The Shattered Clan- Book One- The Red Waters

Chapter 3

Shadowwing shifted uneasily in her sleep.

Shadowwing, a voice whispered. The voice grew clearer. "Shadowwing!" the voice shouted. "Hello? Is anyone in there?" Shadowwing jolted awake to see her brother, Sandrunner, waiting outside of the den. "Wake up you sleepy-head!" Sandrunner laughed teasingly. She stretched and said groggily, "What do you want now Sandrunner?" "Did you forget already? We're on the hunting patrol this morning." Sandrunner laughed. Shadowwing batted one of her paws at him. "Hey!" Sandrunner yelped. "We better get going," she told him after laughing so hard, she could barely breathe. They padded towards her clanmates that were on the hunting patrol, Willowflight, Splashwhisker, Thistlefur, Gorsefern, and Graymist. "Are you ready?" Thistlefur asked. "Yep," Shadowwing replied cheerfully. "Let's go then," Gorsefern said eagerly since she was just made a warrior two days ago. "Be patient Gorsefern!" Splashwhisker laughed. They padded into the forest and Shadowwing breathed in the familiar scent of pine. In the corner of her eye, she saw a squirrel scuttling up a tree. She quietly climbed up the tree. Just as she was about to pounce on the squirrel, she suddenly writhed on the skinny branch she was standing on. The branch snapped below her, and she found herself falling to the ground. She hit the ground with a thud and the ground below her seemed to fall to pieces as the darkness swallowed her whole.

Shadowwing, said a voice. Shadowwing, it said again. Shadowwing opened her eyes and gasped. "Where am I?" "Hello Shadowwing." said a smoky black she-cat with stars in her pelt. "Who are you?" she yelped. "I am Smokeshadow," she replied. "Wait, aren't you that voice that I heard this morning?" Shadowwing said, realization hitting her. "Yes," she said, beginning to feel annoyed. "I have something important to show you." Suddenly, Shadowwing eyes glowed a misty bright white. Suddenly, she found herself in an unfamiliar place. A misty white cat ran past her and slashed at a foggy black cat. The foggy cat hooked his claws under the misty cat's underbelly and ripped it open. The blood seeped into the nearby lake and turned it a scarlet red. Shadowwing gasped. She returned once again to the place where the smoky black she-cat was. "W-what was that?" she said, quivering. "That was the future, and the prophecy," Smokeshadow said, mysteriously. She faded away just as Shadowwing said, "What do you mean?" Then, her vision faded away.

She woke with a start. She found herself in a comfy nest in the medicine den with a paw that throbbed painfully. "Are you okay?" a gentle, soothing voice asked. "Who are you?" she asked groggily. "I'm Jaynose, remember?" "The medicine cat?" she questioned. "Yes. You fell off a tree branch just earlier. You have a mild fever, and a paw that, sadly, will never heal." Jaynose explained to her. So that was what the pain in her paw was. She asked, "Will I be okay?" "Hopefully," Jaynose replied. Shadowwing winced as Jaynose put a poultice on a scratch. "How are you doing?" Jaynose meowed to Shadowwing as he used some type of herb to wrap around her wound. Shadowwing hesitated, "Good enough."  "You might have to stay here for a little while, but otherwise, your pain should feel better in at least two moons." "Two moons?" Shadowwing asked. "Yes," Jaynose replied. Shadowwing sighed. Then, Gorsefern bounded into the den, carrying a rather large shrew in his jaws. Once he saw Shadowwing lying in the nest, he yelped and scurried towards her. "I-I caught this shrew for you!" Gorsefern put the shrew next to Shadowwing. "Wow! Thanks!" Shadowwing quickly devoured the shrew. "I-I hope you feel better soon Shadowwing!" then, Gorsefern padded off. At moon-high, Shadowwing's head started to feel weird in some way, but she ignored it. She fell asleep quickly, with no worry in her mind, or so she thought...

Shadowwing opened her eyes to a beautiful river, plentiful with fish. She stood on top of a hill, overlooking the forest. "Where am I?" she gasped softly in awe. Suddenly, before her stood a beautiful she-cat with stars in her pelt. "I am Featherwing, young one." "What am I doing here?" Shadowwing asked, looking around. "You have been called here to receive a prophecy." Shadowwing frowned, "Me? Are you sure?" "Just come with me, and you will understand." As soon as she followed Featherwing, she saw two more cats arrive, and then two more. "We shall join them," Featherwing instructed her. Shadowwing hesitantly followed. As she went down the hill, Featherwing greeted the other cats cheerfully. "Let me introduce you. This is Brackenfang." Featherwing pointed her tail to a bracken-colored tom. "And this," she waved towards a white tom with stripes running down his back, "is Mothstripe." Then, Featherwing said, "Now, you do the same." The honey-colored she-cat went first, "My name is Honeyfrost, and I'm from CloudClan." "Nice to meet you Honeyfrost! My name is Shadowwing, and my clan is ShadeClan." Finally, the fox red tom came forward, "I'm Redpaw, and I'm from LightningClan!" Mothstripe smiled, "Now, let's get on to the real business. We are here today to discuss, ahem, matters." Redpaw asked, "What's wrong?" Mothstripe cleared his throat, "I am sorry to say this, but a loner will come into LightningClan, and destroy it completely." "What?!" Redpaw squeaked. "B-but LightningClan can't be destroyed!" Mothstripe sighed, "I'm afraid it will fall apart. Then, the other clans will be next." Featherwing, Brackenfang, and Mothstripe started to fade away just as they all screamed, "Don't go!" But it was too late, they were gone.