Shadowpaw: The Lonely

by EruditeRavenclawRiverClan

Shadowpaw. He wouldn't have this name for long. He was loyal, sure. He was skilled, definitely. But what about the other end of the spectrum. His control. His conformity. That's something Shadowpaw never had, and no one knows about...until now. Follow the story of a legend who built his fame off of something more than just good, or fair. Something dark, twisted, and bloodstained.

6. Chapter V

Shadowpaw had been running for only a few minutes, but it seemed like a lifetime. He didn't know what to feel. The place where he'd lived for so many moons...he could never return. I was freeing, but lonely at the same time. In the span of one day, he'd lost all connection to his family, or what remained of it. It was all numbing in a sense.

Eventually, he couldn't scent the Clans anymore. In fact, he couldn't really scent anything.

He slowed his pace to a brisk walk and got a glance of his surroundings. He was at the edge of an unfamiliar but dense pine forest, with a meadow stretching as far as the eye could see just beyond the treeline. The setting sun ignited a fiery glow on the horizon as the steadily darkening sky cast long shadows on the rough needles coating the ground. The air was mostly silent. It was peaceful, in a sense, but Shadowpaw didn't acknowledge that aspect.

He spared a quick, longing look at the way he'd come, then looked around. The Clans couldn't be far away. It didn't matter anyways.

He sighed, walking slowly towards the meadow. It gave him a small twinge of sadness, the meadow reminded him of his sister, Meadowpaw. He dismissed this feeling, however. He could never lead that life again.

At the edge of the field, he stopped and sat under a tree. He sat in a state of numbness, watching the sun gently sink below the swaths of heather. Lost to the depths. He stayed like this until the sky was speckled with stars, and a moon cast an eerie glow on the needle-ridden ground.

Finally, he showed signs of movement. Shadowpaw tilted his head up towards the twinkling stars and tried to blink away tears. A flood of emotions was being exposed there, and his eyes raked the stars. He was lonely and sad, but felt a surge of anger and frustration "If you're up there, I hope you're satisfied," he snarled, features hardening. He was angry, angry with BrookClan, angry with StarClan. But most of all, he was angry with Tawnystar. It never had to end this way, but she made it so.

"I will have my vengeance," he growled under his breath, and with that, he curled up and tried to sleep, mind filling with thoughts of his previous Clanmates getting what was coming for them.