Warriors: Shadows Of The Night

Chapter 25

After the run in with the kittypet, Shadow, Ravenpaw and Shadepelt continued their hunting patrol. Ravenpaw caught a plump mouse, while Shadepelt caught a vole. When the two cats had caught their prey, Ravenpaw sat back on her haunches and glanced at her brother.

"Should we tell Shallowstar about the kittypet?" She asked, thinking about Shadow. The black tom hadn't seemed like much of a threat, yet he still was a trespasser. And trespassing was not tolerated.

"Yeah," Shadepelt shrugged, "I mean, I guess. It's not like he's going to come back though. I think we scared him off pretty good." He looked pleased at the thought of scaring off the black cat.

"But still, he's a trespasser," Ravenpaw meowed, "Shallowstar will want to hear about this."

"Yeah," Shadepelt sighed, "I guess you're right." He stood up and picked up his vole. "Let's go back to camp."

Ravenpaw nodded and picked up her own catch. The mouse made her mouth water as she realized she was hungry. It wasn't a hunting patrol, really, so the two of them could've stopped to eat one of their catches. But she really just wanted to get back to camp and report the kittypet to Shallowstar.

"Okay," Ravenpaw mumbled around the mouse in her jaws. "Let's go."

As the two cats padded through the territory back to camp, Ravenpaw felt uneasy. Despite them scaring off the kittypet, she was still leery. After all, the cat they had chased off hadn't even been the one that she had caught watching her multiple times from the forest.

Who is that cat? Ravenpaw wondered as she padded through the woods. Is it a cat that kittypet, Shadow, knows? Or is it a different cat entirely?

She glanced at Shadepelt. Her littermate stopped walking when he noticed that she was looking at him. He set his vole down on the ground.

"You seem distracted," Shadepelt meowed, "What's wrong?"

Ravenpaw dropped her mouse and sat down heavily with a sigh. "It's just that...you see, the kittypet we scared off it's not the same cat I've been seeing lately."

"Lately?" Shadepelt echoed, his eyes widening. His ears both twitched back. "You mean you've seen this strange cat more than once?"

She nodded and swept her tail over the forest floor. The feeling of grass beneath her tail was an interesting sensation. Looking at her paws, she sighed. "Yes...I..." She hesitated, not sure whether to tell him about the eyes she had seen while making dirt in the camp.

Well, I've told him this much, she thought as she looked at her brother's curious posture. There's no point in holding back now.

"Well? You what?" Shadepelt asked, his ears twitching impatiently. He leaned forward. "Tell me."

Ravenpaw took a deep breath. "I saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes watching me from deep in the trees, once, when I was making dirt."

"When was this?" Shadepelt asked, his eyes wide.

"A few sunrises ago," she replied, "When I was still recovering from the DarkClan fight."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Shadepelt sat down and curled his tail against his side, frowning. "Or at least me."

Ravenpaw shook her head. If she was being honest with herself, not even she knew why. It almost felt instinctual though.

"I'm not sure," She admitted to her brother with a sigh. "Maybe..." She hesitated and swallowed.

"Maybe what?" Shadepelt leaned closer, his ears pricked with curiosity.

"Maybe I was just afraid no cat would believe me," Ravenpaw said, letting out a long sigh. "Or maybe cats would judge me even more than they were before."

Shadepelt gave Ravenpaw a friendly nudge and stepped back. When she looked at him, his yellow eyes were warm and sympathetic. "I understand. But I'm sure you would've been fine."

Ravenpaw shrugged, still not really sure that was true, but she certainly appreciated her brother's support. And she really hoped he was right.

When the cats got back to camp, Ravenpaw felt relieved that she had finally told some cat about the strange intruder. She wasn't sure why, but it felt better that some other cat knew the secret now.

As the two cats deposited their prey onto the fresh-kill pile, Thornwhisker padded over to greet them. "How was hunting?" The brown tabby warrior asked.

"It was good," Shadepelt replied, "I caught a vole, and Ravenpaw caught a mouse." He motioned with his tail to the fresh-kill pile. Two other mice and a pigeon were in the pile already, probably caught during the dawn hunting patrol.

"We scared off a kittypet intruder," Ravenpaw told her mentor. Beside her, Shadepelt nodded. Thornwhisker gave the two littermates a startled glance.

"Really?" Thornwhisker asked, "Was it the same kittypet you saw yesterday? Was it around the same spot as you saw it?"

Ravenpaw shook her head. "No. It was close to the same spot, though, but it was a different cat." She was still nervous at the thought of seeing the strange cat from before, though, and wondered why it would be on their territory in the first place.

"Hmm," Thornwhisker looked thoughtful, "I guess we'll have to keep a close eye on that border. I'm not too worried, though. The other cat is probably just an overly curious kittypet as well."

Palefoot padded over and flicked her tail. "What's going on?"

"These two were just telling me how they scared off a kittypet while they were out hunting," Thornwhisker explained to the gray she-cat.

"Ah, I see," Palefoot said. Glancing at Ravenpaw, she asked: "Is it the same cat you saw yesterday? That would make sense, after all."

"No," Ravenpaw said once again. I wish it was, though.

"Oh," Palefoot said, blinking. She shook her fur out and sighed. "I suppose we'll have to keep an eye out for kittypets from now on. They shouldn't be too hard to handle, though."

"I think we scared that one off for good," Shadepelt meowed, flexing his claws. "I don't think he'll be returning any time soon."

Palefoot purred. "I'm glad to hear that. Kittypets have always been afraid of us, though. It's a good thing, too! The less intruders we have to deal with, the better."