Beast of the Sea - WARRIOR CATS

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"No. Oh StarClan, no."

"She's waking up, Whisper. Isn't this a good thing? For the past quarter moon we thought..."

Two voices whispered softly above my ears. They sounded strangely distorted, as though I was underwater. There was an odd ringing sound in my skull, and my entire body felt as though it had been bashed against rocks. What happened...

"No, no, no." The first voice spoke again. It had a raspy tinge to it, as though the speaker rarely said much of anything, yet the voice was also brimming with emotion. "Spike, are you certain?"

Groggily, I tried to shift my weight, tried to stumble to a sitting position, but a blast of pain shot through me once more, and I resorted instead to merely trying to open my eyes. I cracked them open slightly, finding myself in almost complete darkness.

"Why are you so afraid of her, Whisper?" The voice belonging to Spike spoke once more. The speaker was evidently male, even though the voice was a bit high-pitched. He spoke calmly, as though trying to reassure

"Leave me," Whisper hissed through clenched teeth, as though she was in pain.

"I–" Spike began softly, only to be cut off with a snarl.

"Leave," Whisper repeated, this time she snarled.

As I listened to the sound of retreating pawsteps, sudden flashes of memory began to coarse through my mind. Everything I was dreading and had forgotten came down on me like a pile of massive, heavy rocks.

Littlepaw, Ripplepaw, Shadefang, Bubble, Puddle...I felt my claws unsheath, and dug them deep into the dry, coarse moss nest below my sprawled frame. Dewstar got all the power, it was raining harder than ever before, I tried to get my friends to run, then she came for us, and...hurled me off the edge.

"Am I dead?" I said in a hoarse, raspy voice, akin to that of Whisper's.

At the same moment that I spoke, the pangs of hunger seemed to wedge its way into my belly. My throat was parched, my fur matted. My left ear felt as though it was on fire, blazing furiously, and making every sound seem strange.

For several heartbeats, there was nothing but silence. I almost wondered if Whisper had left me to die in this dark place. The longer my eyes stayed open, the more I became aware of my surroundings. I was in a cave, so dark that few shadows seemed to exist. Stalactites and stalagmites surrounded the cavern. It was all so grey and dead, except for my nest of dry, coarse moss.

Then, I saw the flash of pale blue eyes in front of me. A cat was standing above me. It was too dark to tell what colour her pelt was, but I could have sworn her legs were trembling. Wincing with visible effort, I managed to get to a seated position, so I could have a better look at her.

"You aren't dead."

"What?" I tilted my head in bewilderment, and again, my left ear throbbed painfully.

The she-cat didn't look at me as she spoke once more. "In answer to your question, I mean. You are still alive."

I shifted my paws, shame washing over me. I felt as though I had abandoned my friends. I needed to get back to them, to make sure they were okay, even if that meant stumbling right back into Dewstar's paws. My friends meant the world to me.

"Where are we?" I said slowly. "Wh-who are you?"

The she-cat turned away. "You sound thirsty," she said in a guarded tone. "I'll get you some water."

Then she took a piece of my moss, and turned to travel deeper into the shadowy cave. Once more I shifted my position, but I felt too weak to move any further. My claws flexed in and out. I wanted to run. I had always liked running.