Heyo fellow readers! Welcome back to another chapter of Oceanclaw's Past. Last chapter we found out about our main character, Pearl. But I have to warn you, this chapter gets kinda sad. So.. sorry about that.

Keep in mind that some of the characters will be my own, and some will be from the original series. (All characters are OCs in this chapter)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Warriors series. It belongs to Erin Hunter.

Please enjoy! 'o'

~~~~~Chapter 2~~~~~~

Pearl woke with a start as she heard a loud crash. She stood up and looked around, flicking her ears. Once she heard nothing else other than silence, she decided it was just her imagination, and layed back down. She once again rested her head on Finn's, but was interrupted by a sudden light shining over her.

What in the-? Is it morning already? Pearl thought to herself. She looked at one of the broken windows and saw that it was still dark. Wait.. broken windows? Pearl glanced up and arched her back. Neck fur bristling, she meowed into the darkness.

"M-m-mother.. Father!" Pearl screeched. A twoleg had broken into the house! It was carrying some sort of thing that can make light, and it was shining it on the family of sleeping cats. "Wake up! Wake up!" Pearl kept yowling at her parents. She went over to Finn and shook him. He didn't stir.

"Finn! Finn!" Pearl kept shaking him. "Finn! Twoleg!" When Pearl shouted this, Finn blinked open his eyes.

"Huh? What?"

"Pearl? What's going-" Ocean had woken up. Her fur instantly fluffed up at the sight of the unknown twoleg. Sea was right at her side, hissing and unsheathing his claws. The twoleg started moving forward.

"Pearl! Finn! Move it!" Sea had yelled. Finn was wide awake now.

"Wait? A twoleg! Is it-" Finn started. Pearl was pushing him away from the twoleg, it's paws reached out now.

"Finn! Go!" Pearl hollered at the stunned orange cat. The kits started to run, moving as fast as their paws could go. Right next to them, their parents were running as well. Pearl heard the twoleg's steps as they started to move faster, and then heard it say something. That's when Finn was dragged backwards. He yowled and squealed as twoleg paws grabbed him from behind. Pearl looked beside her shock. Finn was being taken away! Pearl then saw her father dart behind her. He had lunged at one of the twoleg's legs, digging his claws and teeth into it. The twoleg yelped, but didn't let go of Finn.

"Pearl!" Pearl heard Ocean call for her. She then felt teeth in her scruff, and looked up at her mother. Ocean started carrying Pearl away from her father and the twoleg. She saw the twoleg trying to kick Sea off, and saw that Finn was trying to scrabble out of it's grip.

"Wait! Mom!" Pearl was straining to catch Ocean's eye. "What about dad and Finn?"

"They'll catch up with us! Right now, we need to get you out of this house!" Ocean meowed through Pearl's pelt. Ocean had raced around the stacked pillows and leaped a great length out of an open window. She and Pearl landed on the soft ground outside of the house, and rushed into a cluster of ferns. Pearl felt wind whisking through her fur as they ran through more branches and bushes, leaves hitting her paws and face at every turn. Ocean then started coming to a stop in a small clearing. She dropped Pearl on the ground and looked around, sniffing for any signs of danger. While she searched the air, Pearl sat on the ground thinking to herself.

What happened? Why did it happen? What is a twoleg doing near the ocean? Was that the twoleg that abandoned us so many night-falls ago? Pearl kept asking herself the same questions over and over again. But she asked herself one question that worried her more than the others. Will Finn be okay?

Of course Pearl worried about her father, but Finn was actually being held by a twoleg. A twoleg! Pearl could still remember the screeches and caterwauls made by Finn, her father putting all his strength and wits together to get his son back.

"Pearl? Are you okay?" Pearl had been so focused in her thoughts, she didn't realize her mother coming up behind her. She twisted her head around.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But I don't know if dad and Finn are." her ears drooped and she looked down at her paws.

"I'm sure your father will be fine. He is a strong cat, and he will save Finn. Believe in him, Pearl." Ocean pressed her nose to Pearl's muzzle.

"I'm trying to believe, but I just don't know… Did you see the size of that twoleg? And that thing he was carrying.. It looked dangerous.." Pearl shook off Ocean and looked at her with sadness in her eyes. Ocean blinked sympathetically at Pearl.

"I know how you feel Pearl. Sometimes, we have our doubts, and it's okay. But we need to believe that it will work. If we don't believe, it won't work at all." Ocean had curled her hail around Pearl and pulled her close. Pearl looked up her mother, both of them sharing a glance of melancholy. Suddenly, Pearl heard the bushes rustling. Ocean stood up with her tail still around Pearl, her fur bristling and her claws unsheathed. The bushes shook even more, and Sea jumped out. He was limping, and his tail was so close to the ground it was almost dragging. There was no sign of an orange pelt anywhere.

"Sea!" Ocean bounded over to the dark greenish pelted tom and presses her nose to his ear. "Where's Finn?" Pearl's mother looked behind Sea, expecting to see the small kit bouncing after his father. Sea looked at Ocean, his eyes filled with grief. Pearl felt icy claws gripping her stomach. Hadn't her father saved Finn? Sea sighed heavily.

"I-I'm sorry.. I-I-... I couldn't-... He's gone… Finn is gone.."


A soft wind blew through branches, shaking them and causing them to drop dried up leaves. Thickets crackled, and a few pieces of gorse had been picked up in the breeze. They flew past Pearl, who was tracing spirals in the ground. It has been two sunrises since Finn was taken, and Sea, Ocean and Pearl had sheltered in a small tree stump. It stunk of rotten mouse, and Pearl figured that it used to be a prey store for a fox once. She was hoping that they could move to a better shelter soon. That's when Pearl heart crinkling upon the briers. She crouched down low and started stalking towards the sound. She squinted her eyes, and caught a glimpse of a mouse chewing on a berry. Pearl smirked.

This mouse is mine! She crouched down a little further and got about ready to pounce, when suddenly, her tail brushed against the floor. It caused a leaf to move slightly, and the mouse quickly perked up. It left it's berry and sprinted out of the briers. Pearl struck a paw out, barely grazing the mouse's tail, but it had already gotten away. Pearl cursed silently to herself and reached into where the mouse was eating. She had managed to grab the berry, and she looked at it in interest. Out of curiosity, she popped into into her mouth, only for it to be spat out again. It tasted bitter, and Pearl rasped her tongue over her chest fur, hoping to get the taste out of her mouth. After somewhat getting the berry's flavor off her tongue, she starting padding back to the tree stump.

Pearl poked her head inside the stump, her nose filling up with the rotten smell of mouse. But she also scented something else. Her mother, and sadness. Pearl padded into the stump, and surely enough, Ocean was in the corner lying down. Pearl slowly made her way to her mother and sat down next to her. Ocean hadn't acknowledged that she heard Pearl come up to her, and Pearl thought that she had fallen asleep. That was until Ocean spoke, her voice cracked with anguish.

"Do you remember how Finn asked so many questions? We would have run out of answers by now.." Ocean hadn't turned around when she said this, as if she were afraid of meeting Pearl's eye. "He also-.. He also always wanted to go hunting with me and your father.. But that.." Ocean stopped talking for a moment.

"Mother.." Pearl started.

"But that never happened!" Ocean wailed in agony. She faced Pearl, her eyes filled with heartbreak. Pearl couldn't stand seeing her mother like this. She had to comfort her in some way, but how? There was no way she could bring Finn back, right? Pearl curled up next to her Ocean, brushing her pelt against hers.

"Hey.. it's going to be okay mother. Finn will always be in our hearts." Pearl stroked her mother's back with her tail. "Everything is alright.."

"Oh Finn.." Ocean pushed her head into her paws.

"Well.. maybe Finn is still alive! In fact, we could probably go save him right now!" Pearl had hopped to her paws. "When father gets back from hunting, we can ask him if he can help us find him!" she prodded Ocean with a paw. Pearl expected Ocean to lighten up at this idea, but instead, Ocean hadn't said anything.

"Mother?" Pearl mewed to Ocean. The room was filled with silence.

"Pearl.." Pearl's mother had finally meowed after a couple of heartbeats. Pearl straightened up. "That.. is the most ridiculous idea I have ever heard of." Pearl's sudden hope had washed away like a leaf stuck in a stream.

"But mom-"

"Pearl. Have you seen what that twoleg was capable of? It can hold balls of light, and it can break windows without it's paws! Have you seen them? They would have been bleeding!" Ocean snapped. "Uhg.. you sound just like your brother.." Pearl's eyes widened at the last part. One heartbeat ago, Pearl's mother was meowing about how much she missed Finn, and now she was talking like he was a disgrace to her family.

She's probably just having a hard time. I should leave her alone.. Pearl thought to herself. Her tail drooped, and she padded away from Ocean. She was then stopped by her father, who had just came into the tree stump with two thrushes and a pheasant. Pearl stared in amazement at Sea's catches. Sea's eyes sparked with pride, only for them to be replaced by concern when he looked up to see Ocean in the corner. He strided over to her and dropped a thrush.

"Here Ocean.. Get better okay?" Sea mewed out of the side of his mouth. Ocean didn't respond, and Sea took that as a sign to leave. He padded back over to Pearl and dropped his pheasant. "Enjoy." he meowed.

"Thanks." Pearl replied. She took the pheasant in her jaws and walked over to the corner that was not occupied by her mother. She started to pick the feathers off her prey. As she bit into it, she thought about telling her father about her plan. But she then remembered how her mother reacted, and her father would be an even harder obstacle because of how he had already failed saving one of his kits. Pearl thought on her idea more.

Maybe going after Finn isn't such a good idea. Mother could be right.. Finn is probably dead as we speak.. Pearl curled her tail closer to her side and started taking smaller bites of the pheasant. Her claws suddenly dug into the ground. No.. Pearl bared her teeth.

No! I have to find Finn! I just have to! He would have done the same for me.. Pearl continued to eat her Pheasant in slow bites. She didn't want to eat it too fast, otherwise she would get a stomach ache and not be able to venture out in the night to find Finn.


Just as both of her parents fell asleep, Pearl slipped out of the tree stump and ran out into the brambles. She struggled through them as they scratched her pelt, and she was relieved when she came to the end of them. Her tail got stuck on one of the brambles and she pulled it out, feeling some of her fur being torn off. She held back a mewl of pain and pulled her tail close to her to lick it. Once she was done, she sat up and looked around in wonder.

Wow.. I haven't been to this part of the forest yet.. Pearl's eyes widened as she saw the stars above her. Her parents would never let her out at night, so this was one of the first times she's seen the stars so close up. Pearl felt a cool breeze blowing through her whiskers, and she felt the sudden urge to run. She flexed out her legs and sprinted through the undergrowth. She rushed past gorse thickets and marigold plants, stepping over broken twigs and large branches.

She then came across a huge log. She narrowed her eyes and increased her speed. She was a few fox lengths away from the log and she felt her paws itching to leap it. She was going so fast she felt like she was flying, and that her paws could take her anywhere. The log was nearing, and Pearl's limbs were growing tired.

Come on legs! Pearl forced her hind legs to keep going, and saw the log a few tail lengths away. She ran faster and faster, her head spinning. Then when she saw the log was a few whiskers from her face, she leaped. At first, Pearl was in midair. She thought that her paws really were taking her somewhere, as though she were flying like a bird. Then, her paws hit the ground. The force had taken her aback, and she felt her legs go limp beneath her. She landed on her face, tail over whiskers, and started rolling.

Rolling!? Pearl tried opening her eyes, but dirt had gotten in them, and she was blinded. She was tumbling downhill, her paws flailing everywhere and her fur being torn at by pointy sticks that got in the way. At that moment, Pearl thought that it would never never stop. She thought the pain of rolling down a hill would be endless, and that she would die of her scratches. Then, she thought she was heading towards a cliff. I never even got to say goodbye to mom and dad! I never got to save Finn! Wait.. Finn! Pearl had forgotten all about finding her brother, and the reason she even came out into the forest. She had to find Finn. Still rolling, Pearl unsheathed her claws and forced her paws to come down. Her claws hooked the grass, and she landed on her stomach. Her claws scraped the ground, trying to find something to grip on. Finally, Pearl blinked the dirt out of her eyes and had spotted a rock jutting out of the ground just below her. She took one of her paws and held it out, waiting for the rock to pass by. Her paw suddenly hit the rock, and her claws quickly got a hold of it. With her body aching, she had barely managed to haul herself up on lot the rock. She panted, her claws hurting after the effort of trying to find something to grasp. Pearl looked over the edge of the rock, and her tail shot straight up. There was, indeed, a small gully at the end of the hill. Pearl's ears went flat as she imagined herself tumbling down into the gully, hitting rocks and sharp edges on her way down. She could just see herself lying at the bottom, lifeless and unmoving. She shivered and pushed those dark thoughts away. She had to focus on finding Finn. Pearl looked up and saw a trail of rocks leading back up to where the log was. In a blink of an eye, Pearl started making her way up the rocks. Pawstep after pawstep, Pearl had finally reached the top. Her legs and paws were sore after the running and climbing, and parts of her pelt have been torn off by pointed stems and twigs. She ignored this and started trekking off, trying to pretend nothing happened.

But how can I forget that? I almost died..

Pearl padded through a set of ferns and stood on a dislodged branch when she got to the other side. She was exhausted, and she didn't know if she could cope for much longer.

What if mom was right? Maybe this was a ridiculous idea.. Pearl hung her head and sat on her haunches. She started rasping her tongue over the parts of her pelt she had lost. While licking her chest fur, Pearl couldn't help but glance up. There was something glowing in the distance, something orange and a mixture of yellow. Pearl stopped grooming and stood up, getting a waft of the air. It smelled of burned wood and something else that Pearl could not describe. It was really strong, so it must have been close. Pearl slowly started stalking towards the scent, being careful not to break any loose brambles on the ground. As Pearl got closer, the smell got stronger and stronger, and Pearl had to wrinkle up her nose. Then she heard something move in the brambles. Pearl couldn't smell mouse or vole, and she was getting nervous. The smell she couldn't describe was closest, and she was wondering if it was even another animal. The brambles had shaken even more, and Pearl backed away. The brambles were finally pushed aside, tension sparking throughout Pearl. Fear then sparked in Pearl's pelt.

Badger!

E/N: Ooo, cliffhanger! I was originally going to put more in this chapter, but I thought it would be cool to put a cliffhanger. Heheh... So, thanks for reading and please review! Bye bye!