Dark Shadows by Chocolatemeerkat (best books for 20 year olds txt) 📖

The stories had gone on for a long time. So did the laughter. But it all stopped at sunset. No one's fault, just Darkmystery's. His evil soul shadowed above them as he made the sun set quicker. The rain had stopped, but now it was starting again. Deerleap's eyes were filled with tears as she said farewell to her friends and wished them a safe journey. First, she went over to Duckfoot. "Thank you for helping me as a apprentice." She mummered quietly. Before Snowstar had come to the clan, Duckfoot had been Deerleap's mentor for a bit before another cat took over her training. Duckfoot nodded and rested her muzzle on Deerleap's head. "Stay strong, little one." Deerleap then went over to Falconsong. "Thank you for being so cheerful and friendly, you would make a good deputy." Falconsong shook her head. "Too young and I haven't trained an apprentice yet. Maybe Moonsky's kits might be old enough when we return." Deerleap went away to Ember. "I give you my deepest thanks for helping us get this far. Look after those kits of yours to become strong warriors." Ember nodded. "Darkmystery has exiled me, so I will return with your friends and find a new clan." Deerleap purred and finally went over to Moonsky and Blazestrike. "I wish both of you the best of luck with your kits. I will say now, they are the healthiest, most beautiful kits I have ever seen. You both should be very proud parents." Moonsky blushed and gave a small smile. "Thank you." Blazestrike was still staring into space, but then faced Deerleap. "The clan will miss you." He mumbled weakly. Deerleap nodded and turned to Moonsky. "I would keep an eye on him, he seems a little lost."
"I swear by StarClan that I will care for him." Moonsky promised. Darkmystery came up to the crowd with Viper and another cat called Bite. "Deerleap is now a offical member of DarkClan. No longer SnowClan." He annonced. The evil leader turned to the SnowClan patrol. "You can leave now. Moonsky is worthless to this clan now, and Blazestrike's as dum as a rabbit." Viper laughed and Bite remianed silent. He then looked up. "The rain isn't going to stop. I have a good feeling that the breeding will be better outside in the wet weather." He suggested. Darkmystery smiled. "Excellent. I will start now. Then you can breed her, Bite." Darkmystery yanked Deerleap's scuff and pulled her up. He then mounted her, pushing all his weight down onto her. Deerleap felt so much pain, and it felt worse because her friends were watching. Darkmystery finally got off her and waited for Bite. He had seemed so silent and non-violent until now. First, he pushed up against a rock and hurled himself at Deerleap, causing more pain than Darkmystery's breeding. Then he started breeding her harshly. Bite put his muzzle close to her ear before breeding. "You'd better watch your tail, my love." He whispered in a kind tone. "You wouldn't want to be a no-tailed cat. Mainly because you are too pretty." Then came the torture. Duckfoot then stood up. "I want to make a small request." She annonced. "I want myself, these cats and the 5 down below to stay the night. It is far too dark to travel." Darkmystery mumbled some things to Viper and then turned around. "Request granted, but you must leave at sunhigh. No later." He growled. Adder, Blood and Flame wandered over, baring their teeth at Duckfoot. "I believe we are owed a breeding to the Leaf." Flame mumbled. "After we chased off the mountain lion." Darkmystery groaned loudly, but agreed. The 3 toms started circling Deerleap, making her feel frightened. "Who first, pretty?" Adder hissed.
"F-Flame." Deerleap trembled. The young bright orange tom snarled and then grabbed Deerleap's scuff. He yanked her up into the mating position and mounted her. Thankfully, he was smaller than Blood and Adder, but the smallest cat was Ash, the little medicine apprentice. Deerleap cried out in pain, but it didn't last long. Flame got off her and waited for Adder. He charged at the she-cat, but stopped and bent down to whisper. "Where are my kits?" He snarled.
"They aren't yours. They are everyones." Deerleap replied.
"I'm the deputy. To make them mine, I'll keep on breeding and breeding until I get my kits." He hissed back.
"Darkmystery won't let you. He is the leader." Deerleap sighed. "Besides, you're wasting your time breeding me." Adder snarled. "I'm going to breed you so hard." He yanked her scuff and mounted her angrily, getting faster and faster. Deerleap screamed and then Darkmystery stopped him. "Enough. You'll kill her and the kits." He growled, lashing his tail. Suddenly, Lizardeye, the apprentices and the kits appeared at the top of the mountain. "Falconsong sent us, we know the whole story." He nudged the little kits over to Ember. "They've been fine, just a little loud." He meowed. Ember licked their heads gently and glared coldly at Darkmystery. "These are my adopted kits, not mine and Death's." She mewed. Death was her old mate, but Ember had a idea of who to be her mate. Blazestrike had told her about the toms in SnowClan, she seemed to enjoy listening to one of them.

2 days later, they had made it back to the FoxClan camp. They hadn't forgotten Swiftlegs, so they went in. The camp was looking great and you could see no signs of damage where DarkClan had attacked. Streampaw loved to watch new clans work together to make their clan a sucess. "I'll go find Swiftlegs." He meowed, trotting off. Swiftlegs' scent could be smelt near the medicine den, so Streampaw rushed in to find Poppypaw alone. "If you're looking for Bluesong, she's gone to look for herbs." She meowed. Streampaw thanked her and wandered into the forest. He could hear purring and meowing close by, so he followed and hid behind a bush. Here, Swiftlegs and Bluesong were sitting in the shade, sharing tongues. Bluesong was a lot fatter than a few moons ago, when they had first come. Bluesong looked up at the birds flying overhead. "When do you think that your friends will return?" She asked.
"I hope they never come." Swiftlegs meowed. "Ok, I might miss Wildheart and Foxrunner, but the older warriors always nagged me to go on stupid boarder patrols."
"Yes, but you don't belong to this clan. You are SnowClan blood." Bluesong pointed out.
"I don't think I am. Just because my mother looks like a BloodClan cat." Swiftlegs sighed. Streampaw gulped. Swiftlegs was orignally a BloodClan cat until Foxrunner admitted she was too scared to fight along side BloodClan and fled with her two kits, Wildkit and Swiftkit. Bluesong laid down and looked around at the forest, alive with birdsong. "Nobody knows about us, do they?" She asked in a worried tone. "I mean, if Mysterystar and your friends find out, we'll be in double trouble."
"No one knows." Swiftlegs purred, burying his muzzle into the she-cat's fur, taking in her scent.
"Good." Bluesong sat up. "What will you do if your friends do come back?"
"Pretend I have been killed by a badger." Swiftlegs said. "But I won't come back. Just you until they leave, and then I will stay with you forever."
"But Mysterystar is my father. He will find out when he sees me." Bluesong then yelped in pain. "Get Poppypaw. She's the only one who knows." She whispered, her voice trembling. Swiftlegs dashed off, trying to be a hero. Streampaw was puzzled. What was happening to Bluesong? What was this secret they were keeping? Swiftlegs soon returned with Poppypaw, who had herbs dangling from her jaws. Streampaw could hear his name being called, so he ran off quickly and accidently bumped into Mysterystar. "Sorry!" He apolgised, running off. Streampaw kept running until he found Petalflight, who seemed very upset. "Where is Blazestrike?" She asked.
"I don't know, sorry." Streampaw sighed. He dashed off again back to his hiding spot. He was shocked to see what he found.
"You have 4 healthy kits. 2 toms and 2 she-cats." Poppypaw meowed. "Well done." Bluesong licked them all and looked up at Swiftlegs. "I want to name the calico she-cat Colourkit, the brown tom Thistlekit, the black and white tom Patchkit and the blue she-cat... she looks like me."
"Beautiful and strong." Swiftlegs purred. "The blue she-cat can be Melodykit. Patchkit and her look like you and me." Streampaw was furious. Swiftlegs had broken the warrior code! Angrily, he dashed out into the clearing. "Betrayer!" He hissed. "I saw it all! You should be exiled!"
"B-but how did you know?" Swiftlegs asked in alarm.
"I can pick up scents! I'm not a dum apprentice!" Streampaw replied angrily. Swiftlegs stood back and gulped. He'd been caught. "Go away." He growled. Streampaw shook his head, so the black and white warrior charged at him. Poppypaw gasped in horror. "Stop! Please! I love him!"
"What?" Swiftlegs hissed. Poppypaw sat up. "When you came along with your clan, I was a little frightened. But then I saw Streampaw, who I thought was very strong for a young apprentice. He was also handsome, so I fell in love. It broke my heart when you went to find Moonsky because I was going to tell him my feelings, but I have seen he is fiercely loyal to his clan. So there is no point, but I don't want him dead. I want him to live as a strong warrior." Owlpaw then padded out of the bushes with Lizardeye, Mysterystar and another tom called Firestrike. "They're here!" The apprentice chirped. He stopped being jolly when he say the kits. "Who's are they?" He demanded.
"Bluesong's and Swiftlegs'." Streampaw croaked from under Swiftlegs. "They mated and now they have kits." Mysterystar's face was a look of pure horror. "You've not been out collecting herbs, you've just been flirting with this tom and had his kits! For punishment, I want 1 kit killed and the other 3 to go to SnowClan with Streampaw. I'm sure you have queens able to look after them." Bluesong was horrified. "No! Not my kits!" She begged. "Please spare them!"
"If you have broken the warrior code, it's the only way." Mysterystar hissed. "Which one will die?"
"Please, just send them all to SnowClan!" Bluesong sobbed. "They may be half-bloods, but you wouldn't kill inoccent kits, would you?" Lizardeye stepped forward. "I hate to admit it, but Bluesong is right. It is her's and Swiftlegs' fault, not the kits. They atleast deserve to live, but their parents must be unknown. Snowstar herself has 5 half-blood kits and none of them were killed. They just don't know their father, like Ember's kits won't know their father." Mysterystar mumbled something to Firestrike and then turned to face his daughter. "Request granted, but on one condition. You must never speak of them or try to visit this tom in his clan. I can't imagine what Snowstar would say about this, you both deserve to be punished harshly." Bluesong nodded her head and nudged them over to Swiftlegs. "Keep them safe and strong." She mummered. "When you look at Melodykit, think of me. I will never forget you." Swiftlegs picked up the kits with Lizardeye's help and carried them away.

By sunset, they were back and outside SkyClan's camp. The patrols were aware of the SnowClan cats passing through, as Skystar had been told by Snowstar. Moonsky was anxious to see her kits, and Ember was coming close to kitting. They had to get back to camp as soon as possible.
"Just approaching camp now." Lizardeye called in a weak voice. He hadn't