Shining of the Four

Chapter 45

            Salmon rested in the den, her feet tucked beneath her, feeling the warmth of her nest. Her eyes were shut, and her breaths were short and slow. After a long day of hunting for the tribe, she needed a good rest.

            Her eyelids were shut softly, and her paws twitched as a dream came into focus.

            "Shinypaw...Shinypaw..." came a distant voice.

            Her eyes opened, and she stood in a forest much different from the one around her. For starters, everything smelled different, yet somewhat familiar. For a moment, she had forgotten what her current home smelled like. This forest was fresh and cold, and she liked it.

            For whatever reason, Salmon moved towards the voice, watching as a young white and gray tom came into view, his green eyes shining brightly. She did not know this tom, but she had seen him before, or so she thought. Immediately, the name came off her tongue.

            "Patchpaw," she purred. She was taken aback how easy it was for the words to roll off her tongue. She did not know this tom, yet his name came easily.

            The young tom ran towards her, and Salmon did not know why, but she felt her chest flutter. She realized she loved this tom, whoever he was. He was Patchpaw, the tom she loved and wanted to be with.

            "Walk in the moonlight?" he asked.

            Salmon looked up, now noticing that it was indeed night. She nodded, following Patchpaw into the forest. For a second, she remembered she did not know this tom or this forest, but these thoughts were immediately replaced by those only of the tom.

            Why, she remembered last time he'd taken her into the woods. He'd caught a rabbit, and they'd brought it back for the clan. When they found every cat asleep, they gobbled it up and curled up next to each other in the apprentice den.

            Apprentice den? Salmon came to her senses again. They had no apprentice den.

            Still, she followed the tom through the woods, padding beside him happily.

            "Look, the moon is almost full," Patchpaw pointed out.

            Salmon glanced up, noticing the moon was nearly its round shape.

            "Almost time for a gathering," she agreed, the words flowing out of her mouth without any knowledge being put into them. How could she say these things so easily?

            "Do you think Cloudstar will let us go?" he wondered.

            "I hope so," she purred, rubbing against him. It was wrong. She did not know this tom, but his touch was familiar, and she smiled as he wrapped his tail around her and purred.

            "Tag!" Patchpaw called, poking her with his tail.

            Salmon laughed, racing after Patchpaw happily. "You're not getting away that fast!" she shouted, rushing after him.

            "Oh, yeah?" he asked. "Come on, Shinypaw!"

            I'm Salmon, she thought, but then she realized she was Shinypaw, and she raced after him happily, tagging him with her golden tail.

            For awhile they ran around, collapsing in the meadow, exhausted. The stars twinkled, and Salmon speculated that StarClan was watching them.