Warriors: Reign Of Shadows ~Series 2 Book 6~

Chapter 19

Silvershy's POV

There had no other encounters with Tyler since the night he told her to run. She hadn't looked back, but from what she had heard there had been an argument with someone.

"Cats of Lightclan." Silvershy pricked her ears as Stormstar's voice rang from the meeting rock. The clan was gathered below him in the gathering clearing, all eyes turned to their leader as he stood on the boulder.

"It is time to announce some new warriors..." The black tom trailed off, his blue eyes narrowing as he studied his clan mates closley, his gaze settling firmly on Flamefur. The flame coloured she cat glared at him, he glared back at her. Autumnpool- who stood beside her leader- gave him a small nudge and he shook his head, speaking. "Amber..paw and Sweetpaw. Step forwards." His words were mumbles, barely audible to the cats sitting below him. Silvershy strained her ears as the black tom began the ceremony.

"I, Stormstar, leader of LightClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn." Stormstar's voice was strangely cold as he spoke, like something inside him had died. "Sweetpaw, Amberpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

The two young cats meowed. "I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. From this moment you will be known as Sweetleaf and Amberstorm. StarClan honors your strength and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of LightClan." Stormstar finished the ceremony with a dismissive flick of his tail.

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Silvershy blinked her eyes open to find herself in the Dark Forest. The usual sliver of fear settled within her, chilling her bones. Where was Tyler? She hated being alone in the shadowy forest. She didn't want to come across anyone dangerous, which had a very high chance of happening while she was strolling alone in the Dark Forest.

Tyler come quickly. Silvershy begged as she started walking out of the clearing she had woken up in and further into the shadows. She found it pathetic that she had grown so dependent on the winged tom so quickly, but she hated the Dark Forest and she needed the company of someone who knew the area and would protect her.

Silvershy tensed when a pained howl echoed from further in front of her. She felt her heart start thudding wildly in her chest as she moved slowly forwards the investigate the sounds.

She came upon a clearing. On the far end, there was a light grey tom with dark tabby stripes strung up by brambles. His one wide, grey eye was watering with tears, his other eye a mess of dark, red blood. He wailed and cried as Dime clawed his side open, blood pooling around them. Silvershy glanced down to see a dark grey tom with brown, blood stained paws. Dime. She recognised the tom immediately and her eyes widened. Was he torturing someone?

Silvershy bit her lip as Dime roughly grabbed onto the grey tom's hind paw. Silvershy couldn't see what exactly he did, but judging by the tom's agonised howl it was definitely something painful. She stared in horror at the scene; she had never realised that cats were tortured in the Dark Forest.

Next, Dime moved onto the next hind leg and the grey tom's screams heightened. After waiting a bit for his victim to calm down a bit, Dime dug his claws into the tom's chest and sliced all the way down, tearing open his stomach. With a weak screech of pain, the cat flailed in agony as his blood and organs spilled out onto the ground.

There was a terrible wail from nearby and Silvershy caught sight of a pair of wide but stunningly pretty emerald green eyes. It was a she cat, hidden in the bushes. She wailed for the grey tom as he grew limp, turning Dime's attention to her. The she cat leapt up, her thick golden fur bristling.

"You're going to pay for killing Archbreeze!" She snarled, her emerald eyes glimmering with anger.

Dime only laughed, a crazed look in his eyes as he advanced on the she cat. "Who let you out of your cage..."

Silvershy jumped as something tapped her shoulder and she spun around to see Tyler staring at her.

"Silvershy?" He breathed. "What are you doing here?"

"I woke up here." She murmured, trying to rid her memory of the terrible scene she had just witnessed.

"Come on, you need to leave now." The black and blue tom muttered, tugging her with him as he trotted away from the clearing, just as the she cat let out a high-pitched wail of agony.

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