SHADECLOUD

Shadecloud trotted up to Lionblaze at the end of the Gathering. “Lionblaze,” she began. “You’re our leader now, and every cat knows it. “

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not your leader yet.”

“Bramblestar is not capable of leading this Clan. What I’m saying is this; don’t ask him to do things like taking us to the Gathering. You’ll do those things until the old Bramblestar returns,” she meowed.

“If he returns,” Lionblaze meowed, voicing Shadecloud’s unsaid doubts.

“We must believe that he will return to the leader that he once was,” Shadecloud meowed. “StarClan will walk with us, every step of the way.”

“Shadecloud, why did you want Seedfur not to go to the Gathering?” he asked her.

Shadecloud looked at him, but didn’t answer. They walked back to camp in silence. Shadecloud walked into her den and fell asleep.

In her dream, she was standing by the shore of the lake when an unfamiliar voice whispered, “The battle is coming. Be prepared.”

She woke up and looked around the camp. It looked as peaceful as ever. Suddenly, Dovewing’s neck fur started to bristle. “ShadowClan is coming to attack our camp!” she hissed.

All cats tensed, but they heard and smelled nothing. Quite a few moments later, they heard the loud pawsteps and smelled the terrible stench of ShadowClan. “ShadowClan, attack!” Shadecloud heard Rowanstar shout.

ThunderClan was ready though. Their claws were already unsheathed and, thanks to Dovewing’s supernatural senses, ShadowClan did not have the element of surprise on their side. A small black ShadowClan apprentice, who barely looked six moons old, flung herself at Shadecloud. “This is not your battle,” Shadecloud hissed, grabbing her by the scruff and holding her in the air.

Shadecloud set the apprentice down on the ground, and the young she-cat turned tail and fled. Shadecloud watched her as she ran out of camp, her skinny tail drooping on the ground. Suddenly, Toadfoot leaped onto her back. Shadecloud rolled over, hissing, and flattened Toadfoot beneath her. Rolling back onto to her belly and leaping to her feet, she pinned Toadfoot to the ground before he could stand back up. She raked her claws down his side repeatedly until some cat dragged her off of Toadfoot. Twisting around, ready to rake her claws across her opponent’s nose, she was surprised to see Ivypool. Turning her head, she saw Toadfoot fleeing through the thorn barrier. Ivypool meowed, “He was defeated. You have to let them go when they are defeated.”

Around them, the battle was breaking up. Finally, Rowanstar, with blood dripping from a long wound on his chest, said, “ShadowClan, retreat!”

Shadecloud decided to see if Bramblestar was okay. When she padded into his den, he was fighting Tigerheart with a wild light in his eyes. He had pinned Tigerheart against the wall of his den and was opening his jaws, going for the death blow.

“Bramblestar, no!” Shadecloud said, as her leader’s teeth sank into Tigerheart’s neck. The ShadowClan warrior twitched once and lay still. “Bramblestar, you killed him!”

The wild light faded from Bramblestar’s eyes and he sank back into his mossy nest without responding. Turning around to go get Lionblaze, she saw him watching from the entrance, his jaws gaping with horror. “Bring the body,” Lionblaze meowed, his voice hoarse. “We need to bury it so that ShadowClan doesn’t find it.”

Shadecloud, still in shock, grabbed Tigerheart’s body and dragged it out of Bramblestar’s den.

As she dragged the body out of the den, Lionblaze meowed solemnly, “Shadecloud, the old Bramblestar is definitely gone.”