Pieces of the Moon//Smokepaw }{ Action/Adventu...

[Mossflower (freakishly busy)]

Title: Pieces of the Moon

Chapters: It's not going to be long-long. Probably 10-17.

Author: Mossflower

Pairing: SmokexTawny, ShardxKestrel

Rating: PG

Spoilers: A bit about Dawn, that's it.

Summary: Smokepaw's drop over the cliff didn't kill him-- in fact, it sent him on a rollar coaster of adventure, bravery and deceit. But can an outcast, a Casanova and his own heart guide him to the roosting Clans, his love, and his destiny? Or will the mysterious "Yellowtooth" slaughter them all?

Warning: Gore in an early chapter, that's it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the WARRIORS series. I only own character names and plot.

Beta: N/A

Cover: No way.

Prologue

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"SMOKEPAW!"

The yell cascaded through the chasms of the young cat's mind. The ledge where he was standing broke off, sending him twisting into the darkness of the valley. He couldn't die, no, no, he was just about to become a warrior, with his denmates Tawnypelt and Goldentail. No, no, he had never had kits or a mate, never defended his Clan by battle or anything. No, no, he couldn't die. Smokepaw begged StarClan as he yowled, the cliff wall scraping his fur, darkness closing in, the ground feeling awfully close--

And then it happened. In a flash of golden light, he heard the beating of wings. Smokepaw cracked an amber eye, and saw a bizarre golden cat beneath him, with full-fledged eagle wings, carrying him--

And then Smokepaw passed out. He didn't know if he was dead, if he'd ever see his beloved ShadowClan again. All he knew was pain. His entire world was pain, as if he had his own life sucked out, like they did in the nine-life ceremony, to be replaced by nine new ones. But it wouldn't happen, of course. He could only live once. He was dead... wasn't he? Then why did death feel so wet?[/size]

[Lightningstrike]

great story!

[ghostfeather]

awesome!!!!!!! ;D
continue!

[Mossflower (freakishly busy)]

Chapter One: Gray Tears

"...--ould go get someone. We can't just leave him out for the vultures." A voice slowly and softly broke into the darkness of Smokepaw's mind. He felt sopping wet and muddy, pain in every cubic mouse-length of his body. It sounded feminine... a bit like Tawnypelt's. Hope filled his body. Had they searched for him?

"Shard, he's dead. We shouldn't leave him here. Yellowtooth'll smell the blood sooner or later and eat what's left of him." A second voice replied, deeper and hard-edged-- definately masculine. Smokepaw tried to move or talk, but couldn't. He wondered how many bones he had broken.

"Kestrel!" the she-cat-- Shard, probably-- mewed in shock. "That's a terrible thing to say. He should at least have a proper burial--"

At the sound of that word, Smokepaw heaved upwards. He felt water lap at his fur, and he guessed he was in a shallow stream. Mud caked his fur and claws, and his vision was blurry. Smokepaw heard a frightened shriek from Shard, and he whipped his head from side to side clumsily. "Wha-- where--" Smokepaw growled. Thousands of scents poured into his glands-- mud, fox, water, fish, reeds, dirt, rocks, badgers, cats, and the tinge of an unknown animal. He blinked the cold water and mud out of his eyes, and saw two cats standing before him, pressed against one another in fright. One, Shard, was rather small of a she-cat, was longhaired, patterned in black and white with black smattering her face and outlining her harsh green eyes. The tom, Kestrel, was bigger, a gray tabby with a long tail and black legs and paws, with tabby stripes lining lighter, yellow eyes.

"Who are you?" Smokepaw growled, a bit of a rhetorical question since he heard their names. His eyes narrowed, but his fur was flattened against his body caked with mud, probably making him seem feeble. "Where is my Clan?" Oh yes. The fall. How could he forget? Smokepaw looked up the void where he had fallen. It was thousands of fox-lengths upwards... he had guessed the mousetail-lengthed stream he had seen earlier was this. The gray tabby gulped. How would he ever get back up? The sheer cliffs continued on like that forever. It was a gorge in its own right.

The cats split apart, looking sheepishly at each other. The femme regained a harsh, cutting look in her eyes. "My name's Shard," she meowed. Smokepaw was right-- her voice was hardened like slate. The tom dipped his head, attempting to mask his shaking legs. "The n-names Kestrel." he meowed, trying to keep his voice as flat as Shard, who seemed far more calm than he. The apparently older tom narrowed his eyes. "Clan? Do you mean the Pack? I haven't seen you before, and it's a lotta bear-lengths away."

"Bear?" Smokepaw meowed. He had never heared that word before. "Like 'bare trees'? And what's the Pack? Are they a Clan?"

Shard snorted, her tail flicking back and forth. "Big. Hulking. Dark. And 'b-e-a-r' for you information. Are you from around here? You don't seem to know a lot."

Smokepaw sighed. "Well..."

[Lightningstrike]

Great job so far!keep going!!

[Tigerfur]

Lovin the story so far Mossflower, please do keep going! ;D

[ghostfeather]

yah it's a great story! ;D

[Autumnstorm]

Yeah! Please continue!

[Mossflower (freakishly busy)]

Chapter Two: Realizations

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-is propelled twenty feet by your reviews-

"What?"

Kestrel and Shard stared at him, eyes wide, tails kinked.

"Shadow...Clan?"

Smokepaw nodded slowly. He knew there were cats that hadn't heard of Clans, but the mountains were so close to the forest. How could they not know? "There are four Clans, not counting StarClan, the dead cats," Smokepaw informed, "ShadowClan, ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan. ShadowClan's my Clan. Everyone thinks we're evil, but we're not. We're tough. We know we have to survive, and we can't do that if we help the other Clans, who turn on us in a moment and call us traitors and darkhearted foxes. ThunderClan are the cats that are 'brave and strong', yada-yada-yada. They're soft. They have a bunch of kittypets, cats that live with humans, so their Clan really isn't tough anymore. RiverClan are the fish, they can swim really well, but without water they're almost useless. WindClan's really fast, but they're more dependant on other Clans, since they prefer rabbits and the harsher parts of Clan life usually fall on them."

Smokepaw went on for nearly a half-hour, forgetting that the Clans were going on without him, explaining StarClan, leaders, medicine cats, deputies, warriors, queens, elders, Gatherings, Fourtrees, the Moonstone, apprenticeship... he explained everything to the smallest detail. Shard was listening intently, looking interested at such a prospect. Kestrel was licking his paw boredly, but the flicker of his ears made Smokepaw know he was listening hard.

When he was finished, Shard shrugged and looked at the ground. "Cats around these parts usually live as loners, but if you're smart you live in the Pack. As Kestrel said, it's pretty far away from here. I was... well, I don't live there, but Kestrel does. It's a large group of cats, but it gets smaller every twelve moons because of the lack of prey. Cats go in there usually for prey, to find a mate, or protection from Yellowtooth. We don't have deputies or anything, just a leader named Skar." Shard looked at the ground bitterly. "I'm Skar's daughter. But he kicked me out because..." she shook her head and looked up, eyes glaring. "But no one likes to live alone nowadays. Yellowtooth's young and dangerous, and soon he'll kill even the Pack. Cats have talked about moving but no one's done anything."

Smokepaw looked at the ground, unable to meet her fierce gaze. She was kicked out of her own Clan-- well, Pack. But why? And what was this Yellowtooth? Did the Pack know of Clans? He looked up, pelt bristling, unable to ask all the questions running like deer through his mind. "What's Yellowtooth?" He asked first.

Kestrel's eyes widened in fear. "Yellowtooth--"

"Who's talking about Yellowtooth, now?" A sneering voice came from higher up the ridge of the sheer cliff. The three looked up in surprise to see a longhaired black tom, head stark white, pad down the slope to stand a few fox-lengths away from Smokepaw. The gray apprentice glared-- his voice was sneering, bitter, teasing. Shard glared. "Vulture..." she hissed under her breath.

"Nice to see you again too." Vulture snarled. "Whoever talks about Yellowtooth is doomed." He looked at Smokepaw with pale green eyes. "Who's the runt?"

"His name's Smokepaw." Kestrel said reluctantly. Smokepaw sensed disgust arising from Kestrel and Shard-- whoever the black jerk was, no one seemed to like him.

Vulture curled his lip. "Smokepaw? What kind of name is that?" He looked distastefully at the apprentice. "You think you can take on Yellowtooth? Stupid runt. No one's faced a bear and lived before."

A bear? Smokepaw's eyes widened a bit, then narrowed. No wonder the two seemed afraid. From what Shard told him, bears sounded as deadly as twenty badgers. "He doesn't want to face him, Vulture. He's not stupid.. unlike you." There was a biting edge to her words.

Vulture's eyes narrowed to slits. "Shut it, wench." As Shard unsheathed her claws, snarling, and Kestrel tried to calm her down, the tom whipped around and stalked farther down the stream, tail low and kinked. Smokepaw spat at the ground where he stood. "Who's he?"

"Vulture." Kestrel hissed, eyes also narrowed. "The rat of the Pack. No one likes him, but everyone puts up with him because he's a good fighter." He shook his head. "But it doesn't matter. There's only one threat in the Valley, and that's Yellowtooth. And no one can kill him."

Smokepaw was about to reply when a shriek came about thirty or forty fox-lengths from where they stood. The distance was hidden by a pile of wood-- probably from a tree above the cliff that had fallen. Groans of pain echoed-- the three raced across the stream, the mud failing to slow them down. Smokepaw scaled the fallen tree with ease. The sight that met his eyes was bloody.

Vulture lay there, obviously dead. Blood spilled sickeningly from his side, head... everywhere. Fur and skin lay mouse-lengths next to him. Cracked bones arose from his flesh. And above him, fangs and maws bloody, was the biggest thing Smokepaw had ever seen. Easier bigger than the horses on the farm, what must be a bear was chewing on Vulture. Shard was right-- he was big, and as brown as elm wood. His claws were the size of Smokepaw's own legs, beady black eyes round with surprise as he saw the three cats perched mere fox-lengths away from him. The bear roared in fury, head whipping from side to side. As Smokepaw stood, paralyzed with fear, the bear stood on his hind legs, now at least six times taller than Smokepaw now, and let out an echoing roar.

"RUN!" Kestrel yowled. As the bear lumbered forward, Smokepaw broke out of his trance and sprinted down the valley, Kestrel and Shard in pursuit. He heard the bear stomp after, then stop and probably turn back. They didn't stop until they felt their hearts would burst. They took shelter in a shallow noche in the cliff wall.

"Now you know what Yellowtooth is." Shard mewed, gasping for breath.[/size]

[Mossflower (freakishly busy)]

Chapter Three: Close Calls

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Smokepaw felt as if he were a ghost-- he couldn't see himself, and he couldn't talk. He padded through the throng of Clancats in rather a pre-placed path, wading throught he crowd. They gave no notice to him, which was heartbreaking. He saw his mother and father, distraught at their son's supposed death. His sister, Redpaw, was distraught, her calico fur fluffed up and amber-yellow eyes staring sightlessly at the ground in front of her. Smokepaw's heart practically shattered at the sight of his family, his Clan, his friends sitting there blankly as the other Clans urged them on.

His paws moved to another spot-- in front of Tawnypelt. Smokepaw's heart dropped, but mainly because the femme that he had loved during his times witht he Clan had no grief in her eyes. She moved along, encouraging her Clanmates to get off their paws and move. Smokepaw felt a mirthless smile appear on his maws. As Tawnypelt moved out of sight, the scene faded, only to be replaced by the same meadow with no cats. Smokepaw looked around, puzzled.

"Hello, Smokepaw." a voice purred. Smokepaw whipped around to see a dainty gray and white she-cat sitting nearby, humor in her eyes as she watched him. "Feeling better?"

"No." Smokepaw mewed, without thinking. He replied, "who are you? Why am I having this dream?" She must be a StarClanner, he thought. He turned away bitterly.

"My name is Vertigo." The she-cat purred, her voice small, high, and filled with warmth and humor. She looked upwards, at the raging mountains that spread above the region. "These are called the Vertigo Mountains, don't you know? You weren't born here, however." Vertigo looked down, eyes half-closed. Smokepaw didn't respond. Realization spread through his paws. Vertigo sighed. "I was born uncountable years ago, nestled in the unnamed mountains next to my mother. I was born alone, my only sister born dead. My mother was quick to abandon me, so I stayed with another mother and her two sons, Bear and Clove. 'Bear' meant 'brute' in the old language here." Smokepaw flinched at the thought of Yellowtooth, and knew what the name meant.

As Smokepaw was wondering if there was a point to this, Vertigo continued. "Bear and Clove both liked me. I only liked Clove. Bear was... a brute. Massive for a cat, and tough, his fur blackened by hate. Clove was young and gentle, and he put me at peace. When we were older, I mated with Clove and had his kittens. They lived and had kittens, so the generation is alive today." Vertigo's eyes twinkled, then darkened. "But after the birth, Bear was furious. He force-mated me, and it killed me. Clove found out and killed his brother in a rage. His grief for me joining the Pack of Endless Joy broke his heart. He grew to be an amazing cat. Later, large mammals began to infiltrate the mountains... they were killer, large and like brutes. Clove named them after Bear. And then he named the mountains after me..." Vertigo looked down at the ground, eyes saddened. She whipped her head up, looking Smokepaw in the eye. "Smokepaw, I came to you for a reason. All evil can be defeated... just not in ways you can expect." And as Vertigo winked, the world went black.

Smokepaw awoke to the stink of hot breath on his neck.[/size]

((Yes, this was a short chapter... but the next one will be great, I promise! ^^))