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

at the stars in the night sky. "We'll find you... somehow."
"What's wrong Blazestrike? We're ment to be hunting, you know." Deerleap asked, licking her paws.
"Nothing." Blazestrike said quickly.
"There is something up. I can tell." Deerleap meowed.
"What if we never find Moonsky?"
"We will, don't worry."
"Proberly dead."
"Darkmystery likes her, why would he kill her? Think about it." Deerleap gently licked the tom's shoulder and looked up at him. "Come on, Owlpaw's proberly got all the prey by now." She joked. "Let's see who can catch the most prey."
"Bring it on." Blazestrike meowed, running off into the bushes after prey. He then stopped in his tracks. He didn't feel right about going on futher. It felt as if something was lurking out there, watching him. Deerleap bounded beside him, along with Owlpaw. "What's up now?"
"I don't feel right about taking this path." Blazestrike admitted. "It just feels like something's going to jump out and scare me."
"I'll show you it's perfectly safe." Owlpaw said in a loud voice, padding off into the bushes. The 2 warriors waited quietly. A flock of birds suddenly took flight and prey started running for their lives. Blazestrike could tell Deerleap was terrified, she was shaking. Owlpaw then ran back, panting. Blood ran down his back leg and he had a face of fear. "It's horrible!" He panted. "Down-right horrible!"
"What is?" Deerleap asked, sitting beside the apprentice.
"Horrible, I tell you! Horrible!" Owlpaw screamed.
"Hush, Owlpaw, just tell us what happened." Blazestrike meowed calmly.
"Amber eyes! Huge teeth and claws! Shadowed fur!" Owlpaw yelped. "Horrible!"
"That sounds familar." Deerleap mumbled. "Does black fur and amber eyes ring a bell?"
"Yes, but I can't think who it is." Blazestrike sighed.
"Horrible! Just horrible!" Owlpaw wailed again. Suddenly, a pair of eyes appeared in the bushes. Deerleap, despite being older than Blazestrike, hid behind him. "What in the name of StarClan is that?" The thing chuckled and showed itself. "I'm suprised you are so afraid of me, Deerleap."
"Horrible monster!" Owlpaw screamed again before fainting. Blazestrike looked at the cat. It had amber eyes, long claws and pitch-black fur. He then stood back and arched his back. "Darkmystery! You piece of fox-dung!" He spat, hissing.
"I'm actually shocked you dared to show your face again after I forbid it." Darkmystery meowed. "By the looks of things, it seems you have forgotten about your previous mate and gone for a new one."
"What do you mean?" Blazestrike hissed.
"Have you lost your mind?" Darkmystery started laughing. "I can see that you like Deerleap!"
"You liar! Liar!" Blazestrike hurled himself at Darkmystery, but the tom had learnt from the rouges. Darkmystery pinned Blazestrike down and leapt onto him. "I'll kill you if I must!" He snapped. Deerleap charged into Darkmystery and pinned him down. "I won't forgive you for attacking Owlpaw. You know he's my apprentice." She hissed, biting into his neck. Darkmystery yelped, whipped Dearleap with his tail and escaped her grip, running into the bushes. Falconsong and Swiftlegs then padded up and gasped in horror. Owlpaw had been attacked, Blazestrike had a scatch on his neck and Deerleap's muzzle was bleeding.
"Don't ask, Darkmystery showed up." Blazestrike sighed. "He frightened Owlpaw and caused him to faint... we thought we could defeat him... but we were wrong."
"He has grown too strong." Deerleap coughed.
"We'll take you back to our tempoary camp. Did you get any prey?" Falconsong asked.
"Yes, Owlpaw got loads." Deerleap replied weakly. "He took it back a little while before he was attacked."
"Thank StarClan for that, but I think we should have brought Puffinpaw or Ivyfur along." Swiftlegs joked. "Come on, lets get going."

The next morning, everyone was back on the move again. Blazestrike and Deerleap's wounds stung all night, but thankfully Owlpaw was fine. They all had a large meal before leaving, so it would last a few hours. Duckfoot then stopped everyone. "Now, you can smell a horrible scent. That is the Thunderpath. You can hear the monsters." She explained. "I will split everyone into groups, with 1 senior warrior leading so we can all get across safely. Owlpaw, Deerleap and Swiftlegs will be with me. Lizardeye will take Blazestrike, Streampaw and Falconsong." Lizardeye decided to go first and led his group over to the edge. "Now!" He shouted, running across. Falconsong and Blazestrike had no trouble getting across, but Streampaw was frightened. He had never seen the Thunderpath before.
"Come on!" Blazestrike encouraged. "You can do it Streampaw!" The little apprentice refused to move, but then he ran.
"Watch out!" A monster was coming towards Streampaw. Without thinking, Blazestrike rushed to the apprentice, picked him up by the scuff and ran. Thankfully, the 2 cats just made it.
"Now, that's why you have to keep up, Streampaw. Apolgise to Blazestrike." Lizardeye meowed sternly.
"Sorry Blazestrike." Streampaw mumbled. Duckfoot then led her group over the Thunderpath safely and everyone continued on. Suddenly, Lizardeye stopped everyone. "I can smell a dog. Stay together." He whispered. A skinny cat could be seen beside a large tree, licking wounds. The SnowClan cats rushed over to the cat and it crouched into a attacking positon.
"We won't hurt you." Duckfoot meowed.The cat fixed his gaze on Blazestrike and smiled. "Are you Moonsky's mate?" He asked.
"Yes. I'm Blazestrike, warrior of SnowClan." Blazestrike replied. "Who are you?"
"Ah, I am Mysterystar of FoxClan. Myself and my clan used to live here." Mysterystar meowed, hanging his head.
"Used to?" Falconsong was curious. "What happened?"
"We were attacked. First came rouges who claimed themselves as DarkClan, then a dog came to finish us off." Mysterystar sighed sadly.
"We sympathize. Do you need any help?" Deerleap asked.
"Well," Mysterystar seemed a little suspicious, but he continued speaking. "The rouges tore the nursery to shreds and cats are stuck inside there. It is also the same with the elder den. If some of you could free the cats, I will be very greatful. Also, the dog scared off all of our prey which has left us starving."
"Ok, we'll help you." Duckfoot meowed kindly. "Lizardeye and I will go hunting. The rest of the cats can stay here." The 2 senior warriors padded off. Mysterystar turned to the other cats and flicked his tail towards the elder den. "The 3 weakest cats go and help the elders. The other 3 can help the queens, kits and warriors trapped underneath." He meowed.
"Why don't the apprentices and Falconsong go and lift up the elders den?" Deerleap suggested. "They are the youngest here." Everyone agreed and went to help the FoxClan cats. Swiftlegs then noticed a little kit with it's tail ripped off. "There's a badly injured kit!" He shouted, picking it up by the scuff.
"I'm not suprised that kits have been injured, they are one of the most vundruble cats in the clan." A voice said. Swiftlegs turned around. Nothing. A small she-cat then rushed up to him. "Who are you? I know Mysterystar asked for your help, but I don't know your name."
"I'm Swiftlegs." The tom meowed. "What about you?"
"Oh, I'm Bluesong. I'm the medicine cat and my apprentice is Poppypaw." The blue she-cat replied in her soft voice. Bluesong had thick blue fur with 1 faint silver paw and beautiful sky-blue eyes. "It's not everyday we are attacked. We had badgers 3 moons ago." She sighed sadly.
"We just seem to have clan attacks." Swiftlegs joked. He looked at Bluesong's belly. She was skinner than Mysterystar had been when they first saw him, but she didn't have as many wounds. "How comes you are much skinner than the other cats in your clan?" He asked curiously.
"I think that the other cats will need prey most." Bluesong replied. "I normally eat a small squirrel and nothing else, unless someone else is willing to share, but I normally refuse."
"You can get ill if you don't eat enough." Swiftlegs pointed out. He continued helping, as Deerleap gave him a warning stare.

By sunhigh, most of the elders were found alive, but 2 were still missing. From the nursery, 3 queens and 12 kits had been found alive, with 2 kits dead. However, 1 queen and her 2 kits still hadn't been found. Swiftlegs hadn't really done much, because he had been mainly been talking to Bluesong. Mysterystar had told off Bluesong twice for not making any attempt to heal anyone, but the pretty medicine cat ignored him. Thankfully, everyone brightened up when Duckfoot and Lizardeye returned with lots of prey. They explained to Mysterystar that they had hunted beyond the Thunderpath, in the forest where they had set up camp last night. FoxClan were thankful for the prey, and let the SnowClan cats eat too. Blazestrike, however, didn't want to eat right now. He wanted to know something that Mysterystar knew. "Sorry to disturb you, but where is Mysterystar's den?" He asked Bluesong. Swiftlegs gave Blazestrike a silent growl and Bluesong hushed him. "It's over there, in that cave." She said to Blazestrike, flicking her tail over to a small cave made of rocks. "If you see a golden tabby tom in there too, that will be Lionfang, the deputy."
"Thank you." Blazestrike meowed, padding towards the cave. He went in. Here, as Bluesong said, there was another tom in there. Mysterystar was a light brown tabby with darker brown patches and yellow eyes. "Greetings, Blazestrike. What can I do for you?"
"I'm just curious about Moonsky. How did you know that she was my mate?" Blazestrike asked. Lionfang looked at Blazestrike. "So you are the lucky one!" He chuckled. "Greetings, youngster. I am Lionfang, the deputy of this fine clan."
"Hello Lionfang." Blazestrike meowed, dipping his head respectfully. He turned back to Mysterystar. "So?" The leader was speechless, but then he spoke. "Only 1 tom can help you, he told me."
"Who is it?" Blazestrike asked.
"Lionfang will take you to the elder den. In there, you will find a very old light brown tom. He knows the whole thing." Mysterystar explained. Lionfang led Blazestrike into the elder den. The apprentices and Falconsong had recontructed it and now the elders were very thankful. Lionfang then came towards a light brown tom and nudged him with his paw. "Someone's here to speak to you." He mummered. The deputy turned back to Blazestrike. "This elder is the oldest cat in the clan. He is slightly blind and very grouchy, but he is very wise. He may snap at you for asking about Moonsky, but just stay cool and he'll create a friendship with you." He said.
"Ok. Thank you, Lionfang." Blazestrike whispered back. Lionfang nodded and padded out. The elder got up and glared at Blazestrike. "Who are you?" He demanded.
"I'm Blazestrike, a SnowClan warrior. Some friends of mine helped to rebuild your den." Blazestrike replied.
"Oh yes, Mysterystar was so desperate for help he asked intruders for help." The tom mumbled. "I'm Owlclaw, former senior warrior and mentor to many apprentices."
"Hello Owlclaw. Mysterystar told me that you knew one of the rouges, Moonsky." Blazestrike mewed.
"Yes, I did. It doesn't matter the fact I know a rouge!" Owlclaw rasped.
"Yes, but how did you know that she was my mate?"
"What?!" The elder's eyes were blazing with anger. "She doesn't have a mate, you mouse-brained fool! I remember her disappearing as an apprentice, I was her mentor!" Blazestrike then kept quiet. A memory floated back into his mind. "Wait... what clan is this again?"
"FoxClan!" Owlclaw snapped.
"Please can you name all the leaders in this clan's history, from Foxstar to Mysterystar." Blazestrike asked.
"Easy." Owlclaw snorted. "Foxstar, Crowstar, Wolfstar, Falconstar, Smallstar and then Mysterystar."
"Medicine cats?" Blazestrike remembered something about a medicine cat.
"Bearlegs, Bonerain, Emberfang, Leopardheart, Leapingtail, Fawnfoot, Snoweyes and then came Bluesong. The oldest ones was Bearlegs and Fawnfoot. The youngest is currently Bluesong, she has only been medicine cat for a