Shadowed Dawn - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Aspenpaw yawned, rolling onto the belly. For a blissful moment, she imagined that she was in the DawnClan apprentice's den, preparing for another day of mindless patrols. She imagined another day of Blazestar praising her for her likeness to Lightsong.

Blazestar.

At once, reality came crashing down upon the young she-cat. The memory of Blazestar's slitted pupils as he lunged for her throat made Aspenpaw's heart throb as though his claws had made their mark.

Then that Duskwood cat, Aspenpaw shuddered as she remembered his hunted expression, his narrowed frame and impenetrable glare. That cat's my father. All my life I wanted to be a hero, but now I know I'm the one the heroes are supposed to fight.

The monster.

Aspenpaw winced inwardly at the thought, and in doing so, her forepaw collided with another soft mound of fur. She blinked her eyes open to see the small grey rogue curled up in a ball beside her, a pile of snow covering his scarred pelt.

Aspenpaw unsheathed her claws, and was about to hiss at him to get away, when she suddenly remembered the talk that they had had last night.

"Good morning," she said to him tensely as he shifted. Ack! Why did I greet the rogue like that? And we both know this isn't a 'good' morning.

She tried again. "I suppose we fell asleep in the gathering clearing."

She stared distractedly up at the sky. A shiver rippled across her pelt when she realised that it was still dark, as though a black mist obscured the light, making the entire world eerily black and sinister.

Even the trees of the gathering island looked evil, as though their twisted branches , were claws reaching for her throat. Aspenpaw backed away, fur spiked. I did this, this is my fault, my fault!

I have to fix this!

Aspenpaw had to find Blazestar. He would know and understand what to do...right? At least, somecat in DawnClan would. They needed to find the light before the darkness froze them all, or worse things happened.

"I guess we did fall asleep," the grey tom commented with a yawn with a yawn.

Aspenpaw jumped back; she had forgotten he was there. The tom glanced up at the sky, a pensive expression on his face. Then, he turned to her.

"We've got to go," his voice was urgent.

"To DawnClan?" Aspenpaw queried. "That's where we have to go, right? My clanmates have the gift of Light; they'll know what to do. I bet Blazestar has already almost solved everything!"

The tom stared at her. In a quiet voice, he murmured.

"I'm going to find my unit... or, what's left of it," he shook out his pelt and got to his paws. "Look, I get that DawnClan's your family and all, but they're kinda about to kill my family, so I have to go warn them."

Aspenpaw stared at the rogue, at his tattered ears, ruffled pelt and the scar on his cheek. Even though he was the cat she had thought to be the enemy all this time, she was beginning to wonder if she had had it wrong all along.

"I'll come with you," she offered cautiously. DawnClan can wait, besides, as a member of the Elite, this is an important mission!

Fang smiled hesitantly. "I'd like that. I feel like Haze would like you; she's always talking about cats beyond our borders."

Aspenpaw trudged along beside Fang through dense undergrowth. The tom ducked under overhanging branches and leaped over hidden roots with a sort of natural ease that made her surprised.