Warrior Cats: In the Shadows

Chapter 7

     He felt like a bird. His fur tried to tear from his skin, the pain of the wind seeping through his body. Each rock stung like a fractured bone. He was going to die, Shadepaw was sure of it.

     The apprentice barely looked down, he was close to his doom. When he hits the ground, he'll go splat. His bones will all be broken, his fur would be ripped, what a terrible way to end life.

     His back hit something hard, but not hard enough to split his spine. The texture felt different than the rocky ground that he expected.

     "Thank goodness, you're okay!" A young black tom with white paws, white tipped tail, and a white dash on his chest, peered over him.

     Shadepaw looked up in confusion, but to just groan in pain and lay his head down. Bruises, fractures, and gashes covered his body from muzzle to tail-tip. He didn't feel like talking.

     The young tom's gaze seemed to bore into Shadepaw for a while, until he realized that the tom had left. He realized he was probably going to die here.

     How'd he get there again? Shadepaw seemed to have forgotten what had made him fall down the gorge. Some cat... STORMFUR!

     Shadepaw needed to warn the others! He tried to stagger to his feet, but a sharp pain stabbed him in his paws, and a couple on his ribs. He could barely move without experiencing pain.

     The black and white tom came back over to Shadepaw, but with herbs in his jaws. Shadepaw had come to shortness of breath by now, his breaths coming out short and ragged. He could barely look up to the tom.

     "Oh dear, I'm afraid I need to go find some coltsfoot too, now." The tom said, dropping his herbs, and running off.

     Shadepaw had no idea what coltsfoot was, but he assumed it was an herb. He didn't want to eat anything, it was probably better to die.

     The young tom came back again with green leaves in his mouth, that's probably coltsfoot, Shadepaw assumed.

     "I probably should introduce myself now. I'm Raven of Black Night, specializing in herbs. I was over here to collect some herbs that only grew by this river, but I saw you falling, so I grabbed a bunch of feathers from birds' nests to cushion your fall. Here, eat this coltsfoot before you die from shortness of breath."

     Shadepaw reluctantly chewed on the foul-tasting herb. He was going to have to take more, sadly.

     "SO here, I have Blessed Thistle, Huckleberry, Ivy, Ferns, and some more stuff. So, I'll be giving you some poppy seeds so you don't need to feel it, you're in a really weak state right now, and any sudden movements to your body will hurt you, so I need to put your brain to sleep."

     Once again, Shadepaw ate the herbs. He began to feel drowsy, he didn't want to leave his body to rest under some strange cat, but he had no other choice. He let the darkness fall over him like a blanket of feathers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     Shadepaw opened his eyes in a completely different place swarming with cats. It was a huge meadow, with dens made from the shelter of large trees. Shadepaw was lying in a nest, next to other nests, and next to a crevice in the tree, the crevice held a bunch of herbs, neatly stacked upon each other. He obviously wasn't in the gorge now.

     A large, bulky, brown tom walked up to him with a grim smile,"Welcome, traveler. We shelter all cats we find here in the meadow of peace. You should feel safe here. I'm assuming you've met my son Raven, he probably called himself Raven of Black Night. He dreams of living in the tribes near the waterfalls but,"the tom sighed,"I don't want him too. Anyways, we'll probably keep you here a couple quarter-moons. We've seen cats like you before, maybe you could tell me some more about yourself?"

     Shadepaw felt too weary to talk, but he didn't want to be rude. So he explained that he came from the Clans, specifically LightningClan, he explained the way of the Clans, and how the levels worked with age. The brown tom never interrupted, and saved his questions for the end.

     "So," the tom said after Shadepaw was finished,"The deputy of your Clan, who has been loyal to everyone, made a sudden attempt in murdering you by throwing you down the gorge?"

    Shadepaw nodded.

     "Sounds like life is rough up there, down here, we don't tolerate any of that mouse-dung. Any act of abuse towards any aged cat, gives them a penalty. And the penalties here are harsh, only so they learn quicker. You can feel safe here. By the way, I'm Ol' Branch. My real name's Branch, but because I founded this place, I'm so old, they call me Ol' Branch."

     Ol' Branch chuckled,"Well, apprentice, I'll leave you to rest, have to check on my friends."

     Shadepaw smiled as Branch left. Ol' Branch seemed nice, he was already starting to like this place. Maybe it was better than Clan life, but that, Shadepaw would need to investigate further.