CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Darkness. The very first thing she noticed was darkness surrounding her. It was a shroud of shadows that writhed around her. The cold was even worse than the darkness. She couldn't describe how cold it was because she could barely move. This place... she wondered if this was what death felt like. If this was where she would end up after dying. She could hardly remember why she was here in the first place. One heartbeat she was with her siblings playing in the field, and the next, she woke up here.

Eventually, she began to hear voices in the distance. Her ears pricked forward in alarm when she saw a pair of yellow eyes glowing in her direction. She knew that compared to living among her siblings and mother, this made her a sitting target for approaching enemies. However, the strange creature in front of her wasn't posing any threat. Instead, it moved forward until she could make out the lithe form of a cat.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice hoarse from lack of use. She hadn't even realized how long it had been since she woke up. Sensing that the intruder wasn't a threat, she found herself growing more confident as she raised her chin defiantly. "Who are you?" she repeated herself.

"Easy, I'm not here to hurt you." Her eyes widened in surprise when she understood the intruder. "You've come a long way from the scrawny kit I once saw all those moons ago." The black kit let out a squeal of surprise when a dark gray she-cat stepped out of the shadows, flicking her tail in amusement when she caught sight of the kit's fear. "Though it is obvious you don't recognize me," she said with a sigh of frustration.

"Why should I recognize someone I haven't even met?" Smoke spat, letting her hackles rise defensively.

"Well, aren't you just an ignorant brat?" the dark gray she-cat muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Well, for starters, my name is Yellowfang. I don't normally travel this far from the stars, but it is obvious you need help. ShadowClan aren't going to accept you so easily if you just act the way you are now."

And just who does she think she is ordering me around like that? Smoke thought indignantly.

"I don't have to do anything you tell me!" Smoke retorted. Yellowfang only rolled her eyes once more and looked as if she was ready to swipe the smug look off Smoke's face.

"Fine, if you don't want my advice, than I'll tell you this," she began after shaking her head in annoyance. "Out of Thunder, Wind, Shadow, River and Sky comes the Great Five."

The moment Yellowfang had said that, she began to fade away. Smoke's mind was still whirling with those words when she realized too late that she was alone once again. She blinked once, and when she opened her eyes again, Smoke found herself in an unfamiliar den.

Her eyes widened in alarm as she found herself surrounded by rocky walls. The ground underpaw felt oddly smooth as if she wasn't the first cat to touch it. On the side of the rocky walls was thick bands of grass growing on either side. Smoke looked around in panic before she felt a searing pain rush through her shoulder. She let out a wail of surprise at the sudden pain, and the sound of pawsteps followed shortly after.

"Easy, you're just in a state of shock," a soothing voice tried reassuring her. Smoke started to panic even more when a large dark ginger tom stood in front of her. She wanted to know where her mother was, and where her siblings were. They would know how she ended up in a dark, dingy place like this. "Calm down, struggling is only going to make the pain feel worse," the tom hissed after noticing that she was trying to get away. "Ravenpaw, can you hold her down? I need to apply this poultice before the wound gets infected."

Smoke couldn't stop her struggling even if she wanted to. Her mind went blank and she felt as if she was trapped when a pair of paws held her down gently. Time felt as if it had slowed down when Smoke felt a stinging pain run through her shoulder, followed by an odd soothing sensation.

"Well, it's good to see that she's finally awake," meowed a young she-cat's voice. The paws holding her down had released their grip, and Smoke struggled to stand up once again. Her teeth ground together in pain as she fell to the ground once more.

"You've been badly injured, young one," the dark ginger tom told her, his voice oddly calm. "I understand that you are not used to the cramped space, but this was our only choice. You'll be fine in a few days."

"W-Where am I? Where's my family?" she asked, her voice sounding worse than it had in her dream. The dark ginger tom exchanged a worried look with the dark gray she-cat.

"I'm afraid your mother is no longer here," the dark gray she-cat replied, earning a glare from the older tom. "She left when-"

"You have a place here with us," the tom intervened after cuffing her over the ears.

Smoke narrowed her eyes in confusion when they dropped the subject. Clearly they weren't in any hurry to express what really needed to be said. Something told Smoke she was about to find out soon what had happened to her family.

...

Russetstar was furious for taking in a kit. Whatever the Clan had told him, he should have turned down the mother's offer. Bringing in rogues was nothing but bad news for their reputation. He knew that whatever became of this kit, she would likely be exiled. The moment she recovered from her injuries, he would make sure of that. The ShadowClan leader was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice an apprentice approaching his den.

"Russetstar!" Ravenpaw, the medicine cat apprentice. Russetstar narrowed his eyes when he saw her trembling before him, gasping for air as if she had been running for some time. "Russetstar, she's awake! She woke up just before dawn." It didn't take Russetstar long to figure out who she was talking about.

"And Scorchheart didn't feel the need to inform me?" he muttered with a roll of his eyes. "What is the little runt like? Anything like the rogues we've encountered before?"

Ravenpaw merely blinked in confusion before shaking her head. Clearly she did not remember the times when the rogues had caused so much trouble for the Clan. A shiver ran through Russetstar as he remembered watching his own mother die at the claws of a bloodthirsty rogue.

"S-She's very shaken," Ravenpaw explained after taking a deep breath. "I don't even think she knows where she is."

"Good. The last thing we need is for her to know where she is," Russetstar growled. He peered through his den to see the Clan milling about, acting as if nothing was happening.

Ravenpaw dipped her head respectfully and backed away, unnerved by the way he was staring. Russetstar was known for being one of the toughest leaders among the four Clans. Ravenpaw had learned that the hard way on her first day of apprenticeship.

The ShadowClan leader himself was more frustrated with how accepting these warriors were of the rogue kit that was taken in. Some of them would be hostile towards her. That made the task ahead a bit easier. They wouldn't argue over the notion of exiling said kit. Even if it meant breaking the warrior code itself.