Light filtered through the clear, sparkling green water as Crowfeather pushed his way through. Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? He couldn't swim very well, but Chasm said this was the only way out. Maybe he lied. Maybe he's just trying to get us killed. He pushed himself to the surface for air, then dove back down again, following Chasm. Leafpool swam right behind him. She couldn't swim well, either.
They all came up for air one last time. They were all the way across the vast lake by now, and Crowfeather's muscles were aching, his heart pounding. "Okay," Chasm said, "Take a few last breaths. We're going in a tunnel. It's completely filled with water, so there won't be any breathing for awhile."
This mouse-brain acts like this is perfectly normal, Crowfeather thought. He says "There won't be any breathing for awhile" as if that is perfectly ok and nothing to worry about. He's absolutely crazy. I must be mouse-brained to listen to him.
They all took a last gulp of air, then dove down and followed Chasm, swimming into a tunnel. Great. I can't see and I can't breathe. It was completely dark in the tunnel, and like Chasm had said, it was completely underwater. It seemed to go on and on for the forest cats. Crowfeather felt like they'd been in there for hours, although it hadn't even been a minute yet. His lungs felt like they were bursting. I'd probably be seeing black dots by now, but it's too dark to even see imaginary dots. He found himself panicking and began to kick, propelling himself upward, as if there were a surface he could break from and catch his breath. Instead of open air, the top of his head met solid rock. He slowly lost consciousness.
When he awoke, it was only a few seconds later, and Leafpool was pulling him onto land. "Thank goodness you're alive!" she said when she saw that he was awake. "I guess I saved your life now."
"Thanks," he coughed, spitting out water.
"You should have held on for just another couple of seconds," Chasm said. "We were almost out of the tunnel."
"As if I can help blacking out!" Crowfeather snapped.
Chasm didn't seemed bothered by his remark. The hairless cat simply shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just glad you're okay."
Crowfeather looked around. They were in a small, dark room, lit with only one hole in the ceiling. There was a small pond of green water here, and the three cats were sitting on a tiny island. Crowfeather saw no way out.
"Um, are you sure we're in the right place, mousebrain?" he asked.
"What's a mouse?" Chasm asked.
"Forget it. Just tell me what's going on."
"This is the right way," he said. "Just be patient."
Crowfeather growled but didn't say any more.
Chasm looked around the room. "Now if I do remember correctly… we should be very close to it now…"
"Close to what?" Leafpool asked. "An exit?"
"No, the map."
"What's a map?" Leafpool asked.
"It shows where you are and where things are at, and how to get somewhere you need to be. That's the best I can explain it, you'll just have to see it for yourself. Okay, follow me." With that, he jumped into the water again, swimming straight down.
Oh great, Crowfeather thought. More swimming. He followed, though, and so did Leafpool. What else could they do? They swam straight down this time until they got to the bottom of the underground pond, where they entered another tunnel. This one was much shorter, to Crowfeather's relief. To his terror, the water was pushing them forward and when they came out the other side of the tunnel, they were sent hurtling down a waterfall.
Crowfeather and Leafpool twisted and turned as they fell over the rushing torrent, but the cave cat seemed to have his balance perfect in an instant. Two smacks and one gentle splash echoed in the cavern as the three cats landed in the river below. They crawled out of the river onto stone, the medicine cat and Windclan warrior both feeling cold, wet, and exhausted. "Please," Leafpool panted to Chasm. "Let us rest."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Chasm said. "I forgot that you forest cats weren't used to this kind of thing. While you rest, I'm going to go hunting for bats." The strange cat disappeared into a small cave in the side of the wall, and Leafpool and Crowfeather were left alone.
"So, how did you fake your death?" Leafpool asked. When he was silent, she continued, "You told me you faked your death so you could escape all your regrets and responsibilities in Windclan."
"We were on a patrol, down by the lake. I pretended to fall in and drown."
"That would be pretty clumsy of you." Leafpool purred. "What kind of cat just falls into a lake and drowns?"
"It was a pretty dumb plan," Crowfeather agreed. "I don't think they believed it at first, but I snuck out of the lake when they weren't looking, and hid in a bush. I followed them back to camp secretly. Everyone was saying they thought I hadn't drowned, but run away with you again. So I faked an omen. I put a bloody crow feather where the medicine cat would find it, and they all took it to mean I was dead."
"You pretended to drown, and you came close to drowning for real today," Leafpool said. "Kind of funny."
"Funny?" he growled. "How is it funny that I nearly drowned today?"
Leafpool stopped purring. "I didn't mean funny, I meant… weird. You're lucky I was there to drag you out in time."
"Yeah," he said. They were both silent for a while.
Chasm came back with three bats in his mouth, and dropped one in front of each of them. "Enjoy!"
"Ugh," Crowfeather said, poking at it with his paw. "That's disgusting."
"Just try it," Leafpool said. "Chasm's been so helpful to us. Besides, it's just like a mouse, but with wings."
"Sure," Crowfeather said. He pushed his share into the river and watched it float away.
"Hey!" Chasm said. "Don't waste perfectly good prey!"
"Don't mind him. It's good," Leafpool lied. She felt like pushing hers into the river, too, but she forced herself to be polite.
When they were done, they followed Chasm into another cave in the wall, where they wandered in a labyrinth of tunnels, finally entering a medium sized room of pointed rocks. A huge, carved diagram took up an entire wall of the cave, showing all of the cavern's tunnels, lakes, holes, and most importantly, exits. "This, my friends, is a map," Chasm said. "And this is what will help us find a way out."
"Now we're getting somewhere," Crowfeather said.
