It's A Great Night For Some Bonding [[Closed]]

Olivepaw knew she probably shouldn't be out of camp by herself, but she really didn't care. She was Leopardstar's daughter. She was invincible, right? Nothing could stop her or get in her way. Smirking slightly to herself, she made her way through the now familiar marshy territory. Everything was so beautiful and full of life in the marsh, and she couldn't be happier to belong to ShadowClan. She felt bad for all the other clans. They must be jealous of their territory. Her thoughts were pulled to halt when the tell-tale sounds of rustling brush told her there was prey nearby. Licking her jaws, she made her way towards what she now knew was a lizard. She hated catching lizards. They were way too fast for her to catch! She had no clue how any of her clanmates achieved it and she had yet to achieve it herself. Well, maybe tonight's my lucky night. She thought, holding back a purr of anticipation. Quietly crouched down, she made her way towards it, careful of where each of her paws went. She was almost about to pounce when there was a rustling behind her. Fox-dung! She cursed silently as she sprung out at the lizard, just missing it. Growling in frustration, she whipped around to face whoever had made her miss her catch. "Dad? You made me miss my catch!" She meowed indignantly, tail lashing in annoyance behind her.

The leader of ShadowClan followed the scent-trail left by his only daughter, both annoyed that she would go against his orders and also amused at the prospect of seeing how long he could tail her without her noticing. Leopardstar first followed at a great distance, then quietly closed the gap until her spotted pelt was barely within view. He could practically see the arrogance in her pawsteps, and his whiskers twitched with humor. She was a lot like himself in his own youth. All of the litter had some aspect of himself, it seemed, which was both endearing and also worrying for the tomcat. It was divine punishment from StarClan, perhaps. The thought made him chuckle aloud, and his paws disturbed the undergrowth around him in his carelessness. It didn't really bother him so much to have been found out by his daughter, and he stepped forward into the opening.

"Perhaps if you had sprung earlier, it would be in the fresh-kill pile by now." Leopardstar meowed, his voice low and rumbling. He was clearly teasing her with a gentleness he showed only to his kits. "But our marsh is plentiful and StarClan has provided. Surely you can't run out all of the prey in the territory." He said and bent to lick her forhead affectionately. "Not without my help, anyway. You know apprentices are not supposed to leave camp alone. It's dangerous out here, even for warriors." His tone grew stern and his face disapproving. She was a brave young cat, but bravery and intelligence did not often go together.

Olivepaw rolled her eyes at her father's response. "Maybe if you'd been quiet.." She trailed off as a grin formed on her face as her dad went on. "Daadd.." She meowed, dragging the word out. "I can take care of myself. I'm not a helpless kit anymore." She reasoned, completely to the real dangers the forest held. "Besides, no cat would ever mess with me!" She meowed confidently, tail tip flicking behind her. She had always thought her dad as invincible and she knew nobody would ever mess with him, therefore, why would anyone mess with her? "Nobody would ever mess with you either. You're the best leader the clans have ever seen!" She yowled with pride as she padded towards him to nuzzle him. "I'm glad your my father.." She purred, a serious but loving tone in her voice. "Do you think I'll be as great a warrior as you are?" She questioned thoughtfully. That was her goal in life. To be the best warrior she could be and make Leopardstar proud. Everyday she reminded herself to always try her best and to never back down or give up.

As much as he wanted to stay stern with her, Leopardstar knew that it probably wouldn't change her mind. His expression softened, and he purred as he responded. "You may not be a kit anymore, but you're still just an apprentice. I'd say you're still fairly helpless." He joked, batting her ears lightly with a paw. He laughed at her silly logic about who would mess with who and meowed, "I don't know, Olivepaw, I think a badger might take one look at you and decide that you're fun to mess with. Or maybe one of those tricky WindClan cats might cross the border and make your pelt into a nest..." He laughed at the idea of another clan's warrior crossing to frighten her. "Ah, but you're right. No one in their right mind would mess with me, but I don't know if I'd call myself the best. There once was a cunning and tactful leader of ShadowClan who ruled before Thrushstar; he was called Sagestar... ah, but that's a story for another time. I'm glad that StarClan has blessed me with you and your brothers. You've made my life better just by being here." He returned her nuzzle, remembering the aching pain that had settled deep into his chest for many moons upon the death of the last member of his last litter. Leopardstar looked into her green eyes, the mark of his family line, and was reminded of his own mother. "No, Olivepaw. I think you'll be better than me." The leader meowed, and hoped StarClan would let it be true.

Olivepaw laughed but held back a smart remark about how she could take on a badger any day. Then she let out a playful growl. "I wish those rabbit-chasers would just try!" She yowled, obvious laughter in her sparkling green gaze. Those Windclanners probably couldn't tell a rogue from a clanmate. They were barely even a clan in her opinion and it made her laugh at the very thought of them even trying anything against her or her clan. As her father went on, she shook her head in disagreement. "I'm sure Sagestar was great and all, but how could anyone be better than you?" She questioned honestly, not trying to disrespect a past leader, but honestly not believing Leopardstar. She couldn't fathom a better cat than her father and maybe that made her naive, but she thought it just made her proud to have her dad and more determined to always try her best. Then her gaze sparkled with love, "Ohh Daddy.." She purred affectionately, "You really think so?" She meowed, ears perking up at her dad's faith in her. "Wow.." She whispered, almost to herself. "I wont let you down, Dad. Ever." She meowed, voice hard with determination, pride, and love. Now with Leopardstar's confidence in her, she felt like she could do absolutely anything. Like she was a warrior in LionClan with her dad by her side, always. There was nothing more important to her than her family, and she knew she would never let anything come between them.

It was as if Olivepaw's soft promise had somehow summoned the Mist, for now it was rolling forward towards them silently, quickly devouring everything in its path. The Mist seemed to spill from all directions as it slithered closer to Leopardstar and Olivepaw, a menacing presence that left no room to escape. The soft chatter of the normal nightlife quickly died as the area surrounding the forest fell to the clutches of the mysterious fog. The warmth of the Greenleaf night vanished as the Mist crept even closer before completely enveloping Leopardstar and Olivepaw, smothering them so thickly that the two ShadowClan cat's could hardly see.

The leader purred at his daughter's response, wondering if she would ever grow out of her stubborn arrogance. Perhaps he was fueling it. "There were plenty of cats better than me, but most of them are dead and that leaves me. Except Thrushstripe; he's still alive." Leopardstar meowed, and he hoped that the former leader would still be around for quite some time. He could use the advice. He mused over their conversation. "Yes, I do think so. Although at the moment, you're not exactly..." Leopardstar trailed off as he started noticing the change in atmosphere. The warm air had chilled significantly and his vision was becoming clouded with the white, rolling fog that was almost suffocating. He had seen mist numerous times, but something about this was unlike any other fog he had ever seen; it was so sudden and so ominous that he became slightly panicked. "Olivepaw?" He called for his daughter, as his vision became too clouded with white to see even the young she-cat who had been just whisker-lengths away from him. "Olivepaw, stay near to me!"

Olivepaw purred softly, but it was cut short as a sudden chill shook her and a blinding mist surrounded her and her father. She couldn't even see the whiskers on her muzzle. "Dad!?" She yowled in a panic-stricken voice. "W-what is this?" She questioned, praying silently her father could get them out of this. "I-I can't see you!" She yowled, stumbling around blindly until she stumbled into something solid and furry. She looked up almost instinctively to say something, but she still couldn't even make him out. What do we do?" She asked, shrinking into her father's fur, teeth chattering. How could it be so cold in Greenleaf and so all of a sudden? StarClan please help us! She silently yowled to the sky that she currently could not see. Suddenly a thought popped into her head. Others were talking about some strange mist that took cats. Was this it? A sudden cold anger and fear rose in her. She rose to her full height, which wasn't very tall, and let out a growl. "Stay away from us!" She yowled into the mist, feeling a bit disoriented. She would not allow this.. this "thing" to take her father or herself. They were a team. They could take on whatever this "mist" was together, right?

A faint, cackling laugh echoed in response to Olivepaw's challenging yowl as the Mist began to grow thicker around the two ShadowClan cats, completely isolating them from the safety of their own territory. The temperature of the vapor-clogged air around Leopardstar and Olivepaw began to quickly plummet, causing both the ground and their whiskers to become heavy with strange, foul-tasting frost. The laughter grew more jeering as the Mist began to billow and swirl more violently, rendering both cats completely helpless as the fingers of frost rooted their paws to the ground.  Deep within the depths of the pulsing, writhing body of fog, there was the faintest of shadows that was unable to take a solid form, hardly visible due to the poor visibility.

From deep within the belly of the Mist, smoldering green eyes met Leopardstar's terrified gaze for the briefest of heartbeats. Then all of the sudden the Mist began to dissipate, the iron grasp of the unbearable cold falling into a slightly more bearable chill. The solid forms of the trees and sparse undergrowth slowly began to return into the realm of visibility as the Mist rolled on and away from the ShadowClanners as if it had never been there in the first place. However, as the trees, regular nightlife, and Leopardstar were all released from the seemingly inescapable hold of the Mist, one creature wasn't freed alongside them.

Olivepaw was gone.