Shadowed Dawn - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Fang stared down at his paws, where the motionless cat lay. Then, he turned towards Robin, and whispered, "what happened?"

Foxglove, one of the Commanders, was lying on her side, whimpering in pain. Frost, a young she-cat, was hurriedly applying cobwebs as blood poured out of gashes in her side. Fang felt sick.

"It was ValleyClan," Robin said coldly. "Foxglove and her unit ambushed a patrol, and... well now you can see the results."

"At least we killed one of them!" Foxglove gritted her teeth in pain.

By now, nearly all the Midnights had gathered. Foxglove had been brought into Eclipse's camp. Now, the leader of the Midnights stood silently, away from the panicking cats.

Many of the Midnights peered at Foxglove curiously, before turning away, an aloof expression on their faces. While Fang turned to pad away and give the wounded she-cat space, he felt eyes on the back of his head.

Whirling around, he saw Eclipse. The she-cat was gesturing for him to come to her. Fang shot one glance towards where Claw was chatting with a crowd of younger Midnights, before sprinting across the muddy clearing towards his Commander.

"The Gathering is tomorrow," Eclipse commented as Fang padded to her side, head lowered. He glanced up at her. Eclipse's blood red eyes were gleaming feverishly. "It's all on you to lower that apprentice's guard, and bring her to me, Fang."

Fang nodded as he stared into Eclipse's gleaming eyes. Hesitantly, he found himself asking the Midnights' leader.

"Then what?"

"Then what?!" Eclipse spun around to face him. "Then we make those foxdunged clans pay us a little more respect. They'll regret the day they sent us here, to a place where they wanted us to starve and suffer."

Fang nodded slowly. Eclipse was doing this for vengeance. Almost without thinking, his eyes scanned the crowd to where Haze was gently nosing a clover towards Bitternshadow's kit. Even beneath her fluffy pelt, he could see her ribs showing.

Nightshade slunk around the clearing like a snake, angry eyes narrowed as he listened to the conversations of his fellow Midnights. Robing stared blankly off into the distance. While Claw... she was watching him, her head tilted to one side, a vaguely worried expression on her face.

Fang wasn't doing this for Eclipse. He was doing this for his family. He was doing this so that all his friends didn't have to live a life in the shadows of the clan cats. He was doing this so that the Midnights could be free.

And to achieve all this... we have got to take the clan cats down a bit.

It wasn't anything personal when it came to Aspenpaw, Fang reflected, as Eclipse turned and began speaking in a low growl with Dream. It was simply that he had goals, and she was in the way.

"And you seriously entrusted him to steal Aspenpaw?!" Fang tilted his head to one side when he heard Dream's outraged snarl. "He's hardly bigger than a kit, and probably as fleabrained as one."

"Don't question my orders. You know you'll have your chance for vengeance soon enough," Eclipse's voice was dangerously soft. "You know who lurks on our borders..."

"I wish I didn't."

Dream scowled and turned away. Fang, noting that he was dismissed, leaped down away from Eclipse.

His paws landed on a pure white bone, which was jutting out of the ground. Gritting his teeth in pain, Fang lifted his paw up to see a faint bit of blood glistening on his pad. He glanced back down at the prey bone, lying haphazardly in the mud.