The Hidden Shadows

“Until you are given your warrior name, you shall be known as Shadowpaw. And I will mentor you so that you can become a warrior.” Swiftstar meowed in a calm voice.

“Until you are given your warrior name, you will be known as Goldenpaw. Your mentor will be Blizzardwatcher.” Swiftstar turned away from the other molly and looked at the last kit.

“Until you’re given your warrior name, you shall be known as Rockpaw. Your mentor will be Roseheart.” Swiftstar finished.

“Goldenpaw! Rockpaw! Shadowpaw!” The clan chanted.

Finally! Shadowpaw was an apprentice! She had been waiting for so long to train with her clanmates.

Roseheart bounded up to her and her siblings and licked their foreheads.

“I’m so proud of you three!” she purred.

“Stop it, mom!” Goldenpaw groaned.

“I am SO excited! MOM! Stop licking me!!!” Shadowpaw mewled. Her tail flicked with impatience. Roseheart moved to lick Rockpaw, and he just frowned, patiently waiting for her to finish.

“Should we go move into the apprentice’s den?” Rockpaw asked.

“Sure.” Goldenpaw nodded.

“I can’t wait!” Shadowpaw giggled.

The three apprentices padded to the small, rocky den. Rocks had been collected on the sides after the rumble that happened a few days earlier. The day before Willowpaw died. Meowpaw had been crushed.

“It’s so empty!” Goldenpaw said, surprised.

“Well, we are some of the first apprentices after the disbanding of Arabiaclan,” Shadowpaw replied.

The three apprentices gathered moss from the side of the clan. They set the fresh moss down onto the rocky floor.

Meowpaw had already left, possibly still grieving over her dead brother, possibly out training with Splashspirit. She was the eldest apprentice and hated Shadowpaw because she had been so close to her brother, Willowpaw, who was now dead.

Suddenly, a dark outlined figure appeared in the den entrance. She had pride sketched into the way she held herself.

“Goldenpaw, Shadowpaw, your mentors are waiting.” Roseheart purred from the entrance of the den. Her ginger and cream fur gleamed in the sunlight. “Rockpaw, let’s go.”

The three apprentices bounded out and to their mentors.

Shadowpaw gazed up at the leader with wonder in her e. She knew that if she was impatient she’d have to help the medicine cat, Cloverclaw, but she was so excited!

“Are you ready?” Swiftstar asked.

Shadowpaw nodded quickly, her tail already batting impatiently.

The leader chuckled. With a flick of her tail, they were off. Shadowpaw couldn’t help noticing the way her eyes sparkled when Swiftstar looked at her and how the white star on her forehead showed that Swiftstar was gifted, from Starclan.

The two mollys wandered the territory. They both were quiet for a while.

“We are at the Duskclan border.” Swiftstar meowed. “If you see any Duskclan warriors pass into our territory, tell them that they must leave immediately.”

“It stinks,” Shadowpaw replied, backing up from the horrid smell, trying to get it out of her nose.

“Well, all scents that aren’t ours will stink.” Swiftstar chuckled. Shadowpaw looked at her with a shy grin.

Shadowpaw followed her through the Aspen trees. Looks like Greenleaf was coming to an end. The leaves were dying like they did every year, changing colors based on their moods to the end of green leaf.

“That’s the Great Aspen. When we stop fighting and bother to have a gathering, we’ll have a use for this huge thing.” Swiftstar joked with a bit of a reverent tone in her voice. Shadowpaw looked up and found she couldn’t see the top.

Wow, it’s so big!

They came to a small area with dirt and sand.

“This is-,“ Swiftstar was cut off as Shadowpaw turned toward the rustling bracken. Then, Meowpaw appeared from the bushes.

“Swiftstar! It’s Roseheart! She and Rockpaw crossed the Duskclan border!” Meowpaw panted between breaths. Shadowpaw gasped in alarm.

“What!? Take me to them. Shadowpaw, come along.”

The mollys traveled through the trees, near the border. Shadowpaw pricked her ears and heard voices coming up. Swiftstar’s stubby tail flicked.

“There!” Meowpaw hissed.

The three cats silently crept into a nearby bush.

“What are they doing? I can’t see!” Shadowpaw mewed.

“ Blazestar and-“ Swiftstar looked through the bush with horror. “No...”

Shadowpaw wiggled her way to a gap so that she could see. There was a red and orange tom, alongside him was a silver tom, with grey stripes on his paws. Both toms had gold eyes. Swiftstar hadn’t said the name of the silver tom.

“So, what’s Swiftstar up to now?” Blazestar hissed.

“She just made my kits into apprentices. Some other kits were recently apprenticed too. You know like Willowpaw” Roseheart replied, her yellow eyes flashing.

The firey colored tom growled.

“We need one of the apprentices dead! You better have them killed by the full moon! Or else something will happen to one of your kits! Most preferably, that thing that Swiftstar gave birth to.”

The silver tom looked at his paws with sadness in his eyes, then padded forward. Shadowpaw saw Swiftstar shuffle uncomfortably again, out of the corner out of her eye.

What’s that all about?

“What about Swiftstar? Didn’t you want to-“

“Yes, Silvershell. This is the first step though,” Blazestar hissed. Then Silvershell lowered his head and backed away.

Swiftstar backed out of the bush, hissing quietly for the two apprentices to follow.

“Meowpaw? What really happened to Willowpaw? And Mayflower?” Swiftstar prodded the young she-cat gently, once they were out of range.

“Well, I,” Meowpaw stuttered and then began.

“Mayflower and Willowpaw were on a patrol and they scented Rockpaw. He was hunting and when he was sure no one was around he crossed the Duskclan border. I was bored so I went tracking. I found Rockpaw’s scent and I hid. I saw him and Roseheart talking to Blazestar and another cat, a brown and tan tabby. She was a warrior and a molly. Mayflower and Willowpaw came out into the open and started fighting. Then, Roseheart stalked out of the bushes and leaped onto Willowpaw.” Meowpaw looked away for a minute, in sorrow.

“Mayflower looked up just to see Roseheart aim a killing blow to my brother. She froze and the tabby killed her. And then I ran. Rockpaw sort of just stood there, silently, with Blazestar as the tabby she-cat fought.`` Meowpaw stopped speaking, obviously done. Obviously in pain. Thinking of one thing: REVENGE.

“Let’s get back to camp. I’ll have to discuss this with Roseheart.” Swiftstar told them. Shadowpaw mewed softly, afraid to interrupt their conversation.

Was there going to be a war within the clan? Why did her mother do such a treasonous thing?

“Umm, Swiftstar?” Shadowpaw muttered softly. Swiftstar turned toward her with rage sparking in her emerald green eyes. Meowpaw’s green eyes were also hard. She had their attention, now time for answers.

“What are you going to do to my mom?”

Meowpaw whipped toward Swiftstar and the two apprentices waited in silence and Swiftstar closed her eyes, thinking.

“I don’t know yet. Blazestar threatened her kits. But she killed a clanmate. I need the whole story before I can make a decision.”

Meowpaw and Shadowpaw glanced at each other, confused. They were both thinking the same thing. Why not just hurt her? Shadowpaw understood Meowpaw wanting Roseheart to be in pain, like what she felt when her family was killed. Shadowpaw had just heard Roseheart, her mother of all cats, planned with Fernclan’s dangerous enemy. And her brother Rockpaw!

Shadowpaw had so many questions in her head as they started to head back towards the camp.

How long had this been going on? When would it stop? What would happen to her family? What was Swiftstar going to do?

And what could she do to make sure everybody was happy again? Was there anything anybody could do?