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Thanks especially to Puppy and Shiningspirit for reviewing~
Shiningpaw sighed as she watched the Clan cats observe and prod the RiverClan apprentice, Deadpaw. He seemed to be acting like his namesake, but he occasionally growled at the cats around him. He was too weak to move around for himself.
Darkpaw padded up to her elder sister and gave her a quizzical look.
"Oh, Darkkit, it's nothing." Shiningpaw murmured, breaking her gaze.
"It's Darkpaw now. And Quailpaw, too!" Darkpaw purred, pointing to Quailpaw with her tail, who was chatting with Pondpaw at the entrance of the apprentice's den.
"What? Neither of you are six moons yet, and not everyone was at camp!" Shiningpaw hissed, but didn't doubt her sister's words. Darkpaw had never been a lying kit.
"Well, Stormstar thought we needed more trained warriors…" the black apprentice said quietly, and nudged Shiningpaw in the side. "And I can tell something's up. What happened when you were out?"
Shiningpaw sighed. There was just no way to fool the mysterious she-cat.
"Lionpaw asked me to become her apprentice when she became a medicine cat, but I refused. And when we found Deadpaw, I snapped at her and she must hate me now!" Shiningpaw groaned, collapsing to the ground. Darkpaw stood over her, and caught her gaze with her icy blue eyes.
"Well, you should apologize." Darkpaw said simply.
Shiningpaw was silent for a moment.
Darkpaw continued, "Anyway, I think Berrypaw wanted to talk to you," she mewed, and walked away. Shiningpaw sighed; Darkpaw had always been rather strange to her.
The silver she-cat peered into the apprentice's den past Pondpaw and Quailpaw and saw the brown tabby tom, Berrypaw, waiting patiently near a patch of bramble. Upon seeing her arrival, his face visibly brightened and he flicked his tail in signal for her to go near.
Shiningpaw sat in front of Berrypaw uneasily. She hardly talked to the apprentice; she had spent most of her time with Lionpaw. Lionpaw. Shiningpaw inwardly shuddered, pushing the thoughts of her former friend to the back of her mind. It didn't just start with today… where did we go wrong?
"Did Darkpaw tell you to come find me?" Berrypaw asked excitedly. Shiningpaw nodded. "Great, follow me!" he purred, and burst out of the apprentice's den.
"Wait!" Shiningpaw called after him, but he hardly heard her. Muttering under her breath, Shiningpaw headed out of the den.
"Shiningpaw," Quailpaw stopped her, "What's up with Berrypaw?"
"How should I know?" Shiningpaw hissed, and continued.
"Huh, what's her problem?" Quailpaw muttered to Pondpaw, who hadn't said a word since Shiningpaw entered the den. Pondpaw shrugged in response, her amber eyes looking anywhere but her companion.
Shiningpaw managed to track Berrypaw to a spot outside of camp. He hadn't went very far, but he had walked to an abandoned badger set.
"What are we doing here?" Shiningpaw asked, her whiskers twitching.
"I wanted to show you this!" Berrypaw moved out of the set entrance and gestured to an obscure rock that had almost completely covered the passageway.
"A rock." The she-cat observed, emotionless.
"Yes! But it's not any old rock, look!" Berrypaw pointed with his tail to etchings on the rock. Shiningpaw peered down at the old rock. The etched surface did not seem to be the scratching of cats.
"Do you think Twolegs did it?" Berrypaw asked, as if he read her thoughts.
"Probably. I don't think cats could scratch this deep into a rock in this detail." Shiningpaw mumbled. The scratches resembled shapes and figures. A few joined together to form a cat-like figure. Shiningpaw felt she should have mentioned it, but didn't. Berrypaw only looked at her with gleaming, hopeful eyes.
"It's very interesting, Berrypaw." She said, feigning as much emotion as she could. The joyous tom bought it and purred. "Thanks for showing it to me."
"No problem! Want to go hunt? I'm sure the Clan is having enough trouble…" Berrypaw trailed off, and his companion interrupted him.
"Of course. It's best to get our minds off of this whole Dark Forest thing anyway." Shiningpaw mewed with a hint of sadness, and started to walk away from the badger set.
"Hey wait!" Berrypaw shouted after her, and the two went off to hunt.
---Darkpaw sat with her clanmates as Stormstar spoke with Willowleaf about the abandoned RiverClan apprentice. Deadpaw was sleeping in the medicine cat den, where Lionpaw and Brackentail were watching him.
She felt a nose against her flank and looked up at her father, Sharpnose.
"Thinking about anything?" he purred softly.
"Not really," Darkpaw sniffed, looking away. In truth, she had a lot of things on her mind. She had been born shortly before the appearance of the warriors from the Place of No Stars, and all she had grown up to know was of the Dark Forest.
Her littermate, Quailpaw, had been frightened and uneasy as a kit, and Flamekit and Tigerkit were too young to play-fight with. Darkpaw had spent her time as a kit curled up against Spottedface, thinking. She thought of herself as sophisticated and better than her littermate and the other apprentices, except for Shiningpaw.
Shiningpaw could be particularly nasty at times, but she was still Darkpaw's elder sister. Shiningpaw had talked to her a few times when she was a kit, but Darkkit had been too afraid to share her innermost thoughts to even her sister.
Once, Darkpaw had asked Spottedface why she, Quailpaw, and Shiningpaw were named the names they were. Spottedface had replied proudly to her question.
"Shiningpaw was the only kit of my first litter, and Sharpnose told me I was shining even through my tired appearance, so I named her Shiningkit. Quailkit was after your great-grandfather, Quailfeather, because he looked exactly like him." She had purred in amusement.
"And me?" Darkkit had squeaked.
"You, Darkkit, I named partially for your black pelt, but also because the clouds had covered the sun so thickly, it seemed dark for that moment even in the daytime." Spottedface had said, and then changed the subject.
Darkpaw was shook back into the present as Stormstar stood upon the Highledge.
"Cats of ThunderClan, Willowleaf and I have decided to let Deadpaw stay with ThunderClan, if he wants to, that is. We will talk to him once he wants to talk with us." Stormstar's voice rumbled throughout the camp. Willowleaf stood nearby, staring out at the Clan with scanning eyes.
"Deadpaw… what a rigid name." Lightheart murmured to Hornetflight, who silently agreed.
"What a horrid name." Darkpaw said under her breath. I wonder why his mother named him Deadpaw. She thought, before Quailpaw caught her attention. His sister padded away from their father and greeted him and Pondpaw.
Pondpaw's brown fur was unclean and tangled. Quailpaw was looking at her with concerned eyes. Darkpaw narrowed her own eyes.
"Pondpaw thinks we should leave the Clans." Quailpaw whispered to Darkpaw, looking around as if everyone were watching him. Darkpaw widened her eyes and looked at Pondpaw, who gave no response.
"But, what about our families and the cats we've grown up with?" Darkpaw asked, worried. "We can't just leave them!" For the first time in a while, Pondpaw looked up. Her gaze locked with Darkpaw's, and the sleek black she-cat found she could not look away. But she did not speak, she only stared fiercely, the intensity of her wish showing in her eyes.
"Pondpaw…" Darkpaw began, but Pondpaw suddenly spoke.
"You can think about it over a night's sleep. You can give us your decision tomorrow." Her voice was cool and precise, and she returned to the far corner of the apprentice's den. Quailpaw gave a meek look to his sister before following Pondpaw away.
Darkpaw sighed and returned her focus to the Clan cats discussing Deadpaw. While she had been out of their fur, Deadpaw had apparently decided to stay. Stormstar had appointed Spottedface as Deadpaw's mentor. Flowerbelly watched the naming of the mentor from the nursery.
Deadpaw was a scrawny apprentice, probably seven moons old, with long, dark fur. His eyes were a gross shade of yellow, and he didn't share them warmly. His eyes locked with Darkpaw momentarily before she looked away.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Berrypaw stormed into the camp carrying two squirrels, and Shiningpaw trailing behind him with a vole. They dropped their fresh-kill in the dwindling pile and headed for the apprentice's den. Shiningpaw flashed Darkpaw a look before saying something to Berrypaw. Moments after they entered the den, Pondpaw and Quailpaw hurriedly walked out.
Darkpaw pivoted back to Deadpaw, and padded up to him. The crowd of cats had seemed to disperse, so she figured it was alright.
"Deadpaw, how did you get your name?" She asked bluntly. Deadpaw seemed surprised, but tried to hide it by scowling.
"How should I know?" He growled.
"Hadn't you ever asked your mother?" Darkpaw said curiously, her tail twitching.
"No," was the response. Darkpaw scowled back.
"You left RiverClan, right? Who was your family there?" The apprentice asked, not coldly, but not nicely. Deadpaw's ears twitched.
"It doesn't matter, they're all dead now. Just like me." Deadpaw replied harshly, turning away. "Just go away. Leave me alone."
Darkpaw hissed. She wanted to whack the rude RiverClan cat on the head, but Sharpnose came up to her before she could do anything. He led her away, and Darkpaw didn't look back.
"Be kind to him. He's lost everything he ever loved." Sharpnose said softly before walking away. Darkpaw looked back. Deadpaw was looking at her, watching in curiosity.
---Darkpaw found herself in a field with no trees. She looked up at the sky and saw, horrified, that it was night time. Only a handful of stars dotted Silverpelt. She desperately looked around for ThunderClan camp but found nothing.
"Darkpaw." A voice said her name, and Darkpaw turned around. A grey tabby tom was sitting in the field a few fox-lengths away. His gleaming blue eyes reflected moonlight, although the moon was not in the sky. Darkpaw padded towards him with curiosity.
"Who are you? I've never seen you around before." Darkpaw said threateningly, crouching. The cat frowned at her, and flicked his tail. The backdrop changed to ThunderClan territory, and Darkpaw yowled.
"You're dreaming, of course you wouldn't have seen me around." The cat mused, and dipped his head. "My name is Jayfeather. I was ThunderClan's medicine cat many generations before yours."
Darkpaw was stunned. She had heard stories from the elders, before they had all been stolen away, of ThunderClan's great heroes, and Jayfeather had been one of them. Darkpaw immediately adjusted herself. "Sorry!" she muttered, embarrassed at making such a mistake.
"Don't worry about it; I have more important things to talk to you about." Jayfeather muttered.
"Wait, you're from StarClan. What's going on up there anyway? Why aren't you doing anything?" Darkpaw snarled, forgetting her calmness for a moment.
"Shut it!" Jayfeather snapped, "StarClan is having as much trouble as ThunderClan and ShadowClan are. Only warriors of StarClan and medicine cats of the living Clans can hope to defeat Dark Forest warriors. But cats from the Place of No Stars have been stealing the living cats before StarClan can take them away. I'm sure you know that already."
Darkpaw nodded, this was common knowledge to the Clan cats.
"Normally StarClan would not tell you this so bluntly, but we're at a loss for words. Darkpaw, Lionpaw is not the cat to become ThunderClan's medicine cat." Jayfeather explained.
"Why are you telling me?" The apprentice asked, but fear crept over her as she realized what was coming next.
"You are the one destined to become medicine cat. StarClan sees great values in you, and you must be the one to succeed Spiritfeather." Jayfeather turned away from Darkpaw, and looked up at the trees. "I knew someone like Lionpaw once…" he mumbled, but seemed to be lost in memories, and Darkpaw did not want to interfere.
He sighed and looked back at Darkpaw.
"I'd say you're our only hope, but don't get full of yourself. Others are chosen to help you on your journey, and if you should fail, we will make sure they succeed in your place." Jayfeather nodded to the apprentice and walked off.
"Wait! I have more questions!" Darkpaw yowled after the ancient, once-blind cat, but he was gone. She continued to yowl.
"Darkpaw! Can't you stop yowling for one second?" A voice growled. It was not Jayfeather, but Raggedwing. "We're going on a patrol with Lightheart, Quailpaw, Spottedface, and Deadpaw. Get a move on!"
Darkpaw rose up groggily. The dream had felt so real. She recalled what Jayfeather had said to her and shuddered. What was she supposed to tell ThunderClan? What am I going to tell Shiningpaw? The thoughts rang in her head as she left the camp, and all throughout the patrol.
The POV will be switching a lot until the cats that need to die have died. Just saying. Remember to review!