Thanks to Blazestar for reviewing!
Silverpaw walked alongside the Thunderpath, nose down, gripping a vole between his teeth. His muscles burned from staying in the same position for so long. The sky was melting red, flecks of brightness already dotting the darkening horizon.
Leopardspot padded in front of him. His dark spots dappled with shadows. Foxfeather walked steadily beside him, occasionally marking the border. Meadowpaw was sniffing at a clump of dried grass.
Her tortoiseshell pelt rippled.
"Foxfeather! Look!" Silverpaw ran up to her. Brisk shock shot up his spine as he realized that there was something there.
They were staring at a half-eaten squirrel, reeking of dampness and pine trees.
ShadowClan.
Foxfeather looked down, stiffening as she saw the corpse. Leopardspot narrowed his eyes.
"It may not be what you think," Leopardspot meowed, brow furrowed in thought. "Perhaps it was thrown here by a monster,"
Foxfeather looked at him strangely.
"This is serious, Leopardspot. Not just a whiff of scent anymore. We must report this to Sleetstar," Foxfeather insisted. Leopardspot glanced at the apprentices before replying.
"But we'll risk uneccesarry battle," Leopardspot argued.
Battle? No, we can't do that!
Seeing the brownish she-cat's expression, the spotted grey tom turned away.
"Fine. We will report this to Sleetstar,"
Silverpaw padded dejectedly after them. Evening starlings broke into song, but failed to enlighten the gloomy mood. Silverpaw hoped that the old white leader wouldn't do anything rash.
As they reached the tunnel, Silverpaw noticed a strange-emptiness. There were no cats sharing prey, no elders out to catch the last rays of sun.
Instead, there was a commotion from the medicine den.
Silverpaw's jaw dropped. The vole thudded dully to the ground. Stumbling, Silverpaw limped forward. His head peeked into the medicine den.
Sleetstar lay on the ground, shuddering. Sparrowcloud was crouched next to him. Pinespring was wiping the sweat off of Sleetstar's fur with a ball of moss.
Noticing Silverpaw, Kestrelpaw padded to him cautiously.
"Sleetstar lost a life," Kestrelpaw mewed in a low voice. Silverpaw stared at him as if the dark brown tom had grown wings.
"What happened? Why is the camp so quite?" Silverpaw choked out. Kestrelpaw shook his head.
"I don't know. Pinespring said it was something with his heart. He just collapsed in the middle of camp and-" Kestrelpaw was cut off by a silencing glare from his mentor.
"Sorry, Pinespring," Kestrelpaw lowered his head.
"I asked Featherpaw and Rainpaw to go talk with the elders to keep them busy. Ravenstrike is in the nursery,"
"Why?" Silverpaw cocked his head. But then it hit him- The black she-cat with the white patch on her chest had been lagging at the back of patrols, and been eating more.
"You guessed it. More kits means more warriors for the clan," Kestrelpaw meowed, glancing at his mentor.
"I've noticed Darkblaze strutting around like a proud pigeon recently. What's up with-oh," Silverpaw felt stupid for his ignorance.
Kestrelpaw was silent.
"Clan meeting!" Silverpaw's ears pricked with interest. That was Redtalon's voice, not using Sleetstar's traditional call. Cats streamed steadily out of the bushes. So that's where they've all been hiding, Silverpaw sighed.
Foxfeather and Leopardspot stood gravely by the deputy.
"Foxfeather and Leopardspot have informed me of fresh-kill with ShadowClan scent on our side of the border," Redtalon began with a hint of anger in his voice. Cats yowled in outrage, hissing and spitting. Stormpaw shrieked.
"How dare they!"
Silverpaw understood them. In the time of crisis for the clan, cats needed a scapegoat to set the blame on.
"In the time of Sleetstar's illness, I, as his deputy, will take his place temporarily."
"What will we do about ShadowClan?"
"We can't let them steal our prey!"
"We must fight for our territory!"
Redtalon waited for the cries to quiet down.
"What will we do?" Redtalon's question was challenging, willing the rage in the hearts of ThunderClan to speak out.
"We fight!" Talonpaw caterwauled. Agreement erupted from the crowd, until a steady chant rose up from the cats.
"Battle! Battle! Battle!"
Oh no.
Redtalon's eyes glowed.
"We will attack at dawn," Redtalon narrowed his eyes.
"ThunderClan must strike at the heart."
"Their camp."
Redtalon leapt down from the Highrock, padding into the medicine den.
Silverpaw stiffened. This was not going to end well.
A slight rustling came from the direction of the elder's den. Silverpaw turned around. Fogstep sat beside the den, eyes dark with disapproval.
"Your father is trying to make decisions for the good of the clan," Cloudflight's mewl rustled the fur in his ear. Silverpaw looked at his mother.
"But it's Greenleaf. Prey is so abundant that one squirrel won't make as much of a difference as a battle," Silverpaw argued. Cloudflight's green eyes sharpened.
"You have never lived through true hunger, Silverpaw. If it was Leafbare, our clan would starve if ShadowClan continued to steal our prey,"
Silverpaw walked into the apprentice den. His eyes hardened as he saw Talonpaw in his nest. The black tom looked up, scoffing.
"Sorry Oddpaw. My nest is damp, so I had to borrow yours," Talonpaw smirked. Gritting his teeth, Silverpaw scraped off the layer of mildew on the stiff bracken nest. It didn't matter, it wasn't like he'd sleep that night anyway.
Silverpaw exited the den and went to the fresh-kill pile. Flamepaw was staring intently at mouse on the top of the pile.
"Nervous?" Silverpaw cocked his head. Flamepaw shook her head too quickly.
"How could I be nervous?" The ginger she-cat snorted. Silverpaw stared at her with narrowed eyes.
"Fine, I am. But who isn't? I know you are," Flamepaw confessed. Licking her shoulder, Silverpaw padded away. Silverpaw ducked his head as he exited camp.
He stopped to sit by the stream, watching the water refract light from the stars.
"Can't sleep?" A soft voice sounded from beside Silverpaw. He turned his head. Featherpaw idled beside him. Her copper eyes glittered with a thousand stars.
Silverpaw was struck by how pretty she looked in the moonlight. Just as quickly as the thought appeared, he pushed it away.
Featherpaw is my friend!
"I'm too cool to sleep," Silverpaw joked halfheartedly. Featherpaw purred and sat beside him. Sparks shot down Silverpaw's spine.
"So, there's a battle tomorrow," Silverpaw meowed awkwardly. Shuffling his paws, Silverpaw focused his attention on the chatter of insects. Greenleaf was in full bloom, the rustling of prey in the bushes made Silverpaw sure of it.
Featherpaw looked directly at him.
"I-I'm scared," Featherpaw mewed, voice sounding tiny. Silverpaw lay down.
"Me too. Battles are dangerous. Redtalon is f-"
"Don't say that so close to camp!" Featherpaw cut him off. Silverpaw stood up.
"C'mon, let's practice," Featherpaw's expression changed. Silverpaw noticed a daring note in her shining eyes.
"I'll race you!" Without waiting for Featherpaw's reply, Silverpaw charged for the Sandy Hollow.
"Cheater!"
Filler, oh filler. Aren't Feather and Silver cute together?
QOTD: what are your fav ships?