Beast of the Sea - WARRIOR CATS

Prologue

Prologue

I'll get them for this...Just they wait and see!

I sprinted out of camp, paws skidding on wet, lichen covered rocks as I leaped up a steep ridge. Somewhere behind me, I heard the sound of voices, calling out my name. The whispers of my clanmates rang in my ears, while my own chest rattled for air that didn't seem to come. Blood.

I heard the sound of scuffling paws behind me, heart hammering with desperation and rage to escape my pursuers. I kept running, not pausing to see what was behind me. I was aware that I was moving slower and slower and that I was limping from a scratch on my forepaw, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

As I left the shore and the roaring tides behind, I noticed that I was entering a sort of forest. Towering brown trees loomed above me, with snaking branches and heaping masses of lichen. A faint smile twitched at the corners of my mouth; the shade would make it easier to evade them.

I could never have expected such fury from my clanmates. After all, I was their beloved deputy, and then, their leader for a brief instance in time. I was Wolfstar, protector of ShoreClan. I was Wolfstar, the cat who should have led their clan to greatness.

But no. They didn't want that. They didn't like the blood that ran thickly down my paws. I'd killed, and that was all they cared about now. Anger bubbled in my chest at the thought of the stories they'd share. I'd become an Elder's tale.

As I leaped over a slimy green rock, and narrowly avoided a copse of vines reaching out to ensnare me, I heard the sound of harsh breathing behind me. I thought bitterly that my clanmates would probably make me up as a monster who drove kits and apprentices into the sea. That would probably be their favourite tale.

Not unless I kill them first...I could still run, could still evade ShoreClan. Then, I would be free of it all. They'd deserve it too. Well, most of them anyway...

I glanced down at my black paws, and the white splash on my chest, and I felt a sudden pang in my chest. My kit...Oceankit!

She looked exactly like me, unlike Ripplekit who was a pure white kit. Ripplekit looked like her father, a dead CaveClan warrior. Oceankit looked exactly like me. I flattened my ears, shaking my head slowly. No, there wasn't time for Oceankit.

Almost as soon as I'd had that thought, I thought I saw a flash of Oceankit's dark grey and white splashed pelt. I shook my head, something liquid smattering the ground. I realised it was my own blood.

In that exact same heartbeat, there was a snarl, and a cat leaped towards me. I saw the flash of unsheathed claws, trying to get to my throat. I took a step back, but there was no way I was going to be able to get away from the claws which were aimed straight at my throat. I scrunched my eyes shut, but when nothing happened, I blinked them open once more.

Then, with a jolt, I noticed the bloodied pelt at my paws. I reared back in shock, trying to turn the bloody body over, while metal permeated my senses. With a jolt, I realised it was Oceankit. She blinked up at me with wide, ice-blue eyes, and got to her paws shakily.

"Momma!" She squeaked. "I came...Ow, my tummy hurts!"

In a heartbeat of staring at my kit's flanks, I could tell that the scratch was painful for a kit so young, but thankfully shallow. It would scar but not kill. Then, I looked up to meet my assailant, but they were still in the shadows. With a lurch, I realised why I couldn't make out who it was: they were using their concealer powers to keep themselves hidden from me. Internally, I cursed for not memorising the powers of all my clanmates.

"Well?!" I snarled at the cat who looked little more than a shadow. "Not above hurting kits, are you?"

The cat glowered at me, and lifted their chin. "You don't even know who I am," they retorted, smiling faintly as they eyed their bloodied claws. "Not many cats have a secondary gift, but I guess I was just that strong. Thank StarClan I discovered it, because now I can help ShoreClan finally rid itself of you."

The shadowy cat lunged at me, but I reared back, digging my claws into the ground. I wasn't above killing this stranger, and I said as much.

"I'll kill you and all your descendants!" I snarled.

The cat didn't speak, merely slashed a forepaw across my ears. Blood glistened on their paws as they stepped back. My blood. Pain sharper than anything I'd ever felt before bombarded all my senses. Dimly, I wondered if this is how other cats had felt when I'd killed them. I prepared for another lunge, but in that heartbeat, Oceankit leaped towards my assailant, eyes wide with fury.

"You hurt my mommy!" The kit, barely older than a moon, lunged towards the shadowed cat. Thunder cracked over my head, illuminating the slitted eyes of my kit.

She was so loyal to me, too loyal. It was going to get her killed.

Blood ran down my face, obscuring much of anything, but I tracked my senses on the sound of movement behind me. The cat was crouching, obviously then preparing to strike. Bunching my muscles, I lunged.

I unsheathed my claws, their white tips glittering in the shadows of the forest around me. Then, I brought them down on the cowering shape, slashing fur with my right paw, then my left paw, before I landed on the ground.

The first thing I heard after that was the screeching. Not the screeching of an adult cat, but the screeching of my kit. For a heartbeat, I wondered if the shadowed cat had killed her. Then, shaking my head to and fro, I realised what had really happened.

It had been the shadowed cat. It had been me.

"Oceankit!" I screeched as my daughter crumpled to the ground, blood pooling out onto her face.

Then, the claws pierced my throat. I couldn't bring myself to care, even as fury consumed me. For the first time in my life, I was mad at myself. Furious. I welcomed the pain which blossomed around my throat like an old friend. Then, the laughter came.

The shadowed cat loomed above me. "You're crazy, Wolf," she muttered, letting out a faint chuckle as she prodded my flank. "And after all those years of us being friends..."

My heart lurched as my legs crumpled to the ground. Stars speckled in my gaze, but I managed to fix my ice-blue eyes onto my assailant, and my murderer. The cat was still black and shadowed, with hollow eyes, but I now knew who it was.

"Just let me have my daughter," I mumbled, coughing up red.

My paws reached out for the little creature who lay near me. She was shivering, and whimpering, but it stopped when my paw touched her side. My claws...blood was gushing out of her face, and her eyes were tight shut. Her ears, or what was left of them, now lay flat against her quivering flank. I brought her close, close enough to hear her speak. Still, it was barely a whisper.

"Did I do good for you, momma?" Oceankit mumbled. "Some cat hurt me bad...Am I dy-"

Her voice cut off as I buried my muzzle into her side. Our blood combined.

"No, Oceankit," I murmured. "No, you aren't gonna die." But I am.

Then, Oceankit let out a screech. Turning my chin upwards, I saw that the shadowy cat had dug their claws into her pelt and was tearing her away from me. She squirmed and gasped, claws flailing.

You can't take her back there! I tried to speak aloud, but words didn't come. In fact, I felt my vision turning to black, almost as though I was drowning in oozing black liquid. The last thing I heard before everything went dark was a quiet hiss from the shadowed cat.

"Oceankit..." I twitched my ears feebly, but my daughter too had gone silent. The shadowed voice droned on smugly. "What name is that for a half-clan kit with a tyrannical mother. No, it won't do. Hm...Oh, I know a lovely name for you. With those scars your mother gave you looking like a mask on your face and your absolute malicious underhanded behaviour back there, only one name will suffice."

There was a pause.

"Ferretkit."

Then all my senses went dark.