Whispers and Echoes

Chapter 8

When Echopaw woke up, the sky was gray and the rain still pounded the ground, where it was now one big puddle. Echopaw heard the light and steady pounding of rain, and she yawned.

Whisperpaw was already awake and had left her nest. Echopaw looked around and saw her padding toward her with the two birds they'd brought into their dens last night.

Whisperpaw dropped one by Echopaw. "Here."

Echopaw smiled and replied, "Thanks."

Echopaw glanced outside at the steady drum of rain. It looked as if it had let up enough to actually leave the den. Echopaw watched the ripples run across the surface of the puddles as the raindrops hit them.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" meowed Whisperpaw, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I'm glad the lightning and thunder is gone though," Echopaw replied.

Whisperpaw nodded in agreement. "I bet we can go outside now. Want to see if anyone else is out of their dens yet?"

Echopaw nodded and peered outside the den. The thin sheets of rain blurred her view, but she caught sight of Yellowpaw, Cloverkit, and Hailkit playing in the puddles, their fur soaked through.

Echopaw shared a glance with Whisperpaw, then the two padded out into the rain. Echopaw shivered at the wet sensation; it felt cold but refreshing in her fur. She jogged through the rain and sprayed up water as she did. She stopped at the puddle and was about to jump in it when she was sprayed by a wave of water. She turned around and saw Hailkit rolling around in the mud, roaring with laughter. She was about to hiss at him and tell him to look at what he had done to her fur; but she realized how funny she must look. She burst out laughing instead and sprayed water back at Hailkit. He stopped laughing and started coughing up water that Echopaw had sprayed at him. He got up and raced at her and tackled her to the ground. They tussled through the mud, water spraying everywhere.

Echopaw shoved him off with a huff and sat up, shaking her pelt and sending water and mud flying.

Hailkit let out a squeal. "Hey! Watch it!" he laughed.

Echopaw flicked him with her tail, then licked her paw and drew it over her ear.

"How'd you sleep?" Hailkit asked after a pause.

Echopaw continued to clean her ears. "Fine. What about you?"

Hailkit shrugged. "Pretty good."

There was a silence.

Hailkit sighed. "It's weird, we're not going to have time like this any longer. We haven't for the past two moons, really. I mean, with you being an apprentice and all..." he trailed off.

"What are you talking about?" Echopaw asked, and she stopped cleaning her ears. "In a half moon you'll be an apprentice too! Then we can spend time together. We'll get to go hunting together, go on patrols together—"

"Yeah, but after that, we'll have to take care of the elders and get them fresh bedding, so we can't just play like we used to," Hailkit interrupted.

"Oh, stop being so negative! We'll have those times, don't worry. We'll always be able to spend time together, especially when we become warriors."

He blinked. "Yeah, I guess I am being a bit too negative."

Suddenly Cloverkit let out a yowl. "Look! A rainbow!"

Hailkit and Echopaw immediately looked toward where Cloverkit had pointed. A bright rainbow shone above the trees, signalling the end of the storm. Echopaw turned around and saw the sun, poking its way through the clouds; its rays shone right on the clearing in the middle of the camp. It was already sunhigh, Echopaw realized. Echopaw looked around; the rain had finally stopped, and the clouds were moving away. Blue sky replaced the gray one that had hovered above them earlier.