If Fallen Leaves Had Lived

Chapter One
"Fallen Leaves. It is time for you to become a sharpclaw."

Fallen Leaves' heart skipped a beat. Finally! What he had been waiting for! He wondered if her actually would get to meet the legendary Rock.

"It smells of rain. Maybe Fallen Leaves should wait until tomorrow," Furled Bracken remarked.

"No!" Fallen Leaves shouted hastily, "I mean--I'm sure the storm will wait to break tomorrow. It would be better to go now."

Furled Bracken dipped his head.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Broken Shadows inquired anxiously.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he responded. He had been waiting moons for this. No way he was going to throw this away now.

"All right. You may go, knowing you will return a honored sharpclaw."

Fallen Leaves approached the mouth of the tunnel. He could not see its insides; just an utter, choking blackness.

And he slipped inside.

At first he was awkward and nervous. Tripping over a rock, he slipped through a passageway in a fork.

Soon, he began to get the feel for it. He had been trained for this, so he was familiar with the choking feeling of the tunnels, and the feel of his whiskers brushing the dirt walls.

He must've become overconfident, because soon he became confused. Did he miss a passage? The tunnel just seemed to be going deeper and deeper. He whipped his head around, confused. There was no sign of Rock. He was all alone.

To add to his panic, he heard a slow trickling sound that turned to a gushing roar.

The storm had broke.

He slipped around a bend in the tunnel. His whiskers were no longer brushing the tunnel sides.

The tunnel eventually widened into a large cavern.

He had run right to the source of the problem. The crystal cold rain had flowed into the river. It had become an inferno of raging water.

"Rock! Someone! Help!" he called into the darkness.

There was no answer but the dripping stones and gushing water. "Anyone! Help!" he cried again.

The ugliest cat he had ever seen stalked from the shadows. His eyes bulged out of their sockets, and he was completely hairless. His long, snagged claws scraped the earth. So this was Rock? Fallen Leaves had always thought of Rock as a ghostly cat, yet handsome, muscular, and dashing. Certainly not how his real appearance was.

"You are frightened by my ugliness," he stated simply, as if he were just making a casual remark about the weather.

The weather.

Water was quickly collecting in pools around his feet, almost touching his belly fur.

"Help me," he pleaded, "I'm lost. I'm going to drown."

"Fear not," Rock simply said. Then he pulled out from behind him a long, smooth stick. On it, were striaght scratched with fine lines crossing them out.

Slowly, Rock made another scratch.

What did it mean?

Fallen Leaves gulped. It possibly represented him.

He watched in fear as Rock slowly scratched his line out.

Am I going to die here?

But the other scratches were crossed out, too. He hadn't known any cat to die becoming a sharpclaw yet.

That could only mean...

Rock's clear voice rang out.

"Your pawsteps will guide you."

Taking one last look at Rock, Fallen Leaves dashed inot the nearest tunnel. He wished that he could've said a more polite goodbye to his ancestor, but he was in a hurry. He had to get out before the tunnels completely flooded.

He came to a fork in the path, slowly filling with water. He chose the left path and kept moving.

What if I do down here?

Soon he came to a rock. He remembered seeing the odd rock before, when he first came in. He had tripped over it! He pondered for a moment, and took the middle passage.

The water was hungrily lapping at his neckline. He began to shove through the entrance.

He was out.

The rain falling from the sky and onto his face had never felt so good.

He could return to his friends now, as an equal! Bet his story could top any Running Horse could tell!

He exploded into camp. "Guys! I'm back! I made it!" His words were greeted with dead silence.

The camp was deserted.

The was no sign of a badger attack; no blood, fur, or scent. However, the stone walls were laced with fear stench.

What happened here?

His question was answered with a low, distant rumbling. A giant monster, bigger than Fallen Leaves had ever seen, ominously crawled to the edge of the hollow. Followed by two more.

He was surrounded.

Chapter 2
to be continued