Crescentpaw

Crescentpaw made it to Shadowclan land by the time dawn broke. She knew she could not hunt while she traveled there. If she was caught prey-stealing the entire plan might backfire.

She traveled along with her belly clenched and growling. This was her first real experience of Shadowclan territory. She had seen their tightly-clustered pines from the lapping lakeshore before, but being inside of them was a lot different. Most of the tree foliage hid the other territories with wide-spread low-reaching branches. Layers and layers of pine needles and prickly flattened pine cones were built up under-paw. They crunched beneath her pads as she walked.

It was reassuring being there early morning. The stars and moon had dimmed out, making way for a glorious shining-sun dawn. Barely a cloud drifted by on the horizon. Wind tugged at her ears and swirled between the trunks, indecisive as it switched directions. It brought with it the scent of pine sap and spruce needles.

The she-cat slowed her pace. She realized that she was getting closer to the heart of Shadowclan territory. The brambles were more thickly swathed here, and stumbled into some of them until she saw the dip of their camp's location below.

Crescentpaw rounded the bushery and bramble thickets along the edge of its walls. She kept padding with her tail lowered, then halted at the odd scent that was emitting from this side of camp.

It smelled like... death.

It felt like it, too. Her paws sank into the ground underneath her weight, and that's when she realized.

The earth beneath her paws was barren. The tufts of grass had been ripped up from excavation. A few of the obvious dirt piles were fresh. Others were flattened out and had begun growing grass again, but most were in the same relative shape and size.

These are cat's burial plots. Their bodies are beneath my paws.

Crescentpaw retched. She stepped off of the fresh graves and ducked her head around to the other side of camp, padding faster.

The Riverclan apprentice began to wonder why Shadowclan was burying their clanmates' bodies so close to camp, but the thought was soon forgotten. Someone was breathing raggedly beyond the den walls.

Crescentpaw began more adamantly looking for the entrance, and finally found it. She had to walk down a long snaking bramble tunnel until she emerged into the light on the other side. Somehow being inside the camp gave her less heeby-jeebies than being outside of it did.

A cat was lying in the center of a small clearing, mewing with distress and panting with lack of breath. Crescentpaw bounded over immediately, seeing no other Shadowclan cats. Despite herself she couldn't help noticing the unique camp around her before she reached them.

Shadowclan's base was mostly bramble and holly bush, with thin pine trees stretching high above them. The steep dropping-off slopes of the camp's edges were swamped with herbage. A few flat boulders and overturned stones sat on one side of the clearing, where luscious grasses grew between them. Overgrown weeds conjoined each den wall, providing privacy and seperate den entrance spaces.

The dusty earth was dry and cracked beneath Crescentpaw's pads, but she could see reeds growing in stale swampy water along a shadowy boundary. She averted her eyes from the wildly overgrown camp and looked down at the stranger.

"Where are you hurt? What happened?"

The she-cat's heaving chest and loss of breath caused her to not be able to speak. Her flanks looked full and well-fed, with stringy but strong haunches stretched out beneath her. She began partially trying to sit up, eventually catching her breath.

"Who are you? Riverclan?" Crescentpaw heard droplets spattering the ground. Her eyes widened as she saw bright red crimson staining the clan cat's neck. It dripped from the wound, falling onto the sunlit earth.

Her pupils slitted with panic as she leaned forward and gently pushed the she-cat back down.

"Yes, I'm Crescentpaw. Are you Plumetail the elder? I think I saw you at a gathering once." The she-cat's long white fur was recognizable. Even in old age it laid smooth and conformed as a feather. "Don't speak," the apprentice advised, so Plumetail just nodded. The wound in her neck sagged open as she did so.

It seemed to have cobweb stuffed inside, but the cobwebs were blood-soaked. Crescentpaw anxiously gazed down at the elder as she removed her paw.

"Keep the wound facing up and the blood inside. I'll get you more cobwebs but first I need to know what happened." She frowned. "Where's the rest of your clan? Did they all leave you like this?" Crescentpaw lifted her tail for silence once the frail she-cat tried to speak again.

"No, sorry. Just flick one ear if they abandoned the clan or died, and flick two ears if they're just out hunting or finding herbs for you."

Maybe Crescentpaw wasn't an optimistic, because she assumed that the elders response would be the first of the two. She was silent when Plumetail flicked both at once.

"She is out-" the elder began croaking.

"Shh. Okay."

Ugh. It's so frustrating that I can't even ask her which Shadowclan cat she's talking about.

"Well... what's going on with your wound? I mean is there a medicine cat left in Shadowclan left to treat it?" I'll have to get used to this. "Flick one ear for yes, two ears for no."

Plumetail flicked two fuzzy white ears. Crescentpaw scrunched her face and briefly looked away. Mouse-dung. They don't have a medicine cat either. We really need one for the wounds back in Riverclan's camp as well! The apprentice thought about Quietdew's raw-looking eye wound and Alpinefog's shredded muzzle; amongst other injuries.

She then nodded acceptance. "Alright, Plumetail. First I'm going to go and find you some fresh cobweb to pack that wound. The least we can do is stop the bleeding." Crescentpaw stroked the white she-cat with her tail tip.

"Then I'm going to wait here with you until your clanmates return, whoever they are."

Whoever is left.

🐈‍⬛

Crescentpaw felt herself growing restless when the minutes stretched toward hours. The light strengthened into early sunhigh until the fur on her back burned with warmth. She opened her jaws and began panting. The apprentice didn't want to leave Plumetail out in the sun. Who had put her in the very middle of camp anyways? It seemed like a dumb idea. Shouldn't she be inside of the elders den?

But it seemed worthless to tow the elder into a den, and then back out again when her clanmates returned. She had some explaining to do before she could boss around other clan cats. After all, I'm not stupid. I know I'm standing in the middle of Shadowclan's camp right now. Uninvited and unprecedented. Her paw pads began to sweat.

When the entrance barrier shivered her anxiety blew through the roof. Crescentpaw gave a nervous half-smile, standing up with one paw partly raised. Great Starclan this is weird.

"Um sorry- I'm Crescentpaw." She explained as a cat moved through the camp tunnel. The black warrior held two plump pieces of prey in her jaws, eyes lighting up with interest as she saw her.

Crescentpaw had expected more cats to flow in from behind the first, but no more stepped through. The heartbeats stretched by as she stared at the empty Shadowclan tunnel entrance.

"And?" The black warrior spat out her prey and looked pointedly over her shoulder. "Are you another one of those traitor Skyclan cats hoping that Shadowclan is less plagued by the wolves? Well it's not. Just have a look at Plumetail's neck." She sounded bitter and rebuking, sitting down and wrapping her tail around her paws. A butterfly flew past the stranger, tiny wings fluttering as it fought against the breeze.

Crescentpaw lifted her chin, meeting the she-cat's flint-burning gaze. I know who this is now. It's Shadowclan's deputy Darkflower! Her voice was jagged and recognizable from Crescentpaw's first and only gathering.

"No." Maybe use your scent glands for once? "I'm Crescentpaw of Riverclan, and I'm looking for the rest of Shadowclan. I'd like to speak to Gravelstar, please."

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Plumetail