Beast of the Sea - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I stared at the sun, finally beginning to rise in the sky. It was still dark out, but the distant horizon had hues of pale pink and orange. Glancing around, I noticed cats beginning to rise and slip out of cracks in rocks or hollows in trees. I arched my back, keeping my body pressed against the hard rock walls and floor of the cave.

I watched as a peachy tabby bounded up towards the sea, licking her chops as though imagining the fish she would catch. Two cats, a russet tom and a black and silver tabby were nestled in a cluster of ferns, watching a little silver tabby kit play with a ball of moss.

I heard the sound of something shifting behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Whisper. In the light of the new day, I could see how scrawny and tired she looks, fur seeming to hang loosely to her frame. Her eyes seemed to brighten when she saw me.

"I was looking for you, Ferretpaw," Wolfwhisper said in her raspy voice. "Why did you leave the cave?"

I stared at my mother in bewilderment. In the three days since I'd woken up in Wolfwhisper's cave, I had expected her to introduce me to the other cats. I had had to sleep a lot, still recovering from my near-death experience, so she had yet to take me outside.

"I'm watching the sunrise," I said, gesturing to the sun idly. When my mother narrowed her eyes, clearly having realised that I was not the sort of cat to sit and admire nature, I added, "why haven't you let me greet the other cats yet?"

Wolfwhisper let out a dry laugh from where she stood, still cloaked in darkness. "That might be because I myself have never 'greeted' them."

Bewilderment pulsed through my paws. I inhaled sharply, and the sudden salty tang of the sea beside me made me wince. Wolfwhisper's camp lay below the sheer rock cliff of ShoreClan, right beside a system of caves.

"You haven't talked to your own cats?" I whirled around and said incredulously. "You know, the cats who treat you like their leader? Puddle and Bubble talked a bunch about how you had gathered cats and stuff."

Why is she lying to me? I thought as Wolfwhisper seemed to glance at something over my shoulder. Why doesn't she trust me?

"They wouldn't trust me if they knew what I looked like, who I really was," Wolfwhisper grunted at length, still not meeting my eye. She gestured at the caves. "So what if I'm a bit...underground...I commune with the cats, and bring surprisingly delectable blind fish from these caves for them to eat."

"So you're lying to them," I said flatly.

Wolfwhisper finally met my gaze. I could see how uncomfortable she was, yet she had a determined air about her. Wolfwhisper once again looked over my shoulder, and meowed gruffly.

"I should have talked to them. But now it's too late. We're in too deep. If I were to tell them the truth, the whole truth about me, I have no idea what they would do."

I could see moons of bottled up emotions in my mother's expression. ShoreClan had driven her away on everything that Dewocean had told them about her, and everything she had done herself. Yet, it was wrong to lie to these cats who so obviously trusted her.

"You need to tell them." I gestured at the sky.

Even though the sun had risen, clouds seemed to have moved in to obscure it. I could see smoke on the horizon, almost as though there was a fire blazing in the distance, yet it had been raining nonstop for the past two days. She's testing her powers, I thought, a shiver running down my spine.

With each moment I sat here, Dewstar was gaining more power. I was convinced of that. By now, she would have tried to overrun the clans and gaslit warriors into believing she was right, while imprisoning and abusing those who claimed she was wrong.