SeaClan: Low Tide

Chapter Three

Sunlight flooded into the den, rousing Tidepaw from her rest. I didn't mean to sleep all night, she thought, hurriedly sitting up and licking the moss scraps from her pelt. The den was empty except for herself, Whalepaw, and Shrimppaw, and she noticed the scent on Spikepaw's bedding was fresher than the others'. He must have left not too long ago, and in her two weeks of apprentice training, she learned that he usually got up early for dawn patrol. It was well past sunhigh, now, so this was strange.

"Mmm...wha?" Whalepaw murmured sleepily, lifting his head. "Tidepaw? S'that you?"

"Go back to sleep, tired-whiskers," she mewed in reply, swiping the tip of her tail over Whalepaw's nose. "I'm going to find out why Saltblaze never woke me up...he said he'd make me the best warrior! Shouldn't I have started training hours ago?" Just as Whalepaw opened his mouth to reply, Wavestar called the Clan to gather for another meeting. This confused the young she-cat; two meetings two days in a row? What required the whole Clan to gather so often? Her thoughts tossed her into the events of the last meeting, and she reminded herself of PalmClan's treachery. Surely, the meeting was about that.

Spikepaw was waiting for her outside of the den and trailed behind her when she went to sit with the rest of her Clan. "Did you sleep well?" he asked, tail waving, "Splashpaw said she found a thorn in her nest, and I want to make sure I didn't make anymore slip-ups when I gathered moss." She nodded, thanked him for the feathers, and asked him what he'd been doing all day. "Not much! Twistedstep and Walter told me stories while I changed their bedding. Hey, ask your mentor if we can train together, I want to see how quickly I can beat you up!"

"You're on," she shot back, ears twitching as she glared playfully at Spikepaw. Next to her, Frondpaw had settled down beside her and was giggling into his paws whilst whispering to Dolphinpaw and pointing at them. Suddenly, her ears felt warm. Were they talking about her?

"Cats of SeaClan, after many weeks of Council meetings, debates," she meowed, throwing her bruised deputy a glare, "and compromise, I have decided that, in a moon, we will attack PalmClan for aligning themselves with our greatest enemy. At the next gathering, we will warn them of our intentions and give Mangostar the chance to surrender and return to our side, and as of tonight, Coralspray and I will be speaking with Clamstar and his deputy to ask for aid. In addition to this, I will be honoring Coralspray's request to lead a mock battle to prepare for the real one. She will announce the names of the participants and further elaborate on the matter." She dipped her head to her deputy, who quickly returned the gesture and puffed out her chest to address the cats of SeaClan.

"The battle grows near, Clanmates, and the best way to prepare is to train. Every mentor and their apprentice is strongly encouraged to join, and this also includes our medicine cats. Your job may be to heal, Littlebloom, but it'd be a shame if we were to lose you in battle. What SeaClan would do without you, I couldn't imagine."

The small she-cat smiled shyly at the deputy. "I'm glad you care for me!" she called, picking up a bundle of mallow straight after and hurrying into her den. Frondpaw scampered after her, and beside Tidepaw, she heard Dolphinpaw muffle laughter again. As she stared after the medicine cat apprentice, she saw why: the grey tom'd snuck a burr into his usually pristine coat, and Tidepaw found herself struggling not to interrupt the meeting with her bubbly giggles. She pointed out to Spikepaw, who slapped a paw over his own mouth to stifle himself.

"What're you three laughing about?" Shrimppaw hissed, "Wavestar's talking. Be quiet."

"Shrimppaw," Yewburr growled, cuffing his tiny apprentice, "No talking."

"But—"

"No supper if you speak another word!" Yewburr threatened in a low voice. The small black tom shut up afterward, but managed to catch Tidepaw's eye and mouth out you're dead. Tidepaw scoffed to herself, hardly paying attention to the meeting anymore. What was a runty cat like Shrimppaw going to do to her? Aspenpaw was right; cats like Shrimppaw weren't good for much.