Shade

Chapter Twenty Eight

Shadepaw was torn. She didn't want to leave Fang without an opponent to keep her from doing whatever it was they were doing, but she had to go and see what was wrong. Featherbreeze had sounded devastated.

Her conflict was decided when Shimmerpaw came up behind Fang, flinging her forepaws around the she-cat's neck and digging her claws into her throat. Fang hissed with pain, and attempted to shake her off. Shadepaw blinked gratefully at her sister and raced towards the medicine den.

Featherbreeze was stood over Dewleaf, growling defiantly at a grey tom. The young medicine cat was covered in scratches, and bleeding just above one eye. It was with a painful clench of her heart that Shadepaw saw the blood flowing from a wound on Dewleaf's throat. That could be fatal if it wasn't treated soon.

Without hesitating, Shadepaw launched herself at the grey tom, bowling him over and landing on top of him. He raised a forepaw to try and claw at her head, but she bit down hard on his leg before he could reach, clamping down until she felt the satisfying scraping of her teeth against his bones. He yowled in pain, trying to shake her off, but Shadepaw clung on. By putting a leg out of use, it was an easy way of injuring a cat so they wouldn't be such a threat. That was easier said than done, however.

The tom, instead of continuing to shake Shadepaw off, bit down on her tail tip. The sudden spurt of pain made Shadepaw gasp, and she unwittingly let go of his paw. He rolled away from beneath her and got to his paws shakily, keeping his injured paw off the ground. Shadepaw growled at him.

"How's Dewleaf?" Shadepaw asked Featherbreeze.

"I don't know." The medicine cat's voice was hopeless. "It's been leafbare, I've barely got any herbs in the stores..."

"Do what you can. I'll cover you," Shadepaw murmured. Featherbreeze carried Dewleaf into the medicine den behind her.

"Hurt your pretty medicine cat, did I?" The tom snarled. "Such a shame. Now you've only got one to try and bring you back from the dead!"

He lunged at Shadepaw, and she ducked in time to avoid significant damage, but his blow caught her ear, and it began to throb with pain. She leaped forwards, grabbing onto the tom's shoulders. He was unusually small for a ShadowClan cat, about the same size as Shadepaw. She used the momentum from her leap as extra strength to push him down. They were near one of the streams that ran around camp; Shadepaw knew that if she could just push her opponent towards it, she'd have an instant advantage.

The tom snarled at her, struggling against her hold and clawing aimlessly at her. Shadepaw moved her forepaws from his side to the ground and before he had a chance to get up, spun around on her front legs and lashed out fiercely with her hind legs. Her opponent growled, blood now oozing from a fresh wound on his side and a scratch on his cheek. He was right on the river bank, though.

Shadepaw crouched and leaped again, delivering a fierce blow to his face. She stepped forward threateningly, and almost instinctively, the tom stepped back. Now his hind paws were in the water. He flinched at the icy cold, but stood his ground quite impressively for a cat that didn't ever swim. Shadepaw recalled the training session where she'd created her head butt move. She crouched low into the obvious, amateurish crouch they'd used back then, and jumped from too far away. The tom could tell she was coming. And, as expected, he reared up onto his hind legs to stop her. Shadepaw extended her forepaws, claws unsheathed, and pushed his paws away, butting his chest hard. He fell back into the stream, letting out a screech as he smacked his head against a rock. Shadepaw was tempted to hold him underwater and push him to the brink of drowning, but he seemed to be unconscious already. How convenient.

Feeling merciful, Shadepaw grabbed the grey tom by his scruff and dragged him out of the water. He may have fatally wounded Dewleaf, but she couldn't just leave him there to die. She left him by the medicine den and surveyed the scene. It seemed that most of ShadowClan was beaten, but she spotted a few warriors from RiverClan who had wounds that looked bad. She felt a pang of worry for them; Featherbreeze had already confessed that her stores of herbs were low.

"ShadowClan!" Brokenvine yowled from near the camp entrance. "We're returning home!" The brown tabby warrior glared at Silverstar, who stood tall and regal before him, bearing only a few scratches. "We will be back. We need your prey."

"First you need warriors, then prey?" Silverstar meowed lightly. "My, ShadowClan must have struggled this past leafbare."

Brokenvine growled dangerously. His warriors had already gathered around him, a couple of them carrying the unconscious grey tom on their backs. Shadepaw saw with a spark of satisfaction that Fang, the tortoiseshell she'd faced before, was covered in scratches and bleeding heavily. Brokenvine turned and flicked his tail, taking ShadowClan with him. They were gone.

Silverstar sighed, flicking her tail for the cats to gather around. "Let all cats old enough to swim gather for a Clan meeting," she meowed.

Shadepaw looked around at the warriors. Most seemed happy with their victory, despite the wounds that were clearly on display. Leopardheart was leaning heavily on Lilypetal, one shoulder looking badly hurt. There was a bite mark on it that was bleeding profusely.

"Today's victory has come at a deep cost," Silverstar announced. "Just now, our beloved medicine cat Dewleaf died from her wounds in the medicine den."

There was an outburst of dismayed murmures, and a few cats even cried out with distress.

Featherbreeze sat with her head bowed and tail curled around her paws before Dewleaf's body. As the Clan turned to look, the medicine cat uttered the words that would send her mentor safely to StarClan. "May StarClan light your path, Dewleaf. May you find good hunting, swift running, and shelter when you sleep."

Silverstar watched with a forlorn expression, and blinked slowly. "In spite of this, I do have some good news. Shadepaw, Shimmerpaw, please step forward."

Shadepaw felt her heart in her mouth. Could this really be it? Would Silverstar really make her a warrior, despite her assessment being interrupted?

"I, Silverstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these two apprentices. They have trained hard in the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Shadepaw, Shimmerpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do!" Shimmerpaw meowed, eyes glowing.

"I do," Shadepaw echoed.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your new names. Shimmerpaw, from this moment you will be known as Shimmertail. StarClan honours your speed and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full member of RiverClan." Silverstar rested her muzzle on Shimmertail's head, and the warrior licked the leader's shoulder respectfully before turning to sit with Leopardheart and Lilypetal.

"Shadepaw," Silverstar turned her warm blue gaze on the young she-cat, "from this moment you will be known as Shadepool. StarClan honours your intelligence and skill, and we welcome you as a full member of RiverClan."

The touch of Silverstar's muzzle to her head felt like sparks of energy to Shadepool. She barely remembered to lick Silverstar's shoulder, then went and sat beside Smoketail, who had shifted over a little to make room for her.

"Shimmertail! Shadepool!" Reedfur called, and the rest of the Clan soon joined in cheering the new warriors' names.

"Congratulations," Smoketail purred to Shadepool.

"Thanks," Shadepool purred, but it came out a little breathy. Her vision was blurring again. That ShadowClan tabby had hit her harder than she'd realised...

"Are you okay?" Smoketail meowed, concerned.

"I sorta... took a few hits..." Shadepool murmured, then her vision faded out completely.