Ok, so here's Chapter 1. It's a long one. I've tried to make it as good as possible but I dunno really:)
The light of dawn streamed over the trees, making the frozen ground in the WoodClan camp sparkle. Shadefrost shivered and shook the ice from her frozen pelt. It had been a long, cold vigil.
It was the day after she had been made a warrior and Shadefrost knew that her head should be held high with pride. But it hung low down over her freezing chest fur. She had just been through the most painful thing in her life.
The pain had not come from her physical wounds, though her right ear, still swathed in cobwebs, throbbed uncomfortably. The agony had come, instead, from Rustpaw's untimely death.
Rustpaw, her brother, had been killed in the battle between WoodClan and the rogues that had attacked their camp the day before. The rogues had been led by a large white tom called Cloud, who had slaughtered Shadefrost's father, Flamefur. Shadefrost had killed Cloud with help from her friend Shadowheart but not before the rogue had summoned his brother, Lark, from the forest. Lark had been gigantic. Rustpaw hadn't stood a chance. The colossal cat had finished the ginger apprentice off with a flick of his paw and with that flick, he had crumbled Shadefrost's world. Afterwards, Lark had slipped away, heading towards the mountains, while Shadefrost had tried vainly to save her dying brother.
Most probably, the worst part of the whole event, had been when Shrewfur, her ex-mentor, and the elders, Rosefoot and Thistlesoul, had taken Rustpaw's body off to be buried, while Shadefrost had had to sit in her silent vigil, unable to go with them.
Shadefrost glanced across to look at her friend, Shadowheart, who had been made a warrior alongside her. Shadowheart had been very close to Rustpaw and was probably feeling the pain even more than Shadefrost. The black she-cat had not moved a whisker during the whole ritual and now a thin layer of ice clung to her pelt.
Shadefrost drew her eyes away from her friend to look at her sister, Finchwing, who had gained her warrior name too. Shadefrost had not known that Finchwing was her sister until very recently, when Flamefur had revealed his secret romance with the CaveClan deputy, Scorchstorm, their mother. Scorchstorm, who had not been able to keep her kits, had sent them to WoodClan. Unfortunately, only Shadefrost and Rustpaw had made the journey, as Creekfall, the cat who had been carrying Finchwing, had slipped off the log bridge that covered the gorge between CaveClan and WoodClan territories. Creekfall had been washed away by the river, only to return to WoodClan moons later to give Finchwing to the clan. He had then left his original clan, CaveClan, and joined WoodClan to be with Finchwing. The two of them were like soul mates.
Shadefrost turned her eyes back to the rising sun, impatient to get off the silent vigil that all new warriors had to endure. She imagined the warm nest waiting for her in the warriors den and closed her eyes, wishing for some cat to come and tell them that their ritual was over. All she wanted was to sleep.
She was not kept waiting long. There was a rustle in the bracken that enclosed the warriors den and the clan deputy, Hollyfrost stepped out. Her coat was nicely groomed as usual but she bore scars from the recent battle. Smiling, she made her way over to the three shivering cats.
"Well," she mewed when she approached. "A cold night, was it?"
Shadefrost and Finchwing nodded vigorously but Shadowheart kept her head bowed in sorrow. Shadefrost suppressed a sigh. Shadowheart needed to get over Rustpaw's death and move on. The clan needed her.
Hollyfrost looked just as concerned as Shadefrost felt. "Are you okay Shadowheart?" Shadowheart dipped her head, a small sad gesture, before lowering her eyes back to the ground. Hollyfrost shook her head, obviously unhappy, and turned to the other new warriors. "You can speak now," the deputy meowed. "Your vigil is over."
Shadefrost sighed in relief and leapt to her paws, wincing at how stiff and sore her muscles were. Beside her, Finchwing did the same. Shadowheart stayed sitting. "Thank you Hollyfrost," Finchwing said, stretching to remove the aches from her legs. "I don't think I could have stood another minute of that."
The deputy purred in amusement. "Well I suggest that you go and have a nice long sleep," she mewed. "I want you three for sundown patrol."
Shadefrost and Finchwing nodded their agreement and Hollyfrost padded past them, heading for Fallenstar's den, which was encased in the trunk of an ancient oak tree.
Shadefrost turned to Finchwing. Her sister was still stretching, her whiskers twitching happily. Noticing Shadefrost's gaze, the silver tabby turned to the other warrior, her eyes wide with the glory of their ritual. "I can't believe that we're warriors," she said, removing the last of the ice from her pelt. "That vigil was horrid. My paws are so cold I'm sure they could fall off!"
Shadefrost nodded her agreement. "It was extremely uncomfortable," she mewed, her teeth chattering slightly. "But it gave me time to gather my thoughts, you know, after his death."
Finchwing's eyes clouded with pain. "I'll miss him," she murmured.
Shadefrost felt bad for making her sister unhappy. "Anyway," she meowed, changing the subject. "I'm so tired that I can hardly stay on my paws. Let's go and get some rest."
Finchwing nodded and padded towards the warriors den, yawning loudly.
Shadefrost was about to follow when she realised that Shadowheart still hadn't moved. She made her way over to her friend, pressing her black and white pelt against Shadowheart's black one. "Hey," she whispered. "You've got to move on."
Shadowheart shook her head. "How can I?" she murmured. "I loved him Shadefrost."
Shadefrost stroked her tail along her friend's spine. "I know. I loved him too. But the clan needs us now. We can't let his death drag us into a hole. Remember what Rustpaw said to you, before he died. He told you to be happy. You promised him that you'd be happy."
Shadowheart's hollow eyes suddenly flickered with anger. "How does he expect me to keep that promise?!" she spat. "How can I be happy when he is dead?"
"Shadowheart..." Shadefrost broke off when her friend pulled herself out of her grip and stalked towards the warriors den, not looking back once. Shadefrost stared despairingly after her, and then followed the black cat's pawsteps.
As she neared the warriors den, the bracken rustled and a ginger cat padded out, his fur un-groomed and his eyes hollow, as if he had not had a lot of sleep. Shadefrost sighed. It looked as if it had been a long night for every cat, not just her, Shadowheart and Finchwing. She padded over to the ginger tom, her paws suddenly light and her whiskers twitching merrily. This cat could make her feel happy, no matter what happened. The tom's tired eyes brightened slightly when she approached. Shadefrost touched noses with the tom. "Foxwhisker," she murmured, cherishing their closeness.
Foxwhisker rasped his tongue over her ear. "Hello warrior," he said tenderly.
Shadefrost purred as a rush of love blossomed in her belly. She wound herself around Foxwhisker and then frowned. The ginger warrior was unusually tense and his fur bristled slightly against hers. She drew back to look him in the eye. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned when his eyes flickered uneasily from side to side.
"I'm fine," he said, scuffing his paws on the icy ground. "Just had a rough night, that's all."
"Are you sure?" she asked, unconvinced. There was something else behind Foxwhisker's stress.
Foxwhisker purred shakily and gave her ear another lick. "Yes, I'm sure," he mewed. "I've got to go on the dawn patrol now. You look half-dead on your paws. You should get some sleep."
Shadefrost nodded and Foxwhisker padded away, leaving a worried expression on her face. What was the matter with the ginger tom?
Frowning, she padded over to the warriors den. Pushing her head through the bracken entrance, she surveyed her new sleeping place. It was bigger than the apprentices den and considerably warmer due to the number of cats that slept there. Shadefrost felt a pang of sympathy for Venompaw, Lilacpaw and Lynxpaw, the remaining apprentices. Their den would be freezing now that she, Finchwing and Shadowheart had left.
Most of the cats were stirring now and Shadefrost steered away from where Rootheart and Swiftclaw were lying. The two toms had never been very accepting of the fact that Shadefrost was not clanborn and had often teased her when she was an apprentice. She did not expect that to change now that she was a warrior. Sure enough, Rootheart sneered at her as she entered. "I'm surprised that you lasted the night, Shadefrost. It's a good job that your brother is dead, he would never have survived the vigil."
Shadefrost felt her hackles rise. Rootheart was going too far by insulting Rustpaw. "Don't you dare even talk about him," she hissed.
"Oooh," jeered Swiftclaw. "What are you going to do Shadefrost? Set Foxwhisker on us?" His eyes glinted and he unsheathed his claws. Shadefrost bunched her muscles and prepared for a fight.
A cat flung itself in front of Swiftclaw. "Back off!" It was Ratclaw, a sturdy grey warrior. "It is your own dishonour to offend StarClan."
Swiftclaw sniggered but settled back into a sitting position, sheathing his claws. Ratclaw spat at him, before turning to Shadefrost. "Just ignore them," he mewed. "Horrid lowlifes."
Shadefrost smiled at Ratclaw. The grey tom was a good friend to her and they had been through much together. "Thank you."
"No problem." The older warrior flicked his tail over her ear. "Good to see you in here." He flicked his ears toward a group of nests. "If you're looking for somewhere to sleep, then I'd recommend over there. It's were Foxwhisker sleeps. I know you two are..." He trailed off as if looking for the right word and then meowed. "...close."
Shadefrost nodded and padded over to the nests. Shadowheart and Finchwing were already there. Shadowheart was curled up, apparently asleep but as Shadefrost watched, she saw the black cat's eyes open a slit and survey the den before quickly shutting again. Shadefrost sighed. It looked as if Shadowheart was going to be depressed for a while.
Finchwing was sharing tongues with Creekfall, the cat who had brought her to WoodClan. Creekfall swiped his tongue over Finchwing's ear and whispered something in it. As Shadefrost approached, he rose and nodded at her before padding out of the den.
Shadefrost walked over to Finchwing. "Creekfall's on dawn patrol, is he?"
Finchwing nodded and sighed. "I still can't believe we're warriors!"
Shadefrost purred and scraped some moss into a nest next to her sister's. "It seems just a day ago that I was made an apprentice with..." She stopped abruptly, knowing that the sound of his name would bring on more pain.
Finchwing's eyes darkened with grief. "I'm really going to miss him. I'm still hurting inside."
"I'm hurting too," Shadefrost agreed. "But I think that Shadowheart is hurting the most."
Finchwing nodded. "I hope she gets happy soon. I remember the grief I felt when I thought that Creekfall was dead but I can't imagine what Shadowheart is feeling now."
Shadefrost nodded and curled up next to her sister. "We'll sort it out after we've rested," she murmured. "I don't think I can stay awake a moment longer."
She let her eyelids close and was sent plummeting into darkness. Worries piled up in her head. What was she going to do about Rootheart and Swiftclaw and was Shadowheart ever going to recover? A cool breeze swept in from outside and Shadefrost longed for the warmth of Foxwhisker's pelt beside her. She remembered how tense and uneasy the tom had been just after the end of her vigil and felt concern and confusion well up inside her. As she drifted into a deep slumber, she was certain about one thing. Foxwhisker was keeping something from her. But what was it?
I know, not much of a cliffie because we all know what's wrong with Foxwhisker (plz ask if you don't) but Shadefrost doesn't know so... yeah:)
Silverpelt-Hawksky, CRAZEDREADER96, Pebbleclaw, Blossomgleam, Jellybean is me, NessieXJacob-Mossfeather, Clear Blue Rain and Fawntail, thanks so much for your reviews. I'm really grateful:) I want to try and go over 79 reviews with this story because that was what the Shade of WoodClan got. I always try and improve on what I've done before. So every review counts! I officially think anyone who reviews is awesome:)
Anyhoo, I'll update ASAP:) Plz review!