Stones (Book Four) Ocean Breeze

Chapter Two

SHREWTAILS POV

"Mousesand," Shrewtail beckons the Oceanclan cat to him.
Memories of his brother flying through his mind. My brother who didn't bother to wake me to come with he growls to himself I wouldn't have gone though. He thinks of Hemlockheart and their kits.
"Your mother wants you," Shrewtail nods his head to the elder that requested to see him, assuming it was his mother.
"Yes, thank you," Mousesand rushes past him to the orange tabby elder and the elderly black tom beside her.
"Amberbeach, Blacksand," Mousesand addressed the two.
"They're from the clans," Amberbeach coughs, "that's Shrewtail."
"Sh- Shrewtail?" Mousesands turns to face him, "is that your name? Shrewtail?"
Shrewtail nods, "yes. I am a warrior of Stoneclan."
"I- you're my brother!" Mousesands runs to him and thrusts his muzzle into his short fur.
"M- Mousekit?" Shrewtail stutters.
He sees Hemlockheart looking at him.
"I'm so sorry!" Mousesands sobs, "I begged for you to come! They knocked me out with a poppy seed to make me be quiet!"
"I've blamed you this whole time- I- I've missed you so much!" A tear rolls down Shrewtails cheek and he thrusts his muzzle into his long lost brothers flank.
"Who is this?" Hemlockheart breaks the two apart.
Shrewtail smiles as another tear rolls down his face, "this is my brother, this is Mousekit."
"Mousekit?" Hemlockhearts eyes tear up, "you're brother that went missing when we were-"
"I didn't go missing at four moons old. Our parents medicated me into silence and took me at four moons old," Mousesands growls, "I went missing at five moons old."
"Where are our parents?"
Mousesands flicks his tail angrily, "our parents gave me up to Raven because they felt so 'terrible' about what they had done. They didn't want me as a reminder of what they had done to you."
"Who's Raven?" Hemlockheart looks around suspiciously.
"Raven is he she-cat who dropped me in old Oceanclan territory where Amberbeach and Blacksand found me, Sparkfall, Honeybird, and Sunsparkle," Mousesands looks fondly at the pair of elders behind him, "they took us in with their own kits that Amberbeach had later that night."

BRIGHTPAWS POV

Brightpaw glances around; there were roughly half of the OceanClan cats left to rescue. They walked up to a cream she-cat with white and ginger splotches. She looked extremely worried, as if her kits were drowning or something.
    "You need help crossing through the water?" The diluted calico asked, "I can help if you want."
    "N-no, I can swim," The she-cat replied, "But my mate just went on a h-hunting patrol. Have you seen them get back yet?"
   Brightpaw shook their head. "No, but I can go look for them!"
    "That would be great!" The creamy cat exclaimed, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement, "I'm Sunsparkle by the way. What's your name?"
     "Brightpaw," She replied, making their voice louder as they added, "Who's gonna help me go save that hunting patrol?"
    "I will, I will!" Cocoapaw volunteered, bouncing around as if he had too much catmint.
    "And you'll probably need me, too," Sunsparkle added, "You guys don't know anything about the territory, and I think I know where they might be."
    "Sounds great!" Brightpaw smiles, "Lets go!"

    The three cats had made it to a pine forest, which seemed brighter than Brightpaw expected. The trees stood tall (well, except the ones that fell over during the earthquake) and the water hadn't come up this high, which was good.
    "Wavefang? Mapleheart?" Sunsparkle called, "Orangeleaf? Mistyfire? Are you guys here?"
    "We're over here!" A she-cat's voice yelled, "And we could really use some help!"
    Cocoapaw bounced ahead of the two, toward the sound of the cat's voice. Sunsparkle was second, looking excited to see that her mate was (probably) safe. Brightpaw trailed behind. I hope nothing's too serious, they thought, speeding up a bit to stay  closer to Sunsparkle.
    They walked into an area where the rubble seemed to have fallen more, which made the spot seem more clear. An orange tom crouched by a gray she-cat, who seemed to be lying by a fallen tree. A different gray she-cat was trying to push the fallen tree with her head, while a reddish cat paced behind the crew. She looked over at them, mainly at Cocoapaw as he kept bouncing.
    "W-Wavefang?!" Sunsparkle yelled, running over to the gray she-cat, "Wavefang, are you okay?!"
    "Yeah, I'm fine," Wavefang sighed, "But I got my paw stuck under this log. I-I don't know if I'll recover."
    Cocoapaw walked up the side of a tree, looking down at the cats as he mewed, "You might wanna save her, Brightpaw!"
    "Why do I have to?" They joked, "You said it first!"
    "I'm not the one that can make myself into a tiger, now am I?" Cocoakit started to run down the pine tree, as he had made it close to the top.
    "Fair point." Brightpaw laughed, walking over to the fallen tree, "Everyone back up!"
    The orange cat leaped away, and Sunsparkle licked  Wavefang's cheek before slowly backing up.
    "Do you think I'll be okay?" Wavefang asked, "My foot, I mean. Do you think I'll be able to stay a warrior?"
    "It can't be that bad," Brightpaw comforted her, "If anything, you'll be a better warrior."
    "If you think so," Wavefang muttered, "How are you gonna push this log, anyway? Not even Mapleheart, the deputy, could do it."
    Brightpaw breathed in calmly, letting themself grow to the size of a bear. They pushed the tree with all their strength, and it rolled backwards. They breathed back out, letting themself become their normal size once again.
    “Y-you did it!” Wavefang exclaimed, trying to stand up, but landing on her face because of her flattened paw, “Thank you!”
    “Well, my job isn’t done until I get you back to OceanClan,” Brightpaw meowed, “Come on, Sunsparkle and I will help you.”
    The cream, white, and ginger she-cat walked over, and stared at Brightpaw’s front foot. She looked down, then looked at her foot. “Y-you have two orange toes. I thought that was a family thing.”
    “I mean, I did have an old family when I lived in LeafClan,” Sunsparkle replied, “Do you know a queen named Rainwish?”
    “Rainwish is my mother!” Brightpaw exclaimed, “And that means we’re siblings!”
    Sunsparkle smiled, it looked like that was the best thing she’s heard all day, “Yeah, I guess we are!”

HAZELSTRIPE'S POV

"Is your name Hazelstripe?" An orange, brown, and white splotched she-cat pads over to her, confidence in each step.
"Yes, and yours? Hazelstripe raises her chin.
The she-cat is just a bit shorter than her, making it easy to look over her with her chin up like this.
"Honeybird," the she-cat raises her chin a bit, "and I believe you are my sister."
Hazelstripe laughs, "I'm sorry, what?"
"I'm your sister," Honeybird repeats, "I'm your sister that went missing when we were three moons old."
"Neither of my sisters went missing at three moons old," Hazelstripe turned away, "Ashkit died at birth and Honeykit died during a fight just outside of the territory, it killed my father too."
"A fight with who?" Honey rolled her eyes.
"My father and sister died in a battle against a group of rogues and nothing you say can change that!" Hazelstripe shouts.
Would this insensitive cat keep asking about her father and sisters death? Would she keep bringing up the aching memories? Hazelstripe growls to herself.
"No," Honeybird growls, "our father died in that battle. They took me and left me in old Oceanclan territory where my parents; Amberbeach and Blacksand found me and the others."
"Sure," Hazelstripe laughs, "alright."
She turns and begins walking away.
"I'm telling the truth!" Honeybird yells.
If she ever brings them up again- Hazelstripe chuckles and flexes her claws, there'll be some problems.

BRIGHTPAWS POV

Brightpaw had taken Wavefang to the OceanClan medicine cat, Frostherb. Of course, there were all the OceanClan cats and prophecy cats were gathered. They weren’t there, though. They were where they had found the OceanClan cats were, in a cave system.
    They had checked all the spots that cats would be hiding in, but all they saw was Seastar and Froststar sitting by the water. The two leaders were talking, and as much as Brightpaw wanted to hear what they were saying, they decided to swim back to the other cliff, to check on how Wavefang and her sister were doing.

CEADERSTRIPES POV

"Thanks!" Gingerpaw runs off to find his mentor as soon as they get to the other side of the water.
"No problem," Ceaderstripe laughs.
Ceaderstripe looks to the other side of the water where Seastar and Froststar are splashing into the water side by side. She scans the cave and sees that nobody is left except Brightpaw searching the cave, she asumes.