A/N I'm writing about climbing a mountain from experience, it's tiring!
Shadowblaze groaned and grumbled as she hauled herself up another clump of rocks on the seemingly never ending path to the top of the mountain. "Are we there yet? My paws hurt!" Thorn grumped, Shadowblaze grinned halfheartedly and shook her head, "I don't think we're even halfway yet."
Twin groans rang through the air in reaction to Shadowblaze's words. She rolled her eyes and glared at her mate and brother, "Stop acting like kits! My paws hurt too!"
What she said was true, Shadowblaze's paws hurt like she was walking on thorns and her mouth was dry. Her lungs felt like they were slowly shriveling up and the fact that she had two mousebrain tagging along behind her didn't help.
"Guys! We can stop at that ledge for tonight!" Shadowblaze yowled over the howling wind. "YES!" Hawkclaw and Thorn shrieked. Shadowblaze flinched, her ears might've just gone deaf.
"Well you have to get there first!" Shadowblaze called as she heaved herself over yet another clump of highly pointy rocks. They groaned but thankfully kept moving.
Shadowblaze sighed as she realized that the slight path that she and her companions were following had shrank into a steep and treacherous path of sharp rocks littering the face of the mountain. A slight fear began to squirm in her stomach but she pushed it aside and began to climb the path.
After heaving herself to a slight indentation in the side of the path, Shadowblaze turned around to see where the mousebrains were, they were at the start of the steep path and chatting, as if they had all the time in the world.
"Hey! Hurry up! We don't have all day!" she yelled. Then she grabbed the rock above her to get to the net section of the path. As soon as she placed all of her weight on that rock it crumbled and sent her tumbling down onto the sharp rocks below her.
Shadowblaze let out a yelp of fear and twisted her body so that she wouldn't be impaled by the sharp stones that she was about to land on.
She fell straight towards the biggest stone, and thanks to her luck, she managed to acquire a deep gash on her shoulder. She muttered a string of some not-so-nice words and inspected her wound.
It was fairly deep and gushing blood, Shadowblaze groaned and searched around for some snow or cobweb or anything to stop the bleeding. After a useless search, she decided to stop wasting her time and convinced herself that the cold air would stop the bleeding.
She looked around to see if there was another way to get up to the next section of the path and found that there was an easy path of rocks leading up to the section above her.
Cursing herself for being a mousebrain, Shadowblaze stumbled up the path, hissing in pain each time she jolted her shoulder. Eventually she made it to the ledge where she collapsed out of sheer exhaustion.
Her shoulder felt extremely numb, but there didn't seem to be anymore blood dripping from the wound. She twisted her head around to reinspect it, the blood that had previously gushing from the wound had solidified into a scab. She sighed, at least she wasn't lying dead on a rock.
Just then an exhausted Thorn heaves himself onto the ledge with an equally tired Hawkclaw a few pawsteps behind him. Shadowblaze tipped her head and asked, "What took you guys so long and why are you so tired? I wasn't even that tired when I reached this ledge." Shadowblaze said, while trying to keep a straight face.
"You cheated! You've been keeping yourself pumped up with you strength power!" Hawkclaw complained, "No I haven't!" Shadowblaze said as innocently as she could, "That's not what that blue light says." Thorn pointed out as he picked rocks out of his pads.
Shadowblaze glanced at her paws and noticed that he telltale blue light was glowing around them. "Darn it!" she yelped. Then she turned to Thorn and asked, "Is there a trick or something that can hide the light?"
Thorn shakes his head, "It doesn't really matter for you to hide it, the only groups of cats that know of what the light actually means are the ROMC, the Legion and the ones that worship the Gloomforest. I know that there's only one group that does that, they're called Pineclan. They are part of four clans that lives about two moons travel from the ROMC, they're constantly trying to find this one cat who is supposedly gonna either, help them enslave all the cats in the world or completely destroy the Gloomforest."
"They recently found out about the cat from a prophecy that they stole from cats of Moorclan about 15 moons ago. The cat would have the blood of the Legion, a ROMC founder, and the Gloomforest."
Shadowblaze gawped at him, "They would have to wait forever for that cat to come! As far as I know I'm the only one with Legion and ROMC blood and I don't think Hawkclaw has Gloomforest blood!" Thorn just shrugged and said,
"If I had guess, I would say that that prophecy is why you two were sent on this quest." Shadowblaze glanced at Hawkclaw who mouthed, 'Can we talk?' she nodded and followed Hawkclaw over to the side of the kedge, away from Thorn.
"If I do end up having Gloomforest blood, we can't be mates," Hawkclaw bluntly stated as soon as they sat down, "We can't risk bringing a kit into the world with the chance that it might destroy the world."
Shadowblaze looked at him and steadily replied, "I don't care, we'll raise the kit to be against the Gloomforest and Pineclan! You're gonna let a stupid prophecy get in the way of us?" by the end of her outburst Shadowblaze found herself shouting.
She sat back down and calmed herself, "We can make this work, Hawkclaw. We don't have to follow the destiny that some cat made for us, we can make our own." Hawkclaw looked at her for a moment and finally nodded, then he licked her ear (gross) and muttered, "We will."
He twined his tail with hers and she pressed herself against his chest. He purred and Shadowblaze purred with him as they stayed in the curled pile of happiness (you don't know how much i wanted to say 'sappiness' instead of 'happiness' there)
They were interrupted by Thorn who said, "I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth.(me too dude, not just you) you two have been like that so long that i went out and got some food!" he said pointing at a pile of prey next to him.
"Think fast!" Thorn yowled and threw a piece of prey at both of them. Shadowblaze darted to the side and snated the mouse with her mouth and grinned.
Hawkclaw wasn't so lucky, he was started so the mouse that had been thrown at him, actually hit him, on the face. Shadowblaze snorted trying to keep a full blown laugh in.
But when she snuck a glance at Hawkclaw and saw his expression, one of complete and total shock and confusion, she almost lost it. She almost had the laugh killed when she caught Thorn's eye and burst out laughing.
Apparently Thorn had also been trying to hold in his laugh and she had caused him to lose control. She wanted to stop laughing but she couldn't, soon she was completely rolling on the floor laughing so hard that her sides hurt.
It took a while but Shadowblaze and Thorn managed to stop laughing. When Shadowblaze finally managed to compose herself, she found Hawkclaw sitting there, watching them. She grinned sheepishly and picked herself off the floor.
Then she went over to a still sniggering Thorn and prodded his side until he stopped rolled over so he was looking up at her and innocently asked, "What?"
Shadowblaze snorted and laughed a little. "Come on, we have to keep going tomorrow."
"Guys! I can see a flashing light!" Thorn called happily from his spot on a rock. Shadowblaze grinned, they were almost at the place where Starclan told them to go.
A few days ago Shadowblaze had had a dream from Starclan, telling her to follow a small, almost invisible path that had been off on the side of the mountain, half-hidden by a bush.
Now after, a quarter moon of traveling aimlessly around the mountains Shadowblaze and her companions finally knew where to go. They had followed the path for a few days and now Thorn had finally found what they were looking for.
"Hey! Let me see!" Shadowblaze called as she jumped on the rock and playfully shoved her brother. He grinned, "Is that a challenge for staying on the rock for the longest?" Shadowblaze smirked, "It wasn't before but now it is!"
She shoved her shoulder into Thorn's and he almost slipped off the rock at the last second he sank his claws into a small patch of moss and saved himself.
Taking advantage of his position, Shadowblaze repeatedly slammed her shoulder into her brother, with enough force to slightly move him, but not so much that it would injure him.
Thorn's claws slowly slid off the moss patch and as he fell from the rock he wrapped his paws around Shadowblaze and pulled her down with him.
Shadowblaze yelped in surprise as she suddenly found herself flailing on the ground, her limbs tangled with Thorn's. As they landed on the ground Thorn let out a loud 'oomph!' and glared playfully at Shadowblaze, who just grinned lopsidedly at him.
"Come on you two! You can finish your play-fight when we reach the light!" Hawkclaw called, sounding amused. Shadowblaze called, "Coming!" and scrambled off of Thorn.
For good measure she flicked a clump of snow onto Thorn's face as she went off to follow Hawkclaw, the look on Thorn's face was priceless and she sniggered as she bolted away to avoid his wrath.
When she reached Hawkclaw she turned around and yelped, a clump of snow and moss was racing towards her. She dropped to her stomach and the snowball streaked over her head and hit the back of Hawkclaw's face with a loud, 'thump!' he turned around slowly and growled, "You two are so dead!"
He snatched his own clump of snow and flung it back at Thorn. It hit Thorn and he blinked in surprise, the snow dripping off his whiskers. Then he turned and in one swift movement, flicked a clump of snow at Shadowblaze.
The snowball hit her on the chest as she crouched on the ground and laughed her heart out. She stiffened and stood and yowled, "I DECLARE WAR!" then she flung a snow clump at Hawkclaw and Thorn.
She raced away laughing like a maniac.
The trio ran along the path, flinging snowballs at each other and laughing the whole time. Whoops of happiness rang through the air and Shadowblaze wished that her life had turned out differently, maybe if her mother had stayed in ROMC she wouldn't have died and Storm wouldn't have either.
The happy cries of happiness died down as they approached the small flashing light. It was perched on a narrow strip of land at the edge of the mountain.
Shadowblaze cautiously started to approach it but as soon as her paw hit the ground near the light she slipped and promptly fell on her face.
Thorn sniggered and stepped forward and unsheathed his claws as he clawed his way to the light. "Come on slowpokes!" he yelled with his signature lopsided smirk.
Shadowblaze grinned and hauled herself up, then she turned and looked at Hawkclaw, "You coming?" she asked.
Hawkclaw hesitantly stepped on the ice and started to walk to Shadowblaze.
"Hey! Guys, the instructions say that you should press your nose to the light and it'll show you whatever it wanted to show you. Should I touch it?"
Before Shadowblaze could say, 'Don't do it you mousebrain!' he touched his nose to the small flashing light.
Immediately everything went wrong, the light started to flash red and a hollow voice said, "Access denied." Shadowblaze stared at Thorn with horror and she yowled, "Thorn! Run!"
A surge of power rose from within the light and burst out, it was a shock wave.
Shadowblaze and Hawkclaw were slammed back about 10 tail lengths. They tumbled into each other and landed back on the path.
Shadowblaze turned to look for Thorn and saw Thorn hanging from the edge of the platform thing, clinging to the ice desperately.
As she watched THorn's claws slipped a little and her eyes widened with horror. She scrambled onto the ice and clawed her way to Thorn as fast as she could.
Shadowblaze reached Thorn and sank her claws into his paws, trying to hold him onto the ice platform. However, his heavier weight made it hard for her to hold him onto the platform.
His left paw slipped and his other paw soon followed. Now he was just connected to the platform by Shadowblaze. She strained and yelped, "Hawkclaw! Help me!"
At the edge of the platform Hawkclaw was just getting up from where he had hit his head on a rock. He looked over and began to dart towards them.
Shadowblaze felt her body slide towards the edge, due to Thorn's weight, she looked at him with terror in her eyes. Thorn glanced down briefly and turned to Shadowblaze, "Let me go! I'm pulling you over! I won't let you die because of me!" he shouted at Shadowblaze,
"Neither will I!" she shouted back. She strained, trying to pull back from the edge.
It happened so fast Shadowblaze didn't fully understand it until later, but a sharp pain burst through her right paw. Instinctively, she detached her paw from Thorn and snatched her paw back.
As she snatched her paw back Thorn's weight ripped him off of her other paw and he fell.
Shadowblaze stared down at chasm in front of her in shock for a few heartbeat and then she let out a wail, "No! No, no, no, NO! THORN! THORN!" she shrieked hysterically.
Hawkclaw appeared at her side and whispered in horror, "I was too late…" Shadowblaze turned and buried her face in his shoulder and cried, "I didn't save him." she whispered to herself, "He died because of me."
"No he didn't Shadowblaze." Hawkclaw soothed, "We have to complete the quest, it was what he would've wanted us to do."
She looked up at him and slowly nodded. She stood and the walked over to the light, "Let me touch it, the prophecy was for me." Shadowblaze said hoarsely.
She leaned forward and touched her nose to the cold light and her surroundings faded.
When she opened her eyes she was in a huge glittering cavern. A light brown she-cat appeared and Shadowblaze ran straight towards her, "MOM!" she cried, "I'm so s-" "Shh," her mother said gently, "Follow me."
Shadowblaze glanced at Hawkclaw and he shrugged, so they followed her mother.
A/N OMG 203 views?! That's amazing! Thank you to everyone who read this story, I was losing inspiration for this story but now I'm going to keep writing. I have up to chapter 16 already written so I should be able to keep adding a chapter everyday until I reach chapter 17. Then I'll actually have to write the chapters, so it'll take longer and the updates will slow to 1 a week.