The Call of the Tide

Chapter 11

Tidepaw jolted awake, breathing hard. She ran out into the middle of camp, eyes wide as she spun around, scanning every ledge.

"Tidepaw?"

She jumped with a hiss, turning to slash at whoever or whatever was behind her, stopping short when Sharkpaw flinched away. "Sharkpaw," she said, trying to smooth her fur. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you."

"Are you okay?" Sharkpaw asked. "You were twitching and kicking all last night."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just bad dreams."

"Maybe you should go to Wavebreeze about that," Jumppaw muttered as he went past. "It would save some ribs."

Tidepaw winced. "Sorry!" she called after him. She glanced up at the sky, the sun nearly overhead. The coming brown-grass chilled the air, masking the sun's warmth. "I really slept this long?"

Sharkpaw shrugged. "I guess. A lot of the others from the Gathering are still asleep, too, though, so don't feel bad."

Tidepaw shook herself. "Is Dunemist up yet?"

"That depends what you mean by 'up,'" Sharkpaw purred. "Kelppool tried to wake her, but all Dunemist did was mutter 'I'm awake' and then let out a long snore."

Tidepaw purred, her tail curling up over her back.

"Kelppool's taking me out hunting. Want to come?"

"Sure! Just let me tell someone in case Dunemist wakes up and comes looking for me."

"Mouse dung!" Tidepaw hissed as the sandpiper fluttered up into the sky, shrieking a warning to every piece of prey around.

"Is something wrong?" Kelppool asked, coming over to her. "You're a much better hunter than this. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing," Tidepaw said. "I mean, I had a bad dream last night, but I don't even remember it. That's the only thing I can even think of that might be affecting me."

Kelppool sighed and sat next to her. "I was wondering if it might be because of your impending warrior ceremony."

"What? Why would that affect me?"

"Most apprentices get nervous as it gets closer, but for you I thought maybe you were thinking about Gravelpaw."

"Oh." She stared down at her paws, feeling her heart constrict with pain and guilt. "No. I honestly haven't even thought about him for a while."

"Maybe not with your mind," he said, brushing her shoulder with his tail, "but that doesn't mean he isn't in your heart."

"I guess." She looked up at Kelppool. "Do you think Sandstar would give him his warrior name at the ceremony?"

He shook his head sympathetically. "The only precedent for that is when an apprentice dead or dying close to when they would take their assessment. Gravelpaw was too early in his training and that's when Sandstar would've had to give him his name."

Tidepaw's head and shoulders drooped. "Oh."

Sharkpaw came bounding up, struggling to carry her mink and two sandpipers.

"Let's head back to camp and drop this off," Kelppool said. "Afterwards we can head down to the beach and search the tidepools."

"Okay!" Sharkpaw chirruped.

Kelppool picked up the seagull he'd caught and Tidepaw took the mink from Sharkpaw. She hoped she could slink away before anyone could see her add it to the pile. If she'd actually caught something, that would be different. She hated bringing back prey when she didn't have anything of her own to contribute.

As they walked into camp, Dunemist came over. "Good, you're back. Wavebreeze needs help collecting cobwebs."

"Ohay," she mumbled around the mink. She set it on the pile. "Where is she?"

Dunemist waved her tail towards the medicine den. "Getting ready to head out."

Tidepaw nodded and trotted over. Something I can't mess up.

Tidepaw growled as she tried to shake the cobweb off her paw.

"I told you to use a stick."

Tidepaw sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, you did. I didn't listen. Are you going to help or just watch me and purr?"

Wavebreeze picked up one of their twigs and carefully rolled it over Tidepaw's paw. "The rest will have to be washed off," she said.

"Where did you even get all these sticks from?" Tidepaw asked.

"Gatherings. I gather them on the way there and back."

Both of them heard it at the same sound. Heavy breathing that signaled a cat unused to sand was climbing the dunes towards them. Wavebreeze narrowed her eyes and crouched among the dune grass. Tidepaw copied her, unsure if the sparse blades were actually hiding them.

When the cat came into view, however, Wavebreeze relaxed and stood. "Hazelclaw!" she yowled.

The tom turned and struggled his way over to them, panting. "Wavebreeze," he gasped. "Med...medicine cat...meeting."

"Take a breath," Wavebreeze purred. "Honestly, I think the whole camp must've heard you huffing and puffing your way up here."

He glared at her. "This is...serious. We've been...having...having dreams."

Wavebreeze stiffened. She turned to Tidepaw. "Take this cobweb back to camp. Hazelclaw and I need to talk."

Tidepaw shrugged. As she trotted lightly over the sand—partially just to show off to the BirchClan medicine cat—her thoughts kept bothering her like a fly in greengrass. She froze suddenly as it hit her. If DeathClan's medicine cat was having dreams, and now BirchClan's medicine cat was having dreams...should the Clans be worried?