A TERRIFIC TAIL - CHAPTER FIFTEEN

*Silv's POV*

Things seemed to be going great so far-- after all, our leader got her nine lives, we had a place to communicate with StarClan, the Clan seemed to be getting along-- everything was fine.

As soon as we'd gotten back to camp, we saw that hardly any of the cats had slept yet. They were eager to know whether their leader had actually been able to get nine lives. Of course, it was hard to believe we were *actually* cats, we were *actually* living in the wilderness, we *were* actually able to act like cats from a fantasy series. It was fun yet scary at the same time.

After getting everyone back into their dens, I walked to my nest in the medicine cat den. Foxxy was curled up in her nest, not quite asleep, but didn't say anything as I padded towards the back of the den.

It was weird not sleeping with Nightfrost. Back home, we shared a room, always whispering "good night" to each other before pulling the blinds and turning off the lights. It was a routine we'd always had, and it was weird not doing it here.

*At least she'll be with her friends,* I thought to myself, drifting into unconscious.

"Arghh! I'm all wet!" Lightningstrike's annoyed yowl sounded through camp, lacing into nearly every den that stood in its path. Murmuring under my breath, I quickly got out of my nest to find puddles of water spread out everywhere. *It must have rained last night.*

Snowfrost sat neatly at the entrance of the warrior's den, her sleek tail curled up on her paws. "Technically speaking, water isn't wet," she pointed out with a smug, know-it-all expression.

Lightningstrike rolled her eyes. "Maybe you wouldn't be lecturing me if you were wet yourself." Bounding up to Snowfrost, she shook her pelt, showering water droplets all over the white she-cat.

Snowfrost yelped, jumping back. But it was too late, for she was dripping with the clear liquid. However, Lightningstrike hadn't only showered Snowfrost; Windfeather, Meadowsky, and Cinderswirl were wet as well.

"Watch it!" Cinderswirl snapped, edgier than usual. Windfeather shot Lightningstrike a quick glare, while Meadowsky studied her paws, obviously annoyed but not showing it.

"Er, sorry," Lightningstrike looked a bit embarrassed. "I haven't been myself much lately. These paws *do* get irritating to bear with. I'm used to arms and feet."

"Aren't we all," Amberpaw muttered. Every cat in the clearing turned to stare at her. "What? We're all used to being humans. Why are we putting up with paws and tails and. . ." her voice trailed off. "Why *are* we cats anyway?" Then she ducked her white head, as if shy for deciding to speak out.

I flinched. Clearly Ottie, Moon and I didn't know the reason we were cats; but we couldn't let the Clan figure that out. They would lose all their trust in us. I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could, Waveflower did.

"We were humans only a couple days ago. How come we're cats?" She stared at Moon, who'd come to stand outside her den, listening intently to everyone's opinions. Waveflower's gaze wasn't hostile, but curious.

Moon hesitated briefly, glancing at me and Ottie. "We can't tell you-- yet. I can assure--" Moonstar was cut off by a yowl of protest.

"What do you mean, *yet?* Don't we deserve to know? Do you think we wanted to leave our homes, our families, for *this*?" A brown tabby cat came to stand next to Lightningstrike, brushing her pelt against hers.

"Duskwind!" Nightfrost and I hissed at the same time, furious.

"It's *Amber,* not Duskwind!" She snapped back.

"There is no logical explanation for this," Boulderclaw calmly pointed out, ignoring the three of us. "Why would we all of a sudden turn into cats in the middle of the night?"

"I-- I agree with Boulderclaw." Turning in disbelief, I whirled around to pin my gaze on Snowfrost. "What? It's true. There is no logical reasoning behind this. It could be a dream or curse, for all we know." Boulderclaw nodded encouragingly at Snowfrost as she glanced at him, then ducked her head and gave her shoulder a couple of licks.

"Maybe whoever doesn't want to stay here can leave," Ivypaw suggested, her eyes shining a little bit with curiosity. "After all, not everyone wants to be here, right?" TerrificClan's deputy stared at her, unable to respond.

"Nonsense!" Moonstar snapped suddenly, causing everyone to jump back a little."We will all stick together. We are a Clan, and we cannot separate."

"What if we don't want to stay?" Lightningstrike challenged. The arguing cats suddenly pulled closer together, their arguments getting more and more difficult to handle.

*Oh StarClan, what is happening?*