Chapter Nine

"Pst! Koipaw! Koipaw, wake up!"

Koipaw groaned irratatedly as he awoke. Sharkpaw was standing over him, nudging him roughly.

"I'm up, stop poking me," Koipaw meowed, voice raspy with sleep. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of the apprentice's den, and he could make out Shadowpaw and Saltpaw standing just behind Sharkpaw, whispering excitedly to each other. "What's going on?" he asked, stretching his front legs in front of him and flexing his claws. "We're not being invaded, are we?"

"Of course not," Sharkpaw snorted. "Don't you think you'd realize if there were cats fighting right outside our den?"

"Well, then, why'd you wake me up?"

"We're going swimming," Shadowpaw meowed, her voice quiet yet excited.

"Swimming?" Koipaw asked incredulously.

"Just like when we were kits," Saltpaw meowed, yellow eyes glittering. "Only this time we're going to the tidepools."

Koipaw finally stood up, arching his back to stretch the stiffness out. "Okay, I'll come," he decided. "But why did you want to go swimming in the first place?"

Sharkpaw shrugged. "It won't be long before Shadowpaw and I are apprentices," he pointed out, "and we figured we might as well do something sneaky with you two before we become warriors and have responsibilities."

"You're not scared, are you?" Shadowpaw teased.

"StarClan, no," Koipaw meowed, bounding over to the entrance of the den. "Let's go!"

The four young cats crept out of the apprentice den, moving silently across the camp. Sandshift was sitting sentry at the camp entrance, not having noticed the younger cats yet, and Sharkpaw waved his tail to indicate a better path. He pushed through the long grass surrounding the camp, moving deftly between the scraggly brush and age-old driftwood. Does Sharkpaw and Shadowpaw sneak out a lot?, Koipaw wondered. Probably.

They soon broke through the dune plants and onto the beach. Moonlight rippled on the water, almost looking like silvery fish on the surface. "The ocean is prettiest at night," Saltpaw breathed dreamily, and Koipaw agreed with her.

Shadowpaw purred and drew her tail over Saltpaw's spine. "Well, that's awfully romantic," he mreowed. "What, are you trying to flirt with my brother or something."

Sharkpaw chuffed in laughted, and Saltpaw's mouth fell open, her fur fluffing up. "What- no! Of course not!" she meowed frantically.

"C'mon, Saltpaw, you know you love me," Sharkpaw purred, puffing his chest.

"Eat fox dung," Saltpaw retorted, pushing the tom away.

"It's okay, Saltpaw," Koipaw meowed good-naturedly. He wrapped on forepaw around Shadowpaw's shoulders. "You can have Sharkpaw, and I'll get Shadowpaw. Sound fair?"

"Not to me," Shadowpaw said, shrugging Koipaw's paw off her. "Gross."

The four apprentices laughed, and starting racing down the beach towards the tidepools, splashing in the lapping tide and throwing water up all around them. Koipaw was always grateful that CoveClan cats could appreciate water- and that they got clean, clear water to swim in, not sludgy marsh water like FloodClan.

The outcrop of rocks that formed the tidepools soon came into view, and as Koipaw raced towards it, a feeling of uneasiness started to grow in his belly. Though he had tried to push the memory away- which wasn't hard due to all the training, hunting, and learning he had been doing lately- he hadn't forgotten the phantom, the thing that had appeared as a shadow and then had pushed him into the pool. Ever since, everytime he went outside of camp he had felt like he had been being... watched. Like something was hunting him from just past his sight.

But that was all nonsense.

The group finally reached the outcrop, and skidded to a halt in front of the rocks, water welling around their paws as they pressed into the wet ground. One by one, they hopped onto the first rock.

A wild yowl split through the night, and Sharkpaw threw himself off of the stone into one of the larger tidepools. Saltpaw followed him, and the two cats broke from the water in unison, churning the clear water into silvery streaks.

Shadowpaw glanced back at Koipaw. Her large ambery eyes fluttered at him, and then she leapt into the water, joining the other apprentices. Koipaw flicked his ears, wiggled his haunches, and plunged into the water.

The warm water enveloped Koipaw's pelt, making him feel weightless. He settled on the floor of the tidepool for a moment, feeling the rocky surface on his paw pads, before pushing up and breaking the surface of the water.

Saltpaw and Shadowpaw were sparring in the shallow part of the pool, rearing up on their hind legs and pushing each other into the water, giggling jovially. Sharkpaw, half submerged, was eyeing Koipaw challengingly, his eyes and nose the only thing visible above the water. With a grin, the calico tom reared out of the water and pushed Sharkpaw over.

The older apprentice rolled out of his reach, and disappeared under the turbulent water. Koipaw looked around, trying to spot Sharkpaw, but before he knew it, the tom exploded from behind him, tackling him into the water with a wild yowl. The two cats went down, and Koipaw opened his eyes under water. Through the darkness he saw Sharkpaw coming after him, his eyes vibrant as he swam towards him.

The calico tom dodged, and Sharkpaw flew past him. The large gray tom tried to reverse his momentum, but Koipaw siezed the opportunity, slamming into his flank. He saw the opposing tom push himself out of the water, and with a feeling of vistory, Koipaw followed.

"S'only cus you're faster..." Sharkpaw panted as he fought to regain his breath. "'Could beat you on land."

"Sure," Koipaw mreowed. "So you're a shark that can't attack underwater?"

"Bite me," Sharkpaw replied with a heart laugh.

Koipaw saw movement out of the side of his eye, and he and Sharkpaw turned at the same time to see Shadowpaw and Saltpaw both staring at them curiously, crouched by the side of the tidepool. They shared a glance.

"Oh no..." Sharkpaw muttered.

The two she-cats leapt at the toms. "Sneak attack!" they shrieked, leaving Koipaw barely enough time to brace himself before he was shoved back into the water.

Despite gulping down a bitter mouthful of saltwater, Koipaw came up laughing, splashing Shadowpaw and Saltpaw jokingly. "Good attack," he mreowed. "We would've been mouse meat if we were invaders."

"You'd be drowned mouse meat," Shadowpaw replied, amber eyes shining.

"Too easy," Saltpaw giggled.

Koipaw groomed his fur, slowly teasing the saltwater out with his tongue. The other three apprentices laid on the stones beside him, basking in the warm night air. His pelt was absolutely drenched, but he didn't mind much; there wasn't a hint of chill in the breeze. He was comfortable.

"We should head back to camp," Saltpaw said sadly, breaking the comfortable silence.

Sharkpaw sighed. "Yeah, you're right," he meowed. He brushed a disinterested paw over the surface of the tidepool.

"It would be horrible if Songstar put off our warrior ceremony," Shadowpaw agreed. The she-cat stood up, stretching her back into a tall arch. "Sad that we're not even supposed to be out right now. I would catch some crabs and bring them home for Milkfur. Have you heard she's expecting kits?"

Koipaw rose from where he was sitting and stretched his hind legs out one at a time to easy the stiffness out of his joints. "Who told you that?" he asked.

"She did!" Shadowpaw replied. "Besides, she's already showing. I'm surprised none of you noticed."

"Maybe you should have become a medicine cat," Sharkpaw joked. His sister snorted at the suggestion. "As if," she retorted as she started down the rocks. "Spending all day out gathering seaweed? No thanks."

"Oh, you know that's not all that medicine cats do!" Saltpaw chortled, bouncing to catch up to Shadowpaw, Sharkpaw following right beside her.

Koipaw lifted his paw to follow, but something stopped him. The night was still, he realized. Very still. It felt like all the air around him had been sucked away and replaced with thick, viscous liquid. He almost felt trapped- though, not entirely in danger.

The calico tom ripped his gaze away from the three apprentices growing smaller as they padded back to camp and looked behind himself. It took him a moment for his mind to wrap around what he was seeing, and he almost couldn't believe his eyes when he did make it out.

Pawprints.

Pitch black pawprints, even smaller than his paws. They started only tail lengths away from where he was standing, and looked relatively fresh. He could see them trailing off into the grasslands, stretching across CoveClan territory, and towards the groves of FloodClan.

Into the swamp.

Was someone watching us? Koipaw wondered, and shivered. Tentatively, he paced over to the nearest pawprint and sniffed it. It didn't smell like cat, or any other animal; it had a faint smell of water baking off rocks in the warm sunlight, but other than that, nothing.

Koipaw backed away from the pawprint. He looked up at the pawprint trail, down at the print, and up again. Does this have something to do with whatever pushed me in the water the other day?

The sky was growing gray. It would be dawn soon, and the last thing Koipaw wanted was to get caught sneaking into camp.

I'll check this out later, Koipaw resolved. He stared at the pawprints, comitting their path to memory, before turning tail and running to catch up with the other apprentices. Whoever, whatever, you are, I'm going to find you!

Thanks for reading! Kind of a short chapter this time (I've been working like crazy lately). I hope you enjoy! I love reading all your comments and reviews, so please leave some if you like the story so far! Thank you!