EDIT!: Ok I changed a couple of spelling errors and some of the writing near the end with the Dawn Paul scene so , reread that!!

Shadowclan: The ritual that has lived for seasons

Dawn's POV

The moonlight bathed the clearing to silver. A Crescent moon appeared above the camp when Blackstar called out from the branch. "Those old enough to catch their own prey come forward!" He boomed with great command. "Night dwellers, tonight is a special night. For a kit will train to be a Warrior." Goldheart had finished grooming my fur and had us seated in the front. "Brightkit, from now on until you receive your Warrior name, you will be known as Brightpaw." He said with the pride of a king.

"Brightpaw! Brighpaw! Brightpaw!" The many cats chanted my new name. This feeling… It feels like I'm the most important person in the entire world.

"Dawneyes, you have been trained well under Frosttail. I think it's time you trained your own." A bluish-grayish cat was across the clearing. She bowed her head and looked at me. She had Sapphire eyes and fur like my human hair. "You shall be her mentor." She walked across the clearing to me and leaned. My mother prompted me to touch noses. Dawneyes smiled at me with content at now having an apprentice.

The crowd now dispersed. Some went to sleep while others stayed up to look at the moon or hunt. "I look forward to training you." Dawneyes disappeared into a den.

"I guess I have to return to the Warrior den now." Goldheart, my.. Cat mother came up behind me. "I wish your father could you see you right now." My Father? Of course I need a father, but he's not with us right now?

"Who was my father?"

"Oh, no one special, just someone who saved my life more than once…" Her mind trailed off probably to the past.

"Tonight, Brightpaw, you shall sit a silent vigil of watching the camp while we rest." He ended. The night was already half over. It shouldn't be that hard to stay up.

"Alright. I'm going to go to bed." I said breaking her thought. "Goodnight, Brightpaw." she emphasized my new name.

I sat in the clearing. The pines swayed almost rocking me to sleep. I made a small gasp then looked up at the sky again. The moon was solemnly watching with me. The silence was aggravating. I shook myself to keep awake. The moon started falling behind the trees. Don't go. The sun still hadn't come up yet. The clearing was dark and silent. Nothing would have been better than to sleep on the spot. I started bobbing my head. The area seemed to spin, until I was held up abruptly. I looked up. Black fur looking blue from the last of the twinkling stars was warm and fuzzy.

"Stay awake, troublesome girl." Paul?! I instantly sat up. I opened my mouth to speak. But he shoved his paw up. "You can't speak, remember." I nodded then sat down again. "You can walk around if you want." I nodded absently then stretched.

I looked and walked a little with Paul still standing in the middle of the clearing. His gaze somewhere else. I'm glad it wasn't sending daggers into my fur this time. I sat back down next to him. He looked up again. "The sun's coming up, I have to head back." Ahh, don't go, I might fall asleep then where would I be? "Just stay there, a warrior will come in when the sun does." He disappeared into the apprentice den. I smiled. The sun rose a few minutes later like he had said and a warrior came out also.

"Great job, you can go rest now, I'll take over." I let out a sigh and let him take my place. I can finally sleep.

I scurried off to where all the apprentices were. I nosed around a little until a saw Paul near the corner. "oh, Hey Pa-wul." He looked at me oddly then flicked my ear. It didn't hurt, just slightly stunned. Two beds were ready. "Did you make this?" Paul isn't one to be romantic…

"I was told to, I'm not going all fuzzy with you." He really isn't one to be romantic.

"Whatever. It looks warm so I guess it's ok." He grunted then slumped into his bed of moss.

"Thanks, Paul." I curled up in a ball in the moss a fell asleep. A few hours past and I found my self all nice and warm until I saw who I was curling up to… Yeah, I can't live one second in peace without having some downside to it. "Eep!" I squeak and cower lower.

"Get off me."

"Hee hee, Sorry." I lifted my head. He got up and left without saying any words.

"Umm." I blushed and got up quickly. I ran to the fresh-kill pile, but was stopped by Dawneyes.

"Did you feed the elders first?" She said seriously.

"Not yet.. I was just about to bring them some food." I said not really knowing what to do.

"Don't worry, another apprentice already did that. Come on, let's do a quick patrol around to get you familiar with the borders." She trotted to the entrance as I slumped in hunger, but followed happily. She seems more happier. We exit the camp and walked a pretty far distance till we came across a beach.

"This is the lake. We came here seasons ago when our old home was destroyed by twolegs." They must have been building new homes, or even a mall! "I'd like to claw those mouse brains for doing such a deed." She dug into the sand with her claws. What am I talking about? Humans destroyed her home… Many clan's home. I didn't realize that when we make new establishments, we are destroying homes of other living things like Pokemon. "It's alright. We're here now aren't we? We'll be here upon moons upon moons for a long time." She cheered up. "Come. We have a lot of ground to cover." We continued around the entire border. She told me stories about the places even about herbs on the way. She always got herbs for Littlecloud when she was an apprentice.

"That's the Shadowclan border." We entered the heavily guarded entrance and head for the fresh-kill pile.

"You had an exhausting day so you can go grab a bite. See ya." She ran to the far left end of the circle clearing. I grabbed a lizard and sat near the den. I saw patches of sunlight around the clearing. Cats were reinforcing the dens with tangles and brambles. Then I saw Paul helping out another cat. Until she faked falling on top of him. He was obviously annoyed at another 'stupid' fan girl. I looked away quickly when he looked at me. I was soon called by the medicine cat.

"Brightpaw, I had a dream before your ceremony." He pulled me into his den. "I saw eight cats. They were facing off shadows that I couldn't make out. But there scents were all different. Two of every clan. It was such a clear vision. And your dream… It's a prophecy. I already talked with Blackstar and Dawneyes-"

"Wait, why did you talk to Dawneyes?" I asked quickly. It's getting really confusing. I know something has happened, but what's happening here? Why does it have to be me… or Paul for that matter?

"To ask if you wanted to train for a medicine cat." Doesn't he already have an apprentice?! Can he really do two apprentices at once? "I can train you to read signs and maybe a little herbs. Flamepaw is alright with it. I'm going to talk with Starclan about it. Shadowclan, no all the Clans might need you. Maybe you were destined to be a medicine cat. I'm sorry if I'm pressuring you too much." My head is spinning. "I'll let you think about it."

"I will."

"Also, with the path of the medicine cat comes consequences. I don't find it as a downfall, because… I never loved anyone." Love? "Medicine cat's can't have a mate. If you love anyone, it will be very hard."

"No, I don't. I mean, I don't love anyone." I don't have a crush on anyone. Will this affect how me when I turn human?

"You don't think anyone loves you, do you?" A crush on me? Nah! Well, not here I think.

"No."

"It gets hard for them if you chose to. You are a very beautiful, young cat. Someone could fall in love you." There was silence after that. "Well, it's getting late. You can go back to your den."

"Alright, goodbye." That was an awkward situation. I head to the den and my bed next to Paul's. Should I do this? I don't know anymore. This is almost like leaving home. But I should take every opportunity right? Is it like that here? Every little girl dreams of meeting that Prince charming and marrying him. But… This isn't real is it? This is just imagination. No, it's too real! I'm a cat. They need me to save them. I don't even know them that well. They're just cats. "I just don't know!" I yell out without knowing. I feel small tears fall from the pressure of something I'm not believing.

"What are you yelling about."

"Nothing you would ever understand." I say sternly. The night took over a while ago. The moonlight colored Paul's fur silver. He slumped down onto his bed.

"Stop moping." He rested his head on his paws. "What is it? You're going to tell me anyway whether I want you to or not."

"This is getting too confusing. Littlecloud asked me to become his apprentice."

"This is confusing how?"

"He wants me to become his apprentice because he believes that I am need to fulfill this prophecy so he wants me to train me."

"So-"

"So I don't believe this!"

"What?"

"All of it! Any of it, Everything here." I rolled away from him.

"It's… Alright?" He patted my shoulder with his paw.

"Are you trying to be nice?" I lifted my head. His face showed no sentiment. "I'm just scared that all of this is real. Do you think that we'll be here for a long time?" I rolled over.

"I… Don't know." He suddenly pulled away. "Just go to sleep."

"How was your little fan girl?" I fought a grin.

"Don't go there." He said annoyed even more.

"Fine. Good night." I rested my head trying to stop my musing thoughts.

Dawn is weighed down with the decision to become a medicine cat... but could she love someone? It's here! After much research I got this accurate. The end with Dawn's decision is what is weighed down on me right now. I'm having a very hard decision to leave my school (the one i've been in since kinder) and leave to a different one. It's a lot harder than you think. you start to think it's hard and not real. I've had emotional break down's before because i really... love someone and i don't want to leave him. It could be just some stupid crush. but... Could this be the same for Dawn?