Beast of the Sea - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I watched from my new whale-carcass home as my mentor launched himself towards the open ocean, and the crashing waves. Sand skidded out from under his paws as he and the two other warriors bounded towards the water. When he was within a tail length of the water, he leaped, and his body began to transform.

His claws lengthened, and translucent webbing grew up to connect them all together. His ears shrunk and flattened, making him look like the blubbery seal that had recently washed up on our shore. Little luminescent strips lit up along his neck, and his fur shone in the dusky light. Then, with a splash, he and the two other warriors were gone, out to search for fish for the clan to eat.

I stared down at my own paws, flexing my sharp white claws in and out. Jealousy pricked in my chest, like a blow to the chest, though I tried to ignore it with all my might. I wondered how glorious it must feel to simply dive in, and escape from all the problems that the land seemed to be riddled with.

Problems like me, ShoreClan's beast. I stared up at the whale carcass over my head, trying to ignore the worms crawling in my belly. I had seen the way warriors began to stare at me, as though they expected me to do something. It wasn't like their worries were unfounded either, I reflected. I had snuck out of my 'cage' last night, since ancient Yellowbelly's snoring had kept me up.

When Moonpoppy had found me sneaking around the camp, she had immediately alerted the clan deputy. I was frankly quite furious, and had felt the temptation to attack her. She didn't get it. She turned a blind eye to the fact that us Bottom Feeders hardly got any prey, and she was another one of the cats who thought Seastar's murder had been an accident.

Almost as though to prove my point about how frustrating it was, Yellowbelly began to snore excessively loudly. If you haven't had someone snoring right in your ear, you don't get what I'm talking about, okay.

I stared out to sea, looking up at the glistening moon. I wondered then, where my parents were. I wondered if my mother stared up at the same moon I did. They never told me what happened to her. I wondered if my father secretly wished I could join him in the wilderness. Probably not.

I don't imagine much. You get hurt less that way, but sometimes, in the dead of night, my heart pulls me to lands where things are better. Where I'm not alone.

"Aand then, the flying stout nipped at my tail! But I turned on it, and bang! I totally knocked it out."

Can they not have a little decency? I growled under my breath, wondering who was out talking this late. The two other Bottom Feeders, the ones who aren't snoring demons, I mean, were completely asleep. We need our rest, because as Bottom Feeders, we have to clean and repair dens on top of regular duties.

"Oh come on! Stouts don't fly, Flowerpaw! It must have been a dream, silly."

I blinked as the cats who had been talking came into view. To my surprise, it was the other four apprentices. I tried to catch Ripplepaw's eye as she passed my cage, but her eyes were trained on the ground. I noticed she had a fresh nick on her ear.

"Hey!" I hissed, my patience finally snapping as Yellowbelly let out a guttural snore. "Can you not keep it quiet? Some of us actually need to sleep!"

I held my breath as Frogstream twitched in her sleep. The lithe tortoiseshell she-cat's water barrier pressed ever closer to my pelt. I flattened my ears, taking a step back until my scrawny dark grey body was pressed up against the shiny white whale carcass. Then, with a grunt, Frogstream lay motionless once more.

I stared at the she-cat for several heartbeats longer, wondering what went on in her mind. She had been gifted, or rather cursed, with the ability to severely burn anything she came into contact with. Aquastar had created a permanent sort of water barrier around her. From a young age, I knew the only reason she was alive was because she was a weapon for war.