Chapter Five

"Koipaw! Saltpaw! Koipaw! Saltpaw!"

Koipaw basked in the warmth of his clan's cheering. He could feel his mentor, Palmfeather, purring beside him; she seemed just as proud as he was. His sister was on the high rock, standing next to Songstar.

I can't believe Saltpaw is going to be trained by our clan leader! he thought. His sister looked ready to burst, a grin plastered on her face as she stood next to the elegant tortoiseshell leader. She's so lucky.

It wasn't long before the cheering broke off and the clan went back to their business. "This must be so exciting for you," Palmfeather mreowed. "I remember my apprenticeship ceremony! I was so nervous." The she-cat purred. "Anyway, I figured I would show you the border, and then we'll stop at the tide pools on the way back and try hunting."

"Mind if we join you?" Songstar asked, approaching the two. Saltpaw was beside her, tail twitching with excitement.

"Of course!" Palmfeather replied. "I'm sure these two would love to go on another out-of-camp trip together."

Koipaw felt his face grow hot. That adventure to the sea seemed like so long ago, even though it had been less than a moon.

Saltpaw padded up to Koipaw, eyes alight. "I can't wait to see the edge of our territory," she meowed. "Do you think we'll see any other clan cats?"

"They better not step foot on our territory," Koipaw growled. He lowered himself into his best hunter's crouch. "I'll shred 'em!"

Palmfeather led the way to the camp entrance, Koipaw bounding along beside her. Saltpaw and Songstar paced a few cat lengths behind them. Instead of following the river towards the ocean, Palmfeather signalled for them to follow the opposite way, past the leader's den.

"Don't forget to always be scenting the air," Songstar meowed, walking up to join them. Saltpaw padded over to walk next to Koipaw. "You don't want anything to sneak up on you, be it cat or beast."

Koipaw parted his jaws and smelled the air. The familiar smell of salt and sweet sea decay was prominent, along with that of fresh water and grass.

"I don't smell anything different," Saltpaw meowed, echoing Koipaw's thoughts.

"You will," Palmfeather mreowed.

The stream got wider and wider, and before long it joined into a river. "This is the part of the river where you need to be careful," Palmfeather warned. "Gators and snakes wait to snatch up cats here."

Saltpaw wrinkled her nose. "What's a gator?" she asked.

Songstar rotated her head, scanning the water's surface. "They're huge, scaly beasts that can hide in the water. A full-grown cat could fit in one's mouth with room to spare, and their jaws are full of fangs as big as minnows."

Koipaw shrank away from the riverbank. He half expected one of those monsters to erupt from the water right then and tear him to bits, or pull him into the river and let him drown-

"What do you do if you see one?" Saltpaw asked. "Can you kill it?"

Songstar waved her tail. "We don't. FloodClan claims to be able to bring them down, but StarClan knows if they're being honest. I personally don't know how it could be done." Koipaw noticed Songstar was looking at him with concern. "They don't usually come this far downstream though," she meowed. "They prefer to stay on FloodClan's side of the river."

Koipaw looked across the river to the opposite bank. The forest was dense, and the water seemed to seep right into the roots of the trees. "Is that their territory over there?" he wondered.

"Indeed," Palmfeather meowed. "Let's get a move on. We still have to hunt before we get back to camp."

The four cats took off, following the river. Koipaw almost tripped; he was busy keeping an eye out for gators.

Eventually the river came to a bend. The soft sand grass of the dunes gave way to short, prickly grass, and Koipaw could see a few pine trees scattered about. There was the strong smell of other cats- clan cats!

"This must be the border!" Koipaw meowed excitedly.

Saltpaw sniffed at the border. "What clan is this way?" she asked, looking up at her mentor.

"SteppeClan," Songstar meowed. "They live on the plains."

"Why don't you two mark the border?" Palmfeather suggested.

Koipaw nodded, and felt pride at marking his clan's territory. After they were done, Songstar began leading them back through their territory. Koipaw basked in the warm breeze as they neared the coast. Around sun-high they crested a hill, and the four cats found themselves looking down onto a hill of wet, black rocks. They were dotted with barnacles and seaweed, and there were several full pools nestled between the rocks.

"That's where we'll hunt," Songstar meowed. "These pools fill up, and when the tide is low, animals hide in them."

Koipaw nudged Saltpaw. "Bet you I can catch something before you can!" he meowed playfully.

Saltpaw's yellow eyes shone. "I doubt it!" she meowed back.

"I bet you I catch something before you even get there!" Koipaw exclaimed. Giddy with excitement, he threw himself down the hill. He bounded up the rocks and gazed into one of the pools. Wow, he thought as he took in the view. The pool was alive; purple urchins crawled slowly along the floor of the pool, and there were several orangy-pink starfishes clinging to the rock. A dark teal crab skittered out from behind some sea weed.

"Quieter next time approaching the pools," Palmfeather's voice said from behind him. "Creatures in there can hear your footsteps."

"Sorry," Koipaw replied. Without skipping a bit, he turned tail to face his mentor. "So how do we hunt? What do we hunt?"

Songstar purred as she approached the pool, coming to stand on the opposite side. Saltpaw settled down beside her, eyeing the water hungrily. "It's simple," she answered. "Or at least, the idea is. Actually catching something is a different story."

"Fish, crabs, lobsters, oysters- those are all good to eat," Palmfeather continued. "You might find a sting ray in one of these pools, but only an experinced hunter should attempt catching one. Their tails are poisonous."

Poisonous rays! Koipaw thought uneasily. There's a lot of dangerous beasts out here.

Saltpaw was leaning over the water, her paw hovering over the surface, claws out. "So how do we catch any of that?" she meowed.

"Anything that moves should be flipped onto dry land," Songstar said. "A crab's pinch might hurt, but getting on to grab onto you is a sure way to catch one. Some cats even like to use their tail tips as bait."

"Do we have to do that?" Koipaw asked.

Palmfeather giggled. "No, of course not," she mreowed. "It is a good technique, though."

"You two should be ready," Songstar said. "Who don't you see if you can catch something? Wait for your prey to come out of hiding, and make sure you have the catch before you make a move."

The two apprentices nodded. Koipaw crouched over the shallow water, waiting for prey to come into view. After some patience, a small lobster crawled out from under a rock. It's coming right towards me, the calico tom thought, wiggling his haunches expectantly. It made its way over slowly, meticulously sifting invisible bits of prey out of the water.

I can almost reach it... Koipaw thought. He slowly put one paw out over the water, moving it closer and closer to ther lobster. Soon he was hovering over it, the small animal oblivious to the sharp, hooked claws only mouse lengths away.

A moment before Koipaw was about to strike, a shadow seemed to pass over the water. Thinking that his eyes were going blurry from staring for too long, the calico tom blinked, but when he opened his eyes, it looked like there was a shadow right behind him, almost in the shape of a cat...

Koipaw yowled as he was pushed forward. He plunged into the water and realized it was deeper than it had looked from the top. He sunk down and briefly saw the lobster dashing away into the murky blue-green. He pushed himself up and broke the surface, sputtering and spitting out the salty water.

"What happened?" Songstar meowed loudly. Koipaw felt Palmfeather's jaws sinch around his scruff, and he graciously accepted her help to climb out of the pool. He sat down dejectedly on the warm rock, soaked.

Saltpaw darted over and licked Koipaw's ear with fearful concern. "Are you okay?" she worried. "You looked like you were gonna catch that lobster, and then you just fell in!"

"I..." Koipaw meowed. His fur threw off water droplet as he spun his head, looking for the cat that pushed him. But there was only Songstar, Palmfeather, and Saltpaw, all looking at him with confused concern.

"It felt like something pushed me," the tom finally meowed.

Palmfeather shook her head. "Well, it certainly didn't look like something pushed you." Koipaw felt uncomfortable under her almost scrutinizing gaze. "Maybe you should visit Sunspots. You might have heat fever."

"No," Koipaw said quickly. He stood up and shook his pelt dry. "I'm okay, really. I guess I just..." The calico tom trailed off. He really didn't know what could have caused what he saw and felt.

"Well... all right," Songstar meowed hesitantly. "But if you start feeling light headed, sit down."

The two apprentices resumed hunting, but Koipaw was distracted. He couldn't believe he had messed up his first hunt, and completely embarassed himself in front of his mentor and his leader. Stupid! he thought to himself angrily.

They hunted until the sun was dipping low into the sky, traversing the rocks and exploring many different tide pools. Saltpaw was glowing with pride as they carried their prey home; she had managed to catch two large crabs. Koipaw had only managed a small sardine, and its limp, silver body flopped around pathetically as he carried it back to camp.

"You did a good job, Koipaw," Saltpaw meowed, suddenly right beside him. She barely managed to say anything around the massive crab dangling from her mouth.

"Whatever," he mumbled. "I don't know why I'm even bringing this fish back. It's not gonna help anyone."

"Crabs are big, but they're slow moving," Saltpaw replied. Her voice was quiet yet soothing. "They were easy to catch; I was just patient. Your skill, though, that took speed. Maybe that's what your best at."

Koipaw met Saltpaw's eyes, and they sparkled earnestly.

"Thanks, Saltpaw." Koipaw meowed, and he meant it.

At the entrance to the camp they met Carpwhisker and his apprentice, Sharkpaw. "Nice catch," Carpwhisker meowed to his kits. Even Sharkpaw seemed impressed.

Since the fresh-kill pile was full, the four returning cats dug into their prey. Koipaw remembered that sardines were actually his favorite food, and he began to forget that he was ever disappointed with himself.

That shadow that had come over the water, and that feeling of being pushed? That was harder to forget.