Hey, everyone! I'm back at last, at spottednose24's request to update. I'm not sure why I called the last chapter "SmolderingClan Fights Back", but I think it was because there was supposed to be a battle in that chapter. So, even if it's not, there MIGHT be a battle in this chapter to make up for the one that didn't happen in the last.
Chapter 7: The Great Escape
"Leave her alone!" A voice called. Rainpaw whipped around to see Skypaw race into the RogueClan camp. And who was there beside her but Thornpaw. His gray fur glistened in the sunset, and his green eyes shone with a fierce light that was an exact match of the expression in Skypaw's deep amber eyes.
"Yeah, what she said!" Thornpaw cried, his tail waving in the air.
"I can fight my own battles, thanks," Rainpaw muttered.
"Don't worry, Rainpaw!" Skypaw mewed. "We'll rescue you!"
"And just how do you propose to do that?" Rainpaw asked.
"Cats of all Clans!" Thornpaw yowled. "Attack!"
The next few moments were quite a blur for young Rainpaw. Cats poured into the clearing, more cats than she had ever seen in her life. The she-cat guessed that almost every cat from almost every Clan had come, wich was probably twice the number of cats that appeared at the Gathering at each full moon. She recognized Frosthawk, a silver-gray tom from BrookClan, flanked by Hurricanesong, a gray she-cat with blue eyes, and a younger calico she-cat that Rainpaw did not recognize. She saw Patchstar, leader of EarthClan, helping Dyingflower, the medicine cat, drive off a large brown tom.
"Rainpaw, you mousebrain, look out!" Rainpaw heard Thornpaw call from the other side of the clearing. As the tiny black she-cat whipped her head around, she was knocked into the air by a large black-and-white tom. Menacing green eyes watched the apprentice as she soared through the sky for less than three heartbeats before landing square in the middle of the large rock from which Crouch had been addressing the whole of RogueClan only moments ago. Then, the light faded, and everything turned black.
---
When she finally awoke, Rainpaw found the clearing silent. She was surrounded by several dead cats, both rogue and Clan alike, their sticky scarlet blood pooling around her paws and turning her black fur a terrifying deep maroon. From where the she-cat lay, she could see Paintedsky, Riddleson, and Twilightpaw searching the crowd for survivors. It was at least moonhigh by now, and there was no moon, and the stars were very few, so there would be no way they could see Rainpaw's black fur when she was hidden inside a shadow of the darkest black, cats by the large rock that she lay against. She felt that at least two of her paws were broken, and she could not move her back.
I'm paralyzed! She thought suddenly. Opening her mouth, the only thing that was fit to move, she called softly, "Come back! Twilightpaw, come back, please!" Not one of the medicine cats turned. They just kept on heading farther and farther away from her. Rainpaw's eyes ventured around the camp, searching for a cat who was alive, and close enough to hear her cries. Then, she noticed that Paintedsky was helping a milky white she-cat to her paws. Milky!
"Where's Rainpaw?" Milky asked Paintedsky.
"She's gone," Paintedsky replied. "She's probably escaped. I haven't seen her anywhere."
"No, she's not gone. I know Rainpaw. I know that she wouldn't run away from a fight. She's got to be around here somewhere. Rainpaw!"
"Milky!" Rainpaw cried in a dry, gravelly voice. But sadly, her call was too soft for Milky to hear.
"Search the shadows," Milky instructed. "She's got black fur, so it'll be hard to spot her unless you go to find her."
"Milky, Milky come here!" Rainpaw cried as loudly as she could, but her call was still soft.
"Wait," Twilightpaw murmured. "I think...I think I heard something. She's over here, Paintedsky! She's over here!"
"Rainpaw!" Milky cried, bounding forward. Rainpaw sighed in relief as her friend reached her, bending over to lick the she-cat's wounds.
"Milky," Rainpaw mewed, her voice no more than a harsh whisper. "I want you to go to SmolderingClan. Take my place as an apprentice. Learn the ways of a Clan cat, as you have always dreamt of doing." Rainpaw could feel her life slowly draining from her.
"Rainpaw, you can't go!" Milky cried. "See? Look! Twilightpaw's here to take care of you. She'll make it all alright again. Just please, please, please don't go!"
"I have to," Rainpaw replied slowly. "It's my time." Just as those last three words escaped her lips, all of the bodies in the clearing disappeared but Milky's and her own, and suddenly a ring of cats with stars shimmering in their fur surrounded the two. Shatteredstar stepped forward.
"Rainpaw," he meowed, dipping his head. "Please, come to us. We have made a spot in our ranks just for you."
"Thank you," Rainpaw murmured. Fresh strength flowed through her limbs, and she felt ready to part with her body and join StarClan's rank of noble spirits, when she stopped and said, "But before I go, can I at least say goodbye to Thornpaw?"
"He's right here," Shatteredstar replied, stepping aside. A lithe gray tom with shimmering green eyes stepped out of the band of cats.
"Thornpaw!" Rainpaw cried. "But how did you...?"
"I saw your friend Milky trying to fight off two of the RogueClan cats at the same time. I died trying to save her." Thornpaw explained.
"Well, thank you ever so much for that," Rainpaw replied, touching noses with her friend.
The tom shrugged. "I did what any loyal cat would have done."
As he stepped back into the group, a familiar black tom with bright green eyes stepped forward.
"Father!" Rainpaw cried, hurtling toward her father, who had been dead since she was two moons old.
"My child," The black tom murmured, licking Rainpaw's muzzle. "My Rainpaw."
"Wetwhisker here just had to be the first one to officially welcome you to StarClan," Shatteredstar mewed jokingly.
"Come, my child," Wetwhisker meowed. "Let us return to the stars."
"But, wait!" Rainpaw cried, hesitating. "What about Milky?"
"Aspenstar will take great care of your friend, I'm quite sure," Violetstar, the previous leader of SmolderingClan purred, stepping forward. "Do you remember when she wanted to return to RogueClan and went bounding off?"
"Yes, of course."
"Well, on the way there, she stopped by and left some prey in front of Aspenstar's den, telling her that she was a friend of yours, and hoped to one day join the ranks of SmolderingClan."
"Are you sure Aspenstar will let her?" Rainpaw asked.
"I'm positive," Violetstar dipped her head. "My daughter is not a fool. Now then," With a flick of Violetstar's tail, every cat but her and Rainpaw disappeared, hurtling toward the stars. "Are you ready?"
Rainpaw took one last look at Milky, who sat in the clearing, still licking her wounds, and nodded. "I've never been more ready for anything in my life." Without hesitation, the black apprentice rose from her body and her spirit padded off after Violetstar, up into the night sky.
Yes, my friends, this, sadly, is the last chapter of SmolderingClan Book 1. It's quite short, I know, but I was running out of ideas. No worries, though, as there will be a sequel. I'm giving no hints as to what it may be, so you'll have to wait. Oh, and by the way, the prophecy has only just begun. Here's a hint as to what part of it means.
The rain will fall, Rainpaw is going to die, as Paintedsky suggested in the second or third chapter.
Darkness will become day, Something dark will become good, but I'm not going to tell you who or what it is!!!
And the two shall forever be lost. The two means the good darkness and another cat, not Rainpaw. Again, I'm not telling who it is.
So, yes. That is all for now! I hope you enjoyed this extremely short story. And the sequel will be longer. Much, much, MUCH longer than this, I assure you.
