Midnightfoot was staring at her curiously as Greenkit blinked the sleep from her eyes. A glowbug was floating away from her, as if carried by a breeze that wasn't present, and joined the others in the waves of flashing bugs high above her.
Greenkit scrambled to her paws. The initial tiredness of waking up escaped her jumped up with a newfound energy she didn't have prior to travelling beyond the Bigfall.
Midnightfoot's attention was now drawn to Water – or Waterpaw, as Brook Where Little Fish Swim had called her – who was waking up a few rabbit hops away from Greenkit. She was the last to awake – Greenkit saw Twilightfur, Dawntail and Duskpelt already on their paws.
Suddenly, her dream came rushing back to her in a swarm. These were the Nighttime cats that Brook Where Little Fish Swim was referring to! These were the cats to end the fierce loneliness the cats of the Cliffland suffered from!
And she was supposed to help, she remembered proudly, thinking of Brook Where Little Fish Swim's words. Greenkit felt an overwhelming feeling of peace and determination wash over her. She knew what she had to do.
Once Waterpaw had awoken, she flicked her wispy, silvery tail back down the cavern, away from the glowing lights. They followed her beckon quickly, silently, and exited the cavern much faster than they had entered it. Each cat leapt through the space between the Bigfall and the muddy ground single file, Greenkit following Dawntail, followed by Waterpaw.
Greenkit was surprised to see the moon, glowing brightly in the cloudless sky, bathing them in pearly white light. Had they really slept so long? The sun was still peeking over the horizon when they had entered. It was now completely and totally nighttime, almost moon-high. Greenkit gazed at the white orb in a newfound awe of the sky Brook Where Little Fish Swim had come from.
Waterpaw broke the silence. "So the stories my mam told me are true," she mewed quietly, as if to herself. She was surprised when Twilightfur questioned her.
"What stories?"
"Of the Tribe of Rushing Water," Waterpaw answered, her head bowed as she, too, processed the words coming from her mouth. "I love my mam, but she is getting old. When she shared these stories with me, I thought she was making them up, even though she insisted she was not."
Twilightfur nodded, and cocked her head to face Midnightfoot. "Crookedstar came to me." She mewed simply, as if everything was explained in those four short words.
"And Bluestar to me," Midnightfoot mewed. "It seems that StarClan has followed us here, as Rabbitfoot promised."
There was a mournful tone to his mew as the large black tom said Rabbitfoot's name. The cats were silent, staring up at the fall, purpose flooding their eyes as they did so. Greenkit asked a question that Brook Where Little Fish Swim had not answered, one she felt would explain much of what she did not understand. "Twilightfur," she turned to the cat expressly but slowly, picking the cat that seemed most invested in the little kit's presence. "What are the Clans? How will they bring peace to the cats of the Clifflands?"
Twilightfur stared at her searchingly, hardly. She wondered if the cat had silently disapproved of Greenkit's admittedly sneaky manner used to follow the cats to such an intense sharing of dreams.
She must have decided not to reprimand her or send her away, because Twilightfur mewed simply, "It is a story to be told in the morning sun, after we have hunted and rested. It has been a long day for us all, and I don't wish to miss important details. I feel that this is a question we shall be answering many times over, and I want to get it as right as I can the first time around."
With a small nod, all of the cats seemed to approve of her answer; even Dustpelt. Greenkit was surprised the grumpy cat had not a spiteful comment on her addition to the group, or her shared dream, with who she instinctively understood were her ancestors. They began the long track back to Pearl's hollow, the moonlight bathing their path.
Greenkit woke up in a comfortable nest of fern and moss, the cool sunlit morning of the dry season warming her pelt and whiskers. She yawned, stretching her legs and giving her tail a shake. She seemed to be alone in the hollow, but knew that Waterpaw and Pearl were just across the way.
She reflected on the previous nights' adventure. After they had returned, Greenkit had shown the Nighttime cats the best place to find rabbits and mice in the scrubs behind the dunes, but they had turned down the fresh-prey spots to go meet Rabbitfoot. Greenkit had caught a nice juicy rabbit after a few hunger-driven attempts.
She wasn't the best hunter, and knew her hunger and leftover buzzes of excitemement had enhanced her skills. But before biting into the rabbit, she dragged it back to the hollow with difficulty, since the rabbit was only slightly smaller than she. Greenkit shared it with Waterpaw and Pearl, even though the hunger cramps of her stomach told her that she could have finished the entire thing on her own, probably. But it felt nice to share, and wandered to a moss-and-fern-lined nest in the hollow, one usually reserved for sick cats under the care of Pearl. With a bursting belly and heavy eyes, despite the sleep she had gotten in the cavern behind the falls, Greenkit fell into a dreamless sleep as soon as she curled up.
Greenkit was wondering to Pearl's den that morning to see if Waterpaw wanted to hunt, when the Nighttime cats padded through the hollow entrance near the Cliffpath. Forgetting her hunger once more, she bounded up to them excitedly. "Hi!" she mewed, her enthusiasm showing easily.
Midnightfoot's whiskers twitched with amusement. "Good morning," he meowed back.
"How is Rabbitfoot?" Greenkit asked, trying to maintain some manners in asking about the old cat. Dawntail looked down dejectedly at the ground, her tail drooping.
"Rabbitfoot hunts with StarClan now," Twilightfur explained gently, her eyes full of mourning. "We buried her down the beach this morning."
Greenkit nodded, scraping at the ground with a paw. "Well," she mewed, trying to ease the tension. "I'm sure she'll hunt all the rabbit's feet she can manage now!"
She was surprised to hear Dawntail purr quietly, and Twilightfur bowed her head a bit, a sparkle in her eye. "That she will," she agreed. "Have you eaten? We have a long day ahead. Tonight is the full moon, and it's important we get started early."
Greenkit could hardly contain her excitement. "I ate enough last night," she promised, even though she knew she could eat more. "What is our mission? What are we to do?"
"We must fetch Waterpaw, first." Twilightfur answered, signaling with her tail to the herb cat's den. Greenkit noted that she also used Waterpaw's new name, and wondered if Brook Where Small Fish Swim had visited her in her dream, too. Greenkit felt a small twinge of jealousy. Selfishly, she was hoping to keep the pretty brown tabby to herself. "No sense in telling the same tale twice." Twilightfur explained. Greenkit shrugged off her jealousy and padded over to the entrance with a spring in her step.
She was mistaken in believing her adventure was over. Greenkit suddenly realized that the rest of her life very well might be an adventure. And she was ready for it.
Her thoughts were broken by Waterpaw and Pearl's exit from their den. Greenkit noticed the old silver tabby remained partially in the den, out of the sunlight. Waterpaw, however, came completely out of the den and sat before the Nighttime cats with a shining excitement in her eyes, the same that Greenkit found within herself. She was suddenly glad she wasn't the only cat feeling the swarm of emotions that buzzed throughout her small body.
"Waterpaw," Midnight foot began pointedly. "I was hoping you would accompany us – " his tail flickered to Dawntail and Duskpelt. "around the upper Cliffland once again. The cats may feel less threatened with a familiar cat among us, as you pointed out yesterday. Tonight is the full moon, and it is important we get as many cats to join us there, at moon-high, as possible."
Waterpaw ducked her head, away from Midnightfoot's stare. Greenkit could understand her bashfulness; Midnightfoot was an intimidating cat, his tone very fair but also straight to the point. He seemed like a cat that wasted no breath on things that could go unsaid. "I'd gladly help," Waterpaw answered, lifting her head slightly to join her gray eyes to Midnightfoot's deep reddish-brown. "As long as my mam doesn't need me for anything, of course." She added quickly glancing at the old cat.
"I can manage without you for a day," The old she-cat rasped with a gleam in her eyes. "Some-cat will bring me fresh-kill around sun-high, I'm certain. Just be safe."
Waterpaw nodded to accept her mam's blessing. Greenkit felt a small twinge of yearning for her own mam's approval. Not many cats around here were very close to their families; parents and kits, as well as siblings, separating when the kits turned about six moons old. But it was clear that Pearl and Waterpaw had a similar relationship as Greenkit and her mam did.
Greenkit missed her terribly.
But looking at the Nighttime cats before her, Greenkit felt the yearning replaced with a feeling she was unfamiliar with. It was a slightly less intense feeling than the one she experienced during her chat with Brook Where Small Fish Swim. It was the opposite of lonesome. It was friendship. Respect. Support. Companionship. She decided very quickly she enjoyed the warm, true feelings pulsing throughout her small body.
"And Greenkit and I shall be speaking with cats of the beach," Twilightfur added, much to Greenkit's exstatic delight. She felt as if she could bound up and around the Clifflands many times over, suddenly bouncing with even more energy. "It will be much less time consuming, dragging Waterpaw around the beach; I expect Greenkit knows most of the nooks and crannies well," she added with a purr. Greenkit suddenly felt very close to the black she-cat with green eyes as bright as her own. Almost a kinship.
Before long, the Twilightfur and Greenkit were wiggling through the entry space of the hollow, to the top of the dune outside, and down to the beach. It was morning-time, and the tide was low. Greenkit pointed this out to Twilightfur, and began to describe what this meant, as they meandered slowly down the beachside. "All sorts of rocks and shells will have been washed up overnight," Greenkit explained, gesturing with her small tail to the rows and rows of stones. "This is the best time to find pearls for Waterpaw's mam. Twilightfur," Greenkit remembered she had a question to ask. "Why am I Greenkit? And Water, Waterpaw?"
Twilightfur was quiet for a moment, examining the beauty the tides had brought to the beach. She then dove into a tale about Clan cats, how they came to be, how they followed the Warrior Code, and how StarClan watched over them all. She described the milky warmth of the nursery and the wild strength cats developed to protect it, and how even though the Clans could come together in times, they battled for prey and territory and kept distinguished lines between Clans. By the time she had finished, they had reached the Saltmarsh, and Greenkit was in awe. "And that's why you came here, Twilightfur? StarClan told you we needed you?"
"And it seems StarClan was right," Twilightfur purred. "You're all about as helpless as kits!"
"Hey!" Greenkit protested indignantly. "I'm a kit, and I certainly managed to sneak up on you!"
"Yes," Twilightfur agreed. "But you also fight like a confused squirrel!"
Her comment sedated Greenkit for a moment, but Twilightfur was still purring and she realized she was really only joking. Even if, Greenkit admitted, there might have been some truth in her words.
The two she-cats sat at the edge of where the Saltmarsh began. The Littlefall pooled into a very small pond, in which the Saltmarsh encased. The Saltmarsh was a very pretty place, in Greenkit's opinion. There were lush green grasses, growing in patches, where the water from the sea and Littlefall pool met around. There were a few clusters of thin trees here and there, but clusters of green plants mainly dominated the land before it broke off into the sea. On the far side of the Littlefall pool, the Saltmarsh slowly mixed with the Snakeroot-trees. From a distance, you couldn't tell, but Greenkit had explored it enough. The trees had roots that, instead of being buried in the ground, overtopped the water, curling all among themselves like thousands of snakes. It was mostly watery, even during the dry season, unlike the Saltmarsh. It was wet, yet, but had dryer patches during the dry season.
Greenkit sat for a moment after pointing all of this out to Twilightfur, absorbing it's beauty, like she had many times before. Twilightfur suddenly reminded Greenkit of a special moment, Greenkit and her mam sitting side-by-side, overlooking the beautiful, fruitful land before them. "It's all yours, kit." her mam would tell her. "All yours."
Greenkit was starting to doubt her mam's words, though. She was starting to think she didn't want it all for herself. Before the Nighttime cats had come, sure, she wanted the entire beach to herself. But now she was quite certain she wanted to share it. And defend it alongside cats she cared for, and cats that cared about her. She felt a warm glow come over her that had nothing to do with the rising sun.
It was much warmer now, the cool mist of the night was completely overtaken by the bright tendrils of the sun. By sun-high, the sand of the beach and dunes would be almost unbearably hot. But, Greenkit reasoned, they had time. And she was certain Pearl would help care for raw, burned pads when they returned.
"Well, Greenkit." Twilightfur mewed without turning her head. "Are you ready to help me spread news of the Clans to the cats?"
Greenkit wriggled. Yes, she decided. She was ready to share this warmth with as many cats she possibly could.