Beast of the Sea - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 26

He scarcely gave me any trouble as I padded through the tunnel of thorns. As I pushed through the entrance, I felt breath hot on my tail. Glancing back, I saw Puddle. The dark grey tom's shoulder sagged with fatigue, but he lifted his chin wearily.

"Guard change," he muttered tiredly.

I glanced around quickly to see whether or not we were alone. Frogstream was sitting off in the distance, staring up at the storm, a couple of young cats were sparring, and the shadows still wreathed around Dewstar's den, but they all seemed far off.

"Look," I meowed, meeting Puddle's expression square on. "You know what's coming up."

"A battle," he meowed, suddenly looking much more alert and worried. "I'm guessing we'll revert back to our original forms for the fight..."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Too risky to fight in a body we haven't spent as much time in. That doesn't really matter, though."

Puddle looked as though it very much mattered to him. I suddenly recalled the moments where we had chatted on the beach, where Puddle had admitted that he was a terrible fighter in spite of what his appearance would suggest. I nodded in understanding.

"Right, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. We're going to need some cats working on healing. It's a risky place to be, but I know how good you are with herbs."

Puddle had been the one to heal me when I had been burnt. That felt like ages ago now, as though that lifetime had already come and passed. Glancing up, I saw Bubble racing to meet his mate from where the two cats shared a nest in the Ferals den.

I dropped my voice to a whisper. "You don't have to decide now."

Puddle looked into my eyes and nodded. "I'll do it."

Bubble stared at me with a similar expression that Shadefang had given me. A shiver ran down my spine, but I shook it away, as another burst of lightning illuminated OceanClan camp.

As the two toms padded away, I tried to think about what else I had to do, who else I had to talk with. I felt strangely disconnected from the real world, as though I was living in a dream. It was hard to describe, but everything felt wrong, and yet, I was simultaneously coming to peace with what was about to happen.

My mind flitted back to the meeting I had had with the leaders of the other Sea Wolves groups.

It had been strange, talking to Spike, Stone and Bean as though I was their equal. Part of me thought my mother would have done a better job over our past three meetings with outlining how to train the cats for clan battle tactics, the importance of recruiting others, and possible strategies, but Wolfwhisper was a Prisoner now, after acting out towards a couple Ocean Masters. I, myself, had been playing the role of an overeager, bloodthirsty apprentice named Weasel.

All of us had agreed that the violence was getting worse, and that sometime in the next quarter moon, we would have to fight. None of us were ready to place a date, though, for we all feared it would be a slaughter.

Almost as though to confirm this thought, a rattling growl of thunder sounded. The earth shook.

I flinched. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadowed form staring across camp from atop a coal-black rock. The cat seemed to notice me, because it tilted its head. Trying not to show any fear under Dewstar's gaze, I padded towards the den that I shared with Ripplepaw and Littlepaw.

Sand sprayed in my face, and I gagged, taking a step back. For a heartbeat, I thought that some cat had kicked the sand, but then I realised that the sand had risen and flung itself towards me on its own. Or...Dewstar did it...