This is for Dogwood's contest!
As a side note; this may be renamed "The Legend of the Clawmoon."
Blurb
Coming soon
Prologue[]
The ShadowClan camp was dark and shadowy in the twilight, and the fog made the pine forest let off an eerie feeling. The sun had just been swallowed up not long ago, giving the sky red, orange and pink streaks, while higher up, the midnight blue sky was speckled with the first warriors of StarClan.
The warriors gave the camp entrance a wary glance, before padding into their dens for the night. Some cats pushed past one another anxiously to get in the den first, while the strongest warriors sat gaurd just outside camp, though even they looked unsettled.
The medicine cat and her apprentice gathered the herbs they had collected that day and carried them into their den at a hurried pace.
The only cats who weren't daunted were two kits pushing an acorn back and forth. But they had noticed.
"What's wrong with camp? Everyone's acting werid and stupid," meowed the brown tabby Yarrowkit, glancing at a couple of apprentices who tripped over each other.
Graykit shrugged her unkempt gray shoulders. "I don't know. They've been actinf like this all day. I've been tripped over like... five times!"
Yarrowkit sighed, lifting her small head up to look at the starry sky in wonder. There were few warriors ancestors out, only a few glimmering specks here and there.
The moon was a very thin clawscratch, letting little light fall to the ground. Yarrowkit shivered at the thought of their being little light.
ShadowClan was the Clan of darkness, but even they were afraid of it. At least on one night every moon.
"Hey, you two!"
Graykit and Yarrowkit whipped their heads to see a ginger tabby stomping over, looking stern.
"Oi, hey Frogpaw," Graykit mumbled, not liking how tense he was. "What are you doing out?" he asked, eyes narrowed, almost looking angry.
"Playing!" Yarrowkit snarled, pushing herself in front of Graykit and baring her teeth. She didn't like it when other cats made Graykit uneasy.
"You shouldn't be playing at this hour," Frogpaw said, letting his features soften, only slightly, but as he glanced back up to the fast darkness growing across the sky, the tesion return.
He lowered his amber eyes back down to them. "It's not safe."
Yarrowkit's ears pricked while Graykit shuffled uneasily beside her.
"Why not!?"
"Why not..?"
The two kits asked at the same time, one fiery and the other soft. Frogpaw's eyes widened and his jaw dropped in disbelief. "You haven't heard? You've never heard?"
"Heard what?" Yarrowkit hissed in annoyance, rolling her eyes. "The legend of Clawmoon!" Frogpaw gasped, then looked aorund, a sudden spark of fear flickering across his face, which was replaced by embarrassment and he gave his chest a lick to cover it up.
"The legend of what-huh?" Yarrowkit asked, looking suspiscus.
Frogpaw glanced around again, uneasy, then leaned close to the two she-cats ears, close enough so his breath warmed their fur. "Clawmoon," he whispered, his voice forced and scratchy.
"Clawmoon?" Yarrowkit loudly echoed. Frogpaw slapped his tabby tail across her mouth. "Shhh!! Keep your voice down! The queens really haven't told you?"
Graykit shook her head while Yarrowkit battled Frogpaw's tail out her her mouth, looking disgusted.
Frogpaw closed his eyes. "Okay. Someone needs to tell you," he looked around, frowning. "It's not safe out here. Come with me to the apprentices den. I'll tell you there."
Yarrowkit grinned widely. "We get to go in the apprentices den?" while Graykit's eyes rounded with worry. "Wouldn't the queens worry where we're at?"
Frogpaw shrugged. "Too late. Just follow me, fast!" he ordered, trotting across the camp in a few steps, leaving Yarrowkit and Graykit scampering behind to keep up.
Frogpaw's tail disappeared inside the apprentice's hollowed out tree. Yarrowkit and Graykit followed quickly.
"Sit there," Frogpaw directed, nodding to an abandoned nest. Yarrowkit and Graykit clambered inside. "Ew, it stinks," Yarrowkit complaned.
Frogpaw curled up in his nest, blocking the entrance of the den with his body, as if trying to protect them from whatever lurked outside.
Graykit blinked, yellow eyes wide. "Is Clawmoon a cat?"
"And if it's a legend, then isn't it fake?" Yarrowkit added a second later.
Frogpaw shook his head. "No! It's all real! Every single bit of it. Here, let me start," he mewed, pausing for a moment to look for words.
"Okay... Clawmoon was a cat, an evil cat... Clawmoon was murderous, slaining many, even of his own Clan! which was our Clan... But a hero named Rustlefoot, killed him. The Clans' were at peace again, but Clawmoon was a vengeful spirit, and he hadn't finished what he had started. Lengend has it that one night, every moon, when the moon is at it's thinest clawsctrach, and the night is darkest, Clawmoon rooms the forest, in search of victums to take his anger out on, and he takes them back to his nest, and the poor cats are trapped there forever!"
Frogpaw said in a rush, quietly sucking in breath when he finished.
Yarrowkit looked to Graykit, who was trembling by her side. The brown tabby snorted. "That doesn't sound scary to me. Have you ever seen 'Clawmoon'? Has anyone else in this Clan?" Yarrowkit challenged.
"Well no..." Frogpaw admitted, shifting his paws uneasily. "But just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it's not real."
Graykit had stopped trembling and looked at Frogpaw thoughtfully. "Is there anymore you can tell us of Clawmoon? Was he always evil?"
Frogpaw shook his head. "No... Clawmoon started out as a loyal warrior, like me," he added, giving his chest fur an embarrassed lick before he carried on. "That just goes to show anyone can become evil, somehow."
Yarrowkit rolled her eyes while Graykit stared at Frogpaw, her golden eyes willing him to carry on. Frogpaw didn't catch it right away and stared back, looking confused.
He finally realized and let out a mrrow of amusement. "Nothing more tonight... It's really best not to speak of him when he's out and about. He could hear you."
Graykit looked at her paws in disappointment while Yarrowkit began to head for the den entrance. "Oh - and you should stay in here tonight. It's too dangerous to go out," he added, just before Yarrowkit could take a step out.
She groaned and stamped back over to Graykit's nest and curled up. "Go to sleep now. I'll keep watch. Oh... and I'll tell you more tomorrow..."
Chapter 1[]
Morning light flooded the camp as Yarrowkit and Graykit sat down in front of Frogpaw outside the nursery. They had been scolded by the queens for sleeping in the apprentices den the night before, but they didn't seem too upset.
Why would they care if they got taken by Clawmoon anyway?
"Okay, tell us more about Clawmoon!" Graykit begged. Frogpaw purred, looking much more at ease than the night before, and placed his tail tip on Graykit's shoulder. "Okay... let's start from the beginning..."
Clawmoon was born to a ShadowClan queen named Risingflower and a noble warrior, Grasstail. Risingflower was stubborn and proud. ShadowClan had been at war with WindClan at the time, and Risingflower insisted on going, only to be killed on the battle field.
Clawmoon was then given to another queen, named Foxnose, who adored him. The whole Clan did, and they believed he would one day be their leader. This made Clawkit a little over-confident.
After the war with WindClan ended, ShadowClan's life was peaceful...
"Come on, Clawkit! Those butterflies aren't gonna catch themselves!" Duckkit squealed, Batting Clawkit awake from his daydreaming. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" Clawkit replied, slightly annoyed.
He had been thinking about being ShadowClan's leader. That's what he wanted to be one day, the greatest leader his Clan had ever seen. One of the elders, Smallspots, said so himself!
Clawkit fluffed out his bushy tail with pride and followed his foster brother outside. He watched as Duckkit pranced over to the brightly colored flower patch where the butterflies were always. The other kits hopped around it, scaring the tiny creatures from the soft petals and leaping for them.
His blue gaze travaled over to a pair of warriors who sat nearby. They chuckled at the kits and looked very amused. Clawkit's urge to join in the play ebbed.
Hunting butterflies was for kits. They wouldn't feed a hungry Clan, or earn him respect! He should hunt real food, like frogs or mice. Without much thought, Clawkit made up his mind.
He could totally catch a mouse! He was only three moons old, he was the biggest, strongest kit in the nursery, he could leave camp and not get hurt. Everyone said he would make a fine hunter, too.
Clawkit swerved his gaze over to a little gap in the undergrowth that guarded the camp. He could fit through it, he had left camp before from that spot.
Clawkit stalked over to the shadows. It was just dawn, so there were still some deep shadows hiding half the camp. His black and white pelt was hidden well and no one stopped him as he crept across the ground, getting closer and closer to the gap.
He stopped in front of it, glanced around warily, then ducked down and pushed himself through. The pickers dug through his short pelt, but he ignored the pain, jutting out his jaw. I'm a warrior! Warriors don't back down when they're in pain!
Clawkit hauled himself through then was pulled back aburtly. He glanced over, looking bewildered. Had someone spotted him? Were they trying to pull him out?
He shrugged and pulled himself forward once more, just to fall back to where he had been a second before. Frustation made his pelt prickle. He sniffed the half of his long body that was still hidden behind the gorse, his eyes widening.
He was stuck! The dumb pickers were tangled in his pelt! Clawkit dug his long claws into the earth and yanked hard, grunting with effort. He flew out from his trap and slammed into a willow.
Clawkit's nose pounded and hurt where he hit the rough bark, but he got to his paws and stared proudly at the tiny space he had squeezed out. He must have grown a lot since a half moon ago!
A breeze rustled the leaves of the willow, reminding him of his serious mission. Clawkit turned and marched into the pine forest. He kept his mouth parted, letting the scent bath his tounge.
A musky warm scent caught his attention. His black ears pricked and he followed the trail. He padded silently along the ground, wincing as the sharp pine needles that littered the ground dug into his soft pads.
Stopping when he heard a squeak, Clawkit quickly crouched, ducking under the cover of a thicket of bramble. Tense, he peered out from behind the trailing branches.
The brown woodmouse was scuffling through the needles on the ground beneath a beech, looking for nuts or seeds. Carefully, Clawkit moved each paw in front of the other.
"Dewwhisker! Let her go!"
A sudden loud yowl spilt through the still air, sending the mouse scampering for cover. Clawkit's heart leaped and he ducked back into the brambles, stiff with fear. Don't be scared. Warriors are never scared!
He risked a peek out and spotted the Clan deputy, pinning the small tabby apprentice, Emberpaw, to the ground. The cream warrior, Tansypelt, stared at Dewwhisker, with threatening amber eyes. "Let my apprentice go!" Dewwhisker glared down at Emberpaw, who was struggling to breath. The gray tabby's massive paw was planted firmly on her throat.
He slid his icy blue glare to Tansypelt. The she-cat didn't flinch, but held his gaze with no fear. "Let. Her. Go."
"Fine," Dewwhisker purred breezily, loosening his grip from the she-cat beneath him, then climbing off. Emberpaw scrambled to her paws, gasping, she hurried to hide behind her mentor.
"You better watch yourself," Dewwhisker cooed, then turned, padding away with his tail held high and proud. And he was coming right for Clawkit!
Heart racing, Clawkit scampered as fast as his paws would carry him back to camp, and as quietly as he could. He squeezed under the gorse and stood, panting in the middle of camp.
Some dozing elders lifted their heads in confusion. "Young cats these days..." one muttered, before lowering his head and dozing off again.
Pawsteps rustling the gorse entrance annoucned Dewwhisker's arrvial. He gave the camp an icy look before heading to Sharpstar's den to report.
Tansypelt and Emberpaw padded in a moment later. Emberpaw was badly shaken, and Clawkit felt sorry for her. They went for the medicine den.
Clawkit twitched an ear. Why had Dewwhisker attacked Emberpaw? What had she done wrong?
Chapter 2[]
More coming soon