Shadow Warriors

Chapter Two

Sagepaw and the rest of the border patrol made it back to camp. Exhausted, she padded to the apprentice den to lay in her mossy nest.

She woke up, but Sagepaw wasn't in her den. She was in a forest that looked rather abnormal, to say the least. She thought carefully, not wanting to be mistaken. This must be StarClan. I should look for my mother's father, he should be here.

Something rustled in the bushes. Sagepaw quickly turned around, heart threatening to pound out of her chest. I'm just an apprentice! I can't beat a fox. . . or a badger. . . or a warrior!

She went into a crouch, scoping out the area around her. She was frightened. I must fight back. She unsheathed her claws and leaped at the rustling bush.

"Agh!" the cat screamed, "please calm down, I was part of your Clan before!"

Sagepaw got off him; blood trickled below the tom's jaw.

"I—I apologize. You w—were scaring me." Sagepaw explained, trying to keep her words brief so she wouldn't look like more of a bumbling mousebrain.

"That's okay, I was watching how you would react to me." the tom replied, his words precise and smooth.

"Who are you? Are you a ShadowClan member?" she asked, tipping her head in curiosity.

"This is StarClan. I'm a former ShadowClan member," he meowed, hesitating for a moment before speaking.

Sagepaw looked around; tall trees loomed above, and no starts dotted the skies. "I thought it might be StarClan, but it doesn't look like it . It's too. . . d—dark here."

Suddenly, the tom's entire demeanor changed. "You're right sweetheart. This is the Dark Forest." The russet-furred tom smirked.

"You mean the evil place?" she shifted farther away from the tom.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm a nice cat. Let me tell you my story." He sat down, curling his tail around his paws. "I had a wonderful mate, and we had two beautiful kits. It was hard for them to live because of the prey-shortage we had." He swallowed as if speaking about it was difficult.

Sagepaw looked at the russet tom. "That's sad, what happened next?"

"There were these two little apprentices—about your size, actually. They would go to the prey pile and sneak off with extra food stuffed in their jaws." He flexed his claws, staring at his paws. "Their bellies grew plump with prey as my mate and my beautiful kits starved!" He was standing up now, each word punctuated with moons of stewing anger. "I killed their bodies and tossed them into the Thunderpath, but the medicine cat saw me. I was banished." The tom's words were weak now. "I was banished, and I couldn't even see my kits grow up."

"That's horrible, ShadowClan i—is so cruel. I never thought that something like that could happen," Sagepaw replied, pity masking her tone. "I'm sorry for your loss."

The russet tom's head hung low as he opened his muzzle to speak. "You should go, Sagepaw; your mentor must be waiting for your return."

"Goodbye," she whispered softly as her body gave way, falling to the ground.
"Bye Sagepaw." he replied.

Sagepaw woke up, a beam of sunlight illuminating her face. I'm so confused, but now I need to know more! This couldn't have just happened without anyone else knowing. . .

~
Amazing chapter written by Whisper. Edited by the awesome Rio! Hope you enjoyed.