Thunder and Shadow Sequel

SHADOWCLAN

LEADER

Deathsoul (Black pelt and green eyes tom)

Apprentice- Deathpaw

DEPUTY

Darkfury (Black pelt and blue eyes she-cat)

Apprentice- Fiercepaw

HEALER

Puddleshine

WARRIORS

Rain (dark blue tom)

Apprentice- Sleekpaw

Stonetooth (white tom)

Apprentice- Juniperpaw

Spikefur (dark brown tom with taffy fur on his head)

Apprentice- Yarrowpaw

Wasptail (yellow tabby she-cat with green eyes)

Apprentice- Strikepaw

Dawnpelt (cream-furred she-cat)

Apprentice- Beepaw

Snowbird (sleek, lithe, well-muscled, pure white she-cat with green eyes)

Scorchfur (dark gray tom with slashed ears, one of which is torn)

Berryheart (black-and-white she-cat)

Cloverfoot (gray tabby she-cat)

Rippletail (white tom)

Sparrowtail (large tabby tom)

Mistcloud (spiky-furred, pale gray she-cat)

Needletail

Roach

Raven

Nettle (brown tabby)

Slit

Ripwrath (brown tom with red eyes, a scar going diagonally across his right eye)

Apprentice- Brokenpaw

Tigerblood (orange tom with black stripes, blood always on his pelt)

Dragonblaze (tall tom with amber eyes)

Apprentice- Stormpaw

Sharpclaw

Phoenixflight

Apprentice- Shadowpaw

Toughstripe

Apprentice- Blackpaw

Darktail

QUEENS

Grassheart (pale brown tabby she-cat)

Pinenose (black she-cat) -mother to Birchkit, Lionkit, Puddlekit, and Slatekit. Fostering Violetkit.

Leopardleap

ELDERS

Oakfur (small brown tom)

Kinkfur (tabby she-cat, with long fur that sticks out at all angles)

Ratscar (scarred tom)

KITS

Birchkit (beige tom-kit)

Lionkit (yellow she-kit with amber eyes)

Puddlekit (a brown tom-kit with white splotches)

Slatekit (a sleek, gray tom-kit)

Violetkit (a black-and-white she-kit)

Swiftkit

Brutalkit

Cruelkit

Prologue

Deathsoul walked across the muddy terrain. Newleaf always brings rain and prey. Deathsoul thought to himself. However, through years of tracking training, he was still able to track down his son, Darktail. Once Deathsoul got his hands on him, he would demand his leadership back. Then, then he will rule over the forest. He walked into the forest, and crouched behind bushes and he followed some cats into a camp, he saw Darktail waving his tail impatiently at the other cats, acting as if he was leader. Deathsoul growled, and leaped toward Darktail...

Deathsoul tackled Darktail to the ground.

"Give me my leadership back, you traitor!" Deathsoul yelled at Darktail, unsheathing his claws.

"Never!" Darktail choked out.

Deathsoul pressed down on Darktail's neck, lowering down Darktail's oxygen.

"Please, fine, I concede to you, fa-t-her." Darktail pleaded, choking.

Deathsoul got off and addressed the ShadowClan cats that were edging closer with worry and protectiveness for their leader.

"I am your TRUE leader!" Deathsoul shouted.

"I must make them fear me." He thought to himself.

"He may be my son, but I will show you what happens to traitors like him!" Deathsoul declared, flicking his tail toward Darktail.

"Please, no, I'm sorry for betraying you father!" Darktail apologized quickly, gasping for air.

Deathsoul said nothing, but he unsheathed his claws and sliced off Darktail's tail will one swift and clean swipe.

"Whyyy!" Darktail wailed.

Deathsoul stared back at every cat that was watching, daring any cat to challenge him. All the cats stared at Darktail's cut off tail in shock, and then hurried along with their jobs, afraid of getting in trouble too.

Chapter 1

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath Highledge Rock for a Clan meeting!" Deathsoul yowled.

All cats came pouring out of their dens, settling down onto the grass, murmuring about what would happen next.

"As the new Clan leader, I must make some things clear. We will no longer believe in StarClan, for they have given up on us. We will now believe in the Vault of Souls." Deathsoul announced.

Clan cats began to murmur to each other what that might mean.

"From the Vault of Souls, my last name, 'soul', signifies that I have been granted my many lives and that I have been approved as leader of ShadowClan." Deathsoul declared.

Deathsoul paused, as he waited for the shocked talking to die down. "As the new leader, I must also appoint a new deputy."

All the cats were wondering who would be the next deputy.

"I did not come alone, I brought my mate, Darkfury, and our son, Devilkit. 		Darkfury will be my deputy." Deathsoul announced, looking at all the cats to make sure no one challenged him.

"Now, everyone saw what happened to Darktail earlier am I right?" Deathsoul asked the crowd.

No one dared to speak up to challenge him.

"Now, I noticed that he could NOT be Darktail if he did not have a tail. Therefore, I will change his name to Tailless. ANYONE that calls him Darktail will be punished." Darktail said.

"Tailless! Tailless! Tailless! The crowd shouted in fear."

Tailless looked down at himself, and gave his chest a few licks of embarrassment.

"Now finally I must point out new apprentices. Devilkit and Fiercekit, please come here." Deathsoul requested.

The two kits bounded up to their leader excitedly.

"Devilkit, from this day forward you will be known as Devilpaw. I am your father, and I make an exception as leader to mentor you, and I shall pass down my skills to you." Deathsoul announced.

Deathsoul touched noses with his new apprentice, and motioned Fiercekit over with his tail.

"Fiercekit, you have waited for six moons for this day. From this day on, you will be known as Fiercepaw. Darkfury, your fighting skills and courage are great. I trust you to pass on these skills to Fiercepaw." Deathsoul announced.

"Devilpaw, Fiercekit, Devilpaw, Fiercekit! The clan yowled excitedly.

Deathsoul leaped down from Highledge rock, and observed as the cats started to grow closer together, and more respect for himself.

"My clan will rule the forest." Deathsoul muttered to himself, motioning for Devilpaw to follow him.

Chapter 2

"Rain, you lead the dawn hunting patrol. Take Stonetooth, Spikefur, Wasptail, and Ripwrath, and have all of you take your apprentices." Deathsoul ordered.

Needletail came bounding up to Deathsoul.

"Can I join the patrol too?" Needletail asked Deathsoul.

"That she-cat spends too much time with Rain." Deathsoul thought to himself. "No, you will join Phoenixflight, Tigerblood, and Dragonblaze on dawn border patrol. Phoenixflight, lead the patrol please." Deathsoul decided, motioning for the three other cats to come over. "Bring your apprentices so that they can learn too." Deathsoul suggested.

The three loyal and experienced cats nodded, motioning with their tail for their apprentices to follow.

Needletail just nodded her head in acknowledgement, and slowly followed her patrol.

"Dawnpelt, I want you to supervise Devilpaw's training. Have Beepaw and Devilpaw train with each other. Remember, claws are unsheathed so that you can learn quickness." Deathsoul ordered, sharply, before walking away to his den.

Deathsoul scented his mate coming when he was almost in his den, and he stopped walking.

"Hello, Deathsoul. Is everything alright?" Darkfury asked, wrapping her tail in front of her paws.

"Everything is alright, but you must learn to do the patrol organizing by yourself, beloved." Deathsoul replied, moving closer to Darkfury's pelt.

"Okay, I'll let you watch me organize it at sunset." Darkfury suggested.

"Alright, beloved." Deathsoul agreed, walking back to his den to sleep.

"Welcome, Deathsoul, to the Vault of Souls." Evilsoul greeted Deathsoul.

"Hello father, am I dead? I thought I was awake." Deathsoul asked his father, confused.

"You are dreaming, young one, but I have come to tell you that your new Clanmates, the forest cats, do not know what the Vault of Souls is. You must tell them in a Clan Meeting, and then we can start visiting them." Evilsoul informed his son.

"Alright fathe-" Deathsoul started to say before waking up.

"Deathsoul, wake up. Don't you want to help me organize the patrols? Rain's hunting patrol brought a lot of fresh-kill and it would do us good in the future if we got more. Additionally, Phoenixflight's patrol found fresh WindClan scent in our territory and Dawnpelt is almost done training Devilpaw and Beepaw, the WRONG way." Darkfury complained, swiping her sheathed paw at Deathsoul's face.

"Ok, Ok, I am up." Deathsoul surrendered to his mate tiredly. "What do you want, leader?" Deathsoul asked playfully.

"Go sort things out, and then help me with the patrols." Darkfury requested, her blue eyes shining.

Deathsoul went to go see Devilpaw first, he had to check on his apprentice, his son's training meant a lot. As he walked to the training area, he hid behind a bush and saw that Beepaw's paw was bleeding, so Devilpaw and Beepaw were fighting claws sheathed. All of a sudden, Devilpaw was about to get pounced on by Beepaw, but Devilpaw rolled quickly out of the way and unsheathed his claws, then raked his claws against Beepaw's belly.

Beepaw fell to the ground, with blood bleeding.

"DEVILPAW! You don't hurt other apprentices like that! I told you, claws sheathed!" Dawnpelt scolded, checking Beepaw.

"But my dad said that we were to train claws unsheathed, so that we can learn agility, unlike this fat apprentice here." Devilpaw retorted.

"That's it! I don't care about what your dad says if it's not safe! You are to pick ticks from the elders and change their bedding for a moon!" Dawnpelt punished Devilpaw.

Deathsoul was infuriated, and he walked out from the bush.

"Devilpaw, come here, NOW!" Deathsoul shouted, angrily.

Devilpaw looked at his father, then walked toward his father, head hanging. Dawnpelt looked pleased.

"Devilpaw, your punishment is not going to happen." Deathsoul announced, pausing.

Devilpaw looked pleased, and now Dawnpelt looked confused.

"However, your punishment will not go away." Deathsoul continued, and paused once again.

This time, both cats looked confused and afraid.

"Your punishment shall go to Dawnpelt, because she disobeyed my orders and talked behind my back." Deathsoul finished, staring at Dawnpelt.

"But, Beepaw got seriously hurt!" Dawnpelt defended herself, looking hurt.

"No he did not, he is just bleeding. We can always send him to Puddleshine for healing and cobwebs. As for you, this is the lightest punishment for you possible, it is just humiliation as a warrior, deal with it." Deathsoul shot back, with a hard stare.

Dawnpelt hung her head and walked towards the elders' den.

"Beepaw, go to Puddleshine, Devilpaw, go to your den." Deathsoul ordered, and then walked to the warriors den.

"Oh, Deathsoul, I was looking for you. We found WindClan scent in our territory, and it was fresh." Phoenixflight reported.

"I will make sure a patrol is always there, thank you for the report, Phoenixflight." Deathsoul assured.

Phoenixflight stood taller with pride for being congratulated by the tough leader.

Deathsoul started to change his course to Highledge rock.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highledge rock for a Clan meeting!" Deathsoul yowled.

Cats began to fill the grass, and Deathsoul began to report.

"Thanks to Phoenixflight's dawn border patrol, we have found WindClan scent in our borders. I want cats checking over there from time to time, whether if it is in groups or by yourself." Deathsoul announced confidently.

All cats began to murmur in agreement, and Phoenixflight's patrol licked their chests in embarrassment as their leader praised them.

"Also, Dawnpelt now has the punishment to do the most dreaded apprentice duty, picking out elder ticks and changing their bedding." Deathsoul paused for dramatic effect.

Cats began to look at Dawnpelt, and laugh. However, their laughing was stopped quickly with fear, fear that their leader would punish them for laughing at a Clanmate.

"Humiliation is the point of the punishment, so all cats, including elders, kits, apprentices, and even other warriors, may mock her and laugh at her until her punishment is over, which is in a moon." Deathsoul finished.

All cats began to laugh, and some even began to mock Dawnpelt right then and there. Dawnpelt had to try to keep her fur from sticking up.

"Finally, I have heard that some cats do not know what the Vault of Souls is. The Vault of Souls is also known as SoulClan. It just like StarClan, but only well respected and loyal warriors go there. It is an honorable place to go to, and as a Soul in the Vault, you may be chosen to give a life to a new leader. Each leader is given 99 lives, because the Vault of Souls is bigger, and better, than StarClan. They talk to us more, and do not talk in prophecies." Deathsoul explained, with pride.

"Now that we all know what the Vault of Souls is, we will now abandon StarClan, and listen to the Vault of Souls. We do have Gatherings and the warrior code still though." Deathsoul reassured some cats that looked uncertain.

Every cat in the camp nodded approvingly, and then Deathsoul called the meeting to an end.

Chapter 3

"We will not be doing the evening patrol today." Deathsoul announced to his warriors. "Instead, we will go to tonight's Gathering."

The warriors around Deathsoul let out a sign of relief. After hearing that they would give up on StarClan, they did not know what was tradition anymore.

"Devilpaw and Fiercepaw will come. Phoenixflight, Tigerblood, Dragonblaze, and Needletail you four will come with me too. Tailless, Beepaw, and Dawnpelt, you three come as well. Darkfury and Puddleshine you are welcome to come to the Gathering as always too." Deathsoul decided.

As Deathsoul began to jump up the tree to join the other leaders, Onestar shouted out, "Who are you?! You and your other rogues are not allowed here! Only CLAN cats meet here mouse-brains!"

"My cats are now the new ShadowClan. We are not to be called rogues, and we will now join Gatherings as a Clan." Deathsoul replied calmly.

"A Clan is not a Clan until it has a good leader. You still did not answer my question, who are YOU?!" Onestar asked, with hostility in his voice.

"My Clan DOES have a leader, and that is me. I am Deathsoul, the new, strong leader the new ShadowClan deserves." Deathsoul replied back, bitterly, with his tail lashing from side to side.

"The moon will go away soon, we must start the Gathering before moonhigh is over." Mistystar pointed out, growing impatient.

"The Gathering will start as soon as that band of rogues leave." Onestar harshly shot back.

"We are getting nowhere with this babbling, let ShadowClan be here, they are a proper clan in my eyes. They have a leader, deputy, medicine cat, and warriors. StarClan would send clouds to cover the moon if they leave." Bramblestar argued.

"Very well, let the Gathering begin!" Onestar conceded.

"Prey is running well in ThunderClan because of newleaf. Our medicine cat apprentice, Alderpaw, is now Alderheart." Bramblestar announced kindly, looking at Alderheart.

"Alderheart, Alderheart, Alderheart!" The clans greeted warmly. Alderheart gave his chest a few licks of embarrassment.

"There are many fish in the river, and RiverClan is well fed." Mistystar said, relieved to start the Gathering.

"RiverClan is always well fed with that disgusting fish." Deathsoul heard some cat mutter in the crowd.

"WindClan is also well-fed, with many rabbits to catch in the moor." Onestar announced confidently, looking at Deathsoul as if to challenge him.

Deathsoul took the challenge. "Oh, so your clan is well fed, right? Then why do we smell WindClan scent in our territory, as well as fresh squirrel scent, with blood on our grass? WindClan has been hunting in SHADOWCLAN territory!" Deathsoul yowled.

"WindClan HAS been taking food from ShadowClan, just because ShadowClan is not a Clan, and rogues do not deserve Clan food." Onestar replied simply.

Deathsoul continued, "Other than that, prey is running well in ShadowClan. We have two new apprentices, Devilpaw and Fiercepaw."

"Devilpaw, Fiercepaw, Devilpaw, Fiercepaw!" All the clans congratulated.

"As I said earlier, our dawn border patrol, Phoenixflight, Tigerblood, Dragonblaze and Needletail smelled WindClan scent in our territory. We will fight any trespassers that walk across our border." Deathsoul threatened.

Deathsoul continued, "What many of you might know as Darktail, my son, is now Tailless, because he no longer has a tail."

The clans gasped in shock.

"Also, Dawnpelt has been punished with an apprentice duty, picking off elder's ticks and changing their bedding because she has disobeyed the warrior code." Deathsoul finished.

The clans sat in silence.

Bramblestar broke the silence. "The Gathering has ended, the clans can now go to their OWN territories." Bramblestar gave Onestar an expectant look.

"He doesn't even have nine lives, Bramblestar. How do you expect me to accept him as a leader in the first place? If he has nine lives, then I will accept his band of rogues and former Clan cats as a Clan." Onestar compromised, thinking that he was being sly.

"We don't need your acceptance as a Clan, Onestar. As long as we have Sou- I mean, StarClan's blessing, I am proud to be leader of the new ShadowClan. However, to answer your question, I do have nine lives." Deathsoul lied, as he turned back to his Clanmates, and led them back to camp.

"Will we have a war against WindClan, Deathsoul?" Devilpaw asked.

"We might, but not yet. The Clan needs to grow stronger together, and WindClan would probably be waiting right now. We must wait until they lower their defenses, so we can sneak into their camp and kill them." Deathsoul explained to his son.

Dawnpelt butted in. "Wouldn't that be against the warrior code if we killed WindClan?"

"It would not be against the warrior code if we were protecting our border, like the warrior code says, and if we have permission from SoulClan. Therefore, I will wait until our warrior ancestors tell me to attack, and when WindClan is weak." Deathsoul replied.

Dawnpelt kept quiet.

"The Clan will show no sign of weakness, we are stronger than regular Clan cats, and we will prove that by showing that we can protect our borders with force, otherwise the other Clans will pay." Deathsoul threatened.

"Father, wouldn't the other clans turn on us though?" Devilpaw asked.

"They would, if they felt that we were doing something wrong. However, if I explain to them I was doing it to their precious StarClan's wishes and the warrior code, they will respect that. Especially that Bramblestar." Deathsoul confirmed.

"You are a great leader father, I wish I could be just like you." Devilpaw admitted.

"I will make you a brave warrior, young one, but you must learn to never show weakness." Deathsoul told his apprentice wisely.

"And Darkfury will move to the warrior den, or elders' den once you are ready to become my deputy, so that you can become leader. It was planned ever since you gave Darkfury a scratch diagonally across her eye. It is your destiny, not Tailless's." Deathsoul thought to himself.

As Deathsoul's Gathering patrol entered camp, Deathsoul ordered Devilpaw, "Go to sleep, we will practice your hunting and battle training. If you show promise and learn fast tomorrow, you will get your assessment fairly soon." Devilpaw nodded, and then quickly went back to the apprentices' den. After Deathsoul saw Devilpaw's black tail enter the den, Deathsoul went back to his den, then fell asleep.