Dark Shadows by Chocolatemeerkat (epub e ink reader .TXT) 📕

new mate."
"Who is it? Please tell me!"
"You will see now." With no warning, Badgerstripe leapt onto Ember and started breeding her, right in front of Snowstar's eyes. Ember was expecting this, so she wasn't shocked. She waited until he had finished and rubbed her head against his. They then padded back to camp together. Snowstar was left in the rain with Bloodstar's kits. They were looking at her, as they were thinking You lied! Who is our father?                       Tears fell from the leader's eyes. She just couldn't live on like this! I must die. She thought to herself, licking the kits. If I loose a life to this cough, then I will drown in the river. I better get someone with me.  Just then, she fell to the floor.
"Mum!" The kits cried. Snowstar could hear voices around her. "You have lost your 8th life. You have 1 life left." Snowstar groaned weakly and opened her eyes. Dovekit and Pigeonkit were beside her while Ashkit was jumping on her back.
"Get off me." She mumbled to her son. The kits got up and waited for Snowstar to get up. I can't tell them about this. She thought to herself. It will kill them.                                                                              She sighed and nudged Ashkit. "Back to camp before we die of the cold." She said firmly, leading them back down.

By sunset, the rain hadn't stopped. Patrols had been sent around the forest on search of prey. Not much had come back, apart from a few squirrels and a young rabbit caught by Owlpaw. Ember feared this muchly. She didn't want to starve again. Just as she was thinking, Nightkit came up to her. "When are our brothers and sisters coming?" She asked.
"Soon, I hope." Ember sighed. She then felt a ripple of pain through her body. *The kits!* She though anxiously. She yelped in pain. "They're coming!" Ivyfur was there within a few seconds, along with Puffinpaw. The apprentice looked at the queen. "Push." She meowed. "The first one is coming." Ember pushed with all her might until it came out. Some more followed, and after a gruelling 15 minutes later, 3 kits were in the world.
"2 toms and a she-cat." Puffinpaw meowed. "Well done." Badgerstripe padded in with a mouse in his jaws and dropped it beside her. "I heard the news." He purred. "What are their names?"
"The black tom with thick fur and grey patches can be Darkkit, the fiery ginger tom can be Firekit and the little grey one with silver paws can be Silverkit." Ember meowed. Moonsky looked up at the medicine apprentice. "Why don't you go and ask Ivyfur when you are getting your full medicine cat name? You act like a true medicine cat, most apprentices need help when helping queens give birth. You did that all by yourself." She suggested. Puffinpaw shuffled her paws and looked embrassed. "Erm, thank you." She replied in a quiet voice. "FlowerClan, not only being decents of OwlClan, know their medicines well." Moonsky nudged the little black she-cat and she eventully went up to Ivyfur. "When can I get my full medi-medicine ca-cat n-name?" She asked, still embrassed from what Moonsky had said.
"That's all you apprentices want, isn't it? Getting your name and then think that I'll let you off, yeah? Well you are very, very wrong." Ivyfur hissed, storming out off the nursery. Puffinpaw's ears drooped sadly. "I'll never be a proper medicine cat." She sighed, playing with some moss.
"She's just thinking about her old apprentice." Spottedflower replied. "Don't worry."
"Who was her old apprentice?" Puffinpaw asked curiously.
"Ghostpaw, a large white she-cat with black paws and dull black eyes. She's a kittypet now, but she used to be really bad. If you see a she-cat that matches my description, never go near her. She'll rip you to shreds." Spottedflower warned. "She did that to Duststorm and Fernwhisker when they were apprentices." Ember turned her head away and tried to go to sleep, thinking about nothing but Ghostpaw.
"All cats old enough to catch their own prey join under the Highrock for a clan meeting!" Snowstar yowled. Ember shivered and stayed where she was.
"I guess you'll be allowed to stay because of your kits." Moonsky mewed, padding out. Her 4 kits followed, jumping around. The old leader was sat on the rock paitently until she saw Badgerstripe. She then hid her head in her paws and waited for everyone to gather. "I-I have plenty of good news to share with yo-you a-all." She stammered, trying to hide the fact she was heartbroken. "Can Streampaw, Blankpaw, Owlpaw and Cloudpaw come up here please?" The 4 apprentices padded up with pride, although their pelts were dripping wet. Snowstar was the same, but did it matter? "Streampaw, Owlpaw, Blankpaw and Cloudpaw, do you accept the SnowClan way of life, will follow the warrior code and use it to protect your clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do!" The 4 apprentices cried.
"I, Snowstar, leader of SnowClan, call apon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard in your noble code, and I command you make them warriors in turn." She went over to Streampaw. "Streampaw, from this day forward you will be known as Streamtail. StarClan hounors you for your bravery and hunting and welcomes you as a full warrior of SnowClan." She did the same with the others. "Blankpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Blankpelt. StarClan hounors you for your loyalty and defence against enemies."
"Owlpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Owltree. StarClan hounors you for your determination and great fighting skills."
"Cloudpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Cloudwind. StarClan hounors you for your hard work and kindness to others."
"Streamtail! Blankpelt! Owltree! Cloudwind!" The clan chanted loudly. The 4 new warriors smiled as their names were shouted. They then padded back down to join their friends.
"Can Gentlekit, Cloverkit and Luckykit come up here please?" The 3 little kits sqiurmed away from Spottedflower and padded up, trying to act cool and sensible.
"Until you recive your warrior names, you will be known as Gentlepaw, Luckypaw and Cloverpaw. Gentlepaw's mentor will be Wildheart, Luckypaw's will be Falconsong and Cloverpaw's will be Shreweye. I'll give the older warriors a break." Snowstar meowed. "Clan dismissed." She hopped down and went up to Swiftlegs. "I need a urgent favour." She said.
"What for?" Swiftlegs questioned, washing himself.
"Can you come to the river with me? I need to speak to you." Snowstar asked. The young warrior nodded. "Ok, whatever you say." The 2 cats padded off together towards the river. It was still raining, but the river hadn't flooded thankfully. Snowstar stopped at the edge. "I am ashamed of my actions. I've lost my mate and my first litter of kits don't speak to me. I'm on my last life, so I want you to push me into the river and force me to drown. Shadowstep will be a great leader... I know he will." She mewed softly. Swiftlegs was suprised, but shrugged. "Ok." He replied. The tom shoved her into the deepest part of the river and jumped in himself, pushing her deeper and deeper below surface. He swam back up and waited for the leader to join StarClan. However, she wasn't drowning. She was floating. "Mouse-dung!" She hissed angrily. "You'll have to push me off a tree and into the river." They climbed the tallest and closest tree to the river. Snowstar took a deep breath and waited for Swiftlegs to do the deed. He shoved her hard, sending the leader plunging into the water. Pain exploded through Snowstar's body as she hit the water with such force. She perished within 2 minutes of hitting the water.
"Goodbye, Snowstar." Swiftlegs mumbled, dipping his nose into the ice-cold water. He couldn't retrieve her body or he would die with her. He rushed back to camp and put on a face of sorrow and shock. "Snowstar's lost her ninth life!" He yowled. Everyone stopped moving around. The kits, who were talking loudly, fell into silence. The elders stopped snoring and the new apprentices stopped eating their prey. How could Snowstar be dead already? Only the pitter-patter of the rain and the low wind could be heard. Then, every cat started yowling in grief and sorrow. Shadowstep dipped his head sadly, but then Falconsong went up to him. "You are the new leader of SnowClan." She mummered in her quiet voice. The deputy looked up at the younger warrior and smiled. "Yes, I know." He whispered back. Shadowstep jumped up to the Highrock and hushed the cats. "Of course, we all grief for Snowstar's... mysterious death. But of course, we need a leader who might not be as wise as Snowstar, but will try to rebuild the clan and make it stronger than ever as the weather gets worse. I will say now that.." Shadowstep didn't finish his sentence, as Luckypaw shouted out "Shadowstep is the new leader!" The clan yowled in agreement. The deputy nodded his head and looked up. "I will make the journey to the Moonstone tonight. I would like Puffinpaw to accompany me on this journey." He mewed. The medicine apprentice's face lit up in delight and smiled. Ivyfur narrowed her eyebrows. "Puffinpaw doesn't know her way to the Moonstone. What if I took you there?" She suggested, glaring at Puffinpaw. Shadowstep shook his head. "No, it will be fine. Besides, you need to rest." He said firmly. Puffinpaw gave a proud look at Ivyfur, but she wasn't proud at all. Shadowstep jumped down from the Highrock. "Duckfoot is in charge until I get back." He said. "Anyone disobeying her will be in serious trouble." He glared at Ivyfur while saying this, she went off to her den, sulking. Puffinpaw rushed up to him. "Let's go!" A new leader

The next day, Shadowstep was now Shadowstar. His trip with Puffinpaw had been successful and everything was quiet. No one had disobeyed Duckfoot, which made the new leader happy. He had to pick a new deputy now. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey join under the Highrock for a clan meeting!" He yowled. Everyone came over at once, even Ivyfur. Shadowstar jumped up on the Highrock and sat up. "Of course, every clan needs a deputy, don't they? So after careful consideration, the new deputy will be Morninghawk!" The clan yowled and the she-cat smiled. Fernwhisker rushed up to her friend. "Well done! I'm so happy for you!"
"Now, the gathering is tonight, so I will pick cats for that later. We mustn't try to grief for Snowstar's death, even though she was a great leader and friend. We must put the past behind us and continue on our lives. Going on a patrol would help me out, so if Morninghawk could organise patrols for today and anything else." Shadowstar mewed. "Clan dismissed!" Morninghawk padded up to everyone. "Ok, boarder patrols first. I want Badgerstripe to lead a patrol around the RainClan boarder. Take Lizardeye, Puddlepaw and Treepaw. Duckfoot, lead a patrol around the BloodClan boarder. Take Wildheart, Moletooth