Chapter 24

The cats, most of which were already out, turned their gazes to him. The last few slipped out of the dens and joined up with the rest of the group. Shadepaw felt her heart pick up speed, racing until she felt lightheaded. If her clan were to have any hope of beating them, they would need help. The four clans would have to unite to even have a chance, and she still wasn't sure they could match this group in number. The cats all looked up expectantly at the large tom on the top of the ricks.

Shadepaw had never ever seen any cat looked the way he did. His long curved claws sank into the ground, scraping the floor as he paced impatiently. His ragged cream fur was ungroomed, growing out in different lengths. The cream color seemed to highlight every scar he had. And he had a lot. Both his ears had been nicked, splitting into deep v's. There were two scars across his cheek and another one on his left eye. His nose had been nicked too. He had a scar going from his shoulder to the base of his tail. Shadepaw flinched as she saw that scar. Her eyes traced his tail, seeing that half of it was missing. His legs had plenty of flaws too. Strangely enough there weren't any on his belly, but the ones on his sides more than made up for it.

But those defects weren't what scared her the most. Nor his long claws or menacing voice. No. None of that was half as bad as the deep pit of hatred and evil that was reflected in his burgundy eyes. They seemed to be able to penetrate through a cat's pelt, to be able to see deep inside her, all the way to her soul. The eyes that stared through every cat in the cave, and made Shadepaw feel as though she had the consistency of a ghost. It was the picture of evil, plain and simple, standing right in front of her. She felt her hair stand up as his voice penetrated through the cave.

"We have to work on battle tactics. Just cause we fought and won all of our many battles doesn't mean we can improve." This was it! Shadepaw was getting inside information that might help the clans defeat this evil excuse for a cat! "Spike! Come 'ere." The leader jumped, with amazing agilely for his size, from the rock as a large smoky gray tom strutted the base of the rock. This new cat had his fair share of scars but definitely didn't have as much as the leader. His eyes were normal and the only thing strange about his claws was the fact they were black.

He beckoned another cat with his tail and the RicerClan cat saw a black she cat appear from the crowd. "Knight," he addressed her, "Demonstrate The proper techniqure for breaking a leg." Shadepaw felt her eyes grow huge as she heard these words. The she-cat, Knight, jumped over Spike, but Shadepaw shut her eyes, too terrified to look but she could still hear.

The thunderous wail that came from Spike made Shadepaw instinctively tense her muscles so she could run up to help the injured cat. She forced herself to calm down, taking a few rasping breaths. When she dared open her eyes, they automatically searched for any sign of permanent damage. Though he was writhing in pain, Shadepaw knew it could have been worse. The leg didn't appear to be broken.

"You coward!" the scary leader roared, "I told you to show him how to break a leg. We don't show mercy, not in training, not in battle! Never show mercy!" He spat at the black cat, then whirled on her. Knight let loose a piercing yowl as his claws met her throat. He pinned her to the ground easily. Knight snarled defiance at him, and raked her claws down his shoulder.

Blood gushed out of his shoulder, staining the stone ground just as the blood from Knight's wound had. Shadepaw held her breath, wincing as the two cats wrestled. She had not ever seen anything like this: two cats, supposedly on the same side, fighting each other cause one of them hadn't been as cruel in training as her leader had wished. This group of cats were a force to be reckoned with. Shadepaw knew it would be beyond dangerous to underestimate them.

The cream colored leader landed a blow to Knight's ear and stepped back. "Hm. You fight well. For now, I shall keep you alive. But make this a lesson, and know I shall be watching you closely, even if you can't see me." Shadepaw wondered if the black cat was scared, but she guessed not, assuming that these cats were used to this kind of treatment. The leader was speaking again, but suddenly Shadepaw was swept into a memory, something so strong it blocked out that scary voice.

She was a kit again, Silverheart, Mosskit and Ferntail at her side. All four of them begging Nighteye and Furrypelt for a story. The elders had all chuckled and Nighteye began the story. "There was a group of cats living in the mountains. We didn't know about them till three of them showed up at a Gathering. The clans had thought them to be enemies but they were given the chance to explain. They came from a place where large birds prayed on them, acting like a clan of their own. These cats were desperate for help," Nighteye said.

Then Furrypelt took up the story. "The clans agreed to help them, each sending their five best warriors. I was one of them." The kits' astounded squeaks interrupted him, so he waited for them to quiet down before continuing. "It was a long hard battle, but we fought with the mountain cats like they were our clanmates and we won. Then Talonclaw-he was a windclan warrior, but he's with Starclan now- asked what they called themselves. We had already told them of our clan names and customs."

He paused here, for emphasis. Mosskit had nudged him gently and meowed, "Please Furrypelt! Go on please! What were they called?"

The elder smiled down at all of them and said, "The Tribe of Rushing Water. They had their own customs and beliefs but they are as honorable as we are."

The memory faded as suddenly as it had come. It made her yearn to be home again, to go back in time to when she had no responsibilities or worries. Shadepaw didn't forget the memory; it seemed to be ingrained in her. She looked around the cave of cats, all of whom had partnered up and were practicing treacherous battle moves. The cave looked exactly as the elder had explained, but she knew these cats weren't the Tribe of Rushing Water. No way. Furrypelt had said they were as honorable as the clans. And the cats that were fighting in the cave were the furthest thing from honorable she had ever seen.

So what had happened to them? Shadepaw wondered why she hadn't remembered them till now. Surely the eagles had not risen up again; there had only been a few in the skies and none of them seemed to be a threat. She looked around again. What were they training for? They couldn't know about the clans could they? Shadepaw considered this to be very unlikely. Riverclan hadn't known about them and she herself had never seen them before.

So they must be planning for something else then. Silently Shadepaw vowed to find out what it was.

The killing games continued below. As far as Shadepaw could see, every cat was bleeding. She wondered if they had some kind of medicine cat. How else would they have lasted this long? A yowl sounded. It was the cream leader. "Flame, go get me something to eat. I'll fight with Lion."

A cat with a startling red pelt said, "Right away, Blade!" Blade stalked up to a ginger tom, taking Flame's place.

Blade. So that was the leader's name, Shadepaw mused. His words reminded her of her own hunger. She ignored it for now, knowing she needed the information more. Then she heard the red she-cat make her way toward the entrance of the cave, which was where she was standing! Her heart pounded faster as she wildly looked for a place to hide.

The only thing she could do was scramble up and out of the cave and, half falling half jumping, down the mountain. She prayed desperately that the she cat would not pick up her scent. To her relief, the cat seemed too intent on finding prey for her leader to notice or scent Shadepaw. But Shadepaw realized she had left scent trails all over the mountains. It was a question of when, not if, she would be found. Shadepaw didn't want to know what they would do to her after they found her.

The sun was descending down the sky so she hurried back to her little camp, catching a mouse on the way. She settled herself into her nest but nightmares took over her dreams, causing sleep to be a lost cause. Blade, the vicious leader, starred in all of them.

A/N: Wow! I'm not sure where I am getting these ideas but I like them, and I hope you guys do too! I wonder what happened to the Tribe?Don't worry; I'll explain all that soon enough. And I am sorry I haven't been updating frequently. I'm pretty busy. But I hope to have another chapter up, maybe two, before the weekend is over. Which reminds me, Happy Labor Day! hope you guys enjoy the day off school!

If you have any suggestions for Shadepaw's medicine cat name, feel free to leave me a review with your ideas. I have a few of my own, but I want to know what you guys think. And thanks to Midnight, who reviewed last chapter with the idea of Shadesong. Thanks for reading!