Chapter 12

Shadowseeker's heart beat hard against his chest as he looked around wildly. He was standing at the edge of a cliff with his sister Shadestrike. Her green eyes were dull and lifeless. He peered over the cliff and looked down at the OceanClan camp. The bodies of dead clanmates littered the camp's usual green grass. It was now matted and caked in thick pools of blood. A cat stood at the bottom of the cliff. A large tom with thick grey fur. Shadowseeker flicked his deep, blue gaze around the camp to see the lifeless body of Silentbreeze. Her belly had a large gash down her side. He tried to yell to her, but her voice never came. The starry pelts of his clanmates rose to their paws with eyes full of grief and terror. Cats poured in through the tall grass, cats Shadowseeker had never seen.

Then, he saw the golden, stocky body of his friend known as Gentlewhisper. A soft pelt brushed against his and he flicked his gaze to stare into the green eyes of Blossomstar. Her ears were flat against her head and her head was down. "This is what will happen. Your sister, your Clan, all your loved ones will die if this cat isn't put to a stop. StarClan believe Shadestrike is the cat in the prophecy, but I think they're wrong." she meowed solemnly.

She looked at him with sorrowful eyes as he breathed in. "What if you're wrong?" he asked with a cock of his head.

"Then so be it." she whispered them glared at him with an intense green gaze and growled, "Make sure you enjoy life while you have it. And make sure life is worth watching, because life will not last forever."

Shadowseeker watched as the old OceanClan leader vanished. His fur prickled with anticipation as the vision began to vanish. He jolted awake to see Silentbreeze looking at him with wide, milky blue eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Shadowseeker rose to his paws and licked his mates shoulder. "Nothing, come on, let's get some food." he meowed.

He knew the she-cat would be hungry, she had been eating more than usual, and it was certainly starting to show. As she sat beside the well stocked fresh-kill pile, a round belly was easily exposed. "I'll be back, I want to visit Fishwhisker. He's been saying that Coralblaze has been madder than a hare!" she giggled as she turned to pad toward the medicine-den.

Shadowseeker watched after her as she squeezed with effort into the burrow hole. He was soon greeted with Lionfish and his apprentice Orangepaw. The little ginger she-cat and her sister, Echopaw were recently apprenticed. Lionfish's whiskers twitched with amusement as Silentbreeze's tail vanished through the hole. "So when will they arrive?" his former mentor asked with curious amber eyes.

Shadowseeker took a large, hungry bite out of a fish he selected from the fresh-kill pile. He shrugged then mumbled, "waft er yoo tauking bout?"

Lionfish laughed then murmured, "I assume you don't know. I'll let her tell you then. Come on, Orangepaw."

Shadowseeker watched after his former mentor and apprentice pad away. Curiousity prickled at his pelt as he watched after the two cats. He licked his lips to clean the meat from his whiskers. With a few runs with his paw, his muzzle was clean, and he was soon joined with Silentbreeze. Her tail flicked highly with obvious happiness. She padded right past him and flicked her tail for him to follow. Shadowseeker rose to his shaky paws and followed his mate just outside the camp. A black and orange butterfly fluttered right by her muzzle as she turned to speak to him. "What?" he asked.

Her milky blue eyes glittered with happiness as she giggled, "Isn't it obvious?"

Shadowseeker looked at her as if she had grown a second head. She rolled her eyes then whispered, "I'm expecting kits, Shadowseeker!"

His ears flattened against his head and his body grew hot. "Who's are they?" he asked, without thinking.

"Yours? For StarClan's sake, are tom's really that dumb?" she growled with irritation.

Excitement nearly burst from his pelt. His heart fluttered against his chest and he wanted to leap to the sky. "Really? Silentbreeze, that's great news! When will they be born?" he asked excitedly.

"A half-moon!" she meowed excitedly with a flick of her long light brown tail.

Shadowseeker could feel his short tail twitching with happiness, but that quickly stopped when a loud shriek sounded from within the camp. Silentbreeze's eyes grew wide as Shadowseeker whipped around and charged back into the camp clearing. His dark grey fur slowly stood on end as he saw the grey cat standing high on the cliff. Shadowseeker fixed his gaze on the cat and recognized him as Addertooth, his father. He saw the motionless light brown body of Streamstar, his leader. Addertooth rose his muzzle and yowled, "All cats of OceanClan! Streamstar is dead, and I, Addertooth, will become your leader!"

Shadowseeker body filled with rage. His father had deliberately threw his leader off the cliff. It appears the fall was too severe and she was killed immediately, even though she had plenty of lives left. Large cats with scars and rippling muscles piled in the small camp clearing. He flicked his gaze to Echopaw, a small, young apprentice being cornered by a big brown tom with long claws. Shadowseeker bounded up to the tom and lifted a large paw, batting him across the muzzle. The impact of the blow was so powerful, the tom went sprawling across the ground. "Quick! Go to TreeClan and fetch a cat names Gentlewhisper, she'll help us!" he growled to the shocked apprentice.

With wide green eyes, she nodded and fled out of the camp with Orangepaw hard on her heels. The ginger and white stripped pelt of Lionfish pelted past him and began to climb the cliff. Shadowseeker gained all his strength and shoved his paws into the back of another cat. It yowled in serious pain and yelped away back in the direction it came from. Shadowseeker bunched his leg and shoulder muscles, preparing himself a leap that would take him up the cliff to face and defeat his father. The terrified, green eyes of Shadestrike made her way up the cliff. Each step she took, it was slow and timid. Shadowseeker leaped high up the cliff. His paws were shoved into ever cove they would fit. He leaped and jumped up the rocks with extended claws. He sped past Lionfish and leaped past Shadestrike. When he finally reached the top of the cliff, a large grey paw batted him across the muzzle. "Fool! Join me now, we could rule the Clans." a rough, fierce voice snarled.

Shadowseeker strained to look at his father. His crisp amber eyes were burning with determination. "I would rather die than join you!" he snarled.

"Oh?" Addertooth sneered with a flick of his long tail.

"I thought Snakefang was behind all this! But you? My own father? You're a traitor and a murderer! You killed Frogleap as Sagewater! You even killed Riversigh." he yowled with fierce rage.

Addertooth's eyes grew wide with hatred. "I wasn't the only one to kill Riversigh, kit" he growled and flicked his tail to a light brown she-cat with milky blue eyes then continued, "Isn't that right, Silentbreeze?"

Shadowseeker's world slowed, his heart beat slowed, and his gaze was darkening. He was betrayed by the cats he loved. He shared at his mate with large, deep blue eyes. Hers were filled with sorrow and regret. Shadowseeker's paws grew weak with terror and exhaustion. All his adrenaline had vanished, he now felt like a small kit in a wolves den. His strength gave out and he crashed to the rocky ground. Out of a fuzzy vision, he saw Lionfish attack Addertooth, but sadly, Lionfish was kicked off the edge and fell to his death. His vision flicked to Silentbreeze once more, whose eyes were glittering with sadness. Darkness took over him completely as he blacked out.

A/N: AHHH! MAIN EVENT TIME! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! Thanks! :)

-Nightwish