Chapter 3: Her Shadow

When Foxy Lady woke up, it was still dark and the bodies of Coralpaw, Sealpaw, and Stripedtail were still dead asleep around her. Her body was stiff, her paws burned, and all the sudden the nest felt very scratchy and thin; she may as well have fallen asleep on the dirt. She tried shifting around to get comfortable again, but nothing was working.

As quietly as she could, Foxy Lady stood from her nest and hesitantly stepped towards the den's exit. She glanced cautiously at the other cats around her, hoping desperately not to wake anyone, namely the irritable Coralpaw. Foxy Lady was relieved when she managed to leave the den without disturbing anyone and felt a surge of pride; she was stealthy enough not to rouse the sleeping wild cats.

Her eyes darted around the shaded clearing and her ears pricked at the still unfamiliar sound of the ocean rocking back and forth nearby. Foxy Lady's tail twitched and she pushed onwards, ignoring the nagging, stinging sensation in her paws. So far, Foxy Lady didn't see any of the hostile cats who'd glared at her earlier, but remained vigilant. Without Sealpaw or Stripedtail there to deflect any negative attention, Foxy Lady felt vulnerable, yet she continued moving forward.

To her relief, Foxy Lady was able to get out of the camp rather easily, making no disturbances and simply walking out without incident. She felt a spike of confidence, allowing herself to stand at her typical height and tail to raise itself in triumph; maybe she stood a chance out here after all.

Foxy Lady grimaced as more of the terrible black stones that shredded her paws came into view. Great chunks of the razer-sharp rock replaced the fine reddish soil quickly after leaving camp and framed the edge of the silvery water before her. There were little black pebbles, too, which were well rounded and were only painful to step on because of her wounds. Foxy Lady's ears pricked and her eyes gleamed in the moonlight as she finally saw the water Sealpaw gushed about on her way to camp. The scent of salt was so strong she could taste it, it assaulted and overtook her senses entirely. Her gaze was trained on the shadowed water and she felt herself trotting to reach it quicker.

More blood leaked out of her paws, the fresh scabs tearing against the smooth stones, but Foxy Lady paid it no mind. She was entranced by the salty water to the point where her injuries may as well not have existed. Though Foxy Lady had never seen this much water before, this felt like a homecoming to her, it felt as though she had once lived beside the massive body of water before and was torn away from it. Joy and curiosity radiated through her, her pelt prickled and her tail curled at the vibrant emotions it evoked.

A thrill ran through Foxy Lady when she finally dipped a paw into the water. Her eyes widened and she hissed in pain, recoiling and drawing her paw out of the water as quickly as she could. It was freezing and her paw felt like it was on fire!

"Put it back in," A voice came from behind Foxy Lady, earning an alarmed yowl from the black she-cat, "With those wounds, it'll hurt at first, but you'll get over it."

Foxy Lady looked behind her, eyes wide, as she took in the familiar form of the nameless mottled tortoiseshell from Risingsun's patrol. The tortoiseshell's cool amber eyes flickered in impatience and she said again, "Go on, put your paw back in, Kittypet, it's not that bad."

Foxy Lady's ears flattened, but she did as she was told and tentatively put her now wet paw back into the massive pool of water, hissing lowly as she did so. Like the first time, it burned, but the tortoiseshell was right and the pain subsided fairly quickly. Though Foxy Lady was facing the water, she could feel the tortoiseshell watching her when she told her, "Now put your other front paw in."

She did as she was told and suppressed a yowl of pain at the cold, salty water washing over her wounds. The water lapped at her legs, drenching her dark fur instantly. Foxy Lady didn't know how to feel about the sensation of being in the water, but she didn't hate it.

"At first, I wasn't sure of what to make of the ocean either, Kittypet, but I learned to love it and you will as well." The tortoiseshell meowed, her expression unreadable.

Foxy Lady felt a sudden surge of irritation surge through her. "My name is not Kittypet and I'm not staying here!" She snarled, fur bristling and green eyes flashing at the strange she-cat.

The tortoiseshell did not appear phased in the slightest by her little outburst and responded softly, yet firmly. "Your name is ridiculous, never before have I met a kittypet with such a terrible name and I cannot say it with a straight face. And if you don't stay here, where will you go? You don't seem too keen on returning to your twolegs, and judging on how poorly you fared before meeting Sealpaw, you don't seem to have survival skills.

"Despite how Tinystar acted earlier, he won't turn away a cat who can't defend itself whether we're at war or not. Tomorrow, Tinystar will probably initiate you into ReefClan, give you a proper name, and assign you to a mentor who will teach you to embrace the ocean and all it has to offer us. In turn for your training and wellbeing, you will find a way to service ReefClan until you either die or retire with the elders. You will learn respect and discipline with ReefClan and eventually pass those traits down to the younger generations. Though you cannot physically create kits, you can very much influence the kits of other ReefClan members to form them into great warriors.

"Even if it turns out that you cannot be a warrior, you will still be able to find a place in ReefClan where you can help existing warriors and shape young kits into formidable warriors with good morals. Tinystar knows this, his judgement has simply been clouded lately by MistClan. He will come around, Kittypet." The tortoiseshell finished, her voice sharp and crisp as she spoke, amber eyes glinting with resolve.

Foxy Lady was impressed with herself when she kept a confident stance and bravely raised her head to meet the larger cat's eye-level. "I can tell Tinystar that I don't want to stay here-"

"But where would you go?" The tortoiseshell interrupted.

Foxy Lady backed out of the water and turned to face the familiar stranger before her. "It doesn't matter, I'll find something."

The tortoiseshell snorted rudely at Foxy Lady, "That's not good enough. You're a young she-cat, no more than seven or eight moons old, Tinystar won't let such a young, ignorant cat go out alone into the world with no plan and no skills to speak of. It would be incredibly irresponsible."

"How do you know?" Foxy Lady questioned, some of her boldness receding.

"I wasn't born into this clan, I was a kittypet like you. I got lost, couldn't find my way home, and was on the brink of starvation when ReefClan found me. I was terrified, I didn't want to go with them, but they made me. They fed me, named me, trained me, and taught me everything. I never wanted their help, I wanted to leave like you and find my twolegs again, but Tinystar prohibited me from leaving and I am forever grateful for his actions. When I became a warrior, Tinystar gave me the option to leave if I wanted to and I willingly chose to stay. I have confidence that if you are fully trained, Tinystar will give you the same option he gave me." The tortoiseshell told Foxy Lady, her tone softening as she spoke.

Her words made Foxy Lady relax a little. If the tortoiseshell wasn't lying, she wasn't completely opposed to going along with what ReefClan wanted from her; training here could only help her.

"What was your name?" Foxy Lady asked.

"My name is Longshadow," she replied coolly, blinking slowly at Foxy Lady.

Foxy Lady tilted her head, "Your housefolk called you Longshadow?"

A fierce look overtook the tortoiseshell, Longshadow, her fur bristling for a moment before she responded. "No." Longshadow, said curtly, her tone leaving no room for further discussion.

Foxy Lady shifted uncomfortably under Longshadow's gaze. "Oh."

"Why are you out here?" Longshadow asked after a brief period of silence.

"I couldn't sleep." Foxy Lady responded simply.

Longshadow flicked her tail, "Fair enough. These nests take some getting used to. Give it a moon or so and you'll sleep nicely."

"And why are you out here? Did I wake you?" Foxy Lady questioned.

"I'm the tidal guard tonight."

"Tidal guard?" Foxy Lady echoed, curiosity reaching back into her voice.

Longshadow nodded, "A tidal guard is stationed out here each night and is charged with watching the tide. If the water displays any strange behavior or reaches up to a tail-length from camp, I have to go and alert the camp so we can evacuate it."

Foxy Lady's eyes widened, "The water can really reach all the way to camp?"

A look of amusement crossed Longshadow's expression, betrayed only by the erratic twitching of her whiskers as she struggled to remain serious-looking. "Yes, the sea is capable of reaching very far inland, once it even reached the base of MistClan's highland territory. Once the ocean decides it wants to move inland, things move quickly, so even if it's just the subtlest sign of something being off with the water, it is the duty of the tidal guard to alert the clan. It is a very important job."

Foxy Lady glanced behind her at the water anxiously, "Does that happen often?"

"No, hardly at all actually. I've lived here since I was eight moons old and I've never witnessed one of the great waves. Even the elders haven't lived to see one, it is merely information that older generations have passed down." The tortoiseshell reassured the younger cat.

"Well how do you know if the water's going to come inland?" Foxy Lady asked, still worriedly watching the ocean as though she expected to be swallowed up by the little waves at any moment.

"I was taught to watch for the shoreline to recede so far back that coral is exposed, listen for any roaring sounds, and to feel for any ground shaking. If I notice any of that, I will have to run back to camp as fast as I can to wake everyone up and get to higher grounds. ReefClan has a piece of territory near the MistClan border that the water can't climb, it's far away, but it's still something." Longshadow responded.

At this, Foxy Lady relaxed a little. The ground was still, the ocean was calm, and the only thing that could be heard was the gentle rocking of the water. "The water is still dangerous though," Longshadow told her, "Even when it's not trying to leap up shore, you need to exercise caution when interacting with it."

Foxy Lady merely nodded at the tortoiseshell cat. At her lack of questioning, Longshadow went on, "How about you stay out here with me, Kittypet. You're probably going to end up staying here longer than you think, might as well get you used to watching the ocean."

"Oh… okay." Foxy Lady mumbled, hesitantly sitting beside the older cat to face the open ocean.

The two stayed there, side by side in silence, until dawn broke over the seemingly endless ocean's horizon. A ginger she-cat padded up to Longshadow, giving Foxy Lady a brief questioning look before nodding to Longshadow. The tortoiseshell she-cat nodded back at the new cat, "Good morning, Geckostripe."

The ginger cat, Geckostripe, returned the pleasantry and settled herself near the water to watch the tide for the day. Foxy Lady was grateful when Longshadow finally decided to go back to camp and followed her. Though she was facing towards Longshadow, Foxy Lady could feel Geckostripe watching her and fought the urge to run away from the strange cat's attention.

XxXxX

A large, fluffy blue-gray tom was waiting with Tinystar when Foxy Lady and Longshadow came back. Both sets of eyes were on Foxy Lady when Tinystar spoke, "What is the kittypet doing with you, Longshadow?"

Longshadow calmly blinked at her leader, "She happened to stumble upon me while I was standing guard, so I taught her about being a tidal guard and had her practice with me."

"You do know she's not going to stay, why are you wasting your time?" The blue-gray tom asked, watching her with an odd expression.

She watched him evenly. "It's only fair that a young cat with no idea of how to survive on her own at least knows about the threats the ocean can present, Dolphintooth. I couldn't send her back to Stripedtail's den in good conscious," Longshadow shifted her gaze from the big fluffy tom to Tinystar, "don't forget, I've been in her position, too."

Tinystar gave Longshadow a look of warning, his thick pelt bristling at his warrior. "I see what you're doing, Longshadow, and you know it won't work. Your situation is different from this kittypet's. You never saw the cutter. You never lost your ability to yield kits or use your claws. We already have Sealpaw, another medicine cat's apprentice is not needed here and she couldn't possibly be a warrior or a queen, you know that, Longshadow, don't act like I'm a monster for turning a kittypet away who can't offer us anything in turn during these tense times."

Foxy Lady looked at her paws, uncomfortable at the conversation between the three wild cats. She felt as though she ought to leave, but couldn't. The three cats didn't appear to notice the small aggregation of ReefClan members beginning to watch and mutter to each other either.

Longshadow flattened her ears and her tail lashed behind her, finally looking agitated at her leader's words. "Let me prove you wrong. The kittypet can be a warrior, I guarantee it. Let me mentor her, if I can teach her to hunt and fight without claws then there is no reason why she can't stay! With MistClan being so aggressive, how can we turn any cat away, Tinystar?"

Tinystar's glare was murderous, "No. This kittypet will never, ever be in my clan, is that understood, Longshadow?"

Longshadow met his glare with her own, but said nothing and merely turned around, leaving Foxy Lady with an angry Tinystar. The young black she-cat skittishly moved away from the tom, "Um, I'm going to find Stripedtail now."

Tinystar simply twitched his whiskers in irritation and muttered something to the blue-gray tom, Dolphintooth, before stiffly stalking away without giving Foxy Lady another glance. Pelt bristling uncomfortably, Foxy Lady was relieved to see Sealpaw watching on with concern by the medicine den. She increased her pace at the sight of the gray and white she-cat, anxiously glancing around at the other cats she had yet to meet as though expecting them to pounce on her at any moment.

She let out a deep breath when she reached Sealpaw. "Where were you last night?" Sealpaw hissed quietly, ushering her inside.

"I couldn't sleep so I went to find the water and ran into Longshadow. I wanted to come back earlier, but she wouldn't let me." Foxy Lady told her.

Sealpaw lashed her tail harshly, "You shouldn't have left like that! When I woke up and saw you weren't there I was so worried! I mean, Stripedtail told me not to worry and that you were probably fine, but still! Don't do that again!"

The thought of Sealpaw, a cat she knew for less than two days, being concerned about her made Foxy Lady rather uncomfortable, but she didn't voice her discomforts. Instead, she simply nodded her head in agreement and assured her, "I won't."

Sealpaw looked curiously out at the clearing, then looked back at Foxy Lady. "They always bicker and fight," she reassured, "Longshadow and Tinystar always feel like they know best and really whenever they're around each other they end up snapping at one another. I'm pretty sure Longshadow wishes she was leader instead so she could boss Tinystar around for once." Sealpaw seemed amused as she finished speaking, putting Foxy Lady at ease.

Perhaps the altercation between them really wasn't that big of a deal.

XxXxX

The poultices on Foxy Lady's paws, even covered in the thick, bulky leaves Stripedtail had provided, were sticky and seemed determined to pick up as much dirt as possible and leave no pebbles or small leaves behind. Foxy Lady wasn't about to complain though, as she followed Sealpaw quietly through the dry, hot, kiawe forest by the sea. She nearly hadn't followed Sealpaw when she invited her on a tour of the area, as Tinystar seemed to dislike her enough already without her and Sealpaw leaving camp without a warrior escort, but Sealpaw seemed so excited about it that she couldn't bring herself to tell her no. Sealpaw didn't seem concerned, despite being scolded just yesterday for doing the same thing.

She walked with a bounce to herself, wriggling excitedly as she pointed out landmarks to Foxy Lady that she knew she'd forget shortly after seeing. The light gray and white apprentice animatedly pointed out a particularly mangled, leaf-less kiawe tree, "That's Dead Tree, the elders say it was the only tree here still standing from the last great wave that hit here long ago! We use that as a landmark to remind warriors that you're more likely to run into twolegs after passing it."

"Twolegs? Why would they be here?" Foxy Lady asked, suddenly paranoid that her housefolk would pick her up off the ground and take her away again at any second.

"Don't worry about it, they usually don't come this far. Normally, they just play in the ocean by the Smoothstone and pay their respects. Even when they do see us, they don't tend to bother us." Sealpaw told her.

"What's the Smoothstone?"

"Oh! The Smoothstone is a white, smooth rock that points to the sky, us ReefClan cats use it to speak to our ancestors."

Foxy Lady gave Sealpaw an odd look, "You think you can talk to dead stuff?"

The young she-cat seemed offended at Foxy Lady's lack of knowledge on the subject, some of her excitement visibly waning. "Of course we can! Every half-moon, Stripedtail and I spend the night here to speak with our ancestors through our dreams. I mean, supposedly our ancestors, StarClan warriors, can take on corporeal forms outside of dreams, but it's never happened to me or to Stripedtail. Our ancestors give us prophecies, warnings, messages to pass on to other cats in ReefClan… lots of important things." She glanced fondly in the supposed direction of the Smoothstone, "The Smoothstone is vital to keeping our connection with our ancestors alive. MistClan and PlumeClan have ancestors they speak to, too, but each have their own methods of communication."

Foxy Lady's curiosity was peaked. She peered hesitantly at Sealpaw, "Are my ancestors in there too?"

Sealpaw snorted obnoxiously, "Of course not! Unless your ancestors were of ReefClan, you cannot connect to them through the Smoothstone. Also, our ancestors don't live in the Smoothstone, silly! It's just how we reach them."

The black she-cat gave her chest a few embarrassed licks. "Oh. Well where do they go then if they aren't in the rock?"

"If cats are good and they die, they go to the Island of Stars in the sky. Up there, the ocean is always calm, there's no sharks or anything to bother you, and there's bountiful prey. If you get there, you spend your days relaxing and visiting with your friends and family, and you will be able to look down and watch the cats in ReefClan who haven't died yet." Sealpaw told her happily.

Her embarrassment waned as Sealpaw told her about the Island of Stars, compelling her to ask, "Where do the bad cats go?"

"Well, they get what they deserve and end up at the Island of Storms. It's constantly dark there, there's no prey, no plants, and it's always storming. It's a miserable rock stuck in a perpetual violent storm. Not a whole lot of cats end up there though, ReefClan doesn't produce very many cats who are Island of Storms material. We never go hungry, rarely have to fight, and twolegs usually don't give us trouble as long as we stay out of sight." Sealpaw explained to Foxy Lady before gesturing with a single tail for the former kittypet to follow her.

Foxy Lady complied, sparing Dead Tree a final glance before following Sealpaw as she led them past the landmark and closer to the ocean. "Oh, well that's good I guess." Foxy Lady finally responded, trying hard to picture the two different islands as she walked.

Sealpaw twitched her ears in agreement, "Yeah, I'm glad it's the way it is. I mean, I'm not excited to die or anything, but I am looking forward to exploring the Island of Stars one day and meeting all sorts of important cats up there; maybe I'll even get to meet Reefstar!"

Foxy Lady purred softly at Sealpaw's enthusiasm, however the initial enthusiasm for touring the territory, which had already been mild, was waning quickly. It was hard to ignore the wounds on her paws now with all the debris clinging to them after walking this far and Foxy Lady was tempted to kill Sealpaw's excitement and ask to return. Not to mention, though Foxy Lady was not afraid of Sealpaw, she was definitely intimidated by Tinystar and the rest of ReefClan. Knowing she and Sealpaw were going directly against the orders of Tinystar made her fur prickle uneasily.

She kept quiet, ignoring the longing to go back to the uncomfortable nest in ReefClan's camp, and dutifully followed Sealpaw closer to the water. Sealpaw bounded happily when the shore came into view, agilely avoiding the discarded branches of long thorns and protruding black stones in her path until she reached the cliffs that overlooked the vast ocean. Her fluffy tail was curled and raised in the air, quivering excitedly that made Sealpaw look like a little kit. Foxy Lady arrived a few breaths later beside her, following Sealpaw's gaze and watching the calm ocean waves lap at the slowly eroding cliff side.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Sealpaw murmured, not waiting for Foxy Lady to respond before speaking again, "I wish Stripedtail would let us stop and watch the sea more while we gathered herbs… he's not really the type of cat to sit and admire how gorgeous our territory is. Just think, PlumeClan and MistClan don't get views like this, especially not PlumeClan. All those cats have to look at is dark walls and nasty bugs; I don't know how they survive. MistClan at least has the highlands, and I've heard those are pretty to look at."

Foxy Lady flicked her tail in agreement, tempted to ask about the other clans, but not wanting to have the duty of remembering even more clan lore. Sealpaw had already told her enough for the day, she'd inquire about the other groups another day before she left for good.

The two sat in silence, relaxing to the lull of the ocean waves. The smell of salt overtook Foxy Lady's senses and clung to her fur, adding to the already heavy feeling of the thick air around them. Foxy Lady still longed for the crisp, thin air she was accustomed to in the city, but was steadily growing used to the thick hot air around her new home.

Through half lidded eyes, Foxy Lady looked down to where the waves met the cliffs and noticed something bobbing within the blue water. It was dark and soggy looking, she didn't know what to make of it. She glanced at Sealpaw to see if she saw it too, but the light gray and white cat was still looking towards the horizon. Foxy Lady looked at the bobbing dark object again, narrowing her eyes at it before her curiosity finally compelled her to ask.

"Sealpaw, what's that thing floating around down there by the bottom of the cliff?" Foxy Lady questioned, looking up briefly to make eye-contact with the apprentice.

Sealpaw blinked out of her relaxed trance and peered over the cliff, squinting her eyes in an attempt to get a better look. "You know, I'm not sure. I don't think it's a turtle or anything like that though, it's not really moving with purpose like one would," Sealpaw looked to Foxy Lady, "how about we go down there and get a better look?"

Despite her aching paws, Foxy Lady's curiosity won out and she meowed in agreement. Sealpaw swiftly led her further along the cliffs, looking for a good place to climb down, quickly finding one a few tail-lengths away from where they'd been sitting. Sealpaw moved with a lot more confidence than Foxy Lady did in moving down towards the water, but the black she-cat managed to climb exceptionally close to the water. Sealpaw went further than Foxy Lady did, craning her neck at an uncomfortable angle to try to get a glimpse of the bobbing object, lashing her tail in frustration when she couldn't get a good look. She looked behind her at Foxy Lady, who was still perched a little higher up on the black-stone cliff, "I'm going to swim out there to get a better look, okay?"

"Be careful." Foxy Lady responded, readjusting herself to be more comfortable while Sealpaw investigated.

"I will," Sealpaw said simply before slipping into the water without a moment's hesitation.

Sealpaw swam with grace, hardly disturbing the water as she swiftly zipped out of Foxy Lady's limited viewpoint. Foxy Lady doubted she could move like Sealpaw did in the ocean, or even swim at all. At the moment, the thought of diving into the endless pristine blue water terrified Foxy Lady. On impulse, she flexed her paws in an attempt to unsheathe her claws to better grip her place on the outcrop, panicking a little when yet again, nothing happened. Foxy Lady glanced back at the path Sealpaw had led her down, longing to turn around and climb back to safety, but knew if she failed and fell into the water, Sealpaw wouldn't be there to rescue her.

Just as Foxy Lady had begun to calm herself enough to settle comfortably once again, a panic-stricken yowl sounded from around the corner Sealpaw swam past.

"Sealpaw!" Foxy Lady called, "are you okay?"

Moments later, a panicked Sealpaw rounded the corner and swam frantically towards the black she-cat. "It's him, Foxy Lady, he's dead! We found his body!"

Foxy Lady's eyes widened. Had she really spotted a dead body? "What?"

Sealpaw quickly hauled herself out of the water, her normally plush fur weighed down by the salty water, making her look abnormally skinny. Her eyes were round as moons and her breaths were ragged when she told her, "Nightpaw! It's Nightpaw, we found Nightpaw."

X-X-X

Hey guys! Sorry that this is my first A/N, I've just been kind of lazy about it haha! I just wanted to thank everyone who reads this story for giving it and myself a shot and to say that I'm very open to constructive criticism and would greatly appreciate feedback :) I don't have a whole lot to say in this A/N so I'm just going to end it here. Have a great day everyone!

~Blondie

Very Delayed Review Response:

0Zz0Zz0: Eek sorry for getting back to you several chapters late! Haha thanks I was trying to think of some names that could go along with Foxy Lady's name so I just went with the classics! And even though you probably know this already, Foxy Lady's twolegs spayed and declawed her.