Chapter 3
Shadowpaw was relieved when the clan started waking, and the warriors were collecting their apprentices.
Standing, she stretched and shook out her fur, yawning and blinking out the tired.
As she walked from the den, she saw Flarepaw and Honeypaw, their heads together as they shared a vole.
Grabbing a sparrow, she settled down beside them, her stomach growling after staying awake through the long hours of the night.
"Hey, what're we talking about?" she asked her signature question.
She had never been afraid to join a conversation, so when she saw her friends talking, she decided to add herself.
They are friends, after all.
"We were ... talking about how we thought you may be feeling." Flarepaw admitted lightly.
Shadowpaw flicked her tail. "I feel fine." she said.
And meant it, too.
The two looked at her in disbelief. "Really?" they asked in surprise.
She nodded.
Having all those hours to herself, she thought about how her father was still with her, and she knew he was in StarClan, which comforted her.
"I had time to think while everyone else slept." she meowed.
The two nodded. She never really had been the kind of cat to stay sad for long ... yet anger was different.
After they had finished eating, they found their mentors waiting for them.
"Honeypaw." Squirrelflight, Flarepaw's mother, spoke. "I want to see how well you know your way around."
Honeypaw nodded, her eyes lighting up brightly.
"We're going to show you two around the territory." Dovewing and Ivypool announced.
Shadowpaw was excited.
She loved to explore, and was one of the few kits who never strayed from camp or the nursery.
She knew better.
Honeypaw took the lead, and Squirrelflight stood behind her.
Ivypool padded beside Squirrelflight, and Shadowpaw treaded her mentor's pawsteps.
Flarepaw walked alongside her, and Dovewing brought up the rear.
She looked at all of the trees, and then found her paws hitting rocks, then pebbles.
Looking up, she saw the lake ... and was amazed by how big and round it was, and it seemed to hold the sky. She could barely make out the other camps.
"This is the lakeshore." Honeypaw meowed. "It is one of our water sources."
She kept padding, and walked by the tunnels. Nobody had to speak; she was more familiar with them than most others.
They continued on, shuffling across a dusty trail, until they sighted the abandoned Twoleg nest.
Shadowpaw experienced the rank odor of the ShadowClan border, but the border patrol obviously came because ThunderClan scent broke through the nauseating stench.
Honeypaw led them back through to their territory, and amazed them with the vast height of the Ancient Oak.
Afterwards, they were shown the training hollow, to which Flarepaw's tail twitched in anticipation for the next day.
As the sun began to sink seemingly below the lake, the sky pink and blue and purple, they reached the WindClan border.
Shadowpaw could still scent her father, yet had no waves of sadness hit her. She was good at recovery.
Yet, she found herself searching for something ... for his body.
She needed to see him.
And then, as she turned a corner, she saw a small shoreline, and it went lower towards the river.
She saw jagged rocks near the shore.
She paced slowly forward, trying to find him.
Then, as soon as she saw the body, a bright light covered her eyes.
And there stood four cats, all members of StarClan.
Her brothers, Pinekit, a brown tom with mint green eyes, and Emberkit, a black tom with golden paws and eyes.
Her father, Thornclaw.
And her mother, Hollyleaf.
Hollyleaf stepped forward, and looked deeply into her daughter's face.
"Shadowpaw," she said quietly, her voice filled with love and longing, "We have a message for you."
Shadowpaw was so young, so inexperienced. She wanted to ask, "Why me?", but this was her mother.
So, she nodded.
And had no clue what she was getting herself tangled into.