Chapter One- Dreams

Sharkpaw awoke. Her best friend, Dewpaw, was thrashing in her sleep, but that was not what had disturbed the young she-cat's sleep. Eerie dreams of strange cats that disappeared in a flurry of grey misty sand had haunted her, until Sharkpaw conceded defeat and sat, awake, staring through the rainforest canopy at the bright gold stars. None of the cats who lived in this place developed winter coats, a virtue which Sharkpaw thanked the Tribe of Stars and Night for now. The rainforest which was home to her tribe was dense and humid, letting little heat escape through the thick layers of foliage. It was currently the height of the wet season, although there had not been a heavy shower for a while. Trying not to think about her dream, Sharkpaw tried to listen for the sound of the ocean. The Tribe of Forest and Sea had made their camp closer to the beach, to take advantage of the small sea-breezes that occasionally rustled the edges of the rainforest.

Now however, the camp was still, the first rays of weak sun managing to reach the clearing. A few more cats were stirring, including Stormcloud (the tribe deputy).
'Come on, Sharkpaw. Don't just sit there! You're on dawn patrol!' mewed Stormcloud, her blue eyes unreadable.
'What? Since when do you let me go on dawn patrol?' Sharkpaw was so surprised; she couldn't stop herself giving a retort.
Stormcloud's whiskers crinkled with amusement.
'Since then! Get to it!'

ssssssssss

Sharkpaw bounded after Seawing, her mentor, who was leading the patrol.
'Which side are we going to, Seawing?' asked Rainstorm quietly.
'Well, Stormcloud said we should go to the Sand and Waves side, because it hasn't been patrolled in a while.'
'No, we should go to the Wind and Rain side, because they're more likely to invade our territory. Those beach-dwellers wouldn't bother to take our forest.' argued Pelicanfoot.
'Are you defying Stormcloud?' demanded Seawing, just keeping the hiss out of her voice.
Sharkpaw looked from cat to cat anxiously. Were they going to start fighting now? The young apprentice had never seen her mentor so angry.
'I think the Wind and Rain side does have a good reason to invade, but don't forget that little section of sandy grass on our territory. Sand and Waves want that very much.'
It was Rainstorm who intervened. Always the peacemaker, the quiet grey cat was next in line to be deputy, or at least most cats thought so. Sharkpaw had always admired him, but she thought that too much talk of peace was a bit on the weak side.
'Fine, listen to her. But I'm going to talk to Thunderstar about this!' snarled Pelicanfoot, his apprentice (Whalepaw) looking slightly embarrassed by his mentor's behaviour. Waving her tail, Seawing bounded away from them, totally ignoring Pelicanfoot.