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

SnowClan scent had gone, but it was deifintly Spottedflower. Gentlepaw licked Spottedflower's shoulder and nudged her up to her paws. Cloverpaw appeared and greeted the she-cat, but then flicked his tail up. "We'd better go before he returns." The 4 cats clambered back up the hole and rushed back to camp. They then stopped, because Gentlepaw had suddenly fallen to the ground. She then got up, but felt dizzy. "I think something hit me." She mumbled weakly. She got up and caught up with the others. They were greeted by Puffinpaw, who seemed a little upset.
"What is wrong?" Gentlepaw asked
"Blankpelt." Puffinpaw sniffed. Before the medicine apprentice could speak, Gentlepaw ran towards the medicine den, heart pounding. She was horrorfied to find her friend still on the ground, but his wounds were bleeding badly and his breath was slow. Gentlepaw bounded over to his side. "Blankpelt?"
"Gentlepaw?" Blankpelt started coughing. "Why are you here?"
"Looking out for you, mouse-brain." Gentlepaw purred in amusement. "Why are you here?"
"I'm dying. Puffinpaw said nothing can save me now." Blankpelt croaked. Gentlepaw gasped in horror. "No... it can't be true." She muttered silently to herself.
"Well, it is." Blankpelt coughed. "Atleast I will be happy in StarClan. An end to this suffering and pain."
"But I won't!" Gentlepaw protested. "You're my best friend!"
"You're a sweet kid, full of sprit. But I am dying. End of." Blankpelt said weakly.
"I'm not letting you join StarClan, Blankpelt."
"They are coming for me, and you know it."
"No! I won't believe it!"
"Gentlepaw, please..."
"No! It's not fair!" Gentlepaw ran out of the den, angry and upset. Tears fell from her eyes, but she ran to the apprentice den and hid her face in her paws. Sudden thought then struck her. "The Clover will fall for the Flower too early, whilist the Gentle will fall for the Blankness too late. 2 children of the mighty Deer will return to save the Gentle from Death and the Smoke will destory Death and Blood." She mumbled. "The clover must have been Cloverpaw and the flower Flowerpelt. That makes the blankness Blankpelt and the gentle me." Wildheart then poked her head in. "Shadowstar wants you on boarder patrol with me, Couragefur and Smokepaw. Meet us by the river when you're ready." Gentlepaw said nothing, but got up and padded out. She was starving, but didn't care. She went over to the river and Wildheart greeted her. "Let's go. We're patroling around the Twolgegplace." The young warrior led them through a ditch and into the place that many cats feared. Wildheart glanced back and then stopped. "We'll split up. Myself and Couragefur will check out SkyClan's old camp. Gentlepaw and Smokepaw, investigate the tribe's boarders. Meet back here by sunset." The cats split up, and the apprentices headed towards the tribe camp. SnowClan hadn't seen much of the Tribe of the Flying Grass, their last meeting was during the battle against BloodClan and RainClan. Gentlepaw knew she had been born during the battle, some cats doubted that her and her brothers would have lived to see after the battle. "Do you think they'll remember us?" She asked Smokepaw.
"Maybe. Fernwhisker said when she tresspassed on patrol as an apprentice, the tribe nearly killed her, Leafdew and Bearpelt. If they don't remember SnowClan, they'll attack us." Smokepaw replied, pricking up his ears. Just then, a patrol appeared out of nowhere. Gentlepaw knew none of them, but Smokepaw knew they were Wing, Feather and Shadow. He decided to approach them. "Hi!"
"You tresspassed on the Tribe of Flying Grass territory!" Feather hissed angrily, lashing her tail.
"Do you not remember me? Think of snow!" Smokepaw said desperately. Gentlepaw hissed at them and Shadow just whipped her with his pitch black tail. "You can be our prisoners. Attack them!" Wing and Feather pinned the apprentices to the ground and Shadow just stared at them coldly. "You're coming with us, young cats or not." He growled, leading the cats back to the barn where they slept. Rock greeted Shadow, but just stared at the SnowClan apprentices. "And who are they?"
"I'm Smokepaw and she's Gentlepaw." Smokepaw piped up. Wing scatched Smokepaw's muzzle and turned to Rock. "Tresspassers."
"I see. Berry won't be pleased." Rock said gruffly. He turned to Gentlepaw and Smokepaw. "You are in trouble. Big trouble." Gentlepaw growled as Rock led them in. The tribe seemed bigger than before, there were kits and bigger cats. "You have a big tribe." She said quietly to Wing.
"Of course we do." Wing snorted. "We do breed our she-cats and recuit loners." Gentlepaw then noticed a tall red she-cat lounging on a haystack with 4 kits. Smokepaw leaned over so his muzzle was right next to Gentlepaw's ear. "I think that's Berry, and her kits, but I don't know who's they are. That she-cat is deifintly Berry though."
"Whatever." Gentlepaw mumbled. She didn't really care who was who. Berry sat up and stared at them. "Where are you from, tresspassers?"
"SnowClan!" Gentlepaw squeaked, but it sounded like SongClan. Berry glared at her coldly. "They can be our prisoners. Take them to the loft." She ordered. Wing and Feather dragged the apprentices by their scuffs up haystacks and small wooden platforms until they reached the loft. Feather threw Gentlepaw down to the floor with such force that the tribe looked above to see what was going on. Wing just dropped Smokepaw, but with not as much power as Feather had done. "You two are staying up here until moonhigh. Then you will be put under pressure from the rest of the tribe." She growled. She jumped down gracefully and Feather followed. Smokepaw didn't realise how badly hurt Gentlepaw was until he got up and saw her white fur stained with blood and dirt. He padded over and nudged her shoulder with his paw. "Gentlepaw? Are you ok?" The young apprentice said nothing, as she was too weak to even move. Her breathing was slow and quiet, and Smokepaw couldn't let his friend die like this. So he started yowling.
"Will you pipe down, you flea-infested badger!" A huge tom shouted rudely from below. "Or I'll tear your fur out and use it for a blanket!" Smokepaw would have backed down by now, but he was determained to get help. "I'm not being quiet until Gentlepaw gets help!" He then stopped when he heard someone coming up. He laid beside Gentlepaw as the cat came up. He was a small, thin tom with grey fur and soft yellow eyes. "I can help you. I am Air of life, but please call me Air. If you meet me at moonhigh tonight behind the haystacks, I can help you escape." He offered in a quiet voice. Smokepaw didn't look him in the eye, because he looked like an elder trying to trick him. He looked down at his paws. "Ok. Whatever you say." He muttered. Air snorted loudly and started to walk away, but Smokepaw felt a bit lonely and frightened. "Wait! Can you stay here for a bit?"
"I guess I could." Air replied in a kinder tone. He padded over. "If you wanted to know who the big tom was who shouted at you, that was Pride of the lion, Berry's mate."
"Has she had kits?" Smokepaw asked. "I remember seeing 4 kits beside Berry when we came in." Air nodded his head. "Yes. Night, Wolf, Forest and Talon. Night is the only she-cat." He replied. The old tom then heard pawsteps coming up to the loft, and he sat up smartly. The cat was Flower, with 2 small mice. "For the prisoners." She mewed, dropping them. She turned to Air. "What are you doing up here?"
"Ermm..." Air tried to think of a quick excuse. "oh! I'm just guarding them, in case they try to escape." Flower looked suspicious, but nodded. "Ok. Whatever. Just looking for you because Berry wants all the toms to pick a she-cat to breed so we get more kits for the tribe. You may be the oldest, but it's important for the tribe's surrvial." Air nodded. "I understand. I'll be down in a moment." Flower lepts across the platforms and haystacks until she got to the ground. Smokepaw looked at Air. "What is going on?"
"All the toms have to breed she-cats so we get more cats for the tribe." Air explained. "You can watch from here." Air jumped down and Berry hushed them. "Now, it is time to select a she-cat. So, if the she-cats could go and find a small spot, then the toms can go and pick a she-cat of their choice." The she-cats scurried around and the toms went around. Smokepaw could see a small tom approaching Berry. "Do you count?"
"Ermm... not really. Sorry, Ash." The leader replied. Ash glared at her. "You don't want me to breed you! Just because I was a stupid barn cat!" He snapped angrily. "You picked Pride because he was a rogue!" Berry gave a small growl. "No. You are very wrong. He picked me when he came to the tribe, so it's settled, you rat-face!" Smokepaw gasped. Berry had never been so rude, neither had any cats in all 5 clans. Ash had ignored the insult and just sat there, his cunning blue eyes shining. Pride noticed the tom and charged at him. Ash yelped and scuttered away. Pride looked at Berry, his golden tabby fur sparkling in the sunlight. "You owe me." He replied. Berry gave a small sigh. "We have kits. Can you not wait until they grow up?" Her mate just stalked off. Smokepaw was now getting a bit bored of this and fell asleep.

"What do you think they're doing?"
"Where are they?"
"Are they safe?"
"Those poor little things! Anything could have happened to them!"
"Why take two inoccent and young cats?"
"Hush everyone, I'm now declaring this meeting open." Shadowstar meowed loudly. The clan were shocked to see the patrol return with no apprentices. The tom was having trouble keeping his clan under control, but they had now silenced. Shadowstar turned to face SnowClan. "Now, I know that we are all very upset about the disappearence of the apprentices, but..."
"You don't seem to even care!" Sootfire growled. "Your daughter's out there and you don't give a hoot about her safety!" Fernwhisker scatched her son's shoulder angrily and and yelped quietly. Shadowstar just sighed. "I am leader of this clan. Leaders must try to hold back their emotions, as they are supposed to be strong. But I am struggling to hold this meeting with the disappearence of Gentlepaw." He turned to Wildheart. "Where did you send them? You never told me."
"I sent them to check the boarders around the tribe camp." The young warrior gulped, shuffling her paws anxiously. Morninghawk looked at her. "So do you think they're with the tribe? It's been a long time since we last saw them, they might not have remembered us." Sootfire glared at Wildheart with cold eyes. "It was all your fault that Smokepaw and Gentlepaw are gone!" He spat angrily. "If you didn't make them go on that stupid patrol, they would still be here!" Wildheart said nothing and shook her head, but Swiftlegs was always there to defend his sister. "You shut up, badger-face!" He hissed, his fur bristling.
"You aren't much better, having half-blood kits with a medicine cat!" Sootfire growled. His siblings gave him a hard stare, whilist Fernwhisker turned to Shadowstar. "May I add to the matter with a small idea?" She asked. Shadowstar looked at the she-cat. "Go on."
"Well, we all know what happens to cats when they're kidnapped, right? Their clan is desperate for them back, yes? So I'm suggesting that we attack the tribe, just to show that we want those apprentices back." Fernwhisker meowed. The cats chatted quietly amongst themselves and then came to an agreement. Morninghawk turned to face the leader.