Song of the Dark

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((This is a story I started writing as a PowerPoint when I was incredibly bored at school. It later was continued on my home computer, and I decided to post it here.
There are five Clans- MistClan, NightClan, OceanClan, StoneClan, and MeadowClan. Their warrior ancestors are part of MoonClan (sorry I used the same name as one of your Clans, Raven- I didn't know that one of them was called that when I wrote it).
The story is centered around MistClan and NightClan, and specifically one cat from each Clan- Duskclaw of NightClan and Whisperingstream of MistClan.
A few of the names are names of characters I have on various sites- that's because I stole them from a character list for a different story, and I use the list for name ideas all the time.
Okay. I'll end this post and start the story.))

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PART ONE:

Silvery moonlight poured out of the night sky, turning the land into a mysterious place filled with shadows. A stream caught the rays of the half-moon, and sparkled, as if filled with stars.
A petite light-brown tabby sat on a wide, smooth gray rock at the water’s edge. Her amber eyes watched the opposite shore unblinkingly, searching the dark pine woods for something. Her tail flicked impatiently, spraying crystalline drops into the air.
“Whisperingstream?” a voice hissed from the shadows.
The tabby’s ears twitched towards the sound instantly. “Duskclaw? Is that you?”
A dark ginger tomcat appeared from the shadows underneath the tall pines. “It’s me,” he confirmed.
Whisperingstream, the tabby, purred with delight. “I haven’t seen you since the last Gathering, Duskclaw.”
“It’s been too long,” Duskclaw agreed.
Whisperingstream bunched her muscles underneath her, and leapt across the starlit water in a single, graceful jump. She landed softly, and padded to where Duskclaw was standing.
The ginger tom cast a glance over his shoulder. His eyes were filled with a caution that was unusual for him.
“Is something wrong, Duskclaw?” Whisperingstream inquired. “You seem on edge tonight.”
“I think that Violetpetal might suspect that something is up,” Duskclaw said. “She’s always making excuses to come on the same patrols as me- she’ll switch duties from hunting to border patrol if I’m on that patrol.”
Whisperingstream’s whiskers twitched slightly. “Duskclaw, you may be right, but…”
Duskclaw rolled his eyes. “Anyways, I think that in case I’m right, we shouldn’t meet for a moon or so.”
Whisperingstream looked at Duskclaw. “If you really think that Violetpetal thinks that something’s up, then fine. We won’t meet for a moon.”
“I’ll see you at the next Gathering, then,” Duskclaw said. “Violetpetal can’t complain about me being friends with a cat outside of my Clan, since she has friends outside of the Clan herself.”
“Until the next Gathering,” Whisperingstream said. Turning, she leapt back across the stream. She turned, and saw the tip of a dark ginger tail vanishing into the shadows.
Then, she too vanished into the darkness, leaving the rocks and the stream silent in the silvery moonlight.

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PART TWO:

Dawn light crept over the pine trees, shedding light on the forest. Duskclaw was sitting in the center of the clearing, grooming his fur.
“Duskclaw!”
The tom looked up. A black she-cat with eyes that looked almost purple was trotting toward him.
“Duskclaw, do you want to come on a hunting patrol with Nighteyes and me?” the she-cat asked.
“Sure, Violetpetal,” Duskclaw agreed. “Are you leaving now?”
“Well, unless you want to grab a piece of fresh-kill first-”
“No, I’m ready,” Duskclaw said, rising to his paws. “Let’s go.”
Violetpetal started for the camp entrance. Halfway there, the two cats were joined by another black cat, Nighteyes. Nighteyes was Violetpetal’s sister. They looked similar, with small, wiry builds, and black fur, but were easy to tell apart, because Nighteyes had distinctive white markings on her chest, paws, and tail.
“Where are we hunting?” Nighteyes asked.
“Maybe we should go towards the river,” Duskclaw suggested. “The sunlight’s strongest there, and it might bring out the prey from their nests.”
“Are you sure?” Violetpetal questioned. “MistClan might have problems with us hunting so near their territory.”
“MistClan can go chase their tails,” Nighteyes meowed. “Duskclaw has a point- the sun will bring out the prey. Anyways, it’s our territory. MistClan doesn’t command NightClan, do they?”
“I suppose you two have a point,” Violetpetal said. “Let’s go, then.”
Within a few minutes, the three cats reached the streambank. There was a section for several foxlengths on the NightClan side of the border that had no pine trees growing on it, which allowed the warm newleaf sunlight to reach the ground.
Duskclaw inhaled deeply, searching for the scent of his prey. There were a few tantalizing scents from the MistClan side of the border, but he ignored those. Instead he focused on a different scent- the scent of a vole, scuffling by the edge of the river. Dropping into a crouch, Duskclaw crept forward, and then pounced onto the vole. He finished it off quickly with a swift bite, before the vole could make a sound.
“Good catch,” Nighteyes meowed. “Let’s see what else we can find.”
The three cats spread out, and began to hunt. Duskclaw stayed near the border, and continued to hunt there. The next time he inhaled, he caught a scent he hadn’t been expecting- the fresh scent of MistClan.

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PART THREE:

“I wonder when Kestrelclaw will be back.”
Whisperingstream shrugged. “Soon, most likely.”
The she-cat was lying in the MistClan camp with her friend, Robinwing. It was only a short while past dawn. The two friends were waiting for the dawn patrol to return so that Robinwing could go hunting with Kestrelclaw.
“Do you want to come hunting with Kestrelclaw and me?” Robinwing asked.
“Sure,” Whisperingstream agreed. “Maybe we should take Obsidianpaw and Applepaw, too.”
Obsidianpaw was Kestrelclaw’s apprentice, while Applepaw was Whisperingstream’s. Robinwing considered this idea for a moment.
“Let’s do that,” she said. “It’ll give us all something to focus on.”
“Then that’s settled,” Whisperingstream said. She got to her paws delicately. “I’m going to get some fresh-kill. Do you want anything?”
“It looks like there’s a nice plump fish on the pile,” Robinwing said. “Do you want to share that?”
“Okay.” Whisperingstream nodded, then turned around and padded away to get the fish.
A short while later, after the fish was eaten, the dawn patrol returned. Kestrelclaw, seeing Robinwing and Whisperingstream, padded away from the rest of the group towards them.
“Hey, Kestrelclaw,” Robinwing said. “I hope you don’t mind that I invited Whisperingstream to come hunting with us.”
“Not at all,” Kestrelclaw said.
“I thought that maybe we could take Applepaw and Obsidianpaw as well,” Whisperingstream said.
“Good idea,” Kestrelclaw agreed. “I’ll get them.”
After the tomcat was halfway across the clearing, Whisperingstream said, “He seems like he’s in a good mood.”
“Why wouldn’t he be?” Robinwing asked. “It’s a beautiful day, we’re bound to have good hunting, and he probably just had a good patrol- why wouldn’t anybody be in a good mood?”
“I don’t know,” Whisperingstream said. “I was just noting it.”
Just then, Kestrelclaw came back across the clearing with two apprentices following him. One was a black tom, Obsidianpaw, and the other was a dark ginger she-cat with lighter stripes, Applepaw.
“Alright,” Kestrelclaw said. “Let’s go.”
The five cats headed towards the entrance to the camp, Kestrelclaw and Robinwing in the lead.
“Where are we hunting?” Applepaw asked. “Are we going fishing? Or hunting inland? I’d rather go fishing- can we go fishing?”
Whisperingstream’s whiskers twitched, mostly from amusement, but partly from annoyance at her apprentice’s chatter. “We’ll start by fishing, and if there’s still time before sunhigh, we’ll go inland and work on your stalking skills, Applepaw.”
“Do we have to?” Applepaw complained. “I’d rather just fish.”
“A good warrior knows how to get prey from many different sources,” Kestrelclaw said. “You need to know how to hunt as well on the land as you do on the water.”
“Oh. Okay,” Applepaw said. “Let’s go!”
“Slow down, there,” Robinwing said. “You don’t even know where on the stream we’re going to.”
“Where are we going?” Whisperingstream asked. “We never actually decided that.”
“What about at Half-Moon Rock?” Obsidianpaw put in.
“Good idea,” Kestrelclaw praised his apprentice. “Let’s go there, and try our luck.”
The cats trotted off through the trees, and reached a clearing. The stream snaked through the center of it, dazzlingly bright. On the MistClan side of the border, a gray rock sat on the bank. The rock was a half-circle, which had reminded MistClan’s first leader, Miststar, of the half-moon, leading her to name it Half-Moon Rock. It was a good place to fish and look for other prey like mice.
Applepaw trotted up to the rock, and sat on its smooth surface. One of her front paws was raised, and her green eyes watched the water. Suddenly, her paw flicked out, and she snagged a fish on her claws. With another quick blow, she finished into off.
“Good catch,” Whisperingstream said. “You keep on fishing, and I’ll sniff around to see if I can catch a vole or a mouse.”
The tabby opened her mouth, and drew in a breath of the air. She could smell prey scent, but stronger than that was the scent of NightClan. Whisperingstream looked up, and caught sight of another cat on the far shore. He was hunting.
“Robinwing!” Whisperingstream called. Her friend looked at her as soon as she heard her name. “Look at that.” The tabby nodded towards the NightClan side of the border.
The other she-cat looked in the direction that Whisperingstream had indicated.
“I know him,” Robinwing hissed. “That’s Duskclaw, isn’t it? He’s a flea-bitten scoundrel if there ever was one.”
“I wonder what he thinks he’s doing, hunting so close to the boundary,” Whisperingstream said.
“Probably thinking he could sneak off with a mouse or two and try and pass them off as NightClan prey,” Robinwing sniffed.
“Hey, Whisperingstream!” Applepaw called. “Do you see that NightClan warrior over there? We should chase him away!”
“He’s on his own territory, Applepaw. We can’t chase him anywhere,” Whisperingstream pointed out.
“But we should at least make a point of telling him that he needs to keep away from our borders,” Kestrelclaw said, overhearing their conversation.
The five MistClan cats gathered on Half-Moon Rock, facing the NightClan warrior. He paused, and drew in a breath. Surprise flickered across Duskclaw’s features.
“Duskclaw!” Kestrelclaw called. “Why are you hunting so close to the border?”
“I could ask the same of you,” Duskclaw asked. “Dawn’s been past for a while, and sunhigh is a ways off. You can’t be on a border patrol.”
“You don’t know that!” Applepaw said cheekily. “We could be patrolling this border for all you know!”
“Quiet, Applepaw,” Whisperingstream ordered sharply.
“Duskclaw?” a new voice called. “Is there trouble?”
A black she-cat appeared from the pines. She took in the MistClan cats, and stopped dead.
“Not really, Violetpetal. Just dealing with some MistClan cats who are annoyed with us for hunting near the border,” Duskclaw said.
“Why can’t we?” Violetpetal asked. “It’s our territory.”
“You could easily cross the border if you saw a plump piece of prey,” Applepaw said.
“We have plenty of prey in our territory,” Duskclaw said, a sharp edge entering his voice. “Whisperingstream, this is your apprentice, is it not? Why have you allowed her to speak out when apprentices should be silent?”
Whisperingstream stiffened. “She may be an apprentice speaking when no cat asked for it, but she has a point.”
“And the same goes for you. How can we trust you to hunt near the border and not cross it?”
“We hunt in the water,” Robinwing said. “We do not need NightClan prey, so long as they do not stake a claim to the stream.”
“We hold no claim to your stream,” Violetpetal said. “Why should we? We have enough prey in our territory, and we do not fish.”
“But every cat knows that NightClan is-” Applepaw’s remark was cut short by Whisperingstream covering her apprentice’s mouth with her tail.
“Don’t talk anymore, or you will be sent to camp,” the warrior hissed. Applepaw nodded vigorously. Whisperingstream removed her tail.
“Is what?” Duskclaw asked as Whisperingstream straightened her head. “Untrustworthy? Hardly. NightClan has honor.”
“What about three moons ago?” Obsidianpaw said quietly.
The NightClan cats visibly stiffened. “What happened then is of no concern now,” Violetpetal hissed.
“But it proves that you’re-” Applepaw stopped, realizing that she had just spoken.
“Back. To. Camp,” Whisperingstream hissed, pointing with her tail. Applepaw turned and left, head bowed.
“Three moons ago, NightClan was led by Cobrastar. Now, our leader is noble. She has brought NightClan to a much better time,” Duskclaw said.
“Shadowstar was Cobrastar’s deputy. I bet some of his dark nature rubbed off on her,” Robinwing muttered.
“Shadowstar is a noble leader!” Violetpetal insisted. “I think that you MistClan cats must have the brains of rabbits! We are not hunting on your territory, and to prove it, we’ll leave!” Turning to her companion, she continued. “Let’s collect our prey, and then go and find Nighteyes.”
The NightClan cats gathered their prey, and vanished into the woods.
“Huh,” Kestrelclaw said. He just sat there, staring after the NightClan cats.
“If you ask me, we should stay here and fish,” Robinwing said pointedly. “To make sure those flea-bitten NightClan cats don’t come back.”
“Okay,” Whisperingstream agreed. “Let’s stay here.”

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PART FOUR:

“Those hare-brained MistClan cats!”
Nighteyes was very annoyed with the cats that they had met by the stream. As she had put it, “they were more likely to be prey-thieves, because they wanted us away from the border!”
“I wish they hadn’t brought up Cobrastar, though,” Violetpetal said thoughtfully. “He’s dead. Gone. Not here anymore… nor will he ever be. Cobrastar will never walk these woods again.”
“But his kits do,” Nighteyes pointed out. “Shrikekit and Jaguarkit are his descendants.”
“You’re right,” Violetpetal said. “Luckily, they take after Rubyheart. They have a better chance of having the Clan realize that they aren’t their father because of that.”
“That’s a good point,” Nighteyes said. “But some cats will never forget that Cobrastar was their father.”
“Like Larkflight,” Violetpetal said. “Did you see the way she jumped when Shrikekit pounced on her tail?”
“But Cobrastar did kill two of her kits,” Nighteyes said. “Remember poor Dawnkit and Thrushkit?”
“Mousepaw was distraught for days, always asking Larkflight where his brother and sister were,” Violetpetal remembered.
Duskclaw’s tail tip twitched uncomfortably. “We should talk of different things, instead of Cobrastar’s horrible actions,” he said.
“Yes, let’s,” Nighteyes agreed. “Do you think we should return to camp? We can collect a patrol to go and make sure those MistClan cats stay on their side of the border.”
“That’s a good idea,” Duskclaw agreed. “I would bet you ten mice that they’re still sitting there, hunting, while we’re walking through the forest with only a few pieces of prey.”
“Stupid pieces of fox dung,” Nighteyes grumbled.
By now, the group of cats had reached the entrance to camp. One by one, they slipped inside. Duskclaw was last, and when he got inside, he saw Violetpetal talking with the cat guarding the camp, Spiderclaw.
“…So Shadowstar is out of camp?” Violetpetal was saying. “How about Tigerpelt?”
“He’s in his den, I think,” Spiderclaw growled. “That or he’s out hunting.”
“Okay, I’ll check his den,” Violetpetal decided. “I’ll be back- you two wait here.” She headed off for the warriors den. Spiderclaw watched her go with interest.
“What happened on your patrol?” he asked.
“MistClan happened,” Duskclaw growled.
“The hare-brained fools stopped us from hunting near the border on our own territory!” Nighteyes put in.
“And you want revenge,” Spiderclaw finished. “Well, I’d be glad to join you if you can get an apprentice for guard duty.”
“I’ll get Mousepaw,” Duskclaw decided. “I don’t want him coming, and I’m deciding that even if I’m not his mentor.”
“Why?” asked Spiderclaw.
“The MistClan cats were justifying them making us stop hunting where we were because we were led by Cobrastar three moons ago, and Cobrastar was a horrid cat. When it was pointed out that Shadowstar is NightClan’s leader, they said that she was Cobrastar’s deputy, and that makes her untrustworthy,” Duskclaw said.
“Mousepaw wouldn’t want to hear Cobrastar mentioned,” Spiderclaw said. “Because of-” he lowered his voice- “Thrushkit and Dawnkit.”
“Exactly,” Duskclaw said.
“Violetpetal’s coming back and Tigerpelt’s behind her,” Nighteyes said.
“So she is,” Duskclaw said.
The deputy of NightClan, Tigerpelt, was approaching with Violetpetal. The she-cat was rapidly speaking as she walked.
“…And we- Duskclaw, Nighteyes, and me- we thought that we should take a patrol over to MistClan territory and teach them a lesson.”
Tigerpelt nodded slowly. “We should indeed. MistClan does not control NightClan. Gather some cats, and go to the MistClan camp. Demand to speak to their leader if you’re stopped, or meet a patrol. Don’t fight if you can avoid it- we’d do better to find a patrol and take them on with a larger party. You can’t fight all of MistClan. Take an apprentice or two with you, as well. How about Goldenpaw and.. Mousepaw.”
“Um, can we take Beechpaw instead of Mousepaw?” Duskclaw asked. “The MistClan cats mentioned… well, they mentioned Cobrastar.”
Tigerpelt’s eyes narrowed. “You have a point, Duskclaw. Mousepaw could be… emotionally wounded from that. Take Beechpaw and Goldenpaw, then.”
“I’ll get the apprentices,” Nighteyes said. “Spiderclaw, do you want me to get Mousepaw to take guard duty so that you can come?”
“Sure,” Spiderclaw agreed. “I want to see those MistClan cats whimpering.”
“That’s what we’ll see, with a bit of luck,” Duskclaw said, a gleam in his eyes.
Nighteyes trotted off to get the apprentices. A brief moment of silence followed.
“I’ll go and see who’s in the warriors den,” Duskclaw said. He padded across the clearing and entered the den.
Despite the bright sunlight outside, there were a few cats still in their nests. Duskclaw identified them as Larkflight, Snaketooth, and Gingerfur. He prodded them awake, and explained the mission. All three agreed quickly.
Duskclaw led the other three warriors across camp, where Spiderclaw, Violetpetal, Nighteyes, Tigerpelt, and the two apprentices were waiting.
“Larkflight, Snaketooth, Gingerfur, Spiderclaw, Beechpaw, Goldenpaw, and you three?” Tigerpelt said. “That might be too many cats.”
Violetpetal considered this. “You’re right. I think that, in addition to us three and an apprentice, we should only take one other warrior.”
“Who, though?” demanded Larkflight. “Every warrior here wants to go, and get back at those heaps of foxdung.”
“She’s right,” agreed Snaketooth. “Everyone in NightClan, from the kits to the elders, would want to see MistClan grovel at our paws.”
“Maybe, but we can only take one more warrior,” Duskclaw said.
“I won’t go,” Gingerfur decided. “I’ve done my share of warrior missions- I’ll let you youngins’ take this one.”
Larkflight shrugged. “Okay, Gingerfur. If you say so.”
“That leaves the problem of who will go, though,” Nighteyes said. “Beechpaw says that Mousepaw is out of camp, and Goldenpaw is supposed to go on patrol in a little while, so Spiderclaw needs to stay on guard duty. That leaves Larkflight and Snaketooth.”
“I want to go,” Larkflight and Snaketooth said at the same time.
“I think that Snaketooth should go,” Tigerpelt put in. “He’s a more experienced warrior than Larkflight, and he should go to give the group some guidance.”
“Fine,” Larkflight grumbled. “C’mon, Goldenpaw, you’re supposed to go out on hunting patrol. Let’s go now instead of later.”
The warrior and apprentice vanished into the pine woods. Duskclaw watched them go, and said, “Well, that means that Beechpaw is coming with us to visit MistClan. Let’s go!”