Post by FåwnFrøst on Sept 4, 2017 14:15:04 GMT -5
A fan fiction by FåwnFrøst
Welcome
Welcome to A Dark World, a fan fiction by yours truly (me, FåwnFrøst, in case you didn't get the memo). I've always
been into writing, and have done several fan fictions on the old forums. I have comics as well, one of which has a plot that
becomes intertwined into this fan fiction (the link is in my signature). Seeing as I do comics, I'm jokingly calling this --
the redone version of my previous fanfic, under the same title -- A Dark World: The picture book. You'll get it when you
scroll through the chapters.
The first post contains the intro, characters, and chapters 1 through 3. The second post will have chapters 4 through 10,
third post 11 through 16, and so on.
About the story
A Dark World is about a young cat named Shadowpaw in a clan called JadeClan. While training one day, the apprentice
is attacked by a GarnetClan patrol. Without giving away spoilers for the rest of the story, the whole thing basically causes
a full-on war between all the clans, and a bunch of majestic heroine stuff happens.
just have to read it to find out more!
Summary
I'll let you be the judge, but I'd like to think I'm not evil.
I think the other cats disagree.
I hear whispers in the wake of my enemies, talk of a shadow, a demon, stalking them in the night, murdering innocent
warriors in their sleep, jumping from the shadows to slit their throats. That's not who I am. It's who I was asked to be.
Yet the rumors, they manage to follow me everywhere. My power, I use it for good, I think. I'm not a murderer. I don't
think I am. I don't want to be. I'm just doing my job.
I'm just trying to stop this war before it kills us all.
Here is my side of the tale.
Characters
There's too many to count, seeing as this coincides with кєѕтяєℓ 's story, Shattered Stars (I'll link it when it comes out). But here they are, all nicely drawn!
Chapter One
A prologue to war
A prologue to war
Shadowpaw would never consider herself vain. Yet she couldn’t stop staring at her reflection in the river, the words of the elder Sorrowbreeze repeating over and over again in her head like a finch at dawn. Something’s changing, she had said, looking straight at her with those cloudy, unseeing amber eyes of hers. A meaningless remark, under any other circumstances. But Sorrowbreeze was a seer, one of JadeClan's only seers, and could see the whole clan’s future spiraling out in a web of choices and mistakes. A simple phrase uttered from her mouth could mean life or death. It had, before. But Shadowpaw couldn’t see it.
She just saw herself reflected back at her in the slow-moving stream outside the camp, her swirling stormcloud-silver eyes — they had a haunted look to them, but they always had; everyone said so. A black mask covered her face, but it could barely be seen next to the shifting darkness of her pelt. She had her mother’s tortoiseshell patterns, barely visible even in the sunlight because of how dark her smokey pelt was. Her white whiskers stood out, sure, but just like her eyes, they always had. Nothing had changed; so what was Sorrowbreeze —
“Shadowpaw!” A familiar cry carried with it a bouncing, red-eared she-cat. “Stop dawdling! Let’s go train!” She said, nearly tumbling into Shadowpaw with excitement. “Blackmask invited our parents to come watch, but right now the only thing they’re watching is you being late!” And just as quickly as she had appeared, the apprentice tumbled back into the woods, leaving Shadowpaw staring back at nothing. Blossompaw, dramatic as ever.
Shaking the frigid river water off her paws as she went, Shadowpaw bolted into the woods after her friend, dodging rocks, trees, and bushes alike. Though the rocks were more like boulders, with how big they were. You can't call stones like those merely rocks! She thought, spotting Blossompaw's red-striped tail bobbing through the bushes, and had almost caught up, when suddenly she found herself facedown in a pile of moss. The training area.
"Ugh!" She spat out a mouthful of the green, mushy plant, earning her a laugh from both Blossompaw and her friend's brother, the stoic Birchpaw. She couldn't help smiling at him. While Blossompaw was all dramatics and energy and excitement, her brother was the complete opposite; he was completely serious, so much so that you couldn't tell when he was joking half the time.When the brown-striped tabby did smile, though, it was infectious, like some sort of greencough that you couldn't help catching.
"Not funny!" She spat, flattening her ears and moving to pounce at Blossompaw.
"Not so fast," A voice called from the other side of the hollow. "You can use that pent-up anger for training today."
Shadowpaw sighed, already knowing who the voice belonged to. "Of course, Mousestep," Shadowpaw's mentor was a burly brown tabby, with thick white paws and lynx-like ears. He could walk silently, as was his power, and often used it in situations like these -- to sneak up on unassuming apprentices.
All of the older cats had powers; there was a ceremony about halfway through a cat's apprenticeship when an apprentice became a cadet, traveling to the Fallen Star to receive their powers. It was rare, but some cats could get their power before the ceremony. JadeClan's leader, Creekstar, had gotten his early. And some cats didn't get a power at all, but those that did had white paws to show that they were gifted by the spirits. Shadowpaw wasn't sure how the ceremony and journey worked, exactly, as all of the warriors and older apprentices were tight-lipped about it; most, they said, were told by Starclan what their powers entailed, but most chose not to share or were told not to by StarClan. That said, Shadowpaw couldn't wait for her journey, and was just as eager as any apprentice to get her power. They could be anything: from powers like Mousestep's to an elemental power or even a rarer power like flying or controlling another cat's mind.
"Today we're practicing fighting," Blackmask, the clan's deputy and Blossompaw's mentor, had just walked out of the pine trees with the apprentice's parents. "We'll see how much skill you each have for it, and train you accordingly." He nodded to Mousestep, stepping back and taking a seat at the edge of the clearing.
"Birchpaw and Shadowpaw, you can go first." Mousestep said, nodding at the other apprentice and nudging Blossompaw back, who was glaring at her brother. Sibling rivalry was a problem with them.
"Ready to lose, Shadowpaw?" Without waiting for an answer, Birchpaw pounced. He could be mean when he wanted to be.
Shadowpaw sidestepped. "Alas," She said, returning the banter and feigning a bored tone, "It is you who will be losing." She didn't hesitate another moment, and ducked towards Birchpaw with her paw out, ready to trip him. Seeing what she was doing a split second before her paw could hit, he took a step back, making her lose her balance as he pounced once more.
Just what she wanted.
Shadowpaw flipped over on her back, shoving her black paws into Birchpaw's belly, hearing a loud oomph from where he landed. Wasting no time, she quickly pounced on top of him, declaring herself the winner. "Looks like I'll have to add another win to my collection," She said, though she didn't have a collection of anything.
Shadowpaw was a good strategist. She always had been; she could plan out the best ways to corner Blossompaw in a game of tag in two seconds flat, her mother said. She could just tell what a cat was going to do before they did it, and it proved her well in training before, hunting especially, but she had never gotten the reaction from it that Blackmask gave her, and he was less than enthused.
He was mad.
"Where did you learn those moves, Shadowpaw?" He growled, glaring at her with sharp blue eyes. "Those are moves that AmberClan uses."
Shadowpaw blinked. "I --" Suddenly a brown shape moved in front of her.
"Feathernose, what are you doing?"
Shadowpaw moved to the side of her mother, who was glaring daggers at Blackmask. "I don't see you getting mad at your kits for making up new battle moves." Feathernose retorts, blue eyes glinting fiercely, her brown tortoiseshell pelt fluffed up in anger. Nobody asks how she heard Blackmask growling at Shadowpaw across the large clearing, and for good reason: Shadowpaw's mother's power was heightened senses, and she could hear practically anything in the forest, making her one of the best hunters in the clan.
Blackmask sighed. "Fine. Let's watch Blossompaw and Birchpaw fight." He said, not bothering to argue with Feathernose. That was another one of her powers, her father liked to joke, though no cat had ever had more than one; she would never give up her position in an argument, no matter how small. She was stubborn.
The tension in the air evaporated almost as quickly it had come, as Shadowpaw sat down with her mother, leaning into her soft brown fur. Where's father? She wondered; Cloudheart had never missed one of her training sessions.
"He went out on a patrol," Her mother said when she brought it up. "But watch them fight. I know Blossompaw has wanted to, ever since Birchpaw took her mouse off the fresh kill pile this morning." She laughed. "Blackmask made a mistake in pairing them up."
And, indeed, Blossompaw was circling around her brother with a vengeance, as if she could already see herself getting revenge for her stolen breakfast. But Shadowpaw knew them both well, and could tell what they were going to do even before Blossompaw pounced.
She'll try what I did, Shadowpaw thought, planning the fight in her head. Anything for her to win, even stealing my moves. But Birchpaw's too smart for that, he'll do something else to get her. He's stronger than her, and she gets distracted too easily -- Birchpaw'll win.
Blossompaw pounced, Birchpaw dancing off to the left, his green eyes glinting. His front paw snaked towards her back paw, and Blossompaw feigned surprise, rolling over on her back as Birchpaw watched.
"Can't fool me again!" He taunted, circling around Blossompaw as she got back up.
Called it, Shadowpaw thought triumphantly, smiling at the two apprentices. Birchpaw looked towards the right, something Blossompaw noticed, and she looked in that direction, where Shadowpaw was trying to hold back a laugh. Blossompaw glared at her, frowning.
That's where she made her mistake, Shadowpaw laughed as Birchpaw barreled into his sister on her left, who tried in vain to fight him off. "I win!" Birchpaw cried, jumping off his sister and hopping away from her murderous glare.
There was a laugh from the other side of the clearing, and Feathernose tensed up. A cat was emerging from the other side of the clearing, an entourage following closely at his heels.
"Aww, look at the kits play," The cat had a rough voice, as if he had been yelling at other cats all day long. His pelt was the same; it was rough, a light color as grey as the boulders he had appeared from behind, with a darker stripe zigzagging down his back, like a claw had torn across it. He had bright, yellow eyes that practically screamed arrogance. Stalking into the middle of the clearing, he didn't seem at all deterred by Mousestep or Blackmask letting out hisses that made Shadowpaw's fur stand on end.
"We're not kits." Blossompaw retorted, but she and her brother moved behind Blackmask.
Blackmask stepped forward. "What do you want, Tornstar?" He hissed.
"Just for your kits to go running back to camp," Tornstar replied somberly. "I really don't want to do this, but a leader does what is necessary for his clan to survive. It had better be a fair fight, if I'm going to take over your clan, don't you think? It's your fault anyway, but the kits shouldn't get involved."
Birchpaw, wasting no time, bolted off into the pines in the direction of camp, leaving Blossompaw and Shadowpaw rooted to the spot in fear. Shadowpaw knew they had to distract Tornstar while Birchpaw was getting reinforcements, so she said the boldest thing she could think of.
Birchpaw, wasting no time, bolted off into the pines in the direction of camp, leaving Blossompaw and Shadowpaw rooted to the spot in fear. Shadowpaw knew they had to distract Tornstar while Birchpaw was getting reinforcements, so she said the boldest thing she could think of.
"GarnetClan in JadeClan's territory? Puh-lease," Shadowpaw said sarcastically, stepping forward. He's bluffing. He just wants to scare us before the gathering next week. She could barely keep her voice from shaking. "Go back to the swamps you came from. You don't deserve our territory."
Tornstar raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh, really now?" He said, frowning. "I have to do this for my clan to survive. For that, yours must fall. You're just a kit -- you wouldn't understand."
"But I do." Feathernose hissed, leaping at him.
And just like that, chaos broke loose.
Shadowpaw had never seen a real fight before. The closest she'd ever been to one had been watching the warriors train. Screeching cats fought like nothing she'd ever seen, all claws and teeth, and for a moment, Shadowpaw was frozen in fear. She didn't have to wait long, however, for her first taste of battle, because a huge cat had snuck up behind her as she was watching her mother fight.
"Oh, they're letting kits onto the battlefield now?" He hissed, glaring at the three apprentices. "JadeClan has stooped to new lows." He swiped at Blossompaw, but for all his size and strength, he wasn't very fast. Blossompaw leapt out of the way, swiping at his ears as he stumbled, and the cat turned towards her, completely ignoring Shadowpaw.
When he pounces, grab his paws. She thought to herself. He'll fall, we'll pounce on him instead. He doesn't even see it coming. But Shadowpaw didn't want to hurt him; she was hoping he'd run off rather than be beaten by cats three weeks into their apprenticeship.
"We're not kits, for the last time!" Blossompaw said exasperatedly, but Shadowpaw could hear the fear in her voice.
The cat hissed at Blossompaw, pouncing at her, but at the same time, Shadowpaw lurched forward, slamming both her paws into his leg with enough force to send him sprawling on the ground. Blossompaw, wasting no time, pounced on him, her claws out and digging into his fur. The huge cat pushed her off, leaving her panting on the dirt while he scrambled away.
"Let's go find the rest of the JadeClan," She said, nodding towards the edge of the clearing where Birchpaw had streaked off.
Shadowpaw followed her friend as they ran towards the edge of the clearing to look for the other warriors, almost making it before a huge behemoth of a cat jumped in front of them. What is it with huge cats attacking us? Do they attack smaller cats to make up for their low self esteems? Shadowpaw thought, swiping at the tom's ears.
He ducked out of her reach, eyeing both her and Blossompaw warily. He's smarter than the last one, though. Shadowpaw thought worriedly, glancing at Blossompaw. Seeing no other options, she tried the move she had earlier, reaching for one of his paws to trip him.
The tom ducked back once more, leaving Blossompaw to race off towards her brother, who had just appeared with the rest of the warriors at the edge of the clearing.
"Your little friend has run off," The tom snarled, pouncing at her, and she flipped over, her claws digging into his fur as they collided. But he was too big, and she couldn't push him away. His razor-sharp claws were digging into her shoulder, and she tried to squeeze out from under him -- but just when she was about to give up, a grey shape barreled headfirst into the tom's side, raking his claws down the other cat's muzzle.
"Creekstar!" Shadowpaw gasped, watching as he chased off the other cat. Creekstar turned towards her, and there wasn't even a scratch on his grey-spotted pelt.
"Need some help?" He asked, smiling.
Shadowpaw shuffled her paws. "I . . . I shouldn't be out here, Creekstar. I'm too young -- I should go back to camp."
"It's a bit too late for that now, isn't it?" He laughed at the chaos around him, but Shadowpaw didn't know how he could be so calm. "Birchpaw filled me in on your battle prowess," He said, "Your talents are needed for this fight."
Shadowpaw nodded mutely, watching as he raced off to the center of the fight, then she turned and looked for her mother and Blossompaw. Before she could finish scanning the crowd, there was a yowl from the center of the clearing, and the fight gradually broke apart, the clans separating behind their opposing leaders. By the time Creekstar and an angry Tornstar calmed the battle down enough to call it to a stop, Shadowpaw could see the aftermath of the fight: two members of JadeClan that she could see were limping, deep scratches in their pelts. Many of GarnetClan's members were covered in scratches and bites, but none were killed.
There were a few tense moments of Creekstar staring down Tornstar, but they finally spoke.
"This isn't over." It was Garnetclan's leader who spoke first, glaring at Shadowpaw's clan.
"I don't expect it to be." Creekstar countered, tail flicking, "But you've already caused us great loss in this one battle, Tornstar. Don't expect me to not bring this up at next week's gathering."
Tornstar only frowned, turning and leading his cats away through the forest. He stepped through the bushes, then, almost as an afterthought, "You just started a war."
Creekstar looked outraged. "No, it is you who started the battle." He said, "You who snuck up on our clan like we were a piece of prey. You who declared a battle for no reason."
But Tornstar and his warriors were already gone.
"Feathernose!" A cry rang out, and Shadowpaw's father came rushing into the crowd of warriors, who were separating to let Lynxtail, the medicine cat, into the middle. Feathernose was swaying on her paws, bleeding from several wounds, when she collapsed, Cloudheart catching her.
And just like that, chaos broke loose.
Shadowpaw had never seen a real fight before. The closest she'd ever been to one had been watching the warriors train. Screeching cats fought like nothing she'd ever seen, all claws and teeth, and for a moment, Shadowpaw was frozen in fear. She didn't have to wait long, however, for her first taste of battle, because a huge cat had snuck up behind her as she was watching her mother fight.
"Oh, they're letting kits onto the battlefield now?" He hissed, glaring at the three apprentices. "JadeClan has stooped to new lows." He swiped at Blossompaw, but for all his size and strength, he wasn't very fast. Blossompaw leapt out of the way, swiping at his ears as he stumbled, and the cat turned towards her, completely ignoring Shadowpaw.
When he pounces, grab his paws. She thought to herself. He'll fall, we'll pounce on him instead. He doesn't even see it coming. But Shadowpaw didn't want to hurt him; she was hoping he'd run off rather than be beaten by cats three weeks into their apprenticeship.
"We're not kits, for the last time!" Blossompaw said exasperatedly, but Shadowpaw could hear the fear in her voice.
The cat hissed at Blossompaw, pouncing at her, but at the same time, Shadowpaw lurched forward, slamming both her paws into his leg with enough force to send him sprawling on the ground. Blossompaw, wasting no time, pounced on him, her claws out and digging into his fur. The huge cat pushed her off, leaving her panting on the dirt while he scrambled away.
"Let's go find the rest of the JadeClan," She said, nodding towards the edge of the clearing where Birchpaw had streaked off.
Shadowpaw followed her friend as they ran towards the edge of the clearing to look for the other warriors, almost making it before a huge behemoth of a cat jumped in front of them. What is it with huge cats attacking us? Do they attack smaller cats to make up for their low self esteems? Shadowpaw thought, swiping at the tom's ears.
He ducked out of her reach, eyeing both her and Blossompaw warily. He's smarter than the last one, though. Shadowpaw thought worriedly, glancing at Blossompaw. Seeing no other options, she tried the move she had earlier, reaching for one of his paws to trip him.
The tom ducked back once more, leaving Blossompaw to race off towards her brother, who had just appeared with the rest of the warriors at the edge of the clearing.
"Your little friend has run off," The tom snarled, pouncing at her, and she flipped over, her claws digging into his fur as they collided. But he was too big, and she couldn't push him away. His razor-sharp claws were digging into her shoulder, and she tried to squeeze out from under him -- but just when she was about to give up, a grey shape barreled headfirst into the tom's side, raking his claws down the other cat's muzzle.
"Creekstar!" Shadowpaw gasped, watching as he chased off the other cat. Creekstar turned towards her, and there wasn't even a scratch on his grey-spotted pelt.
"Need some help?" He asked, smiling.
Shadowpaw shuffled her paws. "I . . . I shouldn't be out here, Creekstar. I'm too young -- I should go back to camp."
"It's a bit too late for that now, isn't it?" He laughed at the chaos around him, but Shadowpaw didn't know how he could be so calm. "Birchpaw filled me in on your battle prowess," He said, "Your talents are needed for this fight."
Shadowpaw nodded mutely, watching as he raced off to the center of the fight, then she turned and looked for her mother and Blossompaw. Before she could finish scanning the crowd, there was a yowl from the center of the clearing, and the fight gradually broke apart, the clans separating behind their opposing leaders. By the time Creekstar and an angry Tornstar calmed the battle down enough to call it to a stop, Shadowpaw could see the aftermath of the fight: two members of JadeClan that she could see were limping, deep scratches in their pelts. Many of GarnetClan's members were covered in scratches and bites, but none were killed.
There were a few tense moments of Creekstar staring down Tornstar, but they finally spoke.
"This isn't over." It was Garnetclan's leader who spoke first, glaring at Shadowpaw's clan.
"I don't expect it to be." Creekstar countered, tail flicking, "But you've already caused us great loss in this one battle, Tornstar. Don't expect me to not bring this up at next week's gathering."
Tornstar only frowned, turning and leading his cats away through the forest. He stepped through the bushes, then, almost as an afterthought, "You just started a war."
Creekstar looked outraged. "No, it is you who started the battle." He said, "You who snuck up on our clan like we were a piece of prey. You who declared a battle for no reason."
But Tornstar and his warriors were already gone.
"Feathernose!" A cry rang out, and Shadowpaw's father came rushing into the crowd of warriors, who were separating to let Lynxtail, the medicine cat, into the middle. Feathernose was swaying on her paws, bleeding from several wounds, when she collapsed, Cloudheart catching her.
"Mother?!" Shadowpaw ran to the edge of the crowd, but they weren't letting her through. They were whispering amongst themselves, watching as Lynxtail shoved Cloudheart away and tried to clean Feathernose's wounds.
"Get some warriors to take her back to camp!" Lynxtail shouted, and several of them complied, lifting Shadowpaw's mother's body and taking her out of the clearing.
"Mother!" Shadowpaw squeaked, running after her -- or, attempting to, at least, for Lynxtail stepped in front of her.
"You're going to let me see those wounds after I finish with your mother," She said, nodding at the bleeding scratches on her shoulder, "or you'll get an infection." She spoke the word infection like it was a death threat, which, of course, it probably was. Not waiting for an answer, Lynxtail shot off into the woods after the warriors, leaving Cloudheart and Shadowpaw staring at the bloody patch of moss where her mother had lain.
"They promised." Cloudheart whispered, in a voice so small Shadowpaw was sure she'd have to have her mother's senses to be able to hear it if she weren't standing so close. "They promised, we made a deal --!"
Shadowpaw cut off her father's panicking voice. "Who, father? Who did you make a deal with?!" She hissed, eyes narrowing. "You weren't even at the battle. You did a great job 'patrolling', didn't you? You let half of GarnetClan in! I can't believe --"
"The cat with eyes of fire." He interrupted. "That's who I was making a deal with. A deal with the enemy! For my power, he said, he'd promise not to invade our clan. Well, look how well that worked out!" His silver eyes looked mad, insane, and Shadowpaw backed away from him.
"A cat can't take your power." She hissed, "I don't even know what you're --"
"Cloudheart." Creekstar's voice rumbled like thunder across the clearing. "I have some questions to ask you."
Cloudheart glanced nervously in Shadowpaw's direction before nodding and padding over to Creekstar. Shadowpaw got up to follow, stumbling on her paws and falling into the dirt, suddenly painfully aware of all the wounds she had received in the fight. Then, suddenly, next to the pain, a deep, awful cold, worse than the most terrible leaf-bare, rose up inside her, taking her consciousness with it. She was dimly aware of Cloudheart rushing over to help her, Creekstar saying her name. . .
Then her world turned to black and white.
"Get some warriors to take her back to camp!" Lynxtail shouted, and several of them complied, lifting Shadowpaw's mother's body and taking her out of the clearing.
"Mother!" Shadowpaw squeaked, running after her -- or, attempting to, at least, for Lynxtail stepped in front of her.
"You're going to let me see those wounds after I finish with your mother," She said, nodding at the bleeding scratches on her shoulder, "or you'll get an infection." She spoke the word infection like it was a death threat, which, of course, it probably was. Not waiting for an answer, Lynxtail shot off into the woods after the warriors, leaving Cloudheart and Shadowpaw staring at the bloody patch of moss where her mother had lain.
"They promised." Cloudheart whispered, in a voice so small Shadowpaw was sure she'd have to have her mother's senses to be able to hear it if she weren't standing so close. "They promised, we made a deal --!"
Shadowpaw cut off her father's panicking voice. "Who, father? Who did you make a deal with?!" She hissed, eyes narrowing. "You weren't even at the battle. You did a great job 'patrolling', didn't you? You let half of GarnetClan in! I can't believe --"
"The cat with eyes of fire." He interrupted. "That's who I was making a deal with. A deal with the enemy! For my power, he said, he'd promise not to invade our clan. Well, look how well that worked out!" His silver eyes looked mad, insane, and Shadowpaw backed away from him.
"A cat can't take your power." She hissed, "I don't even know what you're --"
"Cloudheart." Creekstar's voice rumbled like thunder across the clearing. "I have some questions to ask you."
Cloudheart glanced nervously in Shadowpaw's direction before nodding and padding over to Creekstar. Shadowpaw got up to follow, stumbling on her paws and falling into the dirt, suddenly painfully aware of all the wounds she had received in the fight. Then, suddenly, next to the pain, a deep, awful cold, worse than the most terrible leaf-bare, rose up inside her, taking her consciousness with it. She was dimly aware of Cloudheart rushing over to help her, Creekstar saying her name. . .
Then her world turned to black and white.
Thanks for the tag.