Prologue/Allegiances
My name is Rainsong. And I'm trapped in the Dark Forest. I didn't do anything too bad, honest! I'm innocent! I was falsely accused! No? You don't buy that? Well, fine! I may have done one or two minor things. StarClan can be so harsh. I mean, really? One or two misdemeanors and I get dumped into this wretched forest with its toxic smells, gnarled, leaveless trees, and hideous inhabitants, with the exception of myself, of course. Okay, okay, I'm not gorgeous, but I look better than most of the cats here!
By now you're probably thinking, "what could she have done to end up in the Dark Forest?" And if you weren't thinking that, too bad! I'm telling you either way! It was all my fish-brained sister's fault! If she had just back offed, none of this would've happened. If he had only loved me... Things could have been so much different. Of course this story is about a tom. It always is.
One-sided love is what this is all about. Unrequited love. Unwanted love. The worst kind of love. I was a good she-cat, a complete goody two shoes. The kind that got up before the dawn patrol to squeeze in some extra practice or to go hunting for the Clan. A deep purr rumbles in my throat thinking of that she-cat. She was from another lifetime ago, considering I'm dead now, but apart of me all the same. They all have me pictured as some villain. I'm the one that they tell their kits stories about. The big, bad Rainsong. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
My story has been told for more moons than I care to count, a cautionary tale to young she-cats about what happens when you love too much. But let me tell you, the story gets wilder with each telling. First they told half the truth, then a quarter of the truth, then mouse droppings of the truth and a whole bunch of lies. The only thing they get right about me nowadays is my name. No, forget I said that. An elder was telling the story to some kits the other day and he called me Ratsong.
No more half-truths, no more lies. I'll tell you what really happened, from the beginning. Right when mama was giving birth. You know what, perhaps we'll skip that part. At the end of the story, you tell me if I'm some villainous wretch who deserves the Dark Forest. Make sure you pay close attention now because I don't like repeating myself!
RiverClan
Leader: Streamstar- silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes
Deputy:Willowpool- gray-and-white she-cat
Medicine cat: Snowyheart- white she-cat
Warriors: Breezefeather- dark gray tom with golden eyes
Minnowsplash- gray she-cat with blue eyes
Troutleap- light brown tabby tom
Apprentice, Puddlepaw
Hawkflight- dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes
Dawnlight- cream-coloured she-cat with green eyes
Duskcloud-black tom with amber eyes
Cedarshade- dark gray tom with green eyes
Wolfgrowl- gray tom with blue eyes
Apprentice, Flowerpaw
Waspwing- tortoiseshell she-cat
Leopardheart- dappled golden tabby she-cat with amber eyes
Apprentice, Bearpaw
Mistywater- blue-gray she-cat
Silversky- silver tom with blue eyes
Queens: Goldenleaf- golden tabby she-cat with green eyes (mother to Sunnykit, a golden tabby tom with amber eyes and Shellkit, a dark brown tabby tom with green eyes)
Tigerlily- tortoiseshell she-cat with golden eyes (mother to Rainkit, a long-furred gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes and Stormykit, a dappled silver she-cat with green eyes)
Apprentices: Bearpaw- dark brown tom with amber eyes
Flowerpaw- ginger she-cat with blue eyes
Puddlepaw- gray-and-white she-cat
Elders: Shrewflight- dark brown tabby tom
Reedfeather- red tabby she-cat with blue eyes
Whisperfoot- black she-cat with amber eyes