The Rise of a Tyrant

Chapter 7 // Rockpaw

Rockpaw felt awkward as his patrol waded through the the dunes. Pigeonwing, his mentor, was up ahead with Turtleclaw - the leader of this patrol. Meanwhile, he was walking alongside Stormpaw, who seemed concerningly big for his age. For any age, really. He was almost as large as a fox if he kept this up! 

"So, how's Beachpaw?" Stormpaw asked awkwardly.

"What makes you say that?" Rockpaw retorted. 

Stormpaw glared down at him, making Rockpaw shiver. "I was asking a simple question, but okay." He said coldly.

Did I really sound that defensive? I'm not being defensive! Why would I be defensive? Silly cat! Rockpaw felt his inner dialogue race without his permission. Stormpaw had walked ahead, ignoring Rockpaw. 

Rockpaw lagged behind nervously. Stormpaw was scary, he didn't like Stormpaw.

As the patrol turned to climb the dune that lead to the skypool, Stormpaw started to rise above the rest, his massive paws carrying him higher. Rockpaw squinted as sand fell onto his face.

"Stormpaw, be mindful!" Turtleclaw hissed. Stormpaw shot his mentor a glare, his yellow eyes menacing, then turned around and disappeared over the top. 

"Young toms." Rockpaw heard the deputy hiss to himself. 

Pigeonwing shook the sand off his white fur. "Just ignore him, he'll stop. It worked for me."

"Hey!" Rockpaw mewed at his mentor, offended, but Pigeonwing just looked back with a playful, blue gaze.

"Come on, no dawdling." He mewed.

Rockpaw was halfway to the top, when he heard a started yowl that broke his focus.

"Turtleclaw!? Why is the water red?" Stormpaw called, frightenedly.

"What? What is he on about?" Turtleclaw's ginger pelt lay flat and undisturbed, as if Stormpaw was talking gibberish.

Rockpaw heaved his way over the top, and blinked to see what Stormpaw was looking at. When he saw it, his jaw dropped.

The entire beach was crashing with red waves. Very, very red waves. Not even blood was that red. Rockpaw couldn't believe his eyes, but Stormpaw could see it, too, so it had to be real.

"What in CLOUDCLAN is that?" Rockpaw gaped. 

"I have no idea..." Stormpaw replied, equally as shocked.

"Okay, you two, stop running ahead..." Pigeonwing began to scold, but was cut off as he saw what they were talking about.

Turtleclaw, the leader of the patrol, was ironically the last to reach the top. "Why is everyone silent?" He had said, moments before he saw it as well.

The four cats stood, not speaking, for a moment. Rockpaw watched a large, red wave crash into the tidepools, which were now red as well. It was like something you'd see in a dream. So unbelievably out of place, meanwhile everything else was normal.

Stormpaw suddenly raced down the dune, sliding towards the beach.

"STORMPAW!" Turtleclaw yowled, terrified. "Pigeonwing, don't hunt until we find out what this is." He ordered, then shot off after his apprentice.

Rockpaw glanced at his mentor, the white tom's blue-grey eyes were wide in horror.

"Have you ever... heard of this happening before?" Rockpaw asked.

Pigeonwing blinked away from the Skypool for a second. "I think I heard about it once when I was a kit, but I thought the red tide was just a myth..." He looked back, as if the sea might change if he looked away for too long.