Shade

Chapter Forty Four

Shadepool walked into the RiverClan camp carrying two small trout in her jaws. Leafbare was settling in already, and in the four or five moons since Marshcloud had been made a warrior, the only major change in RiverClan was the birth of Lilypetal's and Raventail's three kits, Spottedkit, Wavekit and Minnowkit. They were about two, maybe three moons old now.

"Shadepool!" Flowerpaw called from the medicine den, bouncing on her paws. "Where have you been all day?"

"Hunting," Shadepool replied, padding over to the medicine cat apprentice. "Why?"

"I had a dream last night," Flowerpaw mewed excitedly. "I think it was the same one you had, with the shadow-warrior and the spruce tree. I think I know what it means."

"Really?" Shadepool's eyes widened, and she glanced around to see if any cat was listening. "Tell me about it in here," she murmured, pushing her way into the medicine den.

"I think the shadow-warrior is you," Flowerpaw meowed. "Because of your powers and everything."

Shadepool flicked her tail irritably. "Of course it is. Did you figure out anything else?"

"The spruce tree represents a cat," Flowerpaw revealed. "It must do. And because of the emphasis on its black trunk, I think it must be a dark-pelted cat, one with a lot of power or influence if the size is anything to go by. I don't know exactly who, but I think you're going to defeat a cat in battle and prevent them from having all that influence - I think that's what the shadow means."

"Are you sure?" Shadepool pressed. "There's a lot of dark-pelted cats in power in the Clans. Reedfur, for one. Furzestar, maybe. Tawnysky, the ThunderClan deputy. As for medicine cats, Blossomice and Fallenfang have quite dark pelts."

"What are you two talking about?" Featherbreeze asked, entering the den with a jawful of herbs that looked freshly picked.

"The darkness prophecy," Flowerpaw meowed. "I was telling Shadepool what I think it's about."

"And what did you say?"

"It's about Shadepool and another dark-pelted cat with a lot of power or influence," Flowerpaw replied promptly.

"Power..." Featherbreeze murmured, then almost leaped out of her pelt. "Shadepool, tell me again what Nutriver told you."

"When darkness is cleared, then shall the shadows return to light," Shadepool meowed. "Have you figured it out?"

"ShadowClan!" Featherbreeze exclaimed triumphantly. "The shadows that will return to light - it means ShadowClan."

"So the spruce tree must represent Furzestar!" Flowerpaw put in.

"So... let me get this straight." Shadepool frowned. "I'll 'clear' Furzestar - whatever that means - and that way, ShadowClan will 'return to light'?"

"I suppose it's not much to go on," Featherbreeze admitted.

"It's more than we had." Shadepool sighed. "But what does 'clear' mean?"

Flowerpaw and Featherbreeze exchanged a look. "I have no idea," Featherbreeze meowed. "It could mean anything from making him change his mind to killing him."

Shadepool snorted. "Yeah, right. He's a leader with nine lives, and he's famous in all the Clans for his ruthless strength. I'm not killing him."

Featherbreeze twitched an ear. "Well, I suppose we'll see. It may be that the prophecy isn't fulfilled for seasons yet. StarClan often sends signs and omens far earlier than they're needed."

"Hopefully early enough that I don't have anything to do for a while," Shadepool grunted. "I quite like having a normal life."

"You know there's no such thing with StarClan," Featherbreeze meowed patiently.

Shadepool didn't answer the grey medicine cat directly, but turned and glanced down at Flowerpaw. "You're turning out to be a good medicine cat."

"Thank you," the apprentice murmured shyly. "D-do you mind if I ask you something?"

Shadepool paused a moment on her way out of the den, flicking her ears as a sign for Flowerpaw to continue.

"Why do you avoid your destiny?"

Shadepool thought. "Well, why did you become a medicine cat?"

"Because I didn't think I was the right type for the warrior life," Flowerpaw answered. "And as I was thinking about it, I had a dream one night where a StarClan cat came to me and said my destiny was with them. So I went and told Silverstar I wanted to be apprenticed to Featherbreeze."

Shadepool sighed. "StarClan likes to think that because they decide the destiny of every cat, they then get to dictate how our lives are lived. To some extent, that's true. I just don't want them to think that while they 'light my path' and all that, they can shape every pawstep. I can think and choose for myself, and I don't need StarClan involved. At least in your case you actually wanted what they offered you."

"But why don't you want it?" Flowerpaw asked in barely more than a whisper.

"Because I'm not an extraordinary cat," Shadepool responded honestly. "I was born to two average RiverClan warriors, with one average sister and I had an average upbringing in the nursery until my apprenticeship. Then I was given an average cat as my mentor and had average training, until the very end when StarClan got involved. I was happy with my average life, but when I learned about my powers, it became something else. Like I wasn't an average RiverClan warrior anymore. It affected the cats around me as well as myself, and I didn't like that. I wanted to go back to that average life." She paused. "I still do."

"And you don't feel like you can go back to that," Flowerpaw guessed.

"No," Shadepool meowed. "But until I'm really needed, I'm going to try. I've had an average apprentice, and I'm happy with the way she learned and progressed to become a warrior. I've settled down with an average mate. And hopefully one day, I'll even have kits." She snorted suddenly. "Believe it or not, it was actually a StarClan cat who told me to live like that."

"Who?" Flowerpaw asked, amber eyes wide.

"A ThunderClan medicine cat called Jayfeather," Shadepool replied. "He's pretty cool, even if he pretends to be miserable all the time."

"That's enough questions now, Flowerpaw," Featherbreeze meowed sternly. "We need to sort these herbs."

"Yes, Featherbreeze." Flowerpaw turned away from Shadepool and went deeper into the medicine den after her mentor.

Shadepool stepped out of the den, but she'd barely stepped out of the shadows when Jayfeather appeared in front of her from thin air, ears twitching and eyes unimpressed.

"Get your tail down to the lake," he meowed. "We need to talk."