The Shattered Clan- Book One- The Red Waters

Chapter 12

Shadowwing barely got sleep the last night, thinking. Shadowwing didn't know how she got back to camp from outside the territories, but she had a sneaking suspicion that StarClan had something to do with this. That night, as she slept, Shadowwing was sure she was right about everything.

As Shadowwing had predicted, she was in StarClan's hunting grounds once again. She looked around for any StarClan cats, but there weren't any. "That's weird," Shadowwing mumbled to herself. "I'm literally in StarClan, but why aren't there any cats?" Suddenly, she tripped over a twig and fell on her face. "OW!" Shadowwing yelped. A laugh fell over the dark place. "Seriously? Who even thinks this is funny?" A cat walked out, and she was laughing. "Sorry!" Shadowwing grumbled to herself silently, "StarClan cats are so rude!" "Whatever," the cat said. "Who are you?" Shadowwing asked. "Nightheather." the she-cat replied. "Why are you here?" Shadowwing said, lying. "Um... to tell you things." "Uh, ok," Shadowwing said slowly. "Look, I don't want to be here as much as you do, so let's just get this over with." What? Shadowwing thought. "Well, don't just stand there! Come on!" Nightheather pressed. Shadowwing rolled her eyes and then followed Nightheather. "Now where are we?" Shadowwing groaned. Nightheather didn't answer. "Ok," Shadowwing said skeptically. Shadowwing's legs started to get sore after a while of walking. "Are we ever going to stop walking?" Shadowwing complained. "Yes!" Nightheather snapped. "Ok, ok! You don't have to be so touchy." Nightheather still didn't talk. "Why aren't you talking to me Nightheather?" Nightheather was keeping her head low to the ground, tears dripping. "Are you crying?" Shadowwing asked, concerned. "Sorry, it's just, that you remind me of someone I thought I knew, but obviously didn't." "Do you want to tell me? It's okay if you don't want to." Shadowwing comforted Nightheather. "No, I want to tell you." 

"I don't even know where to begin, but he was my littermate. He was named Darkkit. We were inseparable. After a few moons, we received our warrior names, and he became Darkflame." Shadowwing nodded. "Then," Nightheather sighed, "one day at a Gathering, the leaders had just finished sharing the news when we heard foxes yowling and Darkflame was leading the pack toward us. Most cats escaped, but some didn't." Shadowwing gasped in shock, while Nightheather nodded solemnly, "We were all terrified of him, especially when he tried to kill our mother." Nightheather shuddered, though as if she was reliving the moment. "He didn't manage to kill her, but she was badly hurt. Our leader had to exile Darkflame for the safety of the clan. My clan lived in peace for only a few days when Darkflame turned up at the border. He demanded he get a share of our territory, but our leader refused to, so Darkflame killed him." Shadowwing winced as Nightheather went on, "The last thing he ever did was," Nightheather sighed deeply, "to kill me."