Chapter 26
The familiar smell of SkyClan welcomed Shadowpaw as he stood near the boundary markers of the clan. His fur tingled with nervousness but his heart bounced with excitement to be reunited with his old family. Shadowpaw padded forward until he reached the edge of the camp's ravine; he gazed down and saw the movement of three kits in the clans' clearing. Shadowpaw took a deep breath and started to scale the camp's cliff walls. He managed to slip into the leader's den without having cats see him.
"I'm glad you came around." Galestar mewed.
"This better be worth it!" Warned Shadowpaw
"Trust me, it will be." Galestar mewed. "Are you ready to meet the clan…again?"
"No" Shadowpaw growled.
"Good…" The leader motioned for Shadowpaw to climb onto the leader's rock, but the black tom sat away from the eyes of his former Clanmates. Galestar snickered and stood onto the top of his rock. "All cats able to climb the walls of the ravine, gather below for a clan meeting!"
The cats murmured to one of another and slowly, they all gathered under the leader's rock. Shadowpaw's stomach turned with nervousness as he heard all the buzzing mews of his Clanmates. The black tom scanned his eyes over the crowd from behind the rock to see if he could spot Airwhisker…but he never saw her.
"I gather you here today…to reunite an old friend to the clan." Galestar called. The cats looked at each other with confused glances and looked up at Galestar. "I expect you to be you're kindest to him…he has been gone for a while, and had to make sacrifices to come back here…"
Galestar smiled and turned to Shadowpaw who was hiding behind the rock. "Are you ready?"
Shadowpaw hissed under his breath and stood, lowering his head and stalking forward until he stood at the edge of the rock and was in full view of the clan and the cats. The cats widened their eyes and had sharp intakes of breath as they saw the too familiar face of Shadowpaw. The black tom narrowed his eyes as he saw the cats give him angry and hostile glares.
"Now before you go to judging him…" Galestar sat beside Shadowpaw. "I had an omen from StarClan…Whistleleaf and I had talked it over, and we believe that StarClan is telling us that Shadowpaw is our next deputy."
"But Fallowfur's not dead!" Wolfeye protested. "And he's never mentored an apprentice!"
"Fallowfur's not going to make it, Wolfeye, leave Shadowpaw alone!" Shadowpaw froze when he saw the dainty face of his old friend….Airwhisker. The white she-cat had turned into a beautiful warrior since he had last seen her as an apprentice. Airwhisker gazed up at him with sparkling eyes.
"You cannot argue with StarClan." Galestar meowed wisely. "They know what is best for us."
"You could have interpreted it wrong!" Shortfoot declared. "He's a killer!"
Shadowpaw unsheathed his claws and flicked his tail in anger but Galestar showed his teeth before he could protest. The old leader glared at his clan with angry eyes. "If I hear the word 'Killer' one more time I'll force you all to eat mouse bile until you get old!"
Shadowpaw flashed Airwhisker a faint smile, the white she-cat smiled and whispered something into her sister's ear. Rainstorm twitched her whiskers and looked up at Shadowpaw with a flat expression. Shadowpaw smiled at Rainstorm and focused his attention back to Galestar.
"Shadowpaw will become the next SkyClan deputy once Fallowfur passes." Galestar meowed. "Until then, I expect everyone to treat him like you would treat your other Clanmates. Before I end this meeting…Shadowpaw deserves to be made a warrior." The cats wailed in disbelieve but quickly quieted.
Shadowpaw didn't like all the attention around him…he did his best to hide his face from his clan. Galestar smiled at Shadowpaw with warm amber eyes and laid his tail on Shadowpaw's shoulders.
"From this moment on…" Galestar called to StarClan. "Shadowpaw…you will be known as Shadowheart. You have been through a lot in your life, and you have managed to live through it full heartedly. As you sit your silent vigil…I hope that you realize you made the right choice."
Shadowheart knew Galestar was talking about June and his kits. The black tom fidgeted in guilt…June was probably awake and looking for him in the cold air, her stomach dragging her down. Shadowheart had made sure to catch a vole for June before he left and covered his scent, but she had many mouths to feed inside of her…the vole wouldn't last long.
"June will be fine." Galestar whispered.
"I hope…" Shadowheart made his way down into the camp and was greeted by Airwhisker's happy voice. Rainstorm was with her.
"Shadowheart…it's so nice to see you again!" She chirped, nuzzling Shadowpaw with her muzzle. Shadowheart politely moved away from Airwhisker, only liking the feeling of June's nuzzles. "I thought you'd never come back!"
"You've grown an awful lot since I last saw you." Mewed Rainstorm, her silver tabby fur silky from a fresh groom
"Where did you go when you were exiled?" Airpaw blurted.
"Don't be rude Airwhisker." Rainstorm warned. Shadowheart looked over at the elder's den…a familiar feeling creeping into his heart. "He probably doesn't want to talk about it."
Airwhisker opened her mouth to protest but Shadowheart cut them off. "Where is Mistyfern?"
Rainstorm and Airwhisker froze; their blue eyes looked wide and worried. Shadowheart felt his stomach sink to his paws as he watched the two sisters share an uncertain glance. Rainstorm flattened her ears and motioned for Airwhisker to stay where she was.
"Follow me…" The she-cat murmured to Shadowheart. The black tom followed Rainstorm until they reached the elder's den…inside, Shadowheart saw the very old Goldfur sleeping inside, and her fur was dull and flecked with gray. Shadowheart kept scanning the den until he saw the familiar silver tabby fur of his mother.
"How is she?" Shadowheart whispered, not wanting to wake Goldfur or his mother.
"Not well…she's been acting a bit…distant." Rainstorm whispered. "We all knew she went a bit crazy when Scar died, but…when you were exiled."
"What happed?" Shadowheart pressed.
"She…she's like a living corpse." Rainstorm murmured. "She hardly eats…she's so scrawny her bones are like thorns poking from her hips. She won't talk; she won't even take medicine when she got sick. Shadowheart…she's not the same. We're not sure if she'll make it much longer."
Shadowheart frowned and looked at his mother's pathetic body. The tom still remembered when Mistyfern was full of life and love…but now, she was just there…not even moving. Shadowheart turned away from the elder's den and ran up the side of the camp walls with blinding speed, sitting at the edge of the camp for his vigil.
"Why does life have to be so hard?"