SEAPAW

Seapaw had no time to think as the delegate of CoralClan leapt right at her. She quickly moved to the left, and felt only his powerful shoulders crash against her silver flanks. She whipped around and lashed out with a front paw, claws unsheathed to rip at Cliffstorm's fur. Cliffstorm ducked quickly and rammed into her with his shoulders. Dazed, Seapaw felt a flash of admiration for his speed, but anger pulsed through her paws at the thought of an enemy protector invading her territory! Sea-blue eyes full of rage, she let out a furious hiss and leapt to her paws, racing straight towards him. She noticed that his weight was shifted to the right, so she feinted running to the right and sprang to the left at the last moment, when Cliffstorm had leapt to his left. Caught by surprise, she knocked him over completely, where he lay dazed for a moment. His hesitance lasted only a heartbeat, but it was enough. Seapaw sprang onto Cliffstorm, sinking her sharp claws into his belly fur. She felt his blood well around her claws as he let out a bloodcurdling yowl. The silver tabby pushed Cliffstorm's brown muzzle into the dirt.

"Don't let me catch you on MeadowClan territory again, understood?" Seapaw hissed, blood pounding in her ears. She spoke not just for herself, but for the honor of her entire Clan. Cliffstorm spat angrily, his black tabby tail lashing furiously. "Did you hear me, foxdung?"

"Understood," Cliffstorm growled, his mouth full of dirt and his golden eyes gleaming with hatred. Seapaw loosened her tight grip on his brown belly fur, and for a moment she feared he would attack her again. But Sandstar came to her shoulder, his green eyes glistening and his hackles raised threateningly, and Cliffstorm merely spat again before turning tail and running back to his own territory.

Seapaw suddenly felt exhausted, her scratches burning and her muscles aching from where Cliffstorm had crashed into her. The small silver tabby sank to her paws, and she felt her head spinning. She gazed up at her trainer, whose leaf-green eyes were shining like she had never seen them before.

"Well fought, Seapaw!" Sandstar purred, his white tail swishing so fast that the light ginger stripes were not visible. Seapaw felt her paws prickle with embarrassment, but she held her chin high, her chest puffed out in pride. She had never seen the MeadowClan ruler look so proud, and her embarrassment increased as he added, "Cliffstorm is a very seasoned warrior. IslandClan must have been fighting on your side in order for you to beat such a strong warrior!"

Was she imagining the onimous glow in his emerald eyes? Seapaw tilted her slender head to the side quizically, but if he had noticed her confusion, he ignored it. The silver tabby glanced at her paws, not wanting to meet her ruler's eyes. Why had Cliffstorm seemed so angry with MeadowClan? Was it just the normal hositility of the delegate, or did something else happen?

"Thank you, Sandstar. But why didn't you help me?" Seapaw asked her leader, bewilderment in her soft voice. Her ruler did not answer her, only swished his long sand-colored tail thoughtfully.

"Can you walk?" Her trainer asked her suddenly, his voice brisk and commanding once more. He had gone from proud trainer to commanding ruler of MeadowClan in less than a heartbeat. Seapaw could see that she wasn't going to get an answer to her question, and she surpressed a faint hiss of annoyance. It seemed that every cat was walking around on beechnuts around her! The silver learner rose to her paws shakily, her muscles screaming in protest.

"Yes, but we may need to go a bit slowly," Seapaw answered her ruler, trying not to sound like she was ordering him. Sandstar narrowed his green eyes, but he seemed to bite back a sharp reply, and nodded briskly. She slowly trailed after the MeadowClan ruler, her light gray tail drooping in exhaustion. Sandstar, on the other paw, seemed to be more alert than ever, his pawsteps barely containing his joy. Seapaw wondered vaguely why his learner winning an easy battle was so exciting for him. Sandstar glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Seapaw was keeping up as they trudged through the undergrowth. She felt a flash of annoyance pulse through her veins; surely she had proven she wasn't a helpless kit?

Finally, the two MeadowClanners had reached their camp as the sun began to set overhead. Sandstar quickened his pace and headed for Acacialeaf's den. Seapaw had no choice but to follow, even though every hair on her silver pelt was screaming for her to lie down in her comfortable mossy nest, lined with feathers.

Acacialeaf's den was larger than the learners' den, with a tunnel of palm fronds sheltering the entrance. Sandstar called a soft greeting to his healing cat, and a gentle, female voice responded. Seapaw limped after her ruler, the large scratch on her left shoulder burning, but she did not complain as she parted the palm fronds to see Acacialeaf's den. She could not surpress a gasp of awe; it was the most beautiful place she had ever seen.

Soft, mossy nests lined with feathers were in the middle of the cave. Acacialeaf's nest was further away, in a slight crevice in the den, but she could still easily tend to sick cats if they called out in the night. A small pool of water formed where stalactites dripped water from the ceiling of the den. Colors reflected off of the stalactites, all the colors of the rainbow, and Seapaw found she could not stop staring at the beautiful den.

A pair of green eyes burned into Seapaw's cerulean eyes, and she felt the fur along her spine prickle. From the shadows emerged a very small tortoiseshell she-cat, her fur as soft as a fledging's downy feathers. She looked barely old enough to be out of the nursery, yet her eyes shone with intelligence and had a hardened look to them, as if she had been through a lot in her short life. Seapaw dipped her head, realizing that this must be Mangrovepaw, the healing cat learner. Mangrovepaw looked as if she wanted to speak, but she kept silent, only nodding back politely to the silver tabby, her eyes sparking with interest as she looked at Seapaw's blue eyes.

"I see you've met Mangrovepaw, my learner" Seapaw heard a purr of amusement, and saw a light brown tabby she-cat padding towards her and Sandstar, her light blue eyes glowing with warmth. Seapaw dipped her head in respect to the light brown tabby, recognizing the scent at once; this was Acacialeaf, the healing cat of MeadowClan. Acacialeaf's pelt was neatly groomed, with no traces of tangles, and Seapaw briefly wondered how she had time to clean her pelt when she had to look after the whole Clan. Acacialeaf meowed, with a hint of pride in her voice, "She's been a huge help to me, sorting through all the herbs and tending to the elders. I don't know how I'd manage."

Normally, a learner would thank their trainer for such a compliment. But Mangrovepaw only stared at Acacialeaf with gratitude brimming in her bright green eyes. Seapaw, puzzled, turned to her ruler, who gave her the tiniest shake of her his head, as if to indicate that now was not the appropriate time to talk about Mangrovepaw's silence.

"Seapaw and I were ambushed a few tail-lengths inside our boundary markers," Sandstar announced, breaking the awkward silence that hung over them. Mangrovepaw turned and padded away deep into the den silently towards a strong smell of herbs; Seapaw suspected that she was getting herbs for her wounds, and she felt a rush of gratitude towards the tortoiseshell learner.

Acacialeaf turned to the light ginger ruler, making a great show of looking up and down his sand-colored pelt for injuires. Her blue eyes sparkled with laughter as she meowed, "You don't seem to have any scratches. Either you're the Protector himself, or you weren't ambushed."

Seapaw surpressed a gasp of shock, realizing that only the healing cat could get away with insulting the ruler like that. Sandstar swished his light ginger tabby tail irritably, though his emerald eyes gleamed with amusement.

"No, I guess I wasn't," The MeadowClan ruler mewed crossly, rolling his eyes in exasperation. Seapaw heard Mangrovepaw rummaging for herbs in the back of the den, and she craned her neck to try to see the small learner. "Seapaw fought off Cliffstorm all by herself. I didn't even have to help her at all, and I haven't trained her once yet."

Acacialeaf's blue eyes flew wide open with surprise, and she turned to face the young silver she-cat, who immediately stopped trying to see Acacialeaf's learner. She felt like a naughty kit under their wide stares, light blue and burning green, but she stared evenly back at the two elder cats, who exchanged a glance.

"You fought more fiercely than the waters of the ocean, then, didn't you," Acacialeaf purred in amusement, her brown tail-tip twitching. Seapaw felt very puzzled, and her confusion increased as Sandstar shot a warning glance at her, his green gaze scorching. Acacialeaf gave Sandstar a very long look through narrowed blue eyes, but she said nothing else.

Mangrovepaw broke the awkward silence by dropping a pile of herbs at Seapaw's paws. Acacialeaf sniffed the bundle of herbs quickly, and let out a slight purr, pride apparent in her cerulean eyes.

"Cobwebs for the bleeding, marigold leaves to fight off infection, and thyme leaves to calm her down, very good!" Acacialeaf praised the tortoiseshell learner. Mangrovepaw scraped the dirt with a front paw, obviously embarrased, but she blinked gratefully at her trainer all the same. Mangrovepaw wrapped cobwebs around her tiny front paw and pressed it against Seapaw's shoulder. Seapaw winced as the tortoiseshell queen applied pressure to her injured shoulder, and Mangrovepaw tilted her head questioningly. Surprisingly, the silver tabby understood; Mangrovepaw was asking her if it hurt too much. Seapaw shook her head, and Mangrovepaw let a small smile cross her maw. After the tortoiseshell learner made sure that Seapaw's shoulder was no longer bleeding, she began to chew up the marigold leaves in a poultice. She spit the juice onto the cobwebs and applied it to Seapaw's shoulder again for a while. Seapaw watched as Mangrovepaw finally took the cobwebs, laced with marigold juice, away from her shoulder, and pushed the thyme leaves towards her with a clean tortoiseshell paw.

"Thank you, Mangrovepaw," The silver tabby learner mewed earnestly, her shoulder finally beginning to feel better. "My shoulder feels much better!"

Mangrovepaw looked surprised at being thanked, but her tail curled up with pleasure, and Seapaw heard a slight purr escape from the small learner. Acacialeaf whipped her head around to stare at Mangrovepaw in surprise, but she didn't say anything. Seapaw chewed the thyme leaves under Acacialeaf's scorching blue gaze, and slowly limped out of the healing cat's den, her muscles aching. As she brushed past the palm fronds towards the exit, she overheard Sandstar hissing to Acacialeaf in a low, urgent voice, "You shouldn't tell Seapaw more than she needs to know!"

She froze, but knew she would be in trouble if she was caught eavesdropping. Seapaw gazed up at the sky, noticing the twinkling of the first stars of IslandClan and the sun dipping below the horizon. Her light gray tail drooping, she trudged into the learners' den, where Duskpaw was already curled up tight in a ball. Seapaw collapsed, exhausted, beside her ginger tabby brother, and heard his heavy breathing, realizing he was already asleep. The silver tabby felt slightly disappointed; she had wanted to confide in him the troubles of her first day of training, tell him about the excitement of her first battle against Cliffstorm, the delegate of CoralClan, and tell him about the mysterious water references that Sandstar and Acacialeaf kept making to her. But she curled her silver tabby tail over her sea-blue eyes and began to let his soft, soothing purrs guide her to sleep. No, there is nothing to worry about, she thought as she closed her ocean-blue eyes, it was just a coincidence, and tomorrow will be a better day...

A/N: 3 chapters in a day! A new record for me! R&R please!