Shadow woke to the sound of someone quietly calling her name, "Shadow! Shadow! Get up! Mom says there's a fox!" Shadow groggily blinked at Birch until she realized the meaning of his words. She leapt up and ran toward her mother and called, "Where's the fox mom?" she asked, "It's out there." said her mother. Shadow squinted at the woods and saw a large russet colored blob moving through the forest. It seemed to be sniffing at the ground, tracking their scent. "What are we supposed to do?" hissed Shadow, "I'll run out and distract it, then you and your littermates will run for that safe den that we made for emergencies like this." Shadow stared at her mother as if she'd grown a second head, "No way! I'm can fight! I'll help you fight the fox while Storm and Birch run for safety!" Shadow insisted. They argued for a few heartbeats before Shadow's mom managed to convince the stubborn cat to stay with her littermates. A few moments later the whole family was clustered near the entrance to their clearing and their mother prepared to give the word.
"Three- two- one- GO!" the cats ran out from their home and bolted into the forest, Shadow's mother split off to face the fox while Shadow, Storm and Birch ran for the safe den. They were so close, then Shadow heard a pained shriek pierce through the forest, her mother. Shadow tuned out her littermates as they tried to get her to turn around to get her to go into the safe den, but she ignored them and turned her paws toward her mother, and the fox. Shadow broke into a run and ran to her old home. There she found the fox standing over the still body of her mother. Shadow let loose a heart-wrenching wail and threw herself at the fox, blindly clawing at the fox's face and pelt. She was partially aware of her littermates running into the clearing and wailing at the sight of their mother and then throwing themselves at the fox. Shadow did notice when the fox swung his paw at Storm who was frozen with fear, Shadow did the only thing that she could. She jumped in front of her sister taking the blow that was meant for her. Shadow was flung through the air by the blow and smashed headfirst into a rock at the end of the clearing. She saw the fox swing around and claw Storm and then everything went black.
Shadow blinked and saw a huge face staring at her concernedly, she squinted as the world came back into focus and she realized that the cat was her father. "Shadow! Shadow are you alright?" her father asked, "I think I'm ok." replied Shadow. She tried to pull herself into a sitting position but fell back as a sharp pain ran through one of her hind legs and she noticed that her hind leg had a huge slash in it. "I-I can't get up," Shadow admitted her father gently picked her up by her scruff and began to take her somewhere, "Where are we going?" asked Shadow, "I'm taking you back to Thunderclan to get treated by our medicine cat Fernshine." her father answered. Shadow nodded and just watched as the trees went by as her father took her towards the Thunderclan camp. A huddled shape, wait, a huddled shape? "Skystar!" Shadow yowled, "There's a cat in there!" Skystar stopped and put Shadow down so he could look into the underbrush. As soon as he saw what was in the makeshift den he leapt back with a yowl of alarm, "What? What's in there?!" Shadow questioned urgently, "It-it's-it's your littermates."
Shadow wailed in shock and painfully managed to limp over to see. The huddled shape was actually two cats, Storm and Birch. Storm was clearly dead, marked by a horrible throat wound and Shadow thought Birch was dead until she saw the faint rise and fall of his flank. Skystar bent down and gently picked up his son then he looked at Shadow questioningly, silently asking if she could make it on her own Shadow answered by standing and staring at her father until he started to move forward. Shadow took one last look at her sister and then slowly followed her father.
When they got to the Thunderclan camp the cats just stared at their leader and the cats that came with him. Shadow just glared at them until they stopped staring at her, sending out a subconscious message telling them to look away. She wearily followed her father until he stopped at the mouth of a den that was next to a shallow stream. A light gray she cat stood at the mouth of the den watching, finally she spoke, "Bring them in, I'll take care of them." Skystar dipped his head in gratitude and lead the way into the den. Shadow watched as Skystar gently set Birch in one of the nests and she soon followed, collapsing into the nest next to her brother as her strength finally gave away. She watched as Skystar strode across the clearing and leapt onto a huge rock that jutted out of the dirt in the middle of the clearing, he told everyone what had happened he ended his speech with the announcement that he was going back to find Storm and Rain's body.
Shadow sighed and turned to watch Fernshine treat her brother's wounds. They were a lot worse than Shadow had first thought they were. The fox had clawed him up really badly and it was clear that he would never be able to see again, his stomach was clawed up and his tail was just a stump. Shadow leaned over and whispered, "I'm so sorry, if I hadn't charged back out there none of this would have happened." she rested her head on her paws and soon fell asleep.
When Shadow woke she heard a familiar voice calling for her to wake up. She blinked and purred as she saw her old mentor, Twigclaw, her purr died in her throat as she saw the look on his face. "What happened Twigclaw?" she meowed worriedly. Twigclaw just beckoned her to come look out into the clearing. When she stepped out into the clearing she saw her mother and sister lying in the middle of the clearing as still as the ground. Shadow let out a wail as she raced into the clearing and pressed her muzzle into their fur trying to breath in their scent for one last time. Shadow was only slightly aware of her father settling next to her and mourning their lost family.