SeaClan: Low Tide

Prologue

The beach was quiet save for the sweet birdsong from beyond the tree line and the occasional sneeze from the cat sitting there. He looked up at the sky periodically, as if expecting a great force. Whiskers twitching impatiently, the cat briefly debated leaving before another cat swam up next to him, silent as snowfall. Her fur was soaked to the bone, and the swimmer was panting harshly as she sucked in air. Quickly, the dry cat went to her.

"Are you alright, love?" he asked in a hushed voice, nosing his sopping wet mate over worriedly. "Did anyone see you? Were you followed?"

"No one saw me," she replied as her partner began busily licking away the saltwater. "I made sure to cover my scent trail with saltwater; I dipped my tail into it and let it drag behind me while I looked for you. You won't let anyone know I'm here, right?"

"I will," a third cat grumbled, hopping out of a bush nearby. Like lightning, she lunged at the still-damp cat and pushed her into the sand, hissing furiously. "You shouldn't have come here, whale-dung!" The cat under her squirmed and yowled in alarm, twisting in an attempt to break free. "Warriors are already on the way! They won't mind seeing the corpse of a trespasser on their territory."

"You can't kill her!" begged the first cat, "She's expecting kits!"

"And you!" the attacker spat, neck fur beginning to bristle, "You're a traitor, allowing this to happen! These kits are yours, aren't they? Disgrace!" She unsheathed her claws threateningly, narrowing her eyes. "At least they'll go to a good Clan...I refuse to let their mother have them." The tomcat lowered his head in defeat as the sound of paws hitting sand grew, and three warriors and an apprentice skidded to a halt before the scene. There were instantaneous howls of outrage as they recognized their Clanmate with an intruder, and the cat pinning her smirked as she stepped back.

"Please don't hurt her," he pleaded as two warriors forced her roughly to her paws and flanked her. "She's expecting my--"

"We heard the conversation," a warrior meowed coolly. "It's not up to us whether or not your lover here lives or dies. You know this."

"You'll likely be punished as harshly as her," another piped up. "Neither of you are supposed to be out here, and you're the father of those unborn kits. You're in just as deep! Secure him!" The apprentice was clearly unhappy to be near him, but he allowed himself to be herded away from the shore and into a sloping tunnel. His mate cried out as she was nipped at for going too slow, and his stomach curled in anger, but there was nothing he could do.

They'd been caught, and whatever happened next was totally up to the one cat no one else would dare trust.