Beast of the Sea - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

My vigil was already over.

No, not the vigil to make me a warrior. I mean the one that marked me as a dead member of the clan. As dead as Yellowbelly, the old cat who hadn't escaped the blaze. As if I had never existed at all.

As Little and I padded towards our ruined camp, she gave me a rueful glance. Much of the land around us had been flattened and burned, with ashes laying on the ground all around us. The scent of smoke lay heavily in the air, even though the ShoreClan warriors had rallied their efforts and extinguished the flower.

"That Stormwing cat seemed really happy to see you," Little commented idly as I led her towards our ruined camp. We leaped a ditch in the ground before my new friend went on. "I mean, tears were flowing down his face to create a small river."

"It was only him, though," I muttered under my breath. "Moonpoppy, the calico, she stared at me as though I was a ghost. Streamfeather couldn't meet my gaze, as though she wanted me dead."

Little sighed softly. "That silver she-cat Streamfeather just seemed shaken if you ask me," she began limping on three legs as though the pain in her burned forepaw was getting more painful. "And besides, the rest of the cats were asleep, besides Aqua-what's-his-name who asked us to meet him at 'camp.' Stars, there's many new words!" She hesitated. "Are we nearing your home?"

"Yeah," I flicked my tail ahead to where the massive pile of black rocks lay. It was the only way I would have been able to tell this had once been my home; everything else was burned to a crisp. "And, thanks for coming with me."

Little flicked her tail across my back, grinning softly. "It'll be fun. And an adventure! It'll be awesome to make new friends. I also was raised to repay my debts. So, hopefully I'll be able to do that one day."

"There's no need," I meowed, smiling faintly, surprised at the fact that Little had been able to cheer up my spirits. "I'm not that brave, though."

Little rolled her eyes. "I think you're pretty epic. Anyway, who's that cream she-cat over by those rocks?" She pointed with her paw into the distance to where the meeting rocks of ShoreClan used to be. I squinted my eyes, looking where Little pointed. It was the long-haired deputy, Dewocean.

Little bounded forward when she noticed that I seemed to recognise the cat. Even though she was shorter than me, and limping, I had to sprint to keep pace with her. She was faster than I would have expected.

I slowed when we reached the ashen sand of the beach. We were only within a few tail lengths of the clan deputy now. Little glanced behind her back, and seeing me stop, she too slowed. The force of her charge meant that she skidded through the sand a few tail lengths, until she stopped. She was nearly nose-to-nose with Dewocean.

"Hey!" Little chirped. "Are you Ferretpaw's claaanmaaate?"

She said the word clanmate as though she was tasting a new type of freshkill, making each syllable go on for more than it needed to. Dewocean stared back with an impassive expression.

"I suppose you could call me that," Dewocean smiled faintly. "I'm the clan deputy, which means I run things around here. The clan leader, Aquastar, will be around shortly." As Little stared back, wide-eyed, she added in a curious tone. "Do you understand words, rogue?"

Little looked very confused, and I guessed that she hadn't quite understood all that Dewocean had been saying. Clan life was normal to me, but it must come as quite a shock to an outsider.

"What's with this meeting?" I growled suspiciously.

I didn't know Dewocean well enough to trust her. The clan deputy sighed, and ran a paw over her ear idly, almost smugly. Perhaps she was just confident. She smiled at my bewilderment, seeming to pause a few heartbeats before speaking. Even then, she just made me even more confused.