Chapter 26

"Look at that," Stormfur breathed. "It's…"

"Amazing," Mistyfoot finished.

The two of them had managed to collect enough prey between them for the others before catching sight of the nice place that Purdy had pointed out. The stream that led to the lake also led here… to a steep cliffside that bordered more water than Mistyfoot had ever imagined existed in the world.

It went on forever, the water – it crashed endlessly against the sandy cliffs below the two cats, white and foamy. The breeze smelled strongly of water and rock and salt, and the sun, now a blood-red disk, was slowing sinking into the waves.

"It's… drowning the sun…" Stormfur mewed, awe in his eyes. "A place where the sun drowns…"

Mistyfoot planted her paws in the ground, feeling like her world was shaking. Did the water before them really have the power to swallow the sun?! She swallowed, forcing herself to remember that it must get spat back out – how else would the sun return day after day?

Stormfur leaned against her, and Mistyfoot felt her fear ebb. "Are there any RiverClan stories about this?" she wondered.

"I don't know," Stormfur admitted. "I don't think so."

"There should be," Mistyfoot whispered.

"Yeah."

Silence stretched between them as they watched the sun slide down behind the water. The air grew cool and the water turned dark, the waves churning the surface so much that it did not reflect the light of the stars as they began to appear. The lake in contrast had been still and quiet, and Mistyfoot was grateful that StarClan was sending them there instead of this place.

"Could you swim in it?" Mistyfoot wondered.

Stormfur frowned. "I don't think so," he answered. "It's so dark… the shore must drop off very sharply. A cat getting caught in that, and then lashed on the rocks… And look at the way those waves are churning, over there – no one would be able to swim out of that!"

Mistyfoot's heart beat in her ears as she imagined Stormfur drowning in the churning water below. She dug her claws into the earth. "I would try to save you," she insisted, finding herself utterly serious.

Stormfur bristled. "You'd drown!" he threw back, his eyes round. Mistyfoot flinched, worried she'd said the wrong thing – but then his amber eyes softened, and he meowed, "But I appreciate the thought."

Mistyfoot leaned against him, grateful to her core that Stormfur was here and not down there in the water. Warmth flooded her pelt as he touched his nose to her ear. She pressed her muzzle into his thick fur and sighed.

Even before the face of such a great, terrible wonder, Mistyfoot felt just fine – because Stormfur was here, and as she stood with him… she felt like she could do anything.

Mistyfoot and Stormfur returned just as the moon began to rise. Mistyfoot's neck ached from dragging her rabbit until Purdy came and took it from her. The old tom had cleaned up since their arrival in the woods, his mats gone and pelt almost free of ticks. Mistyfoot was impressed, and happy that the old cat seemed even jollier now.

Stormfur put his catch on their makeshift pile. Shadepaw took the rabbit from Purdy and split it with the apprentices, while Stormfur took two mice over to Feathertail, who was keeping watch off on her own. Mistyfoot plucked up a vole and took it over to Stoneheart, who was nestled up between the roots of a sheltering oak by the stream. A fresh poultice lay over his wound, and his eyes were bright when Mistyfoot approached.

"You two were gone for a while," he commented, twisting his tail. "Busy?"

Mistyfoot's whiskers twitched. "I don't know what you mean," she insisted, her pelt prickling. "We only stopped to look at where the stream ended – you wouldn't believe it, Stoneheart…" She described the place to him, her heart beating in her ears again at the memory.

Stoneheart shifted in his nest. "Sounds romantic," he purred.

"Stop it!" Mistyfoot hissed, lashing her tail. "Just because-"

"Don't." Stoneheart stopped her. His pale eyes sharpened on her. "There is very clearly something going on between you and Stormfur. I don't think you should keep denying it."

Mistyfoot stiffened – and then she sighed. She batted the vole's remains between her paws, her pelt feeling hot with embarrassment. "I… I have feelings for him, yes," she confessed quietly. "I just… I don't know whether or not it's love, or even if he…"

She twitched her whiskers. I sound like a lovestruck dove! She chided herself. Mistyfoot glanced up at Stormfur, sitting across the clearing with his sister. What were they talking about? Looking at him made her heart beat faster, and she looked back down at her fresh-kill.

"What did it feel like to fall in love with Rowanclaw?" she wondered.

Stoneheart's gaze turned puzzled. "I don't know, really," he answered. He rested his head on his paws. "I guess it felt… natural. Like it was meant to be that way, and that was okay."

Mistyfoot swallowed. "It feels like that with Stormfur," she confessed. Anxiety mounted in her again, bubbling words from her jaws: "But he's from another Clan, and who knows what will happen when this journey is through, and…"

Stoneheart touched his nose to her ear, silencing her. "All any of us can do right now is just… trust ourselves. Listen to your heart, not your head, Mistyfoot. You don't need to figure anything else out just yet."

Mistyfoot's head clenched, but she endeavored to ignore it. She pressed licked her brother around the ear.

"Thanks," she meowed.

Stoneheart's whiskers twitched. "Anytime."

"Stop looking already, Shadepaw," Nightpaw hissed. "It's rude."

Shadepaw flinched, looking back down at her paws. "I'm just worried about them, that's all," she insisted. Mistyfoot and Stormfur had been gone so long, and when they returned the air around them seemed… different. Now they were talking to their siblings, and everything seemed so strange, especially after her conversation with Feathertail about the pain of heartbreak.

"Well, gossiping like an old queen isn't going to do anything," Nightpaw insisted. "It's not our business."

"She's our Clanmate!" Shadepaw insisted, "Not to mention our friend." She pressed Nightpaw through their bond, wondering why she was feeling him getting so prickly again. "It's natural that we worry about her."

Nightpaw's eyes darkened. "Worry about yourself," he grunted. "And stop prodding! That's rude, too."

Shadepaw bristled. "What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped. "Worry about myself?!"

Nightpaw nodded with his nose over to Purdy and Crowpaw, who were sharing a rabbit together. The old tom seemed to have attached himself to Crowpaw for the day, and was constantly in the WindClan apprentice's ear about something. Crowpaw was holding it together but Shadepaw guessed it wouldn't be long before he snapped.

"What?" Shadepaw wondered, oblivious to Nightpaw's point.

Nightpaw's ice-blue eyes narrowed. "You and that WindClan cat have been inseparable – you might be too dense to feel it but I can. You're a medicine cat, Shadepaw… and he's from another Clan! Mistyfoot and Stormfur are one thing, but you and him…"

Shadepaw's fur bristled with indignation. "How dare you!" she hissed. Annoyance bubbled up in her, and she dug her claws into the soil. "There is nothing like that between Crowpaw and I!"

Nightpaw did not look convinced. He curled up tightly in his nest, throwing his tail over his nose. "Denial is kinda hard when I can feel what you feel," he grunted. "But whatever. G'night."

"Good night!" she snapped back.

Shadepaw curled herself up tight, her back to her brother. Her claws dug into her nest, and with her temper so hot she found it hard to fall asleep. Her tail trembled as she drew it close to her, glowering across the clearing at Crowpaw.

He's wrong! She insisted. He doesn't know anything! He doesn't know anything at all!