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The Shadowed Path
Allegiances

ThunderClan

Leader: Willowstar - brown she-cat with green eyes
Deputy: Silverwhisker - black tom with long silvery whiskers, yellow eyes
Medicine Cat: Honeyheart - pale yellow tom with amber eyes
Warriors:
Thistleheart - tortoiseshell tom with yellow eyes
Pebblefur - mottled brown tom with green eyes
Foxfeather - russet tom with amber eyes
Spotpelt - mottled grey she-cat with four white paws, blue eyes
Reedwhistle - light brown she-cat with blue eyes
Leafear - cream tom with one brown ear, amber eyes
Ravenwing - dark grey tom with blue eyes
Frostberry - white she-cat with a very pink nose, yellow eyes
Addereye - dark brown tabby tom with big amber eyes
Waspfur - pale tabby she-cat with dark stripes, green eyes
Ripplefur - blue-grey she-cat with blue eyes
Applefoot - ginger tom with amber eyes
Wolfdapple - grey and brown tom, yellow eyes
Apprentices:
Stonepaw - mottled grey tom with blue eyes (mentor: Applefoot)
Ashpaw - silver tom with yellow eyes (mentor: Addereye)
Palepaw - light ginger she-cat with green eyes (mentor: Frostberry)
Redpaw - dark ginger she-cat (mentor: Silverwhisker)
Elders:
Cloudpelt - white tom with patchy fur, amber eyes
Pigeonflight - tortoiseshell she-cat
Daisystem - ginger tabby she-cat, blind


WindClan
Leader: Smokestar - black tom with yellow eyes
Deputy: Finchwing - white she-cat with ginger blotches, blue eyes
Medicine Cat: Oatstripe - pale brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes


ShadowClan
Leader: Nightstar - ginger-and-black she-cat, green eyes
Deputy: Whitewisp - silver-and-white she-cat with yellow eyes
Medicine Cat: Rainfur - grey she-cat with darker speckles, dark blue eyes

RiverClan
Leader: Troutstar - brown tabby tom, amber eyes
Deputy: Snowrush - silver tom with four white paws, yellow eyes
Medicine Cat: Pebblespot - mottled brown she-cat, yellow eyes

Cats Outside the Clans
Poppy - bright ginger rogue she-cat
Thorn - thick furred black-and-white splotched rogue tom
Gizmo - brown, black, and white kittypet tom
Syd - pretty white kittypet she-cat with light brown patches

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The Shadowed Path
Prologue

Two dark shapes pelted over the open moorland, hurtling toward a bright light in the distance. Rain slammed against their eyes and slicked back their pelts. "Where are we going?" one of them, a she-cat, cried out. "We should go back! This is a huge mistake! What if we get caught by a patrol?" "No, it isn't a mistake! We made this choice; now we must stick with it. I don't know if they'd accept me back anyway!" her companion, a tom, yowled back. "Besides, there's no way Smokestar would send out a patrol at this time, nor in this weather."

A bright flash of lightning briefly turned the night to day. His pale ginger pelt glowed in the harsh light as he turned to look at the brown she-cat. She was trembling as she ran on, her amber eyes glazed with fear. He slowed to a stop. "You know I wouldn't let anything hurt you," he meowed softly. "And if something did manage to lay a claw on your pelt, I'd tear it to shreds. You don't need to worry. I will always protect you." The queen stared back, her gaze full of uncertainty. Rain dripped from her whiskers. "I trust you," she replied at last. He nodded. "Then let's be off. We shall go to Twolegplace, and live there."

The tom saw the flash of indignant rage in her eyes. In a rush, he added, "Not with the Twolegs, of course. We can live in the outskirts, not in Clan territory, but not in Twolegplace either." His companion nodded slowly. "Alright," she meowed reluctantly. "Then let us be off." Again they began to run, pelts brushing as they ran toward their new future and away from their past.

^{back to first post}
The Shadowed Path
Chapter One


Stonepaw sprang forward into the clearing, sending leaves scattering behind him. The crisp air of leafbare stung his eyes as he ran. A crash in the undergrowth sent a thrill of fear through the apprentice's pelt. The evil scent of fox swamped him, and a snarling russet face popped out of the bushes four tail-lengths in front of Stonepaw. Oh, StarClan! He skidded to a halt, sliding on the leaves that littered the forest floor. One of his claws caught on a rock with a wrenching pain. Stonepaw let out a yowl of terror and agony. He couldn't go down like this! The fox loomed over the apprentice and bared its long yellow fangs. Saliva dripped from its black jaws and spattered on Stonepaw's muzzle. He slammed his eyes shut and prepared to meet StarClan.

When nothing happened, Stonepaw opened his eyes and blinked in bright sunlight that streamed through the branches of the apprentice's den. The fox had been nothing more than a dream, though his muzzle was still soaked. With a confused blink he looked up. A drop of water splashed down and landed on the apprentices nose. He licked it away and stretched, then padded out of the den. Ashpaw and Redpaw had already left. With a glance around the clearing, he quickly located his mentor, Applefoot. The ginger tom was washing his flank outside the warriors den. Spotting his apprentice, Applefoot rose to his paws and beckoned Stonepaw closer with a flick of his tail. "Today we're going to go hunting," he mewed enthusiastically. "And we'll be out for a good part of the day, so I suggest you eat before we go." "A good part of the day? How long is that?" Stonepaw asked, beginning to dread marching through sopping wet undergrowth and mud all day.

"We'll come back around the time the dusk patrol would be heading out," Flamefoot responded. Stonepaw suppressed a wail of dismay and dug his claws into the earth. "Couldn't I take care of the elders instead?" Stonepaw would much rather deal with their endless bickering and complaining than be stuck cleaning mud from his claws for the next moon. "Nope," Applefoot mewed cheerfully. "Now go eat, and we'll head out." The ginger tom flicked Stonepaws flank good-naturedly, and padded off to sit outside the thorn tunnel.