Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter

Chapter 3: A Shadow of doubt

"What is this?" The tawny she-cat asked, looking to the grey icy-eyed cat Her air of authority and commanding tone suggested to Redkit that she was the deputy or leader.

"We found this fox cub running straight through ShadowClan territory.I, of course, had no trouble catching the young cub," the grey she-cat revealed to her.

"I can see that," The tawny she-cat retorted.

"We have discovered that he can talk and decided to report this to you," She continued without missing a beat.

The tawny feline carefully looked him over before gesturing for the patrol to follow her.

The camp was dark and gloomy, the prickly grass stung pads where mud didn't stick to them. Dark coloured cats slunk out from behind bushes and shadows, their eyes glowing, yet emotionless. This should have been foreboding, but it wasn't. for some reason or another, Redkit wasn't any less comfortable in ShadowClan's camp than in ThunderClan's, with the exception of the sharp grass that continued to sting his pads.

He looked to the other three cats in my patrol. they all simply looked straight ahead. Even the wide-eyed apprentice didn't so much as glance in another direction. The tawny she-cat flicked her tail. The three cats sat down. Redkit, seeing their reaction, sat down too. The Tawny cat however, motioned for Redkit to follow her.

She leapt up to a branch in preparation to speak.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather to hear me speak."

At her command, the few cats that weren't gathered near the low hanging branch joined the group. Redkit noticed that although most of the cats in the group were dark-colored, there were a few light silver and white cats among them, including a snow white young she-cat.

"As you know, ShadowClan is not viewed as the strong, cold-hearted clan it once was. I have heard the other clans murmurings; We have become weak in our small numbers."

Her words caused an uproar among the group. Shouts of "No Tawnystar, you can't say that!" and "It's not true!" were yowled at the leader.

Tawnystar patiently waited for them to quiet down before continuing.

"You all know it is true. I don't think I need to nor do I want to remind you all of the storm only a moon ago," She continued.

A silence enveloped the whole of ShadowClan. Redkit noticed many cats now wore a look of grief and had developed a sudden interest in the ground. Was there really a storm that bad?

"But," Tawnystar continued, "there is still hope. We have found a young fox cub at the edge of our territory, whom we have discovered speaks the language of cats quite fluently. With proper training, he can help us make ShadowClan strong again."

There was no response, they all simply stared at Redkit. The young fox uncomfortably shifted his paws, unsure of where to look.

Tawnystar looked to her back-furred deputy for encouragement.

"With a fox on our side, we will be seen as a strong clan once again, for however long it takes to regain our strength," the deputy reluctantly meowed.

There were a few murmurs of agreement along with a few nods. This seemed to be enough for the clan leader.

"And so, from this moment forth until you become an apprentice, you will be known as Foxpaw. Pebbledawn will be your mentor," Tawnystar decreed, giving a small nod to the light-grey cat.

Foxpaw. The name was a constant reminder of what he was now. Everything up to now felt so surreal that Foxpaw imagined that he would wake up any second, still in ThunderClan as cat. Just like he should be.

After a few moments, he reluctantly began to walk forward. The other cats were already padding away. Foxpaw remembered the apprentice ceremonies in ThunderClan, where the rest of the clan would chant the name of the new apprentice. Maybe they didn't do that in ShadowClan.

"Hello." Pebbledawn greeted, causing Foxpaw to jump.

"Oh!, hi," Foxpaw yipped quickly, startled at her sudden appearance. He should've gone to her first.

The silver cat looked to the sunset for a few seconds before returning her gaze to the cub.

"We won't do any training today," She stated.

Foxpaw looked at her in confusion.

"It's getting late, and I expect you've had a long day," She meowed, already turning away from him.

He watched her slink away, feeling as if there were a stone in his belly.

"Okay," He said aloud, though no one heard him.

He looked around the clan, trying to find some clue as to where to go first. After a while, he noticed the wide-eyed apprentice walking over to him.

"Lost?" She asked, blinking her wide amber eyes.

"Uh, yes," He agreed.

She began to lead him away from the clearing and towards a Large bramble bush that arched over a few nests, it was a prickly dark-green and had pine needles and sticks woven into it.

"My name is Owlpaw, by the way," Owlpaw meowed.

Foxpaw took the chance to have a good look at her fur, it was light brown, but white on her front paws and a big spot on her back. Owlpaw quietly squeezed under the brambles and towards a few of the cleaner nests at the back.

"We've had to build all the dens extra thick ever since the storm," She explained, a bit of a skip in her step as she walked.

The two began to settle into a couple of nests nearby to a white apprentice when she suddenly got up and padded away, settling down in a nest in the far corner and turning her bright green eyes away from them in a snotty fashion.

"That," Owlpaw growled in distaste, "is Snowpaw."

Owlpaw's tone suggested that she wouldn't mind if more than a few thorns found their way into Snowpaw's nest. Owlpaw slumped down onto the moss, following her lead Foxpaw gently laid down on his own moss, ignoring his paws prickling with the urge to jump up at the cold and wetness of it.

"Are you alright?" Foxpaw inquired, feeling a little concerned.

Owlpaw's face relaxed. "Yeah," She purred, "I'm just happy to have a friend."

Owlpaw, after saying that, began to fall into a deep slumber.

Friends? Are we really friends? Foxpaw wondered, watching her sleeping figure. Yeah, I guess we are. He decided, letting a yawn escape his lips.

Slowly, very slowly, Foxpaw closed his eyes. Dreaming of sunshine and all the mice you could chase.