SHIMMERWIND'S RISE
The most ambitious rewrite of Starkit's Prophecy you'll ever see
CHAPTER SEVEN
NEVER TRUST SHADOWCLAN
A/N: I KNOW IT TOOK FOREVER BUT I FINISHED
Anyways uh after lots of "Minty, write the chapter or I'm going to bang my head into a wall" from Res and the entire forum, I managed to get this done! Half of it was written in the middle of the night and the other half multitasking, but it's done! I really hope you like it, and now I shall hand this non-existent mic to Lucy for review replies!
*throws mic at Lucy*
REVIEWS (by succulentsofa)
Mintflight0245: ahHHHHH thank you so much minty! Yes lakepaw and greypaw ahahhah best boyssss,,, also thanks :D. And yes! That was my favourite line to write lol.
ThatOneVirgo: AHHHHHHHHH THANK YOU SO MUCHHHH NO THE STORY WAS BLESSED FROM MOMENT OF CREATION SHHH
Dragonbreathjr: yesss all the drama, and look no further because new chapter from comrade is hereeee
Phoenixlight of FallenClan: heee thank u! And yes. Yes she is.
SomeStormLeaf: ahhhhh thank you so much storm! Only going to take credit for a tiny part of this story because everyone else has just… completely been fantastic, and have made this fic what it is. And yes. Shadowclan has a horde. ALSO AHHHHH CLOUDSHARD I LIKE,,, and thanks ! hope u enjoy minty's chapter because i know she's smashed it :)
Guest: this is a au ! so in this universe alderheart and sparkpelt weren't bramblesquirrel's kits. Hope that explains it :)
Shimmerpaw hadn't been able to keep thoughts of the Gathering out of her head after the initial event, running over it late at night or when Cherryfall was enthusiastically showing them another battle move.
As irritated as she was with the Shadowclan apprentices, she couldn't help feeling a bit different about Shardpaw. It wasn't because she had wanted the apprentice to notice her.
That… that wasn't it, obviously.
Forcing her thoughts away, Shimmerpaw looked around camp, trying to spot either Songpaw or one of the older apprentices, but they were all gone, which made sense, as it was midday.
"Mind if I join you?" Cloudpaw's voice sounded by her ear, and Shimmerpaw turned, smiling at him gratefully.
"Of course! It's always nice to have company." She chirped in reply before dragging out a small rabbit from the fresh-kill pile, blinking at Cloudpaw. "We could share, if you want."
"Yeah, that'd be fine. I haven't even eaten yet today!" Cloudpaw explained, before his stomach rumbled quietly, causing him to blush sheepishly.
"I can see that." Shimmerpaw teased, before taking a small bite, pushing the rabbit towards Cloudpaw.
"So, how has your day been?" She asked after the brief silence that came between them, discovering that she was, in fact, quite terrible at small-talk.
"S' been alright." Cloudpaw mumbled, his mouth full. He swallowed his mouthful before continuing. "I mean, I finally caught some prey, or my first prey, so that's cool. Songpaw caught it ages before me though, which I was expecting."
Shimmerpaw realized, with a start, that her friend seemed rather down, and she decided she'd try her best to lift his spirits again. After all, catching his first prey was good, even if it was after everyone else.
"That's great! I mean, catching your first prey is something to be proud of, no matter when you caught it!" She replied brightly, pressing into his side to try to comfort him.
"Still, Songpaw probably won't think anything of it, because as usual, I did it after her, so I'm second-best." Cloudpaw replied bitterly.
"That's not true." Shimmerpaw murmured softly, putting her paw on his comfortingly. "She'll be happy for you, why wouldn't she?"
"I dunno." Cloudpaw murmured, sighing dramatically. "I just… she's so competitive all the time, and… and sometimes I just feel that I won't compare to her." He paused. "Of course, I shouldn't be bothering you with this…" he glanced down sheepishly.
"No, no, it's alright." Shimmerpaw promises, glancing at him reassuringly. "I'm your friend. It's my job to listen. And don't worry, I agree. Songpaw can be a bit much at times."
Cloudpaw let out a long exhale. "Well, at least I'm not the only one. I guess… and now she's saying I made a big deal out of the whole Shadowclan thing… but I didn't!" He huffed defensively. "Honest!"
Shimmerpaw only shrugged. "I dunno… Lakepaw and Greypaw sure weren't the nicest…" She paused, trying to not think about Shardpaw, or more, the idea that she couldn't stop thinking about him.
"Shimmerpaw?" Cloudpaw's voice snapped her back to reality, and she glanced over at him sharply. "Sorry, what were you saying?"
The cream cat glanced at her doubtfully. "I… uh, it was nothing."
Shimmerpaw felt like she messed something up, and desperately tried to keep the conversation going. "No, please. I just got distracted, that's all."
Cloudpaw seemed reluctant, but only gave a small shrug before continuing. "Well… I guess I felt like we should've done something. I mean, I don't want Thunderclan to be known as a weak clan, especially not to Shadowclan!"
"I'm sure they don't think that!" Shimmerpaw replied. "Or at least, not all of them…"
"Who exactly are you implying?" Cloudpaw replied suspiciously, arching an eyebrow.
Shimmerpaw only sat there, flabbergasted, but was saved by Songpaw's rather breezy arrival, her sweeping into camp, loaded with prey after a hunting patrol.
"Hello brother, Shimmerpaw." She said cockily, dropping the prey next to them on the fresh-kill pile before sitting down, curling her tail around her paws. "You two up to anything lately?"
The question was a silent, cocky, jab, and Shimmerpaw felt an urge to respond with something equally as fiery, but only frowned. "Not yet. Sorry Songpaw, we all can't be busy all the time."
Songpaw flinched a bit, raising her eyebrows in confusion. "Jeez, calm down! I was just asking a question!"
"And I was just giving an answer." Shimmerpaw replied coolly, Cloudpaw refraining from smirking beside her, only staring at the ground with a barely refrained smile.
Cloudpaw cleared his throat, glancing at Songpaw with wide eyes. "What about you? What have you been spending this valuable morning doing?"
Songpaw shrugged, her cocky pride having vanished. "Oh, just went on patrol with Redpaw and Splashpaw, y'know? They acted gay as usual, sometimes I wish they'd just get it over with."
Shimmerpaw snorted with amusement. "Oh, please, you know that's not happening. They're never going to figure it out."
"I mean, it's killing me!" Songpaw proclaimed dramatically, rolling her eyes and flopping forwards dramatically. "Just like… how do they not realize? Some cats are so oblivious!"
"Wait, Redpaw and Splashpaw?" Cloudpaw furrowed his fluffy eyebrows, seeming shocked. "I didn't know there was anything between them!"
"It seems I'm also related to an oblivious cat." Songpaw groaned, sitting up again with a long sigh.
Cloudpaw glanced at each of them in turn, appalled. "What?" He squeaked indignantly. "I just didn't! I mean, am I missing out on something?"
"Oh dear." Songpaw rolled her eyes. "Duh, yes, you are! Still, I won't bother explaining it to you. That'll unleash a whole other flood of questions I don't want to answer."
Cloudpaw only sighed, sitting back on his haunches and grumbling to himself, Songpaw refraining from laughing, Shimmerpaw doing much the same.
Turning her gaze towards the fresh-kill pile, which was getting awfully low, (the last hunting patrol probably wasn't in yet), she sniffed it carefully, not hungry, just making sure nothing was overly stale.
"The pile is rather low." She commented in the middle of the stuffy silence that had fallen over the group, shifting her paws rather uncomfortably. "Maybe we should go hunting again to contribute?"
"That's a good idea." Cloudpaw blurted out, standing up stiffly. "I'd… I'd come with you if you'd like."
"Thank you!" Shimmerpaw beamed at him. She turned to Songpaw. "You can come too! We can all go!"
Cloudpaw's expression fell slightly, and he only nodded a bit. "Yeah." He mumbled, and Shimmerpaw wondered what had happened to make him so uncomfortable.
Songpaw obviously noticed her brother's discomfort, but didn't actively call it out, only replying breezily.
"No, no, you go on." She said, arching her back in a long stretch before heading towards the apprentice's den. "I'm going to catch some rest. Have fun!"
Shimmerpaw watched her go, slightly confused, before shrugging, turning back to Cloudpaw.
"Guess it's just us then!" She replied cheerily, beaming at him before trotting towards the entrance of camp.
"Y-Yeah!" Cloudpaw followed hurriedly, seeming to be rather nervous about something, but Shimmerpaw didn't pay any notice to it, only waiting for him to catch up before they headed into the sunny forest.
"So uh… what should we talk about?" Cloudpaw started, glancing at her curiously as he walked in sync with her, leaves drifting down around them.
"We're just hunting, I don't know why we'd need to talk." Shimmerpaw replied uncertainly, giving a little chuckle, but fell silent quickly. "But uh… is there anything in particular you'd like to talk about?"
"Well, I… I guess I wanted to talk about…" Cloudpaw obviously wasn't expecting the question, but his voice trailed off as Shadowclan scent flooded their noses. Shimmerpaw hadn't noticed that they had reached the border, though she did now, edging back uncertainty.
"Don't worry." Cloudpaw said boldly, tapping her side with his tail in an attempt to be reassuring. "I'll… I'll protect you from anything, Shimmerpaw!" The cream cat puffed out his chest, squinting at the undergrowth that lay on the other side.
"I can protect myself, don't you forget that!" Shimmerpaw replied sharply before aiming a weak smile at Cloudpaw. "Thank… thank you though. What did you want to talk about, anyways?"
"Well, judging that we're here, might as well." Cloudpaw replied darkly, glaring across the border. "I dunno, I just.. something about those Shadowclan apprentices made me so angry…"
"Thanks." A voice came from the bushes, and Shimmerpaw squeaked with surprise, hearing Shadepaw emerge. Cloudpaw's fur bristled, and a low growl rose in his throat.
"What are you doing here?" He hissed, going nose to nose with the Shadowclan apprentice, who only blinked evenly back.
"I'm not here because I want to be. I just think you should know something." The dark tabby mewed, flicking his tail. Shimmerpaw tried to rip her gaze away, though her heart was fluttering.
"Shimmerpaw?" Cloudpaw nudged her rather roughly, blinking her out of her stupor. "Are you okay?" He followed her gaze to Shardpaw, and wrinkled his nose angrily.
"Oh! Yes, I'm alright." She replied hurriedly before turning her attention to Shardpaw. "What… What did you come to tell us?" She asked eagerly, tilting her head with interest.
Shardpaw sighed heavily. "The other Shadowclan apprentices are preparing to sneak attack your Clan." His blue gaze softened slightly. "I… I didn't approve of it in the first place, and I thought that you should know."
Worry flooded over Shimmerpaw and she took a shocked step backwards, only gaping at Shardpaw. "But.. but why?"
Cloudpaw, however, had a very different approach to the situation, surprise flickering over his expression before it turned to anger, his shoulder fur bristling and tail lashing.
"How do we know that you're not helping them?" He hissed, green gaze narrowed.
"Why would I come here to tell you if I was helping them?" Shardpaw shot back, exasperated.
Shimmerpaw touched her tail to Cloudpaw's flank, not wanting a conflict to break out. "Cloudpaw, please. I'm sure that he's telling the truth." She said earnestly.
The cream apprentice glanced at her dubiously, but only stepped back, muttering under his breath. "I still think it's suspicious."
"Look, you don't have much time." Shardpaw mewed urgently, obviously deciding to ignore Cloudpaw. "You should go now. I'll try to stall or anything, but they might already be on their way." He let out a long sigh. "Sorry I couldn't catch you earlier."
"No, no, it's alright, don't worry." Shimmerpaw replied quickly, reaching forwards to comfort him almost instinctively, but drew back at the last moment a bit awkwardly, only giving a quiet cough before turning to Cloudpaw.
"We should get back." She only said. "We don't have any time to waste."
The other Thunderclan apprentice nodded. "You're right." He gave Shardpaw a stiff nod. "I, er… thanks." He said gruffly before whipping around, beginning to head back towards camp.
"Goodbye." Shimmerpaw said shyly to Shardpaw before turning, watching the other apprentice leave without a word, slipping into the bushes and disappearing from view quickly.
"Shimmerpaw, come on!" Cloudpaw snapped. "We have to go!"
"Coming, coming, hold on!" Shimmerpaw replied, catching up to him quickly and starting a fast trot towards camp, heart pounding with urgency. She wasn't sure what was about to happen, but was glad they had gotten warned.
She only hoped that they'd be able to warn the Clan in time.
As usual, I got no idea who's after me, but I hope that you'll enjoy their chapter, also, hopefully it won't take as long as mine did! Stay safe, everyone, and tell me what you thought!
Have a good day (or night) and keep writing!
-Minty
"You flameas shoudl stopa beig so mean!1111!11! :((((((((((( dont you know how sda i am rite now? i am going throguhg a rly togh time and if i wasnt a christen i woud b so mad at you right now11111!1111!111!"
- darkroses, Our Lord and Savior
(Disclaimer: None of the authors are going through a tough time. This is a copy of one of darkroses' author notes and in no way applies to us)