Sharpstar bade Coal and Stick good-bye at the entrance of the gorge and lead the four ShadowClan warriors down the rocky slope. Cats cast curious glances at them.
"So, this Foxstar," Sharpstar muttered, "he has taken over all the Clans?"
"Yes," Onyxshade replied.
"Life is horrible. There are no more Gatherings and no more border tussles," Dawnclaw sighed. "It's so boring. But one wrong move and you're dead."
Sharpstar looked sympathetic. "Then life is different here, you shall see."
The ginger tom jumped onto a pile of rocks. "All who are old enough to climb a tree, please join me at the Rockpile for a Clan meeting!"
The SkyClan cats clustered together beneath the Rockpile. Onyxshade and the others stood awkwardly to the side.
"As you see," Sharpstar meowed, his deep voice ringing throughout the gorge, "we have visitors."
Anxious mutters rose from the warriors.
"I hope they don't know Sol," muttered a skinny black tom to a creamish tom.
"Yeah," the cream tom meowed back, "remember how much mayhem he caused."
"Quiet!" snapped Sharpstar's voice from the Rockpile. "They are warriors from ShadowClan. Please respect them like you will with any of us. Shrewtooth and Egg, you will be responsible for showing them around. The rest of you, return to your warrior duties."
The black tom, Shrewtooth, sighed and stood up. Onyxshade guessed that Egg was the cream tom.
"You are warriors?" asked Shrewtooth curiously. "What's it like there?"
"We don't know before," sighed Jumpingtail, "but horrible now. We've got this leader named Foxstar. He's taken over all the Clans."
"That's horrible!" Egg meowed, his tail lashing.
"Well, we'll show you around," Shrewtooth said. They padded around, introducing them. Onyxshade only rememebered a couple names: Ebonyclaw, a "daylight" warrior, a half kittypet and half warrior, Harveymoon, also a daylight warrior, Macfoot, Harveymoon's housemate, Frecklewish the medicine cat, Shrewtooth and Egg, Rockshade, Bouncefire, Tinycloud, who was Shrewtooth's mate, Plumwillow, who was Egg's mate, Harrypelt, Fireflight, Stormrush and the deputy, Billystorm. Billystorm had also been a daylight warrior, and Onyxshade wondered why a daylight warrior would be deputy.
"Being a warrior is not about blood," Sharpstar meowed, joining them, "but about your spirit as a warrior. Now that Billystorm is deputy, he has completely removed himself from his Twolegs."
"I remember when you didn't appreciate the daylight warriors," Shrewtooth meowed lightly.
"Ah, I was wrong," Sharpstar meowed softly. They padded on in silence, climbing the rocky slopes. The loose pebbles slipped below Onyxshade's paws, and beside him Cloudrye was puffing already. How do SkyClan cats do this?
"This is the warriors' den," Egg meowed as they arrived at a large cave in the rock wall. "Willowpaw and the other apprentices should be arriving soon."
Sure enough, a white she-cat bounded up the rock path quickly, followed by three others.
"I'm Willowpaw!" she meowed excitedly, bouncing on her paws.
"This is my hyperactive daughter," Shrewtooth meowed in an amused voice, "and this is my son, Furzepaw."
"Hi," Furzepaw greeted, wrinkling his nose at his sister's immaturity.
"We're here to build your nest," a dark tabby tom meowed. "Hi, I'm Ryepaw."
"And I'm Eaglepaw," a brown tom added, joining them.
"What's up?" asked a white tom emerging from the warriors' den. "I've already brought the moss over."
"Thanks, Harveymoon." Ryepaw nodded a grateful greeting. The white warrior shrugged.
"It's nothing."
"Harveymoon!" squealed a voice. A kit came tumbling up onto the slope, and skidded to a stop at Harveymoon's paws. The kit looked exactly like his father, only that it was a brown-and-gray color.
"Hello, Fleetkit," purred Harveymoon.
"Teach me to fight!" Fleetkit squeaked. Harveymoon picked him up.
"Come on," the white warrior laughed, "let's go…then…" his faltered. His ears flattened and his tail dropped in fear as a gray she-cat padded up after the kit.
"Harveymoon!" she meowed angrily. "How many times have I told you not to teach Fleetkit early!"
"I uh, wasn't going to," muttered Harveymoon, while Shrewtooth ducked behind Egg to keep from laughing.
The gray she-cat, Mintfur flicked her tail irritably. "Sure." She twined her tail with Harveymoon's and picked up Fleetkit and headed down the slope with Harveymoon in tow. The white warrior nodded a good-bye and headed after his family.
"So…" Shrewtooth shuffled his paws awkwardly.
"Go explore the camp," Sharpstar cut in. "Shrewtooth and Egg, I'd like you to get back to the patrols." The ginger tom disappeared over the rocks.
Shrewtooth shrugged. "Okay, then. Go ahead and look around."
"Oookay," Cloudrye meowed awkwardly once the SkyClan cats left. "They're sure friendly."
"We should still watch out a bit," muttered Dawnclaw. She picked her way cautiously down the rocky slope. It was nothing like the ThunderClan one, which was smooth and paved. Onyxshade followed, skidding down the rocks. Pebbles washed down with him, and he hissed in alarm.
The rocks took him all the way down to the bottom, where he immediately stopped.
"Watch it!" snarled a voice. Onyxshade jumped aside just in time as Jumpingtail slid down, tripped, and bumped his muzzle on the floor.
"Ouch."
"Ha!" Onyxshade purred in amusement.
"Whatever," Jumpingtail muttered in annoyance, and shook his pelt. "I'll go visit the medicine den."
"It's that way," a passing black tom Onyxshade remembered as Rockshade meowed. "I'll escort you."
"Thanks." Jumpingtail padded away with Rockshade.
"They even escort warriors to the medicine den?" asked Cloudrye in disbelief.
"Ah, the new cats," croaked an elder. He was black-and-white all over. "My name is Patchfoot. Have you ever heard of Sol?"
"Shrewtooth mentioned his name," recalled Dawnclaw. "But we don't know who he is."
"Sol came here," croaked Patchfoot. "He almost destroyed SkyClan. Once, Stick, Cora, Shorty, and Coal were here too. And they also almost destroyed SkyClan. We have been through a lot. We find it hard to trust."
Onyxshade nodded. "I'm sorry. We must look like another pair of intruders, waiting to wreck you."
Cloudrye let out a bitter laugh. "Trust us, we're already pretty wrecked back home."
Patchfoot nodded. "I'm sorry about Foxstar."
"It's all right," Onyxshade meowed. Patchfoot padded away and crouched down on a sunlit rock. Onyxshade looked at the others.
"Where to?" Dawnclaw finally asked.
"Um… let's go find Sharpstar and see what he can assign us. Maybe we can discuss what we want."
Several cats still cast suspicious but curious glances towards them. Onyxshade tried to look as innocent as possible.
"Um, excuse us, but where is the leader's den?" Cloudrye asked lightly, padding up to a dark tabby she-cat.
"Over there," the she-cat meowed stiffly. "I'll lead you there."
They followed the warrior over to a large rock with a small tunnel. At the entrance sat Sharpstar and the deputy, Billystorm.
"Lichenmask," Sharpstar greeted, while Billystorm nodded. "And…ah, the newcomers."
"I am only here to escort," Lichenmask replied, dipping her head. She quickly left, casting a glance over her shoulder.
"Billystorm and I have been discussing," Sharpstar meowed once Lichenmask was out of earshot, "what is it that you really want? For us to battle?"
"For you to help us defeat Foxstar," Onyxshade meowed, "and yes, therefore to fight."
"And how do you expect us," Billystorm cut in, "to defeat him while three Clans have not?"
