Flames At Night: Book 1: A Shattered Path

Chapter Eight

Dolphinpaw

"Jasminefur, you take Dolphinpaw, Tanglegrass, Mistystream and... Emberstripe," Frondnose, the deputy, meowed. Dolphinpaw yawned loudly. Despite being tired, he was excited for the hunting patrol. His favorite time to swim was when the air was still cold.

As the group of cats approached the camp entrance, Dolphinpaw felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Cloverpaw standing next to him, an apologetic look on her face.

"Can I come with you?" she asked. "Poolheart is sick, and I don't want to stay in camp all day."

"If you're coming, hurry up," Jasminefur called. Cloverpaw gave a happy skip and ran after the patrol.

Dolphinpaw quickly caught up to her. "I bet I can catch more prey than you," he teased.

His sister snorted. "Of course you're going to. And then you'll be like, ha ha, I told you so, for the rest of the day.

The gray tom pretended to be insulted. "I would never!"

"As if." Cloverpaw suddenly took off. "Race you to the shore!"

"No fair!" Dolphinpaw chased after her, but he was several taillengths behind when she reached the lapping waves.

The tortoiseshell tabby was hardly out of breath. "Just goes to show that you aren't that great."

Dolphinpaw flopped down on the sand. I prefer swimming. "You totally cheated," he meowed, panting heavily.

She prodded him with a paw. "Get up, lazybones. The patrol is catching up."

The tom stretched languidly and licked a stray tuft of fur on his shoulder. "I let you win."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"For StarClan's sake, can you two stop arguing?" Jasminefur and the other cats had reached the apprentices. "We have some fish to catch."

"How about we split into teams?" Tanglegrass suggested. "That way we can cover more of the ocean, and catch bigger fish."

"That's a good idea," meowed Jasminefur, flicking her tail.

"Don't mention it," hummed Tanglegrass. Jasminefur sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to sneak up behind Tanglegrass underwater and pull his ears," whispered Cloverpaw, a mischievous grin in her green eyes. Dolphinpaw glared at her.

"No, you're not! He's a senior warrior! You'd get in huge trouble."

"Yes, I am, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." His sister raced forward and plunged into the surf.

Don't say I didn't warn you, thought Dolphinpaw, sighing at Cloverpaw's antics. He followed her into the ocean, paddling in the direction of the island.

While his head was still above the water, a piercing scream cut through the air. "Help me!"

Dolphinpaw swiveled his ears, trying to pinpoint where the sound came from. Far off, he saw a yellow-orange she-cat, her head barely above the waves. Around her, he could see ripples of movement that indicated something large under the water.

He didn't hesitate for a heartbeat. He dove under and began swimming as fast as he could towards the drowning cat. She was pretty far away, and he had no idea if he could get there in time to save her.

He signaled to Mistystream with his tail, pointing her in the direction of the she-cat. She looked surprised, but nodded in understanding and began to follow him. Around them, the other members of the patrol started swimming towards them too.

It felt like it took forever to reach the cat. Dolphinpaw grabbed her scruff and tried to hold her above the water. She ducked away from him, despite a large wound in her leg.

"I can swim!" she said, her eyes wide with fear. "There's a huge fish here, and it attacked me!" As she spoke the last word, a fish leaped out of the ocean barely a foxlength to the side.

Dolphinpaw gasped. It was five times the size of any fish he had seen before, and attached to its nose was a long, sharp blade, like a gigantic claw. It aimed its blade at them and darted forward.

The gray tom dived under just in time, the fish going right over them. Pulling them back to the surface, Dolphinpaw told the she-cat, "Go back towards the shore!"

"But I-" she protested. He pushed her in the direction of the beach.

"You're hurt," he meowed. She glared at him, but nonetheless turned and swam for the shore.

Dolphinpaw spun around to face the fish again. It stared at him, a malignant look in its beady eyes. Without warning, it charged him again, giving him only a split second to dart to the side. The blade passed inches from his head. No wonder she was injured!

Suddenly, the fish contorted in pain. Mistystream was clawing at its gills, causing blood to pool into the water. Her brother Emberstripe appeared next to her, biting into its fin. Dolphinpaw kicked forward to help them.

All the members of the patrol bit and slashed at the fish, until finally it gave up and swam away. Dolphinpaw was dismayed to find that the injured she-cat had returned.

"You should have gone to the beach!" he exclaimed.

"I'm fine," she insisted, treading water. The apprentice could see that she was weakening, however.

"Let's bring her back to camp," Jasminefur meowed, coming up to her. The yellowish-orange she-cat didn't seem happy about it, but she leaned against the warrior gratefully.

The seven cats paddled their way to the beach. Jasminefur had her head down by the she-cat's, and was whispering words of encouragement. Dolphinpaw could only hope that she would hold out until they reached camp.

When they came through the entrance, several warriors gasped and crowded around them. "What's going on?" yowled a black tom.

"Okay, what happened?" Whiterose ordered, pushing her way through the crowd with a bundle of herbs in her jaws. Jasminefur let the she-cat crumple to the ground, breathing heavily.

Whiterose began applying a poultice to her leg. "What in StarClan's name happened out there?" she asked, glancing at Jasminefur.

The yellow and white she-cat described the fish to Whiterose. When she finished, the medicine cat shook her head in wonder.

"I've never heard of anything like it. Tinyflame never told me about something like that," she mewed, referencing her mentor, who had died the previous newleaf. "She should be fine. Emberstripe, Tanglegrass, help me move her into my den."

Jasminefur noticed Dolphinpaw watching, and padded over to him with a smile on her face. "You can take the rest of the day off. You did very well today."

The gray tom dipped his head to his mentor and set off towards his nest. As he drifted off to sleep, he wondered who the mysterious she-cat was, and whether she would even tell them.