Fraywater's arrival

Panfoot twitched in his sleep. He had the nightmare again. The day he lost his only daughter, he tried so hard to keep her alive... After his mate, Demitail, died giving birth, he kept catching and caging rabbits for their milk, to feed Lesbianpaw somehow. Demitail always loved rivers.. he wanted to keep that in his daughter's spirit. And he did, Lesbianpaw loved rivers-which killed her later. That day she was crossing a river, but she slipped on a rock, drowning her in the waves. He saw that in his dream again.. However this time, Lesbianpaw looked somehow bigger. He shook, trying to wake up, not wanting to see it happen over and over again... just as he couldn't watch it anymore, the pink she-cat turned blueish. Panfoot's eyes widened and he woke up, startled. "Bad dream again..?" He heard a soft meow come from Aceheart. The she-cat became a good help for Panfoot after his grief. He remembered the day he found the three lost kits like it was yesterday. He didn't want any more cats to die, not if he could help them survive.

Panfoot nodded. "I'm sorry." Aceheart comforted him.

"But this time, it was different." Aceheart gave him a puzzled look. "Lesbianpaw.. she looked older.. and the river.. looked different. Also at the end of the dream... she turned blue. It wasn't her anymore. It felt almost... real."

Aceheart sat down, listening to the old tom. "Real?" She asked. Panfoot nodded, lost in his thoughts. "What if... it was real?" He meowed. "The river looked similiar to the one outside our forest.."

Aceheart's eyes widened. "We should check it at least. Come on, I'll get someone to come with us." She stood up, leaving Panfoot's den. As Panfoot walked out, he heard Aceheart calling Arospots and Lithosky. The two toms grew bigger than Panfoot remembered. The three younger cats swiftly ran to the river, while Panfoot panted, trying to hurry. When they noticed that they were faster than him, they slowed down, waiting for him. Soon, they neared the river. Panfoot's eyes widened as he heard a scared meow. A blueish she-cat, the same one as in his dream, was holding on to a stone, trying not to drown. Arospots quickly jumped in the river.

"No! He'll drown..!" Panfoot yelled, scared. He looked over at Lithosky and Aceheart, but they just calmy stared at the river. Why aren't they doing anything? Lithosky meowed. "He knows what he's doing. He's been hunting fish for a while now."

Panfoot thought about that. He never took fish from anyone. Since Lesbianpaw's death, he wanted nothing to do with rivers. From the day Aceheart caught him her first fish, he just muttered a simple 'no', staying away from it. And he never got interested in the two young toms. He realized that Lithosky wasn't just a reckless kit anymore, he grew into a fine, clever tom. And Arospots wasn't only a bad-tempered, annoyed-by-everything cat, he grew bigger, broud-shouldered and strong.

Soon Arospot's head popped out of the river, near the blue cat. He tried reaching her, but she slipped, falling in the river. The death of Lesbianpaw flashed in front of Panfoot's eyes, causing him to whine. He flattened his ears, not wanting to see another cat drown. Just as he wanted to look away, Arospots grabbed the she-cats scruff, swimming back to shore. He tried to tell something. "Gesh Chranscla! We neech her help!" Panfoot realized what Arospots tried to tell them. He was telling them to get Transclaw, the she-cat was really good with helping injured cats. He quickly turned around, wanting to fetch her, but Aceheart stopped him. "I think i can fetch my daughter faster than you can." And so she disappeared into the forest. A short while passed and Arospots wasn't at the shore yet. The she-cat was heavier than Arospots had expected, Panfoot guessed. He hated just sitting at the shore, not helping. "Why won't we help him?" He growled, scared.

"Arospots likes to do stuff alone, we wouldn't be much help anyway." Lithosky answered. Panfoot could see that worry has darkened his gaze too. Arospots shut his eyes and swam stronger, nearing the river edge faster. As he climbed to the grass, dragging the she-cat with him, he heard Transclaw's fast pawsteps behind him.

[...]

Panfoot and the others dragged the she-cat into the camp, after Transclaw pulled the water out of her lungs. Transclaw led them toward her den, where she helped the she-cat find a comfortable spot. After a while she opened her eyes wide. Transclaw kindly told her. "You almost drowned, so we helped you. What's your name, little one?"

The she-cat coughed a bit and answered. "Fraywater. My name is Fraywater."