The Search

| Chapter 2 |

Pebblefall awoke the next morning to Mudspot standing over him and Sandwhisker, amusement twinkling in his yellow eyes. The deputy's deep voice rumbled, "Dawn patrol! Get up, you two."

Bright sunlight rippled across the den floor as Sandwhisker stretched and stood, his pelt brushing lightly against Pebblefall. After making sure they were both awake, Mudspot bounded out of the den.

"C'mon. Another day as a warrior," Sandwhisker yawned as he helped him to his paws. Pebblefall reluctantly shook out his pelt and trailed behind his friend. A purr escaped the brown tabby's throat.

"Not as eager to wake up today as yesterday, huh?" he joked.

His playful manner disappeared when Pebblefall looked at him with a strange expression. "Something wrong?"

"I had a weird dream," Pebblefall admitted, his fur tingling. He still remembered the feeling of being confused and scared.

"What was it about?" Sandwhisker asked as they started walking again.

Pebblefall hesitated. "I... can't remember. It was just spooky."

The two toms shared a glance. Then Sandwhisker nudged Pebblefall lightly. "Hopefully being on a dawn patrol as a warrior for the first time will take your mind off it," Sandwhisker purred.

Pebblefall's ears pricked up and he nodded. He could always count on Sandwhisker to help him feel better.

When they reached the edge of RiverClan camp, Pebblefall saw Ripplelight and Mistrose waiting for them to leave. The two seemed a bit impatient, so he and Sandwhisker rushed over to make up for lost time.

"Hey, Ripplelight," Pebblefall greeted the cream-furred she-cat, and she gave him a friendly nod. The grey warrior was glad that he didn't see Minnowstreak anywhere; her constant flirting made him extremely uncomfortable.

Mistrose did a quick head count, then lifted her tail. "Let's head out," she instructed, and the patrol followed her out into RiverClan territory.

The sky was turning lighter with every pawstep Pebblefall took. Fluffing out his fur, he opened his mouth to taste the cool air as Sandwhisker padded up beside him.

"It's always so nice out in the morning," he commented, looking around. "Too bad it doesn't last long." Pebblefall nodded. In greenleaf, the air became almost unbearably hot as soon as the sun reached the treetops.

When he recognized the thinning foliage, it soon became clear to Pebblefall that the patrol was heading for the twolegplace border. Foul scents of thunderpaths, kittypets, and twoleg dens swam through his senses and his nose wrinkled in immediate protest. The grey warrior could tell the others felt the same.

"I always hate patrolling over here," he heard Ripplelight say to Mistrose. She snorted in agreement.

"Yeah. I heard from Mallowshine that the twolegs used to be father away from Clan territory. Apparently we weren't always pressed right up against them," Mistrose commented irritably.

"Really?" Ripplelight flicked her tail. "How far was it?"

"Far enough that kittypets were never a problem!" The two she-cats laughed, and Pebblefall looked at Sandwhisker.

"Is that true?" he questioned his friend.

"I have no clue, but if Mallowshine says so, then probably," he replied.

That makes sense, Pebblefall thought. Besides, the Twolegplace seemed to expand farther every season. There must've been a time when it didn't loom over the edge of RiverClan territory. A spark of curiosity flickered in his mind and he padded quickly to catch up to Mistrose.

"So, what else is different?" Pebblefall asked the senior warrior, who shrugged.

"Not much," she said. "I guess when I was an apprentice we started getting bigger fish in the lake, if you count that as different. The older warriors had to come up with new techniques to catch them."

Pebblefall thought about the large fish that hunting patrols sometimes carried back to camp. They were indeed very difficult to catch, but it was worth it, he figured. One carp could feed five or six cats, which was especially useful in the colder seasons when the rivers froze over.

The patrol eventually reached the large fence which marked the border with twolegplace. Pebblefall looked up to see the sharp edges at the top and wondered how kittypets managed to perch up there without getting hurt.

"I hope I never have to go in there," Sandwhisker said, peering between the fence gaps skeptically with squinted eyes.

Same here, Pebblefall silently agreed. Other than the overwhelming stench, the dangers of twolegplace were too much for any clan cat to handle.

It was near sunhigh when the patrol returned to RiverClan camp. Cats were laying about in the greenleaf heat, their bellies exposed and tails flicking away bugs. As Pebblefall padded through the sun-baked clearing, he thought about what Mistrose had said earlier and decided to visit the elders' den.

"Mallowshine?" the grey tom questioned, peering around for the cranky elder as he stepped into the dimly lit area. He stopped as he noticed Pinebreeze slumbering near the entrance, his light snores giving him away. Knowing how the old tom loved to bore young warriors with his horrible stories, Pebblefall began backing carefully out of the den.

Suddenly, a raspy voice spoke near the back. "Pebblefall? Is that you?"

Pebblefall recognized Mallowshine's mew and picked his way towards the ginger-and-white she-cat, carefully avoiding Pinebreeze. Mallowshine was curled up in her nest, her yellow eyes watching him as he approached. Pebblefall finally sat down near her, resting his tail neatly over his paws.

"It's a great day for basking in the sun," he told the elder, who grunted.

"Too hot," was her short reply. Pebblefall decided to skip the small talk and get straight to what he needed.

"Is it true that the fish in the lake used to be smaller?" the grey warrior asked, his ears swiveling towards Mallowshine eagerly.

She let out an exasperated sigh, shifting her position slightly. "You young'uns and your silly questions. Go ask Pinebreeze, I'm tired."

Pebblefall hung his head in defeat, shuffling his paws to turn around glumly. Noticing his disappointed expression, she sighed and said, "Well, since you did such a good job yesterday cleaning out our nests, I guess I can recall..." A thoughtful look crossed Mallowshine's face, and Pebblefall leaned forward to listen to the elder's tale.

"Those monstrous fish first appeared when I was a queen. I remember seeing hunting patrols drag the huge catches into camp, their faces lit with success." Mallowshine let out a small, hoarse laugh, then continued.

"I scared all the kits into thinking the fish would eat 'em if they snuck out of camp to go swimming. That kept 'em in line. There were guesses as to how the fish got there," she said with a twitch of her whiskers. "Our medicine cat at the time thought they were a gift from StarClan, while others supposed the twolegs put 'em there, for whatever reason."

"Do you think, if a fish were large enough, it would actually eat a cat?" Pebblefall inquired, his eyes wide. "I mean, surely they'd be capable of it."

"Nah," Mallowshine reassured, yawning, "it's never happened in my lifetime. But," she added, "those fish sure don't go without a fight. I've seen what happens to a warrior that gets bit, and it's not pretty."

Pebblefall thanked the elder, and politely left so she could resume her nap. He'd never been bitten by a fish before, but he imagined how much it would hurt to get attacked by one of those enormous carp. He suddenly remembered that he was planning to finally build a nest today.

Better go do that, he thought to himself. A warrior's life sure is busier than I thought.

Written by Ren

Edited by Duskie and Annco