Author's Note: This is just a short story of a character, which I have developed greatly. If you'd like to read more about this character, please let me know, and I will be more than happy to write more about her!
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join beneath the Highstone for a Clan meeting," the leader of RiverClan called out to his Clan. His sleek, dark brown pelt showed his muscles rippling under it as he stood. His amber eyes gazed out at the RiverClan camp, watching all cats young and old come to stand before him.
"Rainpaw, Sunpaw, please step forward," his meow was filled with pride. The two tabby apprentices gingerly stepped through the crowd, along with their mentors. Pebblewhisker, the lighter brown she-cat with the hazy green eyes stood alongside Rainpaw, and she had to stop herself from purring. But her narrowed eyes and waving tail showed her contentment. Drizzleclaw, the gray RiverClan deputy stood next to Sunpaw, but there was knowledge hidden in his green depths, which made him look somewhat displeased.
And so the leader began, "I, Reedstar, leader of RiverClan call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turns," His gaze fell upon Sunpaw first, "Sunpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
The yellow tabby tom did not reply at once. But his amber orbs gazed up at Reedstar, and he shakily meowed, "I...I do."
Reedstar simply stared at the apprentice for a few heartbeats. Was he possibly making a mistake...? He continued on, though, "...Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Sunpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Sunstripe. StarClan honor your persistence and courage, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan." His muscles rippled once more as he bound downward from atop the Highstone and stood in front of Sunstripe, and then he rested his muzzle on the tabby's head.
Sunstripe hesitated for a moment, but then respectfully licked his leader's shoulder, as was custom.
Then Reedstar looked over to Rainpaw. He had to force himself to hold down the purr of pride and contentment that was begging to rise in his throat. His mate's apprentice had come a long, long way and had to overcome many obstacles, both physically and mentally.
"Rainpaw," he began, "do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do." The gray tabby's green eyes were filled with nothing but certainty, and her stance clearly conveyed her inner strength. She was more than ready to defend her Clan as a full warrior.
Reedstar nodded, as though he expected her to say so, and continued on with her ceremony. After the formalities, he meowed, "Rainpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Rainmask. StarClan honor your loyalty and strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan." He took a pawstep forward and rested his head atop hers, and let his purr finally spill out. Rainmask purred as well and licked her leader's shoulder with nothing but the utmost respect.
Now the Clan joined in proudly, "Sunstripe! Rainmask!" calling the warriors by their new names.
Rainmask couldn't contain the pride that riddled her senses, and she butted her head gently against Pebblewhisker's. Then she turned to Sunstripe. She was about to congratulate him, but her brother did not look so content. Drizzleclaw had walked away angrily, and hadn't bothered to chant out Sunstripe's name.
He knew.
"Sunstripe, I..." Rainmask meowed to her brother softly over the cheering meows and yowls all around them.
"Don't bother!" Sunstripe hissed somewhat, and he began to pad away, tail dragging to the ground. Rainmask called after her brother, and then he began to run. Rainmask paused for a moment. ...He wasn't leaving so soon, was he? No, he couldn't! Her claws dug into the earth as she tore after her brother, out of the RiverClan camp and onto the short grass that leafbare had to offer.
"Sunstripe!!" she yowled after him. But she was losing sight of him. Through her green eyes she could just barely make out the yellow tabby darting across the stepping-stones and into ThunderClan territory.
Then a familiar cat emerged. It was their mother, Stripedfern, come to greet her son. Rainmask spat angrily and ran even faster than she could ever possibly imagine. She screeched to a halt when she reached the edge of the river, and she glanced at the stepping-stones; but she wouldn't dare cross them.
"You coward!" she yowled to her mother, "You're living with our father now. Why do you have to take Sunstripe away from me? What's next, all of RiverClan?"
Stripedfern kept her cool gaze from where she stood, "Ah, Rainpaw—"
"Rainmask!" the tabby spat.
"Rainpaw," Stripedfern went on coolly, "You will never be a true warrior. And my son is the only one deserving of his name. Sunstripe," she cooed softly to her son. Stripedfern's gray tabby fur was sleek and shiny, and she looked well fed. Her amber eyes were proud and arrogant.
Rainmask hated it.
Sunstripe simply stood a few tail-lengths behind his mother. He looked utterly distraught, glancing back and forth between his sister and his mother. There was obviously much confusion in his mind at the moment. But Rainmask just went back to hissing and spitting at her mother with an icy retort,
"I'll never be a true warrior? Look who ran away from their Clan with their tail between their legs like a pathetic dog! Stripedfern, you will never be a warrior. All RiverClan warriors have lost respect for you," and then her gaze struck Sunstripe like lightning, "and you are no different. Sunstripe...you will never be forgiven."
"But you knew this was going to happen!" Sunstripe wailed like a kit.
"I had more faith in my brother!!" Rainmask yowled, almost cutting him short.
"Don't you take up such a tone with my son!" Stripedfern spat at Rainmask, and she made a move towards the river.
Rainmask's eyes narrowed, "A warrior," her meow was steady and filled with hatred, "rejects the soft life of a kittypet."
Stripedfern had had enough. She leaped over the stepping-stones and straight onto Rainmask, her claws digging into the gray tabby's back. Rainmask didn't yowl or hiss; she simply stood on her hind legs and reared backwards, slamming Stripedfern into the ground. She quickly turned and raked her claws down her mother's face, from the top of her head to the tip of her nose. While Stripedfern was still shaken, Rainmask shoved her head forward and locked her teeth onto Stripedfern's throat. She gently closed her jaws a bit, and Stripedfern squirmed. If Rainmask wanted, she could have easily killed her mother at that very moment.
But she didn't.
"Please," Stripedfern began, "don't..." There was softness in the she-cat's voice that Rainmask had never heard before. But the RiverClan warrior wouldn't be swayed. She tightened her grip a bit more, and sunk her teeth into the other she-cat's skin. Stripedfern let out a hiss of frustration and defiance, and she flailed a bit. But Rainmask kept her down. She wanted so badly to just end Stripedfern's life right then and there. She wanted nothing more than for the she-cat to know the suffering Rainmask had been through her whole life...but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.
She let go of her grip and took a pawstep back, "I won't," she replied to Stripedfern's earlier plea, "Because a warrior doesn't kill in battle."
Stripedfern's glare was a hateful one. But she simply stood clumsily, and the blood dripped from her throat and spattered onto the grass below. "Rainmask," she rasped, "You will pay for this,"
"No, Stripedfern. You will." A hidden bit of knowledge was suppressed in her dull green eyes, "You will never be allowed to return to RiverClan, and neither will your son. You are exiled."
"You don't have the power to—to do that!" Stripedfern's angry yowl was cut short for a moment as her voiced cracked.
"No," Rainmask meowed, "But if I see either one of you here," she took a few swift pawsteps forward so that she was nose to nose with Stripedfern, and her eyes clouded with undeniable rage, "I will kill you."
For a moment, the older gray she-cat's eyes widened. She knew at that moment that Rainmask was completely serious. She took a step back. "Perhaps I was wrong about you," he meow was rough, "You are a warrior...Surely you should come with Sunstripe and I."
"Get out of my territory!!" Rainmask yowled angrily, and she took a swipe at her mother. Stripedfern dodged it though, but she didn't fight back. She instead ran back towards the ThunderClan side of the river and continued running.
Sunstripe watched as Stripedfern past. He looked over to Rainmask, "...I..."
"Go on, you fox-hearted coward! If I see you here again it will be the last time you draw breath!!" Rainmask's yowl was a shaky one, though. She didn't want to see her brother go. But she surely didn't want him in RiverClan either...She knew that he would be happier with their mother and father, far away from the forest as a rogue.
Sunstripe stared for a moment longer at his sister. He suppressed a wail of sadness, and he ran after Stripedfern.
Rainmask slumped down and stared sullenly up at the sky. Dusk creeped over the territory, and a single star shone brightly.
"Rainmask, are you all right?" a sandy-pelted tom bounded over to the warriors side, "I heard yowling!"
"I'm fine, Desertstorm...I was just taking care of trespassers."
"Were they from another Clan? Who was it?"
"No...just...a couple of rogues."
"Should I tell Reed..." but he stopped. As he looked over at Rainmask, and her expression as she stared up at the stars, he understood. "...I'm sorry," he meowed, "But you know that RiverClan will never abandon you."
"I know," she meowed over to Desertstorm, and her tone sounded somewhat happier, "That's why I stayed."