Beast of the Sea - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 12

"Whisper sort of leads us, Bubble," Puddle meowed slowly.

Now, I could see the two cats coming into view. Puddle was a muscular grey and white patched tom with nervous yellow eyes, and the other cat was a small dark grey tom with a bright smile. Something about them was oddly...familiar, almost as though I'd seen them before. I narrowed my eyes, trying to remember.

"Yeah!" Bubble conceded in his high-pitched voice. "But...well, you know. She doesn't want to lead us. It's sort of weird, you know? If I was a wise dark-grey she-cat like her, I would totally act as a guider."

I swished my tail along the undergrowth, irritably. Instantly, Puddle tensed, flicking his round pale grey ears up. I remained silent, but the tom, obviously very jumpy, began to look uneasy.

"Did you hear that?" he meowed softly, glancing down at Bubble as though the bright eyed dark grey tom could offer him some comfort.

"No..." Bubble meowed slowly. "But if there is someone around...HEY!" He began to yowl in a shrill voice. "Any cat around?! We need help! THANKS!"

"No, no, no!" Puddle's fur bushed up in alarm. "What if there's an enemy?!"

Bubble was clearly about to open his jaws to say that there was no such thing as an enemy, but in that exact moment, I decided it was my time to strike. I'd studied these cats. Puddle had a weak shoulder that he limped on, and Bubble wasn't a threat at all. The little dark grey tom was weak, naive, and likely a complete mouse brain. I leaped out of the undergrowth, lunging for Puddle's right shoulder, then feinted and attacked his left, the weaker one.

"What are you doing here?" I snarled, baring my fangs at Puddle.

Then something bowled me over from behind, and I realised I'd just made a terrible mistake.

"You don't touch him!" Bubble yowled, the small dark grey tom pinning me with the same agility and accuracy that I'd used many times over. I wondered where he'd learned those moves.

Then, something even stranger happened.

The dark grey tom's eyes glowed, as all ShoreClan cats' eyes did when they used their powers, and bubbles began to shoot out of his nose. They didn't exactly hit hard, but they confused me enough for Bubble to get a firmer grip on me.

"Wait, stop!" Puddle yowled, obviously in panic. "I recognise her! She's the cat who was with Littlepaw. The cat we gave the herbs to!"

Bubble glanced up at him, and grinned. "Yeah!" He agreed, the last of the bubbles coming out of his nose playfully streaming towards Puddle. "Don't worry! I wasn't gonna hurt her, but she needed a bubble bath! She was super ultra dirty."

"Yeah?" I retorted bitterly, suddenly finding my voice once more. "It's not as though I like it! Try having a dictator treat you like their pet, and you'll soon find that 'cleanliness' isn't exactly your highest priority."

Bubble's eyes suddenly widened. Puddle took a step back, the grey and white tom flicking his tail uncertainly at Bubble. For a moment, neither of them spoke, then Puddle meowed softly.

"What?"

I leaped to my paws, shaking the scraps of dried moss off my pelt. For a heartbeat, I glanced around uneasily, wondering if some ShoreClan cat had seen me call Dewocean a dictator. She's not, a voice in my mind murmured soothingly. She's the only cat who cares for me, because I'm a monster. Not even my friends care anymore...

I didn't know what was true or not. All that I knew was that I needed to sneak onto CaveClan territory, find the source of their earthly powers, and then somehow steal it and bring it back to Dewocean. After that, perhaps she would treat me better, and I could be her personal bodyguard. It wasn't the life I'd expected, but at least I'd still be able to make sure Littlepaw was safe...even if she hated me for all I had done and was going to do.