The stars glittered above in SilverPelt, down upon the resting warriors of MoonClan. Rainwhisper looked up to the white specks in the sky, wondering about her dear friend, Robinflight, who died heroically in a recent battle with SunClan. Rainwhisper recalled the battle in her head, shaking away the pure terror she had felt as Robinflight's body fell to the ground in front of Adderstar. She froze and stared at him, shaking with rage and fear. The leader of her Clan's sworn enemy had killed her best friend, and she would never forget it.
The next morning in the MoonClan camp was as busy as ever. When Rainwhisper stepped out into the clearing, feeling the soft dawn light on her pelt, she saw Nightfrost, MoonClan's medicine cat rushing back and forth from her den to the apprentice's, carrying huge bundles of herbs in her jaws. Her black fur glowed fire orange reflecting the rising sun. Rainwhisper stretched her aching legs and muscles, and looked toward the fresh-kill pile. She was starving. The battle from two sunrises ago still had its marks left on the Clan, every warrior was busy from dawn to moon-high, there was no time to be sitting around. Luckily for her, the fresh-kill pile was freshly stocked with warm prey from sparrows to voles. As she trotted up to grab a piece from the pile, her mouth watering in hunger, she saw Honeypool's kits, Riverkit and Fernkit, wrestling in front of the nursery. They snapped at each others ears and and pounced on their tails, shouting curses at each other that were only appropriate for warriors to use. Honeypool shot out of the dangling fern entrance of the den and spilt them apart with her paw, her voice was full of shock and anger, "Where did you learn those terrible curses?" She yowled, making her kits tremble in fear and some nearby warriors turn their way, "No more playing outside for a half-moon, you hear me? Now come inside." She swept them into the den with her tail, the kits didn't dare protest. Rainwhisper let out a chuckle, Those kits can never go one day without getting into some sort of trouble. She thought as she grabbed a plump sparrow from the top of the pile.
She walked to a sunny-er spot at the edge of the clearing and settled down with the spattow dangling from her mouth. She dove right in, tearing apart the juicy meat and finishing without anything left but bone.
"You sure were hungry." Rainwhisper didn't even notice Wolfstar approach. He towered over her, casting a shadow down upon the ground, and her pelt. "Oh! Good morning Wolfstar, you startled me." Rainwhisper meowed, and the huge grey tom chuckled. "Sorry I startled you, mind if I settle down with you?" He asked. Wolfstar had only ever talked to her to give orders or ask for a small favor, but to settle down to eat next to her? It was quite a surprise. "Sure, Wolfstar." She replied with a smile, and Wolfstar gleefully layed down next to her in the sun.
He let out a sigh, which Rainwhisper guessed was from relaxation. She shifted herself a bit to give him more room, and nudged the bone pile of the sparrow aside and into the bushes.
"Did Tigerflash appoint you to any patrols?" Wolfstar suddenly asked, breaking the awkward silence between them, Rainwhisper stammered, "Oh, um, no. I don't think so, no." She flushed in embarrassment, Great going Rainwhisper, messing up in front of your leader. Wolfstar didn't seem to mind about her stumble, "No? Well, we should go hunting together. No problem with catching more prey after that battle." He grunted as he rolled up to his feet, and stretched his front legs out and opened his huge jaws in a yawn. "Of course, Wolfstar, I'm fine with that." She said and jumped up to her feet, "Who's coming with us?" She asked as they began walking towards the exit of the camp, "Oh, I think just the two of us will be fine." He said, looking at her with a cheerful smile, and Rainwhisper couldn't argue with that.
As they passed through the exit, Beetlepelt, who was sitting guard, nodded to her and Wolfstar as they walked by.
The forest was gleaming in the sunlight, bright green everywhere, surrounding the two warriors as they walked on the flattened fern path deeper into the forest. Wolfstar broke into a run and yowled back at her to follow. They soared like eagles through the forest, leaping over fallen trees with ease and avoiding thinner trees by dashing side to side. Rainwhisper didn't feel tired or worried or stressed. She felt freedom and victory surge through her whole body, filling with warmth and sunlight. She raced forward, clearing another fallen tree, and tore past Wolfstar, who gaped in surprise as she raced ahead. They were probably scaring away all the prey by racing to loudly, but to Rainwhisper, nothing mattered at all. She saw an opening in the trees, and up ahead she saw the magnificent Silver Lake. The trees faded out, and Rainwhisper had to skid her paws on the dirt to slow down in time before she toppled off the edge into the lake. She panted, heart racing like hummingbird wings, and legs feeling like they were on fire. Wolfstar skidded to a halt beside her, panting and looking out upon the shining water. "I didn't know… you were… so fast!" Wolfstar exclaimed between pants. She let out a laugh, and collapsed onto the soft grass, "Only.. for a short amount… of time!" She replied.
They watched the lake for a few minutes before Wolfstar stood up again, "Ok, let's get to hunting." He said, nudging her ear with his nose. Rainwhisper shivered, his nose was really cold. But she didn't say anything as Wolfstar led her back into the forest.
Hunting was a breeze. The two warriors hunted until just before sunset, catching prey, after prey, after prey. Wolfstar caught two blackbirds and three squirrels, all were up in the trees, where Wolfstar expertly stalked them on the wobbly branches, not one of them got away. Rainwhisper caught many voles and a few rabbits, all warm and plump. "Some haul we have to carry back to camp," Wolfstar exclaimed, pushing all their prey into one huge pile, "I never knew we would catch this much." He sat down and washed his ears with a paw, while Rainwhisper began carrying as much as she could carry in her jaws, "Me neither." She said, her mouth full of fur, "We should head back to camp before someone starts worrying about us. She was referring to Tigerflash, the responsible, yet quite clingy deputy always got super worried when Wolfstar wasn't at camp by sunset. Once she sent out a search party of eight warriors to look for him just because he wanted some fresh air during the night. Wolfstar purred in agreement and began carrying prey back towards camp, following the fern trail.
When they got back to camp, the first cat they saw was Tigerflash. Her eyes glittered in worry and relief, "Thank StarClan you're back!" She said, circling Wolfstar happily, "I was about to send a search party to-" She paused, finally noticing the huge amount of prey in our jaws and on our backs, she gaped in surprise, and what seemed like anger, "You went hunting?" She nearly yowled in Wolfstar's face, gathering the attention of some warriors out in the clearing who were sharing tongues, "You went hunting? Without me? And without telling me?!" Her voice raised even more. Wolfstar set down the prey onto the ground and didn't get a chance to comfort his deputy, "Have you any idea how much I've been worrying? All day, I've been asking warriors where you went, and Rainwhisper didn't even tell me she was going with you!" Suddenly, Rainwhisper understood. Tigerflash was jealous of Rainwhisper for hunting with Wolfstar. Is that why she's always so worried about him? Tigerflash paused, panting, her eyes filled with rage and fear. She sideways glanced at Rainwhisper once every few heart beats, and when she did, she seemed to get more angry.
Wolfstar finally spoke, "Tigerflash," He breathed, he seemed to be trying to be as calming as possible, "I'm fine. We only went hunting,"
"For the whole day." Tigerflash grumbled.
"Yes, but it was my idea. You hadn't given Rainwhisper a patrol to go on, and I wanted to go out into the forest. So just the two of us went, and now we're back, so you can calm down now." He finished, and stared into Tigerflash's eyes. The brown tabby's fur rose around the neck, and her mouth opened and shut a few times before she closed it for good. She quickly turned around and ran to the warriors den, where no one outside could see her past the fern curtain. Wolfstar sighed, "I've tried to tell her to not worry about me so much," He began, "But she can't seem to let go of the fact that I'm her leader, and I should be able to do as I please, but…" He paused to take a breath, "She just wants me for herself, and I can't really stop her."
"Be her mate."
Wolfstar spun his head around to look at Rainwhisper, his blue eyes wide in shock, "What?"
Rainwhisper nodded at him, "Be her mate. That's what she wants. She's jealous of me hunting with you, and being around you. If you become her mate, she'll have her way." Wolfstar's eyes narrowed into slits, "But… I don't love her." He said softly, his bushy tail drooped to the ground.
"Then don't be her mate." Rainwhisper exclaimed, she bumped him with her head, "I'm only telling you what I think. You don't have to follow it."
Without another word, Rainwhisper grabbed the prey from his back and from the ground, and dragged it all the fresh-kill pile, which was now twice as tall as it was in the morning.
"Go get some rest, Wolfstar." Rainwhisper said as she passed him, and he looked at her blankly, before nodding and walking slowly towards his den at the edge of the clearing. Rainwhisper did the same, entering cautiously through the fern curtain into the warriors den. Her nest was near the back, far away from Tigerflash, who was curled up in her nest, tail covering her nose. Luckily, she didn't open her eyes as Rainwhisper entered, and as she made her way to her nest by stepping over many other sleeping warriors. When she reached her nest, she circled around until she was comfortable and settled down, nudging herself deeper into the moss and ferns. Her eyes grew heavy, and she was lulled to sleep by the soft snoring of the surrounding resting warriors.
