This must me Murtle.

"Leaving." Echoclaw said, spinning around. "And you?" She growled, her hackles lifting. "She's also blind!" Melody meowed helpfully. "That's great, honey." Murtle muttered, turning to Echoclaw. He was probably staring at her. "You're blind, eh?" "Yes, and I am completely fine with it." Echoclaw meowed, starting away. "Wait-where are you heading to?" The tom asked. "Is it your buisness?" She hissed.

"It is if you want to leave."

I like this cat. Echoclaw thought, sitting down and letting her wet fur smooth. "I'm going to the tunnels, where my Clan is sheltering, since our camp was destroyed." Murtle seemed satisfied, his voice easing tension. "Ah, the fire?" He asked. "Yes." She replied. "Can we go? Our cave is soggy, and there's ash in it, and my paws are all messy..." Melody whimpered.

"No, Melody, we're perfectly fine. And you....cream cat, what's your name? I'm Murtle."

"I'm Echoclaw." "They all have really weird names." Melody whispered, though it was loud enough that Echoclaw could hear. "Follow me if you want, but I need to go." She snapped, whirling around and dashing through the woods, hoping to lose them. Soft pawsteps followed from behind her, and pulled up ahead of her. "Melody!" Murtle panted, running behind the two.

"I'm leaving, do what you'd like."
                                                                                                      .  .  .
"Though we do not have his body here tonight, he was a loyal medicine cat who will be missed." Curltail meowed solemnly. Copperheart looked around the the tunnels, his heart in his throat. Who would wish them off to StarClan? Branchpaw had made his way out of his nest, wheezing and trembling, to attend the vigil, Mistnose pressed to his side. Suddenly, the cave began to fill with the sound of pawsteps. Many pawsteps.

"Invasion!" Birchpaw yowled, shooting up from his spot in front of Velvetkit and bristling his fur. Shardstorm and a few other warriors shot up before a familiar voice drifted through the mud walls. "It's me, It's me! I've brought some....cats with me...." "Echoclaw!" Reedstar exclaimed, rushing up to her before pulling away in the dim moonlight. "Don't do that again. Now that you're the only medicine cat in ShadowClan, we need you more than ever."

Rainleaf and Snowsap exchanged glances before turning their gazes to a pale gray she-cat with blue eyes and a white spot on her head, and a gray and white tom with cold yellow eyes. How could yellow be a cold color? Copperheart didn't know. Maybe saying they burned like flames would be a better description. "What are they doing here?" Shardstorm asked, still on his feet.

"Well, their names are Murtle and Melody, and they helped me find camp again!" The questioning looks from the two rouges seemed to contradict Echoclaw's claim, but Copperheart decided not to say anything. "Oh, I see." Reedstar murmured. "Was your home burned down, too?" He queried. Melody perked her ears. "Oh, yes. We used to live in this hollow of a huge tree, but when the fire started, the tree caught!

"Murtle was asleep, so I had to wake him up, and then-" The gray she-cat was cut off when Murtle cast a scorching glare her way, telling her she had said enough. "Well...we are keeping vigil for our lost ones, you may sleep in one of the other tunnels while we continue." Reedstar decided, lashing his gray tail. "A vigil? May we stay and watch?" Melody asked eagerly. "B-Because I've never watched one..." She added uncertainly as Shardstorm and Whirlwind glared at her, along with several RiverClan warriors.

"It's a bit cramped in here already, if you can't tell." Pricklebreeze hissed, narrowing his amber eyes at the young she-cat. "Melody, back here." Murtle muttered, guiding her to the back of the tunnels, where they branched off into smaller ones. Copperheart had always wondered how these came to be, they were too big for other animals to have built, too spacious.

"Echoclaw, please join us." Firedaisy meowed, scooting over so the blind medicine cat could have a spot in between her and Whispershade. The black tom opened his jaws to complain before thinking better of it and laying his head in between his paws. "Whitefeather was a great cat, and I would do almost anything to have him back. He was my mentor, and he was always there for me when I needed him the most.

"Though me and him had our moments, he was always the first to forgive and forget. I will never forget him and the amazing impact he had on my life. May he have good hunting, swift running, and shelter where he sleeps." Echoclaw finished with a deep sigh. Copperheart eyed Velvetkit and couldn't help but thinking how weird it was that there was only one cat at a vigil for two. After the long day, his eyelids began to droop. He hadn't slept in two days, but he couldn't fall to sleep on a vigil! He looked across the room, and saw Echoclaw, who's eyes were wide open, as if she was staring right at Velvetkit.

Slowly, as the night got darker and darker, stars twinkling from the entrance, the kits and younger apprentices trudged to their dens, practically asleep on their paws. Copperheart inhaled shakily, feeling weak and exhausted. He looked around at the other resting cats and let himself fall into an uneasy sleep.
                                                                                                            .  .  .
"OH MY ANCESTORS WHERE AM I!?"

Copperheart shot out of his nest at the yowl, racing down the tunnels to the according den. Inside, he found Melody standing in her nest, fur bushed so she looks twice her usual size, and her blue eyes stretched to the size of twin moons. Murtle was laying in his nest, one eye open as he gazed at Copperheart and some cats gathering around him. "She forgets sometimes." He said dismissively.

Copperheart swallowed his annoyance and walked deeper into their tunnel. "She forgets?" "Yeah...sorry." Melody meowed, shuffling her paws. "It kinda happens when I'm tired." "Great StarClan!" Stemthorn grumbled, blinking sleep from her cloudy amber eyes. "StarClan?" Murtle asked groggily, sitting up and stretching until he shook. "StarClan? What do you mean by 'StarClan?'?" Robinflight snapped, nosing her way into the den.

"What do you mean by StarClan?" Murtle snapped back. Robinflight's amber eyes seemed to be lit ablaze by the gray and white tom's question. "I mean our ancestors!" She roared. Melody tipped her head to one side. "Wouldn't it be easier just to call them 'ancestors'?" She meowed. "OUT!" Robinflight hissed, now bristling. "Get OUT!"

"Woah woah woah woah woah" Reedstar cautioned.

Yes, I had fun writing that.

"I am the leader of ShadowClan, and I say when cats can come and go." He meowed calmly, shooting Robinflight a judging glance. The tabby she-cat flattened her ears and backed out of the tunnel, looking flustered. "You do not need to leave, but I am sending out a hunting patrol, would you like to come with?" Melody shot up in her nest. "Sure! I heard that Clan cats have mentors, will you be my mentor?" She babbled, her blue eyes lit up with excitement.

"No, Reedstar's my mentor!" Ripplepaw protested angrily. "Oh, he has a funny name, too!" The gray she-cat yowled, delighted. Echoclaw let out a hiss of annoyance and stormed out of the tunnel to the makeshift medicine cat den. "Well...are you planning on joining ShadowClan?"

Murtle shuffled his paws. "I don't know, our home was washed away and then burnt to the ground..." "So was ours!" Shardstorm yowled. "And we don't go seek shelter from other Clans!" "Hunting patrols!" Reedstar called, ignoring Shardstorm's angry protests. As the warriors Reedstar had assigned to hunting patrols filed out, Branchpaw wheezed. Stemleaf sighed and sank into her damp moss nest and glanced sadly at Shardstorm. The black and blue tabby tom seemed to notice this and fell silent.

"I'll just come out and say it if no one else will." Goldensky, a RiverClan she-cat huffed, looking across the cave to Marshstar. "This can't be ShadowClan's home anymore, it's burned and flooded and smoke is filling the air more than oxygen. RiverClan's home was washed away by the floods, and who knows what's happening with the other Clans." When she paused to take a breath, the entire cave was quiet, every cat focusing their attention on her.

"What are we going to do?" When the yellow and white warrior finished, the area filled with dismayed chatter. Murtle and Melody cast each other worried glances, and from across the room, Shardstorm looked from his mate to Copperheart, his eyes filled with concern. Marshstar looked at Reedstar, as if asking who was at liberty to answer the question. Finally, Marshstar announced that that was a matter for all the Clan leaders to discuss.

Reedstar scanned the crowd. "Copperheart, Whirlwind, Firedaisy, and Stripeheart, why don't you go and try to set up a Gathering of the leaders for tomorrow after sunrise...where all the territories meet?" Taken aback, Copperheart nodded as the small patrol formed around him. Curltail raised his tail in question. "Shouldn't I lead the patrol?" He asked. Reedstar shook his head. "No, we need you back at camp."

"Should we go now?" Stripeheart asked, his amber eyes squinting in the darkness. "Yes, try to get there as fast as possible." With their leader's cue, the patrol marched into the smoky remains of their only home.