CHAPTER ONE
It was quiet. Not deathly quiet, or suddenly quiet, but quiet like everything's on mute. You can sense sound, but it's like you're not allowing yourself to fully realize it, or let it invade your brain. I wanted to remain like that forever, but slowly, the sensation faded, replaced by a gentle roar, the sound water makes as it crashes against something, and the call of seabirds up ahead.
Groggily, I raised my head and blinked sand out of my eyes. Where am I?
I didn't remember much. Water. Swimming. Screaming. My brother yelling at me not to go out too far. A fin, not pointed enough to be a shark's, but scary just the same, coming towards me. The impact of hard rubbery skin on mine. Then, blackness.
"Hello?" I croaked. My voice came out sounding like someone coated the inside of my mouth with sand, which, come to think of it, is what it felt like too. I tried out my feet, and found that they'd been replaced by sticks of rubber. Still, I managed to stand, and look around myself. As soon as I took in my surroundings, I knew I wasn't home, or anywhere near it. This... This was completely exotic. And unknown.
A sandy stretch of beach extended further on either side of me, vanishing around a bend. In front of me, azule water lapped at the shore tamely, as if it could never whip up a storm big enough to swallow up a poor, defenseless apprentice and deposit her here. Well, now I knew better. Dumb sea.
Turning, I found on my other side a large, imposing forest, composed of tall trees with long, dark green leaves. A splash of colorful fruit dotted the canopy here and there, but it was all unfamiliar to me.
"Okay," I said aloud, to convince myself that I wasn't hallucinating out of dehydration. "My name is Rainpaw. I am an apprentice of ShoreClan. I stupidly refused to listen to my brother Tideclaw's warning - because he's such a know-it-all now that he's deputy, but still - and now I'm stranded on what appears to be some deserted island." According to most people's standards, this wasn't good. Especially since I had no idea where to find good drinking water, and I was about to die of thirst.
Frantically, I racked my brains for every tidbit of information I had ever been taught about strange places, which wasn't much. We covered a lot of things in apprentice training, but survival was the smallest portion, since most of us figured we'd always have the Clan to take care of us. I don't think anyone could've dreamed this up.
The constant sound of water in the background reminded me again how thirsty I was. Yes, I was hungry too, but my belly could wait. Right now, my main goal was to find water.
Common sense told me that I would most likely find a pond or stream further inland, hidden in a shady grove of trees or the like. So I began walking, fighting back dizziness and waves of seasickness. White spots danced in front of my vision as a result of the sun's glare, and I was relieved to step into the cooling darkness of the jungle.
Keeping my distance from strange-looking plants that had the potential to be toxic, I sniffed the air, desperately waiting for any trace of life-giving liquid. Nothing. Swallowing hard, I licked my lips with what little saliva I had left and prayed desperately to StarClan, begging that I would find water soon. There was no response, save the rustle of the branches, and strange hoots and tweets in the distance.
As I looked about, I noticed the incredibly strange flora and fauna here. A spotted green-and-gold lizard lay on a broad leaf that was rimmed with purple, and a ginormous butterfly extended pale rose-colored wings over an even bigger neon yellow hibiscus. To say it was odd would be the biggest understatement of the year. This was extraordinary. And yet, despite all the seemingly beautiful nature, a dark aura hung in the air. I shuddered as the full impact of my situation suddenly hit me. I was trapped, thirsty, and stranded on this strange island. I could very well die a horrible death, and never see my friends or family again. Never become a warrior of ShoreClan. All because I had been too stupid to listen to my older brother's advice.
Suddenly, a cooling breeze wafted over my nose, renewing my hope. There was no mistaking the moisture in the air. With a shout of happiness, I bounded forward. The next thing I knew, I felt something hard coil around my legs, and I was being yanked into the air.
And there I was, dangling upside down. Yay!
"What in StarClan-" I choked out in a breathy voice. Craning my neck up, I saw that my paws were bound by vines, thick and green- Why were they moving? Are those beady black dots eyes?
I couldn't help it. I screamed.
Snakes have never been my favorite creatures (I doubt they're any cat's), and seeing two coiled around me, suspending me in midair from a tree nearly gave me a heart attack.
"Help!" I screamed, thrashing my paws. The snakes' hold tightened, and I bit my tongue hard to keep from crying out in fear and panic again. Like there was anyone to hear me anyway.
So I'm not going to die of thirst after all. I'm going to slowly suffocate to death.
As I dangled there, I wondered how they would eat me. Swallow me whole? Slowly ingest me? Tear me to bits? Inject me with venom that would paralyze me? The options were gruesomely endless.
Overhead, I heard a raucous cry, and managed to lift my head enough to glimpse two dark black shapes swooping in the skies. I gulped. Vultures were never a good sign.
Just when I had decided that I was going to die within at least fifteen minutes, and I might as well think of happy thoughts, I hear a rustling in the undergrowth. Seconds later, a fluffy reddish creature resembling a squirrel, but with twice the body-fat, came racing out from behind a tree, emitting panicked squeaking noises. I quickly saw the reason why, as a cat came tearing after it, claws outstretched. Since I had nothing better to do till I died, I watched as the tom chased the squirrel-creature around the trunk of a tree, intercepted it, and hooked it into his claws before snapping its neck.
Unable to resist, I called, "Nice catch!"
The tom's head shot up, and he glanced wildly about for several seconds before spotting me. His eyes widened in shock, and partly amusement, which angered me, as he padded over. Didn't he see the state I was in? How dare he laugh!
"Thanks," he said casually, as if talking to a she-cat hanging upside down from a tree was perfectly normal. There was something scrutinizing in his gaze that made me uncomfortable.
"Think you could get me down?" I hissed.
He dropped the piece of prey, whatever it was, and frowned. "You're not from around here, are you?"
"It's an island," I snapped, feeling the blood rushing to my head slowly. "You'd know if I was, I'm guessing. It didn't look that big."
"Right," he said. "And any native would know better then to walk into a nest of tribos."
I blinked at him. "What are those?"
His jaw dropped open, and he shook his head. "Uh... Never mind. Let's get you down, and I can explain later."
"About time," I muttered resentfully. Looking at his sneering face upside down was starting to give me a headache. "I'm Rainpaw, by the way."
"Nice to meet you," he said dryly, fastening his claws to the trunk and making his way up with the skilled grace of someone who's done it many times before. I try not to admire the way he climbed; the few times I'd tried tree-climbing back at ShoreClan territory, I'd spent a whole week in the medicine cat's den.
He paused as he neared the so-called tribos, studying the way they were wrapped around me. I expected another sarcastic comment, but he only pursed his lips, gripped a large limb in his teeth, and stuck it between one of the giant snakes and my body, slowly prying it off me. The snake flicked its red tongue back and forth, almost lazily, as if it wasn't aware it was being pushed and prodded away from its prey with a stick. Except, I knew with a dreadful certainty, that it did know. And that it wouldn't give up without a fight.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I said through gritted teeth.
Annoyingly nonchalant, he shrugged. "You got any better ones?"
I opened my mouth, then closed it with a snap. Because I didn't.
He was my only chance, as much as I hated to admit it.
"You better not let me down."
"You want to stay up there? I thought the whole point of this was to get you down," he said, pushing and shoving at the other snake using the stick.
I was too furious to reply, and besides, the constricting coils were coming up to my chest now, cutting off a part of my air supply. The tom seemed to sense it too, because he doubled his efforts, and then redoubled them. So maybe he does care after all.
Finally, one of the snakes was completely off of me. He blinked his beady eyes, then slithered away, as if deciding we weren't worth the trouble. Before the tom could do any more, the other tribo slunk away too, and I went hurtling towards the earth. I had only time to give a quick gasp before I hit the ground with a bone-breaking thud.
"Uh..." I groaned, wondering why the stupid world was spinning. I was surprised to find that I hadn't been knocked unconscious, and even more surprised to find that my body wasn't splattered over a hundred square miles(not that this island seemed that big).
As I blinked to clear my vision, I became aware of a face above me. The face of a cat.
"Are you okay? That was quite a fall you took," he said, helping me to my paws.
I shook my head to clear it. "Far from it, but I guess for your purposes, I'm okay. Thanks for your help."
"I don't make it a habit of letting she-cats die on my watch," he commented, studying me again with that intense way of his. I felt my pelt prickle.
"Where am I?" I whispered, confusion suddenly rushing in as I swayed on my paws. Oh, how I wished that I would wake up in the apprentice's den any moment now, to Russetpaw and Larkpaw's teasing remarks about how I kicked all night. I wished this could all just be a dream. But it wasn't. And I was just going to have to face that.
Sympathy flickered in his eyes for a second. "You're... It'll take a while to explain. Come on. You might as well meet the others. You're going to be here for a while."
"What do you mean by that?" I froze.
He sat down and stared at me, his ginger pelt rippling over the visible muscles underneath. "Like I said, it'll take a while to explain."
I sighed, knowing I had no choice but to follow him. "Okay. What's your name?"
"Aden," he replied coolly.
I started in surprise. It wasn't the kind of name I usually encountered in the clans. "That's a funny name. Are you a loner?"
"A what?" he blinked. "Never mind. Let's get going." He began to lead me through the forest, stepping over the strange plants like it was no big deal. I tried to follow in his pawsteps and not get tangled up in anything, which was hard, since there were thick blue vines as thick as ropes laying across the floor.
As I walked, once again I felt the dark, oppressing cloud come over me, and I hurried to catch up with Aden, feeling safer around someone who knew their way around.
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. "You okay?"
"Just thirsty," I managed to rasp. That wasn't all; I also felt incredibly weak and light-headed, but I wasn't about to say so.
Nodding, he replied, "Don't worry, our camp is by the lake. You can drink there."
I gave him a weary dip of my head, too numb to do anything else.
Finally, the water I had scented before came into view. A vast expanse of green-blue, surrounded by tall flowers in a rainbow of colors, and reeds that whistled and whispered. Finding a sudden desperate burst of energy, I rushed forward and submerged my entire muzzle into the lake, lapping for dear life. Only when my stomach was so full I knew I couldn't drink any more did I lift my head, droplets still running down my chin. Aden watched me curiously, as if I were a rare specimen in a lab.
Bristling with embarrassment, I said, "So where are those 'others' you spoke of?"
"And by that, I presume you mean us," said a cold voice from behind me. I whirled around to find myself facing a group of five cats, all with hostility in their eyes.
"I guess so," I gulped.
A bold-looking, gorgeous chestnut she-cat stepped out of the group. "Aden, who is she?"
"Yeah," remarked a pudgy black tom. "We don't get newcomers-"
The she-cat elbowed him hard in the gut to cut him off. His eyes grew large. "Hey! What was that for?" Then his eyes fixed on me. "Oh. Do you think it's her?"
"Shut up!" hissed Aden, glancing back and forth from me to the tom, and back again.
"What's going on?" I asked suspiciously.
The glossy chestnut cat didn't bother answer the question. "Sorry about that. I'm Willa, and this is Turby, Sagewhisker, Dragonpaw, and Togat."
I stared at the motley assortment of cats, wondering why some had clan names and some didn't. Before I could ask though, Aden broke in. "This is Rainpaw."
"I could've introduced my self," I shot back. Turning back to them, I mewed, "I know this is a huge favor to ask of any cat, but is there any chance that you guys could help me get off this island and get back home?"
Willa shook her head slowly, her dusky violet-gray eyes solemn. "Oh, honey, did no one tell you?" she asked, shooting a glare at Aden. "Once you get on this island, there's no getting out. No escape."
"You mean..."
"Yes. You're stuck here forever."