Warriors: Shadows Of The Night

Chapter 10

Ravenpaw lay in the shade of a bush that grew at the edge of the clearing. She sighed as she thought about Shadepelt.

It was dusk now and Shadepelt had left with Palefoot, Thistlefang, Mouseclaw, and Thornwhisker on the dusk border patrol. He had napped the entire time since he'd returned from his earlier hunting patrol.

Birdflight and Berryflower had caught a squirrel earlier and had brought it to the camp. The two mates had been out for a while, saying that it had been a long time since they could be together alone. When Sandpaw and Graypaw had returned a few minutes earlier with their mentors, Sandpaw had been carrying a mouse in her jaws that she had caught herself. Then she had bragged about it nonstop to her Clanmates.

Now Graypaw and Sandpaw had returned to the apprentice's den to rest, but Ravenpaw had decided to stay away, knowing very well that they were awake, and that Sandpaw would start annoying her as soon as entered the den.

She sighed, watching as the few cats that were still awake mingled. Silverflight was sharing a vole with Birdflight and Mouseclaw, and Ravenpaw wondered if it was the one Shadepelt had caught. Berryflower and Longfur were talking in the elder's den; Ravenpaw could hear the murmuring voices, and she wasn't lying very far away from the den either. She knew Shallowstar was in her den. Iceclaw and Blacktail had already went to the warrior's den to sleep. Once again Blacktail hadn't even said one word to Ravenpaw.

Ravenpaw lay there for a long time, just watching until her Clanmates began to head to their dens. Berryflower padded out of the elder's den, yawning, and went to the warrior's den. Mouseclaw and Birdflight soon went to the den as well. As Mouseclaw padded to the den, he spotted Ravenpaw.

"Aren't you going to go to your nest?" Mouseclaw asked her. She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm tired," She meowed, yawning. But that was a lie. After lying in the camp all day, she was bored and wanted nothing more than to hunt in the forest. But she knew better now not to sneak out.

Once Mouseclaw had gone into the warrior's den, Ravenpaw got to her paws with a sigh. She was about to head over to the apprentice's den when she glanced over her shoulder and saw that Silverflight had gone into Shallowstar's den. Curious, Ravenpaw crept to the side of the den and crouched outside of it, knowing she could hear through the gaps in the branches of the bush that the den was built under.

"What is it?" Shallowstar's voice came from the den.

"I had a dream at the Moontree last night," Silverflight's voice responded, "One that I think I should tell you about..."

"This must be important," Shallowstar murmured, "You rarely ever come to me with your dreams."

"StarClan told me that; 'When the raven of the darkest shade soars through the night, the shadows will be defeated.' I'm not sure what this means, Shallowstar, but I believe it is a prophecy."

"Thanks for telling me," Shallowstar meowed after a long pause. "I'll think about this prophecy. But for now there's nothing we can do. We must live on like normal and wait to see if something happens."

"Alright," Silverflight agreed, her voice so quiet that Ravenpaw could hardly hear. "It's just that we haven't had a prophecy in some time..."

"I know," Shallowstar meowed, "But whatever happens, I'm sure our Clan will be ready. Thank you for telling me this, Silverflight."

"Of course," Silverflight replied, "Good night, Shallowstar."

Ravenpaw heard Silverflight begin to leave the den and quickly slipped through the shadows back to the apprentice's den before she could be caught eavesdropping. Shadepelt and her had eavesdropped like that together ever since they were younger, and had never been caught once. This time had been the most interesting.

As Ravenpaw slid into the den, Sandpaw and Graypaw, who were lying in their new nests that had been built earlier that day while Ravenpaw was in the clearing, lifted their heads.

"Where were you?" Graypaw asked curiously, "Why weren't you in here?"

"I didn't feel like it yet," Ravenpaw said with a shrug as she padded past the younger cats to curl up in her nest.

"Did you hear that I caught a mouse?" Sandpaw asked as Ravenpaw lay down, tilting her head arrogantly.

"I heard," Ravenpaw replied, closing her eyes. The whole forest probably heard you boasting about it!

"I caught it myself," Sandpaw bragged.

"Mmhmm..." Ravenpaw responded, pretending to be sleepy so that she'd be left alone. But her mind was racing as she thought about what she'd overheard in Shallowstar's den.

What does the prophecy mean?