ShadowClan Allegiances

Leader

Sandstar- yellow tabby tom with green eyes

Deputy

Smoky- dark grey with black paws and white star on belly, tom, previously a rogue

Medicine Cat

Pineleaf- dark tortoiseshell she-cat

Warriors

Brighttail- white tom with chestnut sploches on flank

Cedarflame- brown tabby tom with white paws

Moonglow- cream colored she-cat

Tigerwhisker- orange tom

Foxnose- orangey red tom

Echostream- broad-faced grey tom

Apprentice, Thrushpaw

Deerpelt- pretty brown tabby she-cat with unusually short tail

Apprentice, Thistlepaw

Marshclaw- brown tom with white sploches

Ashcloud- dark gray she-cat

Toadfur- black tom with white tipped tail

Cloverheart- silvery she-cat

Apprentice, Stonepaw

Tawnysky- brown she-cat with lighter stripes

Apprentice, Sagepaw

Jaggedstone- light gray tom

Queens

Honeytail- light tan she-cat, mother of Echostream's kits (Adderkit)

Leafpelt- tortoiseshell she-cat, expecting Jaggedstone's kits

Apprentices

Sagepaw- white she-cat with black splotches

Thrushpaw- yellowish tan tom

Stonepaw- light gray tom with long fur

Thistlepaw- gray spike-furred tom

Elder

Pouncewhisker- dark gray tom with lighter head and tail

Adderkit

ShadowClan cats are harsh.

Don't get me wrong, ShadowClan is amazing. We learn skills such as night hunting, and we're always on the offensive in a battle. We've created battle moves that lead to victory almost every time.

But despite all of that, we're still very rude. Yes, to other Clans, but also to each other.

And if you slip up like me, you're marked for life.

Honeytail, my mother, always insists that I'll always have a place in ShadowClan, and there's no reason to feel out of place.

But I remind her that she said the same thing about Snowberry.

Even though she knows that's where the conversation is going to lead, Honeytail is always caught off guard. Her eyes glaze over, and she stares off into the distance for a while.

While Honeytail cares about me, my father doesn't. It's like I permanently ruined his reputation when I made that one mistake. So he joins in on the taunts.

Sure, every cat knows that the teasing was never meant to cut deep. But when certain apprentices think it's cool and can impress warriors to bully the weakling, it can make your life a living nightmare.

But there is someone who I knew would always be on my side.

Adderkit

My mother was out. Leafpelt was taking a walk to stretch her legs. I was hiding out in the nursery and feeling sorry for myself, like usual, but a pretty white she-cat poked her head inside.

"Hi, Sagepaw."

"Adderkit! I have some free time before I have to go on a patrol, do you want to practice your hunter's crouch?"

"Sure, Sagepaw." I got up groggily and stretched.

I technically wasn't allowed to leave camp, but there was a little clearing just beyond the camp borders. Whenever Sagepaw had some spare time, she would teach me a few things she's learned over the course of her apprenticeship.

"So," she meowed, "I hear you're going to be an apprentice pretty soon. Only a couple more days, right?"

"Yeah. And your assessment is tomorrow? Are you prepared?"

"Oh yes. I'm positive I can handle anything they throw at me. But we're here to focus on you. Now show me your hunter's crouch!"

I bent my legs, pushing my chest toward the ground. Sagepaw walked around, giving me constructive criticism.

"Lift your tail, so your prey can't hear it drag on the ground. Paws apart. You don't want to fall over, do you? Lower your body, because we don't have as much undergrowth, but don't touch the ground either. There! You'll blow them out of the water with your amazing hunting." I looked up, and she was beaming at me. I smiled back.

"Ha! What does he think he's doing? Look at this, Stonepaw!"

"He looks so pathetic!"

"Sagepaw, I don't know why you continue to associate yourself with him." Thrushpaw strode into the clearing, Stonepaw trailing behind. I tensed and straightened up.

"Oh, go choke on a frog, Thrushpaw," Sagepaw snapped. "We're trying to work."

"You shouldn't worry your pretty little head about training this embarrassment. Go and practice for your assessment, while we tutor your little 'apprentice' in the art of battle."

"You wouldn't."

"I will."

My stomach dropped. I tried to scramble away, back to the safety of the nursery, but I bumped into Stonepaw. He grinned at me, yelling, "Hey look. He's trying to get away!"

"Nice try." Thrushpaw left Sagepaw behind and came closer to me. "But it won't save you." He continued to inch closer slowly.

As soon as he was in range, I pulled together all of my courage, unsheathed my claws and swiped at his face. I didn't make much of a mark, but a drop of red emerged from his cheek.

Thrushpaw was taken aback, but he recovered quickly. "I was going to go easy on you, but it looks like you have the guts to take me on."

I don't remember everything that Thrushpaw did to me after that, but I do know Sagepaw tried to shove them away and save me, but they pushed her back, until finally she ran back to camp and got help from Smoky. He barrelled into the clearing and pulled them off of me and rushed me to the medicine den.

Adderkit

Smoky was angry.

Sandstar was livid.

Pineleaf was furious.

But Deerpelt topped them all with her insanely intense rage at her son. I'm sure that if I was conscious to see it, it would have been hilarious, but I had to settle for Sagepaw's recollection.

It was a shame Thrushpaw decided to do something like that a few days before he would have become a warrior. Now, not only is his ceremony indefinitely postponed, but he also was required to change the bedding in the elder's den and the nursery. For three whole moons!

I was lucky that Sagepaw got Smoky's attention when she did, because I could have died. Now, I just had a long, but not deep, gash across my back, some scratches on my legs, and a few notches in my ears. Nothing fatal that Pineleaf couldn't handle.

The next night, I woke up when a fern tickled my nose. I was in a lot of pain, but it wasn't too bad, considering what it could have been.

I rolled over in time to see Sagepaw slip out of the medicine den. Her gleaming white fur distracted me for a second, but I got up and followed her.

She leaped up and landed on top of the den, looking up at the stars. I tried to copy her graceful movements and failed. Finally, I made it to the top, with a lot of struggle.

"Why were you in the medicine den?" I asked, startling Sagepaw.

As she turned around, she replied, "I was checking on you. I would have done that earlier today but Echostream wouldn't let me in."

"Why not?"

"He didn't say."

That's odd. But I didn't care about Echostream and his strange behavior. "Thanks for trying. So what are you up here for?"

"Have you ever seen the stars, and the moon, at night? I stargaze sometimes on top of this den, and I figured I'd do that tonight, since I was already over here. Come sit, and you'll see what I mean." She moved her tail out of the way to make room for me.

I sat down and tilted my head back. The night sky was absolutely breathtaking. The stars glinted, the moon gleamed, and Sagepaw… well, she could beat both of them.

"Why do you help me?" I asked. "Thrushpaw was right. I'm just an embarrassment."

"You know, that accident was all it was. An accident. And I don't just want to make the rest of the Clan see that you're more than that. I want you to see it too."

Wow. That felt really nice, to know she didn't just pity me. "Well, you are an amazing teacher, and you'll be an amazing warrior, too."

"Oh, I'm not that great." Sagepaw lowered her tail and turned to look at me. "If I had taught you something about battle and focused less on hunting, you might not have all of those injuries."

"Don't say that, you…" I trailed off. The plants next to the den rustled, catching my eye, and Echostream strolled out of the undergrowth and went inside the den. Sagepaw followed my gaze, then pointed with her tail to a little space where we could see inside the den. He woke up Pineleaf from her nest. She got up, glaring and stretched.

"Can I help you, Echostream?"

"Yes. I want to know if it's possible for Adderkit to make a full recovery," he replied, not noticing the malice in her tone.

Wait… did Echostream care about me? I was sure that he hated me, but at that moment, I let myself hope that he actually cared about my well-being.

"After that little stunt he pulled, the only way for my son to become a great warrior is if he gets better. If he doesn't, well, let's just say something useless like medicine is in his future."

"We'll see how 'useless' the art of medicine is when he recovers," Pineleaf snapped.

"That's a relief," Echostream continued, not noticing her ice-cold glare. "He has to do something with his life if I'm ever going to get my reputation back. Do you know what it's done to me to have a son that embarrasses himself that badly?"

Figures. He was only thinking about himself and his stupid reputation. I'll admit, I've endured some pretty bad teasing, but it's not nearly as bad as how he was describing it.

Sagepaw whispered next to me, "I'm so sorry."

"He doesn't matter. But I want to try something." I leaped down from the top of the medicine den, clearing my throat behind Echostream. He jumped, and when he turned around to face me, the look on his face was priceless.

"Adderkit! How nice to see you… up and about…" His gaze wandered from me, to my empty nest, and then to Pineleaf and her smirk.

"Does that mean you're feeling better, Adderkit? Score one for medicine, huh?" she laughed, and shoved him out of the den. "Good night, Echostream."

Once he left, Pineleaf eyed me suspiciously. "Now that I think about it, your wounds weren't supposed to have healed this much already. Why, I'd say that you've made a complete recovery, from the way your wounds look. But that's impossible, because you only got the wounds yesterday. Or is it?"

"I really don't know," I admitted. "But they have stopped hurting."

"Huh. I think you should still stay here, just so that I can make sure my eyes aren't playing tricks on me in the dark."

Thanks for reading! Please comment if you have any questions or feedback.