Silverpool eyed the towering wall of rock from her stretched-out figure. Just thinking about escape made her cramped muscles and tiredness flash away like a silver, shining fish. Could that work?

"You can't possibly escape that way," purred Sweetsky. The small thunderClan warrior drowsily closed her eyes in the dull leaf-fall sunshine. Her swollen stomach rippled, from either the unborn kits inside of her or the chilly wind that announced the coming of leaf-bare to all the Clans around the lake.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Silverpool was pretty sure that ThunderClan cats, however mysterious and prideful they were, couldn't read cats' minds.

"I'm secretly a StarClan cat."

Silverpool rolled her eyes. The contest teasing and sarcasm had been wearing thin in the past moon. "Sweetsky. We both know that is not true."

Sweetsky didn't open her eyes. "Well, if I was a prisoner in another Clan's camp, escaping would be the first thing on my mind."

A growl escaped Silverpool, and she lashed her silver tail on the fallen leaves which carpeted the ThunderClan camp. The leaves rustled like thunder, portraying the frustration that brewed inside the RiverClan warrior.

"Well, escape is my only option. Obviously my Clanmates aren't coming for me. But then again, they would need to know where I am." She shot Sweetsky a glance and tried not to snarl her next words viciously. "Which your Clan leader didn't mention."

"Silverpool, it is not even sun-high yet, and you are mad at me still? I told you at dawn; there were a lot of other things happening at the Gathering. After hearing WindClan and RiverClan's reports, a foolish RiverClan warrior was the last thing on Runningstar's mind!" Sweetsky's ear flicked guilty and her eyes widened.

Silverpool's own ears pricked up with interest. "Tell me! Is there something wrong with RiverClan? What happened at the Gathering?"

Sweetsky sighed. "If I had known that the Clans were going to be so full of fear and darkness... I would have not had kits, so I could protect them from this danger."

"Sweetsky!" Silverpool hissed. "What is wrong?"

"I was instructed not to tell you!" Sweetsky hissed back. The tabby shifted her paws and her blue eyes were filled with fear. "But— you've been such a good friend to me— as good as a friend can be with being in another Clan." She took a deep breath and guilty looked at the other ThunderClan cats that gnawed hungrily on prey in the clearing. "RiverClan and WindClan have been have a series of battles to expand WindClan territory past the Horseplace.

WHAT? That would reduce RiverClan territory to almost half! Aloud Silverpool breathed," No wonder the Clan has been fighting so hard."

"Minnowstar, of course, challenged Swiftstar on why they had suddenly moved, or tried to move the border." Sweetsky's voice lowered. "And WindClan— or at least their medicine cat Beechsong— claimed that StarClan told them to do it."

"StarClan doesn't tell Clans to take territory!" Silverpool glanced at her companion. "Do they?"

"That's exactly what the rest of the Clans thought. So the medicine cats left for the Moonpool, straight after the Gathering ended. So they could get more information of what StarClan wanted."

Silverpool leaned closer to Sweetsky. "And what did StarClan say?"

Sweetsky snorted. "You young cats— you're all the same. Always asking questions but never paying attention. Whiteflower already returned, but Runningstar is waiting for the dawn patrol to return." She rolled her eyes. "Were you just sleeping the entire morning?"

Silverpool's tail twitched and didn't answer, sending the two she-cats into silence. Watching the ThunderClan cats in their enclosed hollow of stone and trees was so different, but so similar at the same time.

It's almost as if I can imagine my own camp and my own Clanmates. Her chest panted with guilt and loneliness. Why can't Dawnstrike, or one of our ancestors tell RiverClan where I am? If there are battles with WindClan... I need to be there. To protect my Clan.

"They said to a-abandon the warrior code."

Distinct wails came from the throats of the ThunderClan cats. Silverpool stood with her pelt pressed against Sweetsky's, paws frozen to the cold ground. The ThunderClan medicine cat, Whiteflower, stood beside Runningstar on the Highledge. She nodded slowly and repeated what she had said before in even greater and more terrifying detail.

"T-t-that's right," she stuttered, her signature way of speaking growing even more tentative. "I-I opened my eyes, and L-L-Lionblaze was standing there." She looked at the ground, downcast. "In a forest of darkness. He t-told me to trust in StarClan, n-n-no matter what happened. T-t-to a-abandon the warrior code, to t-trust only in them."

This time there were no yowls of fear, only silence as an entire Clan's faith in their warrior ancestors shook and shattered.

That can't be right, Silverpool thought, still pressed up against Sweetsky. The warrior code is what makes us warriors. Without the code we would be nothing but rogues and loners! How could we possibly abandon that? Another nagging question surfaced in Silverpool's mind, turning her blood to ice.

But how could I abandon my sister?

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Thank you for reading Shadows Unveiled-- I hope that you are enjoying the book so far! Please vote or comment, I would love to hear your thoughts.