A/N: Chapter two folks! Longer this time.

Shadow Ascension

By Catgirl the Crazy

Chapter 2: Darkening Clouds

Fortunately for Brambleclaw, Squirrelpaw seemed too distracted to get on his nerves that day. Something seemed to be bothering her, but Brambleclaw was too distracted by his dream to really notice. Since Dustpelt was too busy trying to keep the ginger apprentice focused, neither of them noticed Brambleclaw's own distractedness.

What did Bluestar mean, "A terrible darkness is coming"? Brambleclaw wondered. What kind of darkness? When was it coming? It could've been just a dream, and he'd had too much freshkill the night before. It was all so confusing. Brambleclaw mentally shook himself out of this reverie. He was on a patrol, and he needed to pay attention. He looked around. He was at Sunningrocks now, but there was no sign of Dustpelt or Squirrelpaw.

Mentally rebuking himself for not paying more attention, Brambleclaw sniffed the air. When he found their trail, he started to follow it, but stopped when he heard the sound of voices coming from the RiverClan side of the border. He stood there, uncertain as to whether he should investigate the voices or go find Dustpelt and Squirrelpaw. In the end, he decided to investigate, figuring he'd be able to catch up later.

Brambleclaw crept amongst the reeds towards the sound of the voices. If there's one good thing my father did, Brambleclaw thought, it's that he gave me a pelt that camouflages so easily. He stood still as soon as he was close enough to hear what was said.

"I don't know!" came the voice of a frustrated tom. "Crookedstar could've meant a lot of things by a terrible darkness!"

"Still," Brambleclaw heard another voice, a she-cat this time, sounding equally frustrated. "In my dream-"

"Wait!" the tom cut her off. "I smell a ThunderClan cat!" Brambleclaw froze. There was a pause, and Brambleclaw guessed that the two cats- whoever they were- were probably sniffing the air to pinpoint his location. He longed to run away, but that would only scare the cats off, and he hoped to hear something else important.

"Whoever it is, they're on their own side of the river," the she-cat said dismissively. "They're not doing us any harm."

"Still," the tom growled. "They might hear us, and this is something we should keep private, for now at least. Let's go somewhere else."

As soon as the two cats were gone, Brambleclaw made his way back towards the patrol. The conversation he'd overheard had given him plenty to think about. For one thing, he knew it couldn't have just been a dream if another cat had had it as well. Also, he realized, if StarClan was telling more than one Clan about this, he knew it must be serious danger. But he no idea what it could be or how he should stop it.

Leafpaw lay near the medicine cats den. She was deep in thought, thinking about something that had happened earlier that day. She'd been collecting some poppy seeds by the Thunderpath early that morning. She'd looked across it into ShadowClan territory, and felt a strange feeling of foreboding, like something awful was going to happen. She didn't know what it meant, but she had a feeling it was a message from StarClan.

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sound of someone calling her name. "Leafpaw!" Squirrelpaw called.

Leafpaw got up and stretched. "Hey Squirrelpaw," she called back. "How was dawn patrol?"

"First, what happened with you this morning?" Squirrelpaw asked without answering Leafpaw's question. "Something happened and we both know it."

Leafpaw, willingly enough, told Squirrelpaw what had happened by the Thunderpath.

"Hmmm," Squirrelpaw mewed thoughtfully, more to herself than anything. "Have you talked to Cinderpelt about this?"

Leafpaw shook her head. "I wanted to see if I could figure it out myself first. Besides, it wasn't a dream or a vision or anything like that, just a feeling. Nothing big."

Squirrelpaw shrugged and changed the subject. "Has Cinderpelt told you if you're going to the Gathering tonight?"

Leafpaw shook her head, "Nope. What about you?"

"Like you, no one's told me. Though I wouldn't particularly mind if I didn't go," Squirrelpaw added. "I'd be able to get a good night's sleep."

"Hmmmmm," Leafpaw replied, unsure of what to say. Finally, she asked "Oh well, we can only wait and see. Whaddaya say we go hunting?"

A/N: See I told you it was longer. And no cliffie this time. If you can't figure out who the RiverClan cats are, then you're way beyond hope. Now read and review!