath.
The Thunderpaths were dangerous things. Twolegs rode across them in giant, noisy Monsters that could crush a cat under their huge black paws. This Thunderpath was no exception.
Nettlepaw recoiled, jumping back as a red Monster flew past. The Thunderpath was quiet. Nettlepaw hesitated, then ran like the wind, dashing across and not slackening her pace until she lay panting, safe on the other side.
She looked around, her eyes meeting strange, tall, red nests. She was in Twolegplace.
"Hey!"
She looked up. A fat ginger tom was perched on top of a wooden fence.
"You smell like mice. Are ya one of those forest cats?" he mewed.
"What's it to you?"
"Can't a cat be curious?"
Nettlepaw glanced up at the moon in the sky. She didn't have time for this.
"Whatever," she meowed, trotting away, "I've better things to do than argue with a kittypet."
"It was nice meeting you, too," the cat called after her.
She lasted about two minutes before she became completely and utterly lost. She couldn't tell where she had come from or where she should go next.
Okay, she thought, what would Mushroomfoot do? She remembered when she had gotten too overeager on her first day of her apprenticeship and she had run off into the forest. It had taken Mushroomfoot ages to find her. 'If you get lost,' her mentor had mewed, 'try to find your scent trail and retrace your steps.'
Her scent was covered up by the strange odor of Twolegplace, so Nettlepaw decided to try to climb to the top of one of the strange Twoleg nests and find a path back to the forest. She jumped up onto a big metal box. She wrinkled her nose at the strong, repulsive scent of crowfood. The gold she-cat leaped up onto a ledge under a clear square of something on the side of a large gray nest. She was starting to climb up the wall when she caught a whiff of a familiar scent. She looked down. There were two rouges below her. Her eyes widened as she recognized Rat and Stoneheart.
"This is all you could find! You worthless excuse for an apprentice!" Stoneheart was screeching. Rat had a scrawny rat and a bone with a few scraps on it. She hissed, unsheathing her claws and dealing a swipe to her apprentice's face. Rat barely even flinched as his mentor's claws made contact with his cheek. Blood dripped from the wound.
"And if you want food," she spat, "you'll have to catch more than this!" she grabbed the food and stalked away.
Rat smiled despite the small wound, walking over to a mound of dirt by a box. He scraped away the soil, revealing several pieces of some kind of meat.
"Been doing this for nine moons," he murmured to himself, "and the brick-brain never suspected it once."
Nettlepaw was about to jump down to where Rat was when a claw was pressed to her throat.
"Just what," a female voice whispered in her ear, "do you think you're doing?"
For a moment, Nettlepaw couldn't move. Then she came to her senses. She growled, throwing the she-cat off of her. A tortoiseshell crashed into the windowsill next to her, barely managing to get a grip on the white-painted wood.
"What I do is none of your business," Nettlepaw snarled.
"It does if it involves spying on my brother."
Nettlepaw froze.
"Y-your brother?"
"Yep," another voice mewed. "Thorn's my sister."
Nettlepaw turned to see Rat and Shrew behind her. Neither seemed all that happy to see her.
"Why'd you come here?" growled Rat.
Nettlepaw met his glare defiantly.
"I came for answers," she mewed.
"I don't have any," Rat snarled.
"All I want to know is who your sister was."
At the mention of his lost sister, Rat's expression grew sorrowful. His claws slid back into their sheaths, and he slumped to the ground.
He looked up, his eyes full of raw grief.
"She… she was the cutest little ball of fluff you'd ever see," Rat sighed with nostalgia. "She brought smiles to the senior warriors' faces… cats that had never smiled since they were kits. She made our mother purr until her eyes watered.
"That all changed when Iceshade saw her," he mewed, anger filling his eyes. "He wanted her for his apprentice. All the warriors wanted her. It wasn't just the light she brought here. She had a strong spirit.
"In our play-fights, she'd never surrender. Now that I think about it, she was a wee bit sassy."
Both his sisters stared at him.
"A 'wee bit'!" Thorn demanded. "She talked back to the leader himself! It was a wonder she didn't become crowfood!"
"Yeah," Rat said wistfully. "Well, Iceshade wanted her to be his apprentice. Our mother didn't like that. She ran away. Ran away to…" a veil of confusion covered his face. "Uh, I forget exactly. But we never saw either of them again."
A tear streaked down his face.
"The stories tell it wasn't always this way," Shrew murmured.
"Those are just legends," Thorn protested. "Nursery tales queens tell to their kits."
Shrew glared at her. "They are not! One day, a Golden Cat will come and make everything right!"
"Wait, what?" Nettlepaw was utterly confused.
Thorn glanced at me. "ShadeClan wasn't always this way," she said bitterly. "The tragic tale of Shadeheart, our founder, is passed down through the generations. She and her mate, Silverclaw, who was a warrior from a different clan, were exiled simply because they loved each other. Shadeheart swore vengeance on the clans.
"Their son was forced to leave. They founded a Clan, a home for exiles and rouges: anyone who needed a home.
"Then the two founders passed away. Their son took over. Seasons of bitterness had turned his heart cold. He tore down the Code his parents had placed, putting his own twisted rules in their stead. We still live by those laws."
"You should go," Rat spat as the sun rose behind him, "Before you're missed."
Nettlepaw turned to leave, but looked back instead.
"Uh, it's just… what did she look like—your sister?"
Rat frowned; this was obviously not the question he had expected.
"She… she was a lot like our mother: amber eyes; golden pelt and a heart to match. You really should be going now. ShadeClan doesn't take kindly to tresspassers."
Nettlepaw padded off. Her pace quickened, turning into a trot, then a sprint as she raced across the Thunderpath to EarthClan.
She froze on the edge of EarthClan territory as a scream shattered the peaceful dawn.
Cliff-hanger! Sorry again for never updating, I really need to work on that…
Oh, and, I lied, I'm giving you one more day to submit one of Ottersong's kits. You can submit up to 5 kits at a time, and you need to submit at least their name, appearance, and personality. You can also add other things, if you want to, like whom you want their crush to be, if I can kill your cat later, etc.
~Raintail