A/N: Major thanks to Swiftstar, my first (and so far only…) reviewer!

Shadow Ascension

By Catgirl the Crazy

Chapter 6: Aftermath

Brambleclaw, Rainwhisker, Cloudtail, Spiderpaw, Littlecloud, and Tawnypelt quickened their pace as they drew closer to Fourtrees. When they were nearly there, the yowling died out.

They quickened their pace. "Well, we know the battle's ended." Mousefur mewed grimly. "I just hope we won."

There was nothing anyone could say to that so they just kept going. When they were right outside the clearing, they ran into Squirrelpaw.

"Squirrelpaw," demanded Cloudtail, "What happened? Who won the battle?"

The ginger apprentice looked confused. "How did you know?" she asked.

"Never mind that, just tell us!" Cloudtail mewed impatiently.

"We won, but how did you know there was a battle?" Squirrelpaw asked. "You were at camp."

"Sorreltail and I were worried about why it was taking you so long to get back, so we went to see if everything was ok." Spiderpaw explained. "I guess we got here too late, though."

Squirrelpaw shrugged. "We won so it doesn't really matter. Besides," she added. "You can help me carry Leafpaw's supplies. She asked me to go get them for her."

Leafpaw limped around the clearing, keeping a checking who in ThunderClan was seriously injured, who was dead, and who had injuries that could wait a little while. When she was done, she reviewed the mental list she'd formed in her mind. So far, only one ThunderClan warrior had died, and that was Sootfur. Leafpaw glanced over at Sorreltail, and her heart went out to the poor she-cat. Sorreltail was standing vigil over her dead brother's body. Her father when she was a kit, her mother when she was an apprentice, and now Sootfur, thought Leafpaw. Poor Sorreltail.

Leafpaw turned and continued to review her mental list. There were two cats that'd been seriously injured, Thornclaw and Brightheart. Cinderpelt was still unsure about whether they'd pull through, but Leafpaw still had high hopes. Firestar had emerged from the battle with one less life than he'd entered it with, but other than that he would recover.

A mournful wailing interrupted her thoughts. "Tallstar is dead!" yowled a dark gray tabby tom Leafpaw didn't know. "He goes to hunt with StarClan in Silverpelt." She looked towards where the WindClan cats were gathered near Barkface. Amongst them, Leafpaw could make out the motionless black and white body of Tallstar.

She felt a pang of grief. Tallstar had stood with Firestar against Tigerstar and TigerClan shortly before the battle with BloodClan. She glanced at her father and saw his eyes were filled with grief. He had known Tallstar longer and better than she had, and was understandably grieving more than she was. It's hard to be sad about someone you don't know that well. Sandstorm padded over to him and gave him a comforting lick.

Leafpaw turned and saw Squirrelpaw pad into the clearing carrying a bundle of cobwebs. Following her were Brambleclaw, Cloudtail, Mousefur, Spiderpaw, Littlecloud and Tawnypelt, all of whom were carrying either a bundle of herbs or cobwebs.

Leafpaw limped over to them. "Good, you brought supplies," she mewed happily. She gazed warily at Littlecloud and Tawnypelt. "Can we trust them?" she asked Squirrelpaw.

Squirrelpaw opened her mouth to reply, but Brambleclaw cut her off. "Yes, they've told us why they're here, and we can trust them."

"Why are they here?" Leafpaw asked curiously.

"We'll explain it to the whole Gathering as soon as we've cared for the wounded," Littlecloud mewed.

Leafpaw sensed a flash of annoyance from Squirrelpaw, and guessed she knew as much as Leafpaw did. "Very well," Leafpaw sighed. "Go bring those to Cinderpelt. She by the Great Rock with Thornclaw and Brightheart," she mewed, gesturing with her tail.

"Brightheart!" Cloudtail mewed, alarmed, and he picked up his bundle of herbs and dashed over to the place Leafpaw had indicated. The other cats followed him.

Brambleclaw spent a good deal of time that night helping Cinderpelt. Tawnypelt and Squirrelpaw kept joking that if they helped out Littlecloud and Cinderpelt much more, they might as well become medicine cat apprentices.

It was well past midnight. The moon was beginning to set. "We should be able to get them back to camp now," he heard Littlecloud telling Firestar. "Though we'll have to be careful with Thornclaw. That wound could be reopened if he doesn't take it easy."

Good, thought Brambleclaw, I'll be able to get some sleep. He yawned. Then he heard one of the voices he'd heard by river earlier that day.

"I'd bet my tail that this is what Crookedstar meant by 'terrible darkness.'" Brambleclaw looked up to see who was talking. A couple fox-lengths away were the RiverClan warriors Stormfur and Feathertail. He saw Stormfur nod.

"Yes, StarClan must have sent you that dream to warn you about this!" Stormfur mewed angrily. "If they'd been more clear we'd have been able to prevent this!"

"You had a dream?" Brambleclaw couldn't resist asking. The RiverClan cats froze.

"How much did you hear?" Stormfur demanded.

"It's alright," Brambleclaw replied instead, "I had a similar dream myself."

They stared at him. "You did?" Feathertail mewed, surprised.

"Yes," Brambleclaw nodded. "But it was Bluestar who came to me, not Crookedstar."

Stormfur looked thoughtful. "If StarClan sent a warning dream to a RiverClan and a ThunderClan cat, it would make sense that they also sent it to a WindClan cat."

"Yes," agreed Brambleclaw. "We should ask around."

Feathertail looked doubtful. "I'm not sure that's such a good idea," she mewed. "They'd probably think we're crazy or something. If they didn't claw our ears off first."

Brambleclaw realized she was right. Then he thought of something. "I wonder," he mewed. "Perhaps a ShadowClan cat had a dream too."

"Well, it's not we can find out," Stormfur mewed dryly. "The ShadowClan don't seem to be in a mood to tell us anything."

"Actually, it's not the ShadowClan cat's fault," Brambleclaw replied. The two RiverClan warriors looked at him quizzically, and he gave them a shortened explanation of what had happened with Littlecloud and Tawnypelt. "So," Brambleclaw continued, "We could ask Tawnypelt if anyone mentioned having a strange dream."

"Alright," Stormfur agreed reluctantly. "But you ask her. She might not react well to you being with two strange RiverClan cats." Brambleclaw nodded and padded over to his sister.

A/N: Sorry for the wait folks, I hope chapter seven will be up soon!