Chapter 26

Days passed, and Shadepaw still felt very much like a prisoner. She did got used to the way she was treated. When she woke up in the morning, there was always a new pair of cats watching her. They would lead her out of the chamber, allow her a meal, and then wait for Blade to pick her up. Sometimes it took only a short time, but often it was a while before he showed up. Then the cats who had been her guard would start training with each other.

This particular day marked the third moon she had been away from Riverclan. Just knowing that fact made her choke and her eyes pricked. Shadepaw was desperately homesick. "Shadepaw!" Blade called. Knowing he expected strict obedience, she shot off right away. As she got in earshot he meowed, "Today, we will be assessing all the cats, separately. And then I want to talk to you."

His eyes burned into hers, but she just nodded. She was somewhat used to Blade now, but he still scared her. For unclear reasons, Shadepaw didn't like to show fear in front of him or his cats. Maybe it was because nothing seemed to scare them and she didn't want to appear weak, or maybe she didn't want him thinking the place she came from raised their cats to be weak and soft.

Blade bounded up the rock tumble, which is what Shadepaw decided to call it, and announced the assessments. It seemed like all the cats were used to assessments; they showed no reaction, good or bad, just holding their appearance of boredom. Afterward she and Blade retired to his sleeping chamber, where it would take place. He called the cats in one by one and had Shadepaw fight with them.

In just the moon and a half she had been with them, she picked up a lot of knowledge. She felt as though she could take on the toughest ShadowClan warrior and win. Just think of how proud Silverheart would be! Silverheart... Over the last quarter moon, she hadn't thought about her sister as much. She was so busy during the day, and when night came she was exhausted. She silently renewed her vow to keep her sister safe.

She found herself thinking about Cloudkit and Silverheart. By now, Cloudkit and her littermates must be apprentices, and it was quite obvious to every Riverclan cat that Cloudkit and Silverheart had a special bond. She must have been chosen to mentor the apprentice.

For some reason, Shadepaw could see her sister and herself fighting together, not like these cats did, but for training purposes. She imagined how surprised and proud her sister would be. She pictured the way her mouth would drop and her saying, "Wow! You sure have learned a lot Shadepaw."

"Shadepaw! Focus!" and a swipe hit her ears. That was Blade speaking. She didn't notice he had pinned her down until now. His eyes gleamed at her angrily.

She gulped and said, "Sorry." He just nodded and got off her. He signaled with his tail to Frost, the next cat to be assessed, and she stepped into the chamber.

The assessments took all of three days, and then on the morning of the fourth day, Blade wanted to talk with her. They both picked out something to eat, and it was the closest she could get to sharing prey with one of her clanmates. It did have some of the came feel, since she spent most of her time with Blade, but there was an undertone of fear and discomfort. In no way did Shadepaw think of him as a clanmate. She felt no warmth toward him.

The apprentice knew that even if she was spending most her time with Blade, it was not her choice and she would rather spend it doing anything else.

"Shadepaw, you fit in well here. You can fight and you have a strong will. Would you like to join us?" She nearly choked on her mouse! Such a surprise startled her into speechlessness. He had sounded so gentle when he had said that, and the offer itself! It was enough to shock her.

She swallowed and said, "I don't know."

His voice grew more menacing, the way she was used to, "It is that or we shall have to kill you. You know too much for me to let you walk out of here alive." Those words frightened her too.

Quickly she meowed, "I'll join."

Only then she realized how clever this would be, to her mission. Being "one of them" would give her more inside information than she could have gotten as a prisoner. Surely then she would find their weakness.

"Good. Then you may sleep with rest of the cats, in their chamber." He said, interrupting her thoughts. She simply nodded, dipped her head to him, and joined in with the rest of the group. Over the course of the assessment, she had been familiarized with more of the cats and could easily tell who was whom.

She saw Knight talking with Ice which looked strange, the black she-cat and the white tom, talking together. Shadepaw spotted Flame talking with Snake and Ice, and Lion was demonstrating a move to a gray tom called Storm. She could hear Spike and Beast bragging about how well they had done in the assessment, though she thought they had been a cinch to beat. Tigris, the orange and black she-cat, was just making her entrance from the sleeping chamber. Shadepaw was proud of how many faces she could identify but there were still so many more cats to know.

Blade let loose a yowl and all attention was his. "Shadepaw is now one of us. I have deemed her fit, and I expect you to make her feel welcome." At the end, his voice turned sarcastic and the crowd roared in response. "Her new name is Shade." Shadepaw wanted to jump to her paws and protest, but Blade was not one for changing his mind and she didn't want to call attention to herself. Besides, a truly loyal cat would not speak out against her leader, especially against something so trivial. She kept silent.

She never knew just how important her name was to her. Her last tie to Riverclan was cut, and it seemed as though she would never the same again. Not just because of her name, but of this whole journey. Suddenly she was very angry. She was frustrated with the whole thing, she couldn't keep back a snarl. The crowd laughed, and some cat at the back said, "She is one of us." That made her didn't want to be one of them. With another snarl she leaped onto that cat.

He let out a yowl, completely in shock. Shade recognized him as Blare, Blade's brother, with the same personality, looks, and behavior. The only difference was his pelt was relatively unmarked and his eyes were a warm honey golden color. He was quite the fighter, able to match Blade's moves with same treachery. Whenever the brothers fought together, real or scrimmage, neither was able to gain the upper hand. The fight would break up, always resulting in a tie.

Catching him by surprise gave Shade the advantage. She knocked him off his paws and ripped her claws through fur and flesh. He snarled at her, pain and anger vibrating through his voice. She snarled back, and he flinched at the sound. Never before had Shade been so torturous. She slashed at him again and again. He retaliated with his own claws, but Shade was able to duck away from them. She aimed another swipe, at his muzzle.

Realization struck her like a blow to the head. She was turning into one of them! She lowered her paws, and stopped snarling. She looked at him ruefully, but he must have missed that for he kicked her off him and pinned her.

"Excellent. Blare is right; she is one of us. What a wonderful display of fighting strength. You should all try to be as good as Shade." Blade said. Surprise took the place of realization. She had never ever heard Blade praise any cat. Shade knew playing her part was going to be more vital than ever, now that she was part of the group.

She struggled away from Blare before he could strike her again. She merely nodded and asked, "Can I go hunting?" Her stomach was growling and she longed to be far away from here. Blade nodded, and quickly she climbed up the rocks and out of the cave.

Being out in the fresh air always made her feel better, but now it did little for her. Then her sharp ears alerted her she was being followed. She spun around quickly, having already learned to never turn her back on any of these cats. It was Knight who appeared out of the cave. She walked up to Shade calmly. "Congratulations." She meowed, not even a hint of scorn or sarcasm in her tone.

"Want to be my hunting partner?" Knight offered. Shade just nodded and followed the black cat down the mountain. When they reached the hunting grounds, both she-cats tasted the air for prey scents. Knight was the first to pick one up; she followed the trail until it was in sight. It was a mouse. With a nod to Shade, Knight made a circle around it. When both cats were correctly positioned, Knight lunged for it. The mouse scurried right into Shade's path and ultimately met its death in Knight's claws.

"Good catch." Shade meowed.

But Knight smiled and said, "It was both of us. Wanna share?" Shade nodded. After the mouse was finished off, Shade felt satisfaction warming her pelt. This was the closest she had felt to be back at home. For some reason, Knight reminded her of RiverClan.

However, it only evoked questions. Was it because she was doing something relatively normal ? Why was Knight being so…kind? Was this an order of Blade's?.

"Shade, I can tell you feel homesick. I know how you feel. Did you ever wonder why I am here?"

The clan cat, surprised and mystified nodded without thinking.

"Let me tell you about myself then…"

A/N: hey guys! this chapter would have gone up yesterday but BlueBlizzard172 and I were hanging out, (she's my best friend btw and is writing her own story, check her out!) and then I was celebrating my mom's birthday. so sorry about that. anyways I plan to upload another chapter today, but it maybe kinda late. I have some really good ideas, so stay tuned! and don't worry, for those of you who love Silverheart, we will be getting back to her soon. Thanks for reading! Please Review!