Hello again, people! I'm sorry for not updating earlier; I've been having problems with my Internet, AND my cat (erm, he had a cat cold along with his chronic breathing condition 'cause he's a Siamese, and that made for a life-threatening combination, but don't worry! The vet gave him some antibiotics, and they worked very well, so now my Tito is his old silly self. I'm happy about that) so... Anyway, as I said last chapter, this chapter's not as long, because there isn't much more action I can put in. Brokenstar's already gone, so this was all I could come up with.
Thanks to my awesome reviewers: Queen Of The Pens, IvyClan Moonblossom, Tangleflame, Fallenshadow962, and Shimmerheart69
Chapter Thirty-Five
A shocked silence spread out through the shattered Clan as they stared after Brokenstar. Newleaf kept her head high, proud to have succeeded, but other than her three followers, the ShadowClan cats kept together, eyes glazed, looking numb. What happened? Am I missing something? Why aren't they celebrating?
Nightpelt stood and nodded to the ThunderClan patrol that helped them. "Leave them. If they dare show their faces here again, ShadowClan will be strong enough by then to tackle them alone."
We will, agreed Newleaf silently, hoping it was really true. This hardship has made us all stronger.
"Come," Newleaf meowed, taking a step forward to the ThunderClan cats. "You have come here for your kits; I will show you to them."
"The kits!" Graypaw exclaimed behind her.
No, mouse-brain, what do you think I'll show you to? The elders' den? She thought, irritated.
The ThunderClan cats were thankful, though, and after Yellowfang had checked over them to make sure they weren't harmed, Nightpelt took a step toward them. "You helped ShadowClan rid itself of s brutal and dangerous leader, and we are grateful. But it is time you left our camp and returned to your own. I promise your hunting grounds will be free of ShadowClan warriors as long as we can find enough food in our own territory."
Whitestorm nodded to her father. "Hunt in peace for one moon, Nightpelt. ThunderClan knows you need time to rebuild your Clan." He turned to her former medicine cat. "And you, Yellowfang? Do you wish to return with us, or stay here with your old comrades?"
Please stay here, Newleaf found herself praying. It's safe for Yellowfang to stay here now. Please stay.
Yellowfang gave her a small glance, as if trying to decide where she should go. Newleaf gazed up at her with hopeful eyes. Then the old medicine cat looked up at the white ThunderClan warrior. "I will make the journey back with you. You will need a medicine cat, for yourself and your kits."
ThunderClan needs a medicine cat? She wondered. But if that's so, what happened to Spottedleaf? She paused as a new thought occurred to her. Was it possible that…? Clawface had murdered Spottedleaf! She was sure of it. It was one of the things Brokenstar had mentioned to her. She sighed inwardly. Very well, Yellowfang. Go to ThunderClan. They need you more than we.
"Thank you," ThunderClan's senior warrior purred. He swayed his tail, signaling to the other Clan to leave. The patrol and Yellowfang followed him, but Newleaf caught up with Firepaw and Graypaw, who were at the back of the group of ThunderClan cats.
"Wait," she mewed as she padded quickly next to them. "I need to say something to you two before you leave ShadowClan's camp."
Firepaw twitched his ears. "What?"
"Thanks for helping us," she said, dipping her head to the two apprentices. "I know it came from my father, Nightpelt, but I am also grateful, and I wanted to tell you so myself."
"Brokenstar will not dare come back," replied Firepaw. e turne
"But if he does…" Newleaf didn't finish the thought, but instead stretched out her thorn-sharp claws as far as they could go.
She grinned, feeling in her element with apprentices. She may not have been a warrior for long, but under Brokenstar's rule, she felt as though a warrior's full responsibilities had dropped on her shoulders when she was only five moons old. It was too much. Joking around with Darkwing and Littlecloud helped, but really any apprentice could ease the tension that had set residence in her shoulders.
"Right," Graypaw nodded. "But now we have to go."
"Of course," she meowed, narrowing her eyes. "You wouldn't want to get left behind. But good hunting. I hope you two get your warrior names soon. It shouldn't be long, by the looks of you two."
"Thank you," the two apprentices answered, and sped up to catch up to the ThunderClan cats.
Newleaf skidded to a halt before the entrance of the camp, staring after them. Darkwing's pelt brushed hers, and Littlecloud came up on her other side. Nightpelt yowled for them, and the three young warriors padded back to the clearing.
Thinking it was long enough to wait for this moment, Newleaf threw her head up and yowled in triumph like a wolf howling to the moon. Darkwing, Littlecloud, and Marshypool joined in, and soon all of ShadowClan was yowling proudly to StarClan. We did it! We got rid of Brokenstar!
The yowling died down as more and more cats realized that though this was a great moment for their Clan, they still had no leader. Confusion grew, and the cats muttered with worried glanced at each other.
"Who will be leader now?" asked Brightflower, eyes shining with worry.
"The deputy would replace the leader," agreed Flintfang, "but we have no deputy now either."
Newleaf twitched her ears in annoyance. This was only a minor concern after their ordeal with Brokenstar. This new crisis could be easily fixed. Darkwing seemed to agree with her, because he lashed his tail and snorted.
"Stop, stop!" meowed Runningnose. "Perhaps StarClan will tell me in a dream."
"Are you going to the Moonstone, then?" Foxfur asked.
"No," he replied.
"Before we go on wondering when StarClan will send us the sign, why don't we choose a leader?" Newleaf piped up. "Is there any cat ready to take on the responsibility of leadership right now and do it rightly and fairly?"
"You can't be too young," agreed Foxfur, "and you must have had at least one apprentice."
Darkwing gave Newleaf an affectionate nudge. "If we were older, and you've had an apprentice, I bet you'd be a great leader," he teased.
She cuffed his ear, amused. "A great leader with a great name."
"Newstar," he purred. "It's not so bad. Now Darkstar –that sounds weird. "
"Not weirder than Newstar," she objected. "I'd rather keep my name. I'm not sure if I'd want to be leader."
"Of course you would," said Darkwing. "I do."
"Whatever," she flicked her tail. "We need to find a real leader."
All the cats had started to argue among themselves, saying they should be the leader. Newleaf tensed as she saw claws unsheathing, fur bristling, snarls and hisses exchanged. "Stop!" she yowled. "We need to choose, not fight among ourselves!"
"She's right," Marshypool meowed loudly. "Who's ready to take on the leadership?"
Nightpelt was watching with half-closed eyes, but now he padded forward. "I could be leader."
Many cats narrowed their eyes, but there was no arrogance in his tone. It was completely meek, his voice.
"But you're an elder," objected Marshpelt, the warrior who had been Squirrelpaw's mentor. "Are you sure you can lead us?"
"Of course!" Newleaf stated snappily. "And he's no elder! He's a senior warrior! He'll be a fine leader!"
"He sure will," Dawncloud mewed, gazing affectionately at her mate.
Darkwing, Littlecloud, Ashfur, Cinderfur, and Marshypool muttered agreement.
"So we are agreed?" Runningnose asked. "Nightpelt is to be our new leader?"
The ShadowClan cats all nodded. "Agreed!"
"I am very honored," Nightpelt dipped his head. "I promise I will try to make ShadowClan as strong and prosperous as when Raggedstar was leader –perhaps even more so."
"Nightpelt! Nightpelt!" Newleaf yowled, and ShadowClan joined in her joyful welcome.
"Nightpelt! Nightpelt! Nightpelt! Nightpelt!"
"Thank you," the new ShadowClan leader mewed.
"When will you go to Highstones?" asked Foxfur. "You need to get your nine lives and your name!"
Nightpelt turned to answer Foxfur's question. "Not yet. We have much work to do! First, I'll start with the apprentices."
"We have to be apprentices again?" asked Newleaf, shocked. "But we've finished training! And we have our warrior names!"
"Don't worry," Nightpelt replied. "You don't have to be apprentices again, but you still need some extra training. You've only had two moons of training. Fortunately you're almost six moons now, so you can be trained more decently."
Her fur began to lie flat at her father's words, and she dipped her head to him. "Very well."
"And our two newest apprentices, Shiverpaw and Sparrowpaw are too young to be trained. They will keep their apprentice names, but they must go back to the nursery." He ordered. "That is all for now. It is late, and we all need rest."
Nightpelt turned to the leader's den and padded away, Dawncloud following him closely, purring. Happy that her parent had not grown apart, Newleaf turned to the warriors' den, grateful that she didn't have to sleep in that dreadful hole again tonight.
She curled up in her old nest, wondering what ShadowClan would be like now her father was leader. He'd vowed to do the best he could to bring another golden age to ShadowClan, with peace instead of war, where apprentices could train without threat of enemies and kits could rest and play peacefully, but she knew that would take a long time and be very hard work for the new leader.
But Nightpelt could do it. He was a strong cat, wise. He knew what to do to make ShadowClan whole again. Newleaf had faith in her father.
Darkwing settled down next to her and sighed in content. "We did it."
"Yes," she agreed wearily. "We did.
She smiled and closed her eyes, beginning to purr loudly. She knew now she could rest easily, without the threat of Blackfoot, Clawface or Brokenstar. She fell into a deep, deep sleep.
Newleaf is near, Squirrelpaw whispered in her sleeping ears. It will soon be upon us.
Did I not tell you it was short? Anyway, I've been reading around the Warriors stories recently. Some are really amazing. Some are... well, suckish, no offense to ANYONE who writes suckish stories... Did you know there are more than 10,000 Warriors stories on this site? I'll never be able to read them all! Hahaha.
Anyway, seriously, PLEASE check out Warmth of the Moon. It's very lonely right now. :(
Queen Of The Pens: Everything is more nature-y than NYC! I still love it. :)
IvyClan Moonblossom: I will promote it once you work on it a tiny bit more. Take my advice on it; you'll get better!
Tangleflame: Thank you for that! I suppose it IS quite amazing, isn't it?
Fallenshadow: Don't hurt yourself over it! It's all right!
Shimmerheart: Well, I did it intentionaly, of course. I had Into the Wild near me the entire chapter, the same with this chapter. *shrugs*
Anyway, please review!
~Coqui's Song