Chapter Seven

A pained hiss rang out through the cave as Sandpelt dug just a little too vigorously into the poultice. His amber eyes flicked to Dawnpaw's face.

"Ah, no, I'm fine," she said, just a touch breathlessly. It didn't seem to be fooling him. "Honestly, Sandpelt, I feel fine. The only thing wrong with me is that these stupid leaves are all still stuck to me."

The medicine cat scrunched up his face and returned to scraping at the poultices. "Cheeky kit," he muttered. Dawnpaw's only response was a grin. She was absolutely pining for the moment when she'd be free of the medicine den. Half a moon had already passed, half a moon in which she had done nothing but languish in the cave and eat freshkill brought to her by the efforts of other warriors. She was not a kit anymore. No cat should be bringing her food— she should be bringing them food. The sunlight slanting through the red mouth of the cave seemed to tease her every day.

"…don't even know how the ribs healed this fast, anyways…" came an irritated mutter from her side. Dawnpaw's light green eyes fixed on the medicine cat as he kept at his painstaking work. Just a little more, she thought eagerly.

"Yes! I'm free!" Dawnpaw scrambled gingerly to her feet, considered a jump for joy, and then decided it would be a bad idea. "Thank you for healing me, Sandpelt, bye!" Teeth clamped around her tail.

"Not tho fatht," Sandpelt lisped around a mouth full of her tufted tail. Dawnpaw turned and sat with a thump, wincing as her tender ribs twinged. "You are not allowed to leave the camp yet."

"Wha—"

The medicine cat cut her off. "Not even to make dirt, you hear me? Amberflight can say whatever she likes, you are staying within these walls. I don't even like letting you out of the medicine den to begin with."

Dawnpaw hung her head. "Okay Sandpelt," she sighed.

It took a little excitement out of being back in the sunshine, that was for sure. The desert sands were just winking at her from the entrance to their enclosed clearing. Morning shadows still slanted towards the west, casting a cool shade where the elders rested. There wasn't much bustle going on; the morning patrols had already left and the sunhigh patrol was probably still asleep. A pair of warriors was sharing a meal near a small rock fall, but she couldn't quite see who they were. No, the only interesting thing Dawnpaw saw… well, it was outside camp.

"And I'm not allowed to leave camp," she muttered, sticking her tongue out.

"Why the face, Dawnpaw?"

Dawnpaw flinched and jumped around, and then flinched some more, as she tried to face her mentor. Great Starclan her ribs still hurt! Her rueful green eyes met her mentor's amber ones.

"I'm not allowed to leave camp yet. Sandpelt's orders."

Amberflight sighed heavily, her eyes flicking angrily to the medicine cave. "Coyotes," she cursed under her breath.

"Sorry." Amberflight's eyes raked over her dejected apprentice.

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault the thing mauled you. Just… go check if the elders need anything and later we'll deal with the queens' nests." Dawnpaw blinked as her mentor whirled around and disappeared into the desert. A heat mirage in the distance made the sands ripple. It was pretty, like running water…

What was she doing again?

Elders. Right. Dawnpaw turned to the shady rock fall where the elders had situated themselves.

Mistbark looked up as Dawnpaw walked over and flicked Gorsetail with her tail. Her cloudy blue eyes crinkled in a smile.

"Hello, dear," she greeted. The apprentice smiled back.

"Hi Mistbark. Amberflight sent me to see if you two needed anything."

Gorsetail frowned and flicked his ears. "What was that?" he meowed, nearly a shout. Dawnpaw sighed. He was the oldest cat in the Clan, and the deafest. Mistbark turned to her hearing impaired mate and repeated Dawnpaw's words.

"Oh," he grunted. "My nest is getting all clumpy, might as well see to that," he said to Dawnpaw. Mistbark smiled in her general direction and nodded. The sweet old she-cat had trouble seeing, what with the film over her eyes. Dawnpaw nodded and lumbered off to the elders' den. They were really a sweet pair, and, well, they completed each other. If he had one of her ears and she had one of his eyes, they'd be set, Dawnpaw thought acidly. The desert winked at her. It was maddening. Being stuck in the stupid camp was making her cranky.

The slightly musty scent of the elders floated out of a small cave set low in the rock circle of the camp. The nursery was only a few catlengths from here actually, she remembered, and sure enough she caught the scent of milk on a stray breeze. Turning away, she padded through the entrance to the elders' cave. It was noticeably cooler inside, and dim. It took a moment for Dawnpaw's eyes to adjust, and then the drudgery began. She knew how to clean out nests, but she hadn't actually had to do it yet. Now she understood Sparkpaw's griping. The sand got everywhere—in her fur, in her claws, and somehow, disgustingly enough, in her mouth. It took her forever to finally get all the dirty sand outside and swept into the dirtcorner. Some of the apprentices would scoop it out of the camp later.

Dawnpaw had stopped for a moment to lick her aching side when a shadow loomed over her.

"Back in action already, Dawnpaw?" Hawkstar asked. Dawnpaw smoothed her ruffled fur and nodded. Hawkstar smiled and padded away, calling, "Keep up the good work!" to her on his way out of camp. Dawnpaw watched enviously for a few more moments, before she growled and swept the last of the dirty sand into their dirtcorner. She slunk across the camp into the red shadow of a sculpted wall. She definitely couldn't take this anymore.

"Thistlepaw," she hissed into the apprentice cave. Sleepy amber eyes blinked at her from within.

"What, Dawnpaw? I was sleeping," he complained. She rolled her eyes and beckoned with her tail.

"I've got to get out of here," she meowed, and then turned away. A smile flickered across her face when she heard her friend's pawsteps behind her.

"I thought you weren't supposed to leave camp," he muttered to her.

"What of it?"

Thistlepaw sighed. "We're going to be in so much trouble."

"Only if we get caught!" Dawnpaw grinned at her friend and, with a last glance around the camp to make sure no one was looking, sprinted for the desert. Thistlepaw streaked along at her side, a somber look on his face.

"Oh, lighten up you big furball," Dawnpaw laughed. She batted a pawful of sand at Thistlepaw.

"Hey," he protested with a grin, and lobbed a pawful right back. The two squealed and ran across the dunes, tumbling gently across the scorching sand. Dawnpaw couldn't remember having more fun.

A shadow suddenly loomed over them. "Woah," they breathed in unison.

"Are these the same cliffs we saw that first day?" Dawnpaw asked softly. Thistlepaw shook his head.

"I don't remember this stretch. We're farther south than before," he replied. Dawnpaw stared for a moment longer and then trotted forwards.

"We should check it out," she chirped. She scrambled up the sides of a few loose boulders, peering ahead at the jagged cliff-side. "Look at this ravine!" Her green eyes grew wide as she trotted through the downward sloping canyon. It was made of the same rock as the camp, sculpted red with grooves scored in it, like thousands of continuous claw marks. Spires of the rock were carved into fantastic shapes, and she could hear a breeze whistling up the walls. Thistlepaw seemed equally awed as the two padded forward together.

"What's that?" Thistlepaw asked suddenly. Dawnpaw stopped and flicked her ears around. "That screeching," her friend clarified. She shrugged but a new gleam had entered her eye.

"I've never heard anything like it," she said, and then ran forward, heedless of the ache in her side.

"Hey Thistlepaw, look! There's some water over here!" The creamy apprentice dipped her head and lapped up a sip. Her face wrinkled. "Gross, it's all sandy." Thistlepaw snorted.

"What did you expect, lizardbrain?" His amber eyes swept over the gleaming water. "Look, there are more puddles!"

Dawnpaw grinned mischievously. "Well what are we waiting for?" She leaped up and splashed through the water, leaving Thistlepaw to sprint in her wake. The breeze grew stronger the farther they ran up the ravine, and the downward slope was broken by flat hollows that collected water in shallow pools. The desert heat was almost temperate within these ruddy walls. Dawnpaw edged ahead, kicking up water from the little pools into Thistlepaw's face.

"Cheater," he spluttered, laughing as salty droplets landed on his tongue and nose.

A crashing roar suddenly echoed through the ravine. Dawnpaw tripped and rolled, crying out in pain as her ribs were jostled. Thistlepaw felt his heart jump in his chest. Without thought he leaped to shield her. Another roar rolled through the smooth stone walls of the ravine. His amber eyes couldn't move fast enough. The roars settled into a strange booming rhythm. Each one sent a shock through his body.

"Do you smell that?" Dawnpaw asked suddenly.

"What? Smell what?"

"It's like that puddle earlier." A bemused note entered her voice. "What are you doing?"

Thistlepaw felt his fur grow warm. "Uhh…"

"Lemme up, birdbrain," she giggled. She rolled stiffly to her feet. She flashed him a cheeky look and then picked her way forward. Thistlepaw was surprised to see blue ahead—the ravine's end, he realized. The roars were fading into rustling crashes. He'd never heard anything like it. The rock underneath his paws was no longer smooth. The familiar give of sand settled his nerves a bit.

Dawnpaw froze suddenly, and Thistlepaw instantly went on edge. "Woah," she breathed for the second time that day. Thistlepaw's amber eyes grew round as boulders. An endless desert of blue spread out before the apprentice's eyes, rolling like sand dunes under a heavy wind. The thunderous crashing that had scared him in the ravine filled his ears now as he watched the blue dunes leap onto the sandy shore and just as quickly ebb away. The smell of salt was heavy in the air. A brisk breeze ruffled his fur.

"I think it's water," he finally said. Dawnpaw flicked her light green eyes at him questioningly. "I felt drops hit me."

"But everything here is salty. Rainwater isn't salty," Dawnpaw frowned. Her eyes were just as big as Thistlepaw's. "It just goes on forever, doesn't it?" Thistlepaw nodded. It scared him a little. Dawnpaw shivered and pressed herself Thistlepaw's side. It was a warm day even with the breeze, but she felt cold and small.

Thistlepaw looked down the wide strip of sand between that roiling water and the red cliffs. It looked like there was only a small strip of sand before the cliffs hemmed this place in again, the ravine being the only outlet. He turned his amber gaze to his friend and nudged her. "Come on, fearless leader, let's explore this place. You're the one who dragged me out here in the first place, remember?"

Dawnpaw looked up him and grinned. "You're on, furball. First one to that cave wins."

Her boundless energy was contagious. Thistlepaw couldn't resist her grin as he bounded after her once more.

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