Chapter 3
Brackenpaw padded through the forest. He ran as fast as he could, but the dog was catching up.
"You stupid Twoleg dog, can't you run any faster?" he teased.
The dog was driven to chase him faster. The faster Brackenpaw went, the faster the dog went. Brackenpaw began to slow down, the dog was right on his tail now. It snapped and yipped as it tried to get a hold of the young tom.
"You're too slow." The young tom shrugged. Suddenly he turned around and attacked the dog. He dashed around, avoiding bites and scratches. He unsheathed his claws and scratched the dog's nose. The large animal yelped in pain.
"You're too easy." He spat. The dog shook off the pain and lunged toward Brackenpaw. The young tom stood still, as if he were about to let the dog rip him apart. Suddenly the Twolegs called their dog. The dog slowly moved away from Brackenpaw and obeyed it's owner's call. It turned back at Brackenpaw, licked its lips then turned away.
"Fox dung, I was so close too." Brackenpaw muttered. "Don't worry Cinderpaw, I'll get injured so we'll be together again."
The young tom had another plan. He was going to hunt in enemy territory, he thought he might get a few scratches out of that. He went across the river and began to hunt. He found a water vole and began to gnaw on it. Suddenly Riverclan patrol spotted him.
"Intruder!" A large gray tom yowled. Brackenpaw recognized him, he was Stonefur.
"Chase him out!" another yelled. That one was Blackclaw.
The cats dashed towards him, the young tom didn't move an inch. A bit confused the cats surround Brackenpaw. There was only three of them, but three against one was not fair. This was the perfect plan.
"What are you doing here?" a silver cat asked. She was known as Silverstream.
"I came here to hunt." Brackenpaw meowed.
"Let's teach him a lesson and take a chunk out of him." Blackclaw hissed.
"There is no need for a fight, he's just a mere apprentice." Stonefur meowed. Blackclaw mumbled a few words but obey the gray tom.
"You know this is not your territory. Go on, back to your territory." Silverstream urged him to return politely. She nudged him lightly with her nose. Brackenpaw wanted to turn and scratch her, but she was too nice. This patrol was not going to hurt him. He reluctantly walked back to Thunderclan. His plan was not working out.
The next day he decided to take a big risk. He snuck away from camp and made his way towards Thunderpath. There were no monsters on the cold, black road. Brackenpaw took a deep breath.
"I'm doing this for Cinderpaw. She must be so lonely." He said.
The young tom took a few steps onto Thunderpath. He sat right on top of their and waited for a monster to roar by. Nothing happened for a very long time. Brackenpaw impatiently paced around Thudnerpath. Finally he heard a deep grumble from an oncoming monster. Brackenpaw froze, he prepared for the hit.
"This is it." He said.
Suddenly a large dark figure jumped out from the bushes of Shadowclan. It was a brown tom. He grabbed Brackenpaw's scruff and dashed over on Thunderclan's side. The monster roared by, it's loud noise soon faded. The brown tom dropped Brackenpaw on the ground.
"Hey, what was that for?" Brackenpaw scowled.
"I just save you from a monster!" the brown tom spat. "Don't they teach you anything in Thunderclan?"
"Who are you?" the young golden-brown tom asked.
The older cat looked straight at Brackenpaw. "I'm Clawface." Just as he said his name, Brackenpaw noticed the scars on the older tom's face.
"I've heard about you. You were chased out of Shadowclan, along with your leader and a few other warriors. What're you doing in Shadowclan." Brackenpaw asked suspiciously.
"I walk on the border of Shadowclan sometimes." Clawface responded.
"I've heard about you. You invaded our territory and killed our medicine cat." Brackenpaw's heart began to beat faster. He feared that Clawface might attack him and kill him, just as he did to the old medicine cat, Spottedleaf.
"Yeah, I did kill her. She was in the way. I stick by my leader, Brokenstar. I obey his every command." He said proudly.
"Why did you save me? We're from different clans, I don't even think you like Thunderclan." Brackenpaw mewed.
"Well…your father was my brother." The brown tom said in a low voice.
"No. It can't be. My mother said that my father was a loyal Thunderclan cat." He began to tremble. He was related to a Shadowclan cat?
"Yes, my brother was loyal. Our father came from Thunderclan but our mother was a Shadowclan cat. No cat knew about this, no cat found out. My father wanted to raise one of us, so he took my brother. He said that he found him, so Thunderclan took my brother in. He became a loyal Thunderclan warrior, and proved himself worthy. He disliked the fact that he was half Shadowclan." Clawface explained.
"My mother, Frostfur, never told me who my father was. Nobody did, they just said he was a good warrior." Brackenpaw sighed.
"Would you like to know who your father is?" Clawface asked.
"Yes! Please tell me!" Brackenpaw begged.
Clawface took a deep breath.
"Your father is…"
Don't you just hate cliffhangers? Well find out who Brackenpaw's father is in the next chapter!