Chapter 21

Today was day RiverClan was finally going home. Every cat was in camp now, saying good bye to friends they would only see at Gatherings now. Oakstorm stayed by Silverheart's side the entire time. Watersong and Shadepaw were with Leapoardshadow. The WindClan elders were still swapping stories with RiverClan's elders. Cloudkit, Icekit and Thurshkit were playing with Lightkit and Darkkit. Rosewing's kit, Eaglekit, was watching a few tail lengths away, still too young to join in. Graymist, Foxtail and Rosewing watched their kits scuffle together, sadness in their eyes.

Rainstarwas talking to Heatherstar about Shadepaw and her need to go on a journey past Highstones. "May we have your permission to let her travel through your territory?" Heatherstar, of course, said yes.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather here for a clan meeting!" She yowled.

"Shadepaw needs to travel through our territory so she may go on a journey past Highstones. So she is not to be challenged when she passes through. The rest of RiverClan will be returning home, just as we all know." Heatherstar meowed.

Rainstar stepped forward and meowed, "I know I speak for all my clanmates when I say thank you for giving us this home while our forest was recovering." He solemnly dipped his head to Heatherstar in deep respect. The WindClan leader nodded to her friend.

Then Rainstar flicked his tail and led his clan out of the camp. Goodbyes were still ringing in the air.

Silverheart walked with Oakstorm, Shadepaw and Rosedrop. Too soon Shadepaw had to break away from her friends to follow the trail to Highstones. The apprentice looked at her sister and for a moment it was like they were the only two cats in the world.

"Stay safe. Please." Silverheart whispered. Shadepaw knew just how scared her sister was for her. Losing two littermates did that to a cat.

"I will come home to you." Shadepaw promised. Too quickly, Shadepaw lowered her eyes and ran up the path out of sight. The apprentice was feeling some separation pain and she didn't want Silverheart to see that. The last sight she had of her sister was Silverheart burying her head in Oakstorm's shoulder.

She perked up a little at the thought she might get to see her Windclan friends. Sure enough, when she passed the rabbit's warrens, she ran into Gorsetail, Darkfoot, Goldentail, and Dewdrop. They all smiled and greeted her. But Shadepaw was in a hurry, so she only had time to say hello. She continued through the uplands, but she didn't encounter anything more than a couple rabbits.

The day was haft over when she reached the Thunderpath, which was the Windclan border. It was busy; the big scary monsters were snarling as they rushed past. Shadepaw shrank back. She hadn't to Highstones since last haft moon and this was the first time she had to cross it alone. She cautiously bounded back up to it, and parted her jaws. The she looked in both directions. The coast was clear so Shadepaw took a deep breath and raced to the other side.

A monster flashed across, but the medicine cat apprentice was already safely across. She carried on toward the Moonstone. It took her the rest of the day. The sun was setting as she looked for something to make a nest out of. In the end, she had to scrape some old ferns together. They weren't very comfortable, but Shadepaw supposed it was better than cold stone.

The morning sun greeted her too early. She got up and stretched, and blinked a few times. Her stomach growled, so she opened her jaws to taste the air, hoping for the scent of prey. When she picked up the scent trail of a mouse, she followed it up a ridge. Shadepaw located the creature and pounced on it. After giving it the death bite, she said, "Thank you Starclan, for the giving of this life. Please watch over me, and help me protect the clans from this danger."

She carried on over Highstones. All day long she walked and walked. She pasted a bunch of fields, and crossed too many Thunderpaths to count. The fields had some strange creatures living in them. One field had very large black and white animals. Their feet appeared to be carved from stone and they had weird things sticking out of their oddly shaped head. Another field had tall, leggy things in it and their tails looked to be made of fur. Plus their nose was huge.

When the gray she-cat reached yet another Thunderpath, she stopped. Carefully she listened for noise of any monsters, but it was strangely quiet. All the other Thunderpaths she had to cross today were abundant with monsters. So she approached this one with even more caution. Her ears pricked, and her mouth slightly open, she dashed across the Thunderpath. She carried on walking, stopping only once so she could hunt.

After catching and eating a shrew, her mouth felt dryer than a gorge. In Riverclan, Shadepaw never had this problem. She and her clanmates didn't not really know what it felt like to be thirsty, with the river at their disposal. Now it seemed to be the only thing she could think about. Water. Water. As a medicine cat, she knew it was vital to drink plenty of water, especially when she was doing all that walking.

She stopped for a minute to rest, thankful it wasn't too hot or too cold. When she felt better she continued onward, praying she was headed in the right direction. The apprentice wished Starclan could have sent her a bit of guidance. Then again, she reflected, they were StarClan and must have their reasons for doing things this way. Then she got to thinking about Silverheart. Shadepaw knew just how much her sister had been shaken up when Mosskit and Ferntail died; she had to make it home.

Before long, it got dark and she had to stop for the night. The area she was in was like Windclan's moor; they were no trees, no vegetation, and plenty of rabbit holes. She made a nest of heather, circled around it twice and fell right off to sleep in it.

The next day she felt refreshed and rejuvenated. The sleep had chased away all her worries and fears, leaving a strong resolve not to let her clan down. She sniffed the air to see if she could have a meal before continuing on with the journey. She was grateful to find the rabbit smell was strong. The fragrance drifted everywhere, and she didn't have trouble locating the rabbits; no that was not her problem. Her trouble was catching them. Shadepaw wasn't fast like the WindClan cats, so it was more difficult for her. So she had to settle for a pigeon. She gulped it down quickly, and licked her lips for the last traces of it.

On she went again. But the scenery was changing. The fields and moors gave way to rocks and sand. Then the terrain got really hilly. So Shadepaw knew she was close to the mountains. Suddenly, out of nowhere a dog barked and ran straight at her. Shadepaw looked behind her, having heard the bark. She was scared out of her fur when she saw a big, black dog running full speed at her. Its mouth was open, sharp yellow teeth exposed. She started running and it was now she wished she was in the forest. A simple way to evade a dog: climb a tree. But there were no trees here, so what could she do?

She ran faster and faster. The ground got bumpier and rockier. The dog was gaining on her; if it was any closer, it could bite her tail. Large boulders were coming in sight. Perhaps if there was one that was tall enough, she could escape the dog by climbing one of them. The stones were huge], but none seemed to be tall enough. Shadepaw was growing tired, her legs screaming in protest, demanding that she stop, but no way she would.

When it seemed her legs would give out, she found a rock that was big enough. She jumped, unsheathing her claws, and hooked them into the boulder. She proceeded to climb the rock faster than anything else she had done in her life. The dog was still behind her, but she was too high up now. The dog couldn't harm her. She was safe.

Now all Shadepaw had to do was wait for the big brute to leave. She waited and waited, but the noisy thing wouldn't go away. It had no collar and was awful skinny, so Shadepaw knew it was not a twoleg pet; There hadn't been any twoleg nests that she had seen. Shadepaw guessed that, from the racket and fuss this piece of fox dung was making, she was the first meal this dog had hunted in a long time. She and the dog panted hard, but neither of them relented.

After Shadepaw got her breath back, she didn't mind being stuck up on the rock; the dog had given her an excuse to rest. She laid down, and turned over on her back. By now the dog stopped barking and jumping at the rock; instead of looking fierce and mean as it first had, the creature looked weak and defeated.

Dark was setting in fast now, and the dog reluctantly left. Shadepaw took no chances; she slept on the rock that night, not even leaving to get something for bedding. And when morning arrived, she got an early start. Wanting to make up for lost time and to make sure she was far away from the dog, she quickened her pace. Shadepaw looked up at the mountains that were closer to her than they ever were, and made a guess she would be there in a few days at least. She just wished she knew she was going the right way.

A/N: Hey everyone! As I was writing the part where Shadepaw crossed the first Thunderpath, I realized I never put that she and Watersong went to the moonstone ever haft moon. And I thought, "Well hey you're the author; you can fix that!" So in chapters six eighteen and twenty one I added that in. leave a review and earn my gratitude! And yes, I changed the title of chapter twenty one. The old one was too weird. Bye