Shadowspirit stretched, parting her jaws in a massive yawn, her bones stiff from sleep as she curled her neck to lick the fur on her shoulders. She groomed her paws, swiping them over her face with a sneeze, still shaking the sleep from her limbs. Judging from the sun shining through the ferns she guessed it was nearly sunhigh, it still seemed strange not to wake up in the warriors den, surrounded by her clanmates, padding into the clearing to be given a job by Crowclaw.

She shrugged off her distress and stood, pausing and shaking the aching stiffness from her hind legs before giving her pelt a final rough shake, scattering bits of moss and dirt from her ink-black pelt. Shadowspirit frowned at her pelt, which was still dull from remaining dust. Thats when she had an idea, an ambitious idea at that, but an idea nonetheless. She trotted happily out of the den, blinking at the sudden splash of light, yet cherishing the warmth of sun in her fur. Shadowspirit listened to the running stream, along with the faint roar of Thunder Falls, birds chirping happily among the trees, the day seemed almost perfect to her.

"I know what your planning, Shadowspirit." She yelped in surprise and reeled around to see Mystery, his whiskers twitching in amusement. She huffed, "What is it with you and popping up randomly, is this going to be a normal thing with you?" Mystery chuckled and meowed, "I know what your planning, though, and I think it is a good idea, as long as your careful not to be caught, but be careful, don't get yourself in trouble, blah blah blah, I'm going to visit a friend downstream, I'll be back later."

Shadowspirit rolled her eyes as he happily padded off, carefree and strange as always. She took a deep breath, should I do this? There's the chance of being caught or recognized of course, but if I can pull this off... If I can sneak into the clans, learn from each clan by observing how they train their apprentices, maybe even check on ThunderClan... I remember when my father told me stories of Tribe cats, how they used mud to streak their fur, to hide their appearance and scent, maybe it will work, I won't know unless I try.

She opened her eyes, determination replacing the doubt as she stood, padding over to the clear stream. "Well, here goes nothing." She breathed, plunging a paw into the cold water, suppressing a shiver as she scooped out a pawful of mud, streaking it along her pelt until even she could hardly recognize her now brown-and-black pelt. Shadowspirit closed her eyes for a heartbeat, re-opening them with a determined look as she turned and headed for ShadowClan territory first.

Her paws felt light as a feather as she picked up speed to race through the trees, the wind in her fur, the grass under her paws, she felt more free then she had in a long time. Her chest heaved as she panted, skidding to a walk as she caught her breath once more, the familiar, marshy scent of ShadowClan growing stronger as the tall dark pines could be seen ahead. Shadowspirit crouched lower to the ground, hesitating momentarily at the border before slinking across, her ears perked for any sounds, her jaws parted slightly to pick up fresh scents as she cautiously crept deeper into ShadowClan territory.

She made sure to stay away from the freshest scents, sticking to the shadows as she silently crept along, the layer of pine needles seemed squishy under her paws, the dark mossy trees casting long shadows. Shadowspirit swiveled her ears at the sound of cats a few fox-lengths away, she could make out the voices of a younger cat as well as an older cat, most likely an apprentice and mentor. She crouched lower to the ground, her heart beating in her ears as she double checked to make sure she was downwind before slinking closer to where she could see the cats through the branches.

The two cats she had heard before were practicing some kind of battle move, and Shadowspirit observed closely from where she was hidden among the brush. Once she memorized what they had been doing she continued on to the other clans, going to WindClan next and observing a group of apprentices from a shallow dip in the earth as they practiced their fighting moves.

She stayed hidden, unseen, nothing more then a glimpse of shade, a trick of the eye that was dismissed as a mere nothing. She went to RiverClan too, cutting back through ShadowClan in her procrastination to go into ThunderClan territory. She observed quietly as two RiverClan warriors instructed a small apprentice on swimming and fishing lessons, Shadowspirit hidden amongst a thick patch of reeds, silent as she watched them curiously.

The sun was already beginning to disappear from the sky as the ground seemed to eat the light, casting long shadows over the land, along with a pale orange light. Shadowspirit felt her stomach churning with hunger, but she dared not to move until the groups of RiverClan cats left, even as her limbs felt stiff from staying in the same position for so long. She watched the RiverClan cats go until she couldn't hear or scent anything but the stream and the breeze, silently grateful for the cover of night.

Finally Shadowspirit stood stiffly, stifling a sigh of relief as she decided to try fishing to satisfy her empty stomach. She crouched by the water as the RiverClan warriors had the apprentice do, sitting perfectly still as she saw the small dark shapes slipping through the water. Shadowspirit flashed a paw into the water, letting out a hiss of triumph as her claws sank into slippery flesh as she hooked the fish from the water. She quickly slammed a paw onto it, pinning it to the stone and craning her neck to snap its spine with a quick nip.

Shadowspirit carried her meal into the cover of thick large-leafed bush, taking an unsure bite of the fish. The fresh-kill tasted fresh and cold like the river itself as she ravenously devoured the fish in hungry chomps, then settling down to give her paws a quick wash. Her ears perked as a high-pitched hiss sounded from the dark ThunderClan side of the river, "Sunkit hurry up!"

"Watch where your stepping Lilykit!" Another voice hissed.

"Sorry Sorrelkit I didn't see your paw there, hey look I see the river!" Came a reply, and Shadowspirits eyes widened as she remembered the ThunderClan kits. Three cats tumbled out of the trees, the soft fluff of kit fur still around their ears and faces as the bundles of fluff squealed and bowled each other over in a game. She watched them, debating whether to scare them back to ThunderClan, and away from the river, or to leave before some cat comes looking for them and sees her.

Shadowspirit's heart skipped a beat as Sunkit leaped for Lilykit, slipping on the slick stones and toppling into the water with a squeal of terror. She leaped to her paws with wide eyes as Lilykit and Sorrelkit stared into the running water in horror, Sunkits head poking from the surface for a heartbeat before a wave sent the kit tumbling back under water. Shadowspirit leaped into action, hesitating for a heartbeat before diving into the water, gasping at the rush of cold water. She remembered the RiverClan cats actions as they taught the apprentice, and she copied what they had done, churning her paws as if she were running through the forest. Her lungs screamed for air and she broke the surface, surprising even herself as she successfully churned the water, but her triumph was short lived as she plunged back under water to find Sunkit.

She searched frantically through the water, until her muzzle bumped into a furry shape in front of her, she kicked forward, her paws scraping the gravel of the river floor as she grabbed ahold of the kits scruff. Shadowspirit pushed hard off the ground, leaping out of the water and clawing her way onto the ThunderClan side of the river, setting the kit on the stone ground as she sucked in a breath.

Shadowspirits heart jumped as she realized the kit wasn't moving, she bent down, remembering what Ivyleaf had said and rubbing her paws in a circular motion on the kits chest, rubbing his sodden gold fur the wrong way to warm him up. Lilykit and Sorrelkit darted over to her, mewling in fear as Lilykit yelped, "Sunkit, Sunkit wake up!" Shadowspirit continued to rub her paws on the kits tiny chest until it heaved, Sunkit struggling onto his stomach as he retched and coughed out water, breathing raggedly.

She let out a thankful sigh, and Sorrelkit looked at her with wide eyes, "Thank you for saving my brother, who are you?" Shadowspirit glanced at her pelt, realizing the kits must not recognize her because her strange scent, and the slight lines from the mud streaks, but before she could reply a panicked, yet relieved yowl startled her, "Everyone! Everyone! I found the kits!" Her heart pounded against her chest as three warriors burst from the trees, the first two were Lionflame and Sootcloud, and her heart pounded against her chest when she saw the third cat, it was Foxflame.

Lionflame bared his teeth at her, and she stood tall, barely visible in the darkness of night, Lilykit leaped up and meowed, "Wait daddy! This cat saved Sunkit." Silence gripped the clearing, and she realized that not even Foxflame recognized her, not only did she smell different, with different looking fur, but she had a few new scars, and they couldn't see her twisted paw in the darkness.

Shadowspirit stood tall, forcing herself to stay calm as Lionflame asked, "Who are you?" She made her meow sound different then normal, softer and somewhat erie, "I am nothing but shadows on the land, and whispers in the trees." And with that she whirled around and slid into the water without a sound, kicking up sand that covered the stone around her as she held her breath, swimming strongly and swiftly downriver, still a bit sloppy on her form. Although she had just slid into the water after she kicked up dirt, to the ThunderClan cats, it looked as if she merely disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving them, even Foxflame (who wasn't paying 100% attention anyway due to a distracted mind), shocked, and confused.

(Sorry about that guys, my Wattpad was being weird and it didn't save this stuff XD thanks for reading (if it works this time) Comment your thoughts and all that stuffz, I love feedback almost as much as writing! Anyway thanks for reading <3 Jade)