Chapter from StepClaw's point of view. Yup. This one is sure to be surprising…

StepClaw would have sucked in a breath if she could but the water pressing around her made that not an option. The shark was silent, actually she wondered if they made any noise at all. The skin color was hard to see in the water but it looked gray and smooth. However from the stories FastFlight had told her the skin was actually rough and could tear off a cat's skin if they weren't careful. The fins sticking out from the sides and the dorsal fin on its back looked sharp, pointy and lethal. The eyes were large and black and seemed to be watching StepClaw's every move while the gills moved back and forth giving the beast air as it swam back and forth,

"Oh Spirit Wind," she thought as the two went through a long faceoff. "I didn't think I would face a shark like this!"

Feeling something behind her, she carefully moved aside as SunTalon exited the hole from the cavern. He froze when he saw the shark swimming around. Was it watching them?

SunTalon turned his head slightly to look at StepClaw. He gestured slowly with his tail for them to swim up. StepClaw slowly nodded in agreement. A light itching was beginning in her chest, a sign that the air supply stored in her lungs was beginning to run out.

The two began swimming upwards slowly. Very slowly. Every now and then StepClaw would look down to make sure the shark wasn't following them. It wasn't. It was still there on the bottom, swimming back and forth, back and forth.

Soon their heads broke water and StepClaw released the last of the air stored in her lungs before sucking up a new batch. She turned to SunTalon who was doing the same next to her. "What do we do?" she asked. Sure, in a normal situation she would go after the shark. She would tear it apart and then drag the body to WaveWhisker. That will teach him! But at the moment it didn't seem right. Plus if she did something stupid she wouldn't be the only one in danger. SunTalon would be as well.

"We have to aim for the resting island," replied SunTalon, his head bobbing up and down in the water. The waves were a little more violent than usual and StepClaw had to work a bit to keep her head above. SpiritCave told her once it could be caused by a storm on a different island somewhere in the huge ocean. Thinking like that, like there was more than the lands of OceanTide and ForestRose made StepClaw's brain hurt. It was odd to think like that.

"StepClaw," said SunTalon sharply.

She realized with a jolt that SunTalon had continued to speak but she didn't hear him because she was stuck in her own thoughts. "Sorry. I was thinking."

"I know you want to kill a shark but this is no time for that," replied SunTalon harshly. His voice softened. "I know you want to prove your father wrong but not now. When you are a warrior, maybe. What will your mother think if you tried something monkey-brained and died out here? She lost her first mate. I don't think she wants to lose one of her kits too."

StepClaw was silent. She hated when SunTalon was right. She couldn't do that to her mother. She even heard her mother talk to her brother about wanting grandkits. He was unable to fulfill that wish for her so it fell onto StepClaw's shoulders. Of course having kits were something that the young she-cat couldn't really think about right now. That was just strange.

"Come on," said SunTalon gently as he began swimming in the direction of the resting island. StepClaw followed his lead, moving slowly but surely.

The waves were still much harsher than normal making their progress much slower than it would have been otherwise but they were getting there. Slowly but they were.

A wave crashed over StepClaw's head and her eyes were covered by the membrane as she opened her eyes underwater. She almost yowled when she saw the shark just below them. It was swimming slowly upwards. Towards them. She broke the waves. "SunTalon!" she yowled to him, a couple pawsteps to her left. "It's right below us! I think it's following us!"

"Oh, sharkdung," snarled SunTalon. StepClaw could hardly see his head over the waves. "Listen to me StepClaw. Swim. Swim as fast as you can towards the resting island. Don't stop. You here me? No matter what. Don't stop."

"What are you talking about!?" snapped StepClaw. "Are you going to do something monkey-brained?!"

"Move! The shark's coming!"

StepClaw peeked underwater and saw the shark rising towards her, the sharp pointed teeth aimed right for her. Just before it reached her SunTalon slammed into it from the side knocking it off course. His claws dug into the shark's skin drawing blood. He was still latched to its side as he looked up at her. "Run," he mouthed.

StepClaw knew what would happen now. There was blood in the water. The blood frenzy as it was called by the tribe cats. A feared thing as sharks seemed to last out of control, killing everything in its path.

She swam for her life towards the resting island. She gulped in large mouthfuls of air and pushed it out of her other end to give herself more bursts of speed. As she swan she thought she saw lots of blood in the water but the next moment it was gone. She forced her eyes forward and pushed herself faster and faster.

Almost there.

She was almost there.

She threw herself onto the small strip of land. Her weight slammed against her pushing her towards the ground. However she kept pulling herself forward until she was fully out of the water before she finally looked back.

SunTalon. Where was SunTalon?

StepClaw scanned the waves. Where was he? A lump rose. "It can't be," she whispered. She was about to run back into the water to search for him when she spotted his head sticking out of the water a couple pawsteps away.

She sighed in relief. He was alright! He was-

Happiness left her as SunTalon half dragged himself out of the water but didn't come fully out. His face was pressed against the sand and he was breathing heavily. His eyes also seemed to be a bit unfocused.

"Hang on," said StepClaw running to his side. "I'll get you out of the water." She leaned forward to grab his scruff but SunTalon's voice stopped her.

"Don't."

StepClaw pulled back in confusion. "Wh…What are you talking about? The shark is still out there! It might kill you if you stay in the water! I'm getting you out."

She leaned forward to grab his scruff again but he lifted a paw to push her away. Weakly. It was that push that made her realize that something was wrong. Her eyes trailed to the part of him still in the water. Hang on. Was there something coming out of him? She leaned forward to get a better look. As if the Spirit Wind wanted her to, the moonlight seemed to shine brighter illuminating what she had not noticed before.

StepClaw yowled in shock and recoiled back. His back left leg. It was gone. There was only a stump. Blood was pouring out of it, a beacon for all the sharks in the area.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "But I cannot make it to the shore in this condition. The Spirit Wind will have taken me long before we make it."

StepClaw opened her mouth and closed it. "N…N…No!" she yowled. "You cannot die! I…I refuse to let you!"

SunTalon chuckled softly. "You would be the one to cheat death just to get back at that father of yours. However. I am not you. My time has come. The sharks are coming. Stay here."

"NO!" yowled StepClaw grabbing his scruff again. She would pull him out. She would try to stop the bleeding on the resting island and when the sharks left she would swim to the shore and get HealingWave. SunTalon would live. He would probably have to become an elder but that didn't matter. He would be alive.

"Stop StepClaw," whispered SunTalon, pushing her away again, his movements getting slower and slower. He swallowed. "Listen to me. Stay here. Don't come after me."

"Don't you dare say that!" snarled StepClaw.

"Please," he whispered, "At least let me die with my dignity."

StepClaw didn't know what part of his words hit her. The actual words or the meaning behind them or even SunTalon's emotions, it didn't matter. She released him and stepped back. It had hit her. There was nothing she could do. Her mentor would die here tonight and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Thank you," he whispered. "I wish. I wish I had more time. At least until you were a warrior. I was waiting to ask you if you could become my-"

The words were never finished. SunTalon's final yowl of pain echoed in the air as a shark yanked him backwards into the water.

StepClaw stared at the spot where he had been. She wasn't sure if the water on her face was from the salty ocean or from the sorrow within her.