IM BACK BABY! Oh my gosh, I have so missed writing for this story. My computer is as good as new now and I am back in business! Expect a new chapter every weekend unless I say so otherwise :)
And now, to the chapter! (PS – RainXFalcon Fluff Warning!)
Weak early morning sunlight shone through the thin, wispy branches of the willow trees, tiny new leaves just starting to emerge from their buds. With the coming of new-leaf came the thaw, and only a few small patches of frosty snow remained, stained brown from the soil.
Opening her mouth, Rainpaw breathed in all of the fresh scents of the new plants and flowers that were beginning to sprout, and the smell of the returning land prey. The scent reminded her of why she and her fellow apprentices were trekking through the early morning cold, dew soaking their paws as they padded through the wet grass.
Even though the thaw had finally come, the ice on the stream was only just starting to break up. There was not yet enough free space to fish, so the Clan was still relying on land prey to feed them.
That morning all of the apprentices had been assigned the task of hunting down enough prey to give the elders and queens a decent morning meal, and none of them were happy about it until Gingerpaw, the fun loving cat she was, suggested they make it into a contest. They were going to pair off, and whichever pair brought back the most prey before the sun rose above WindClan's hills, won.
"Hey Rainpaw, don't you think it's strange that us RiverClan cats love to swim and get wet, but we hate getting wet like this?" Falconpaw stopped to shake the dew off of his paws to emphasize his point. Rainpaw purred in agreement, looking down at her cold, muddy paws before shaking them as well.
It had been two moons scene Falconpaw had rescued her from her near drowning, and afterward they had started to become very close friends. As they had gotten to know each other, Rainpaw had learned that Falconpaw had a very fun, silly side to him, and had become almost the polar opposite of the serious older apprentice that she had known before.
Before long, Rainpaw had started to notice herself searching for him whenever she entered camp, and trying to join the patrols that he was put on. Every time she saw him she felt like her heart was beating loud enough for the whole camp to hear, and she had finally admitted to herself that she might have a teeny tiny crush on him, maybe.
As Rainpaw started to walk forward again, she noticed Bramblepaw throw Falconpaw a strange look, before dropping back to walk alongside Rainpaw. With a mischievous glint in his light green eyes, he mewed, "I bet that I will catch the fattest, juiciest piece of prey that RiverClan has ever seen. It will put that pigeon that Falconpaw caught the other day to shame."
Rainpaw remembered when Falconpaw had come back with that pigeon, it was biggest piece of prey she had seen in her life. Even the senior warriors were impressed. All of the apprentices had shared it except for Bramblepaw, who had sulked in the den because the only thing he had managed to catch that day was a scrawny blackbird.
Grinning back at her friend, she nudged him with her shoulder and mewed sarcastically, "Sure you will, when badgers fly." Instead of bumping her back and shooting another sarcastic remark, Bramblepaw's eyes lost their sparkle and dulled in disappointment.
She opened her mouth to apologize but before she could Falconpaw called from up ahead. "You two better hurry, or you'll be left out!" To Rainpaw's surprise, Bramblepaw hissed up at Falconpaw, "Don't tell me what to do!", before trotting off past them both.
Falconpaw waited for Rainpaw to catch up to him before he started to walk again. Rainpaw just stared after Bramblepaw, his tail dragging in the dirt as he walked alone. She started when Falconpaw laid his tail over her back and mewed sympathetically, "Don't take what Bramblepaw said to heart, he's probably just grouchy because he's tired."
Rainpaw looked into his hazel eyes and nodded, but deep down she knew something was wrong. I've seen Bramblepaw when he's been grouchy, and he has never acted like that before.
Eventually the little troop of apprentices stopped underneath a very tall willow tree, the tallest tree on RiverClan territory. At the base Gingerpaw dug two holes, one for each pair to put their prey in. While she was digging, Falconpaw whispered in her ear, "Partners?"
Rainpaw swept a quick glance over in Bramblepaw's direction, feeling as if she should be his partner to make up for whatever she had done. Then she thought of how he had acted toward her; Do I really want to hunt with someone with that attitude? We wouldn't get anything done! Deciding quickly, Rainpaw turned her gaze back to Falconpaw and mewed, "Sure."
Gingerpaw turned from her holes and mewed, "Okay, partner up and claim a hole. Lets get this done as quick as we can." Falconpaw and Rainpaw walked up and claimed the hole on the left before setting out toward the frozen stream.
With everything else draped in all of it's new-leaf glory, the frozen stream seemed out of place, a little piece of leaf-bare winding through the territory. Rainpaw padded up to the bank and reached down to touch the frozen surface, only to have it break under her paw. At least the warmer weather was starting to do it's job.
Pricking her ears, Rainpaw opened her mouth to draw in scents, searching for the tell-tale smell of small creatures. Picking up a strong scent of water vole, she crouched down, looking around to spot the small rodent. There it was, by the edge of the stream, trying to dig out a collapsed den. Slowly, one paw at a time, Rainpaw crept forward until she was a tail-length away from it. Before the vole had time to escape she shot forward, giving it a sharp nip to the spine.
Looking up with the water vole in her jaws, she saw Falconpaw trying to creep up on a robin, but there was no good cover to disguise him. Slowly, Rainpaw set down her prey and stalked around opposite to Falconpaw. When she was within the bird's range, she stood up and yowled, scaring the bird right into his open claws.
Putting the robin with her water vole, Falconpaw mewed, "Thanks for the help." Clawing the ground with her tan front paw, Rainpaw shyly mewed back, "You're welcome." Smiling at her, Falconpaw picked up his robin again and headed towed the tall willow, leaving Rainpaw to follow him.
After they had deposited their prey, Rainpaw led the way deeper into the willow trees, hoping to find more birds. She made a good choice; she and Falconpaw caught two birds each.
While they were heading back to the tall willow again, Rainpaw noticed something moving in the reeds by the smaller branch of the stream. Signaling to Falconpaw to be silent, she set down her birds and crept towed the patch of reeds. Suddenly, a frog hopped out of the tall stalks and away downstream. Rainpaw recalled that Shadowjump, one of the elders, loved the taste of frog, and she decided to give chase.
The frog was faster than she expected, and soon she could feel herself running out of breath. Eventually she was forced to stop, panting hard. Desperately, she hoped that Falconpaw had stayed where he was, so he wouldn't see how weak she could get. What if he thinks I'm a loser, like Olivepaw and Dawnlight did?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the frog's croaking being cut off abruptly. Looking up, she saw Falconpaw holding down the now dead frog with one paw. Slowly, he picked it up in his jaws and padded over to Rainpaw, dropping it at her paws.
Looking from the frog back to him, Rainpaw mewed, "You killed it Falconpaw, you should take it." Falconpaw shrugged and mewed back shyly, "Well, you chased it." Seeming to think that settled it, he padded past her, back down to where they left the birds, while Rainpaw stared after him in awe.
By the time they got back to the tall willow the sun had rose above the hills, so they decided to lay down in the sunlight while they waited for Gingerpaw and Bramblepaw. They lay next to each other, their fur barely brushing, until the two ginger apprentices emerged into the clearing.
Sitting up, Rainpaw saw that Bramblepaw held a large thrush in his jaws, and held his head high like he had just beaten the strongest warrior there was.
Setting it down in his hole, Bramblepaw glanced over at Rainpaw and mewed proudly, "See, I told you I would catch something big." Purring, Rainpaw head-butted his shoulder and mewed, " I never doubted you would." Seeming to understand the underlying apology, Bramblepaw smiled at her before walking over to Gingerpaw.
Looking down at the two prey-hole, Rainpaw realized that the two teams had caught an equal amount of prey. Falconpaw laughed and mewed, "Well, I guess we both get bragging rights!"
As the cats went to pick up their prey to take it back to camp, Rainpaw bent her head into the hole, picking up her water vole and her frog, only to bump noses with Falconpaw when she lifted her head. Both cats quickly turned their heads away, Rainpaw secretly blushing under her fur.
When she dared to make eye contact with him, she saw that he was smiling at her, his hazel eyes glowing with an emotion she could not name. Rainpaw smiled back, her blue eyes unknowingly reflecting the same emotion.
As the group entered the camp, Rainpaw saw that there were quiet a few cats milling around in the clearing, seeming to be waiting for something.
As she walked through the clearing towed the fresh-kill pile, Rainpaw made eye contact with Dawnlight, who in turn flashed her a dirty look and turned away, as she always did. Rainpaw had not found anymore evidence that Dawnlight had pushed her in the stream, so she had decided to just keep quiet.
As they were putting their prey down, Swiftstar emerged from his den and leaped onto the High Stump, calling the familer summon, "Let all cats old enough to swim gather to hear my words!"
A meeting, this early? Well it must be important. Rainpaw and her denmates found their spots at the front of the crowd, with Falconpaw sitting on the left of her, Bramblepaw and Gingerpaw on the right.
When all of the clan had gathered, Swiftstar started to speak. "It is time to perform the sacred ceremony for one of our apprentices. Falconpaw, come forward."
Gasping, Rainpaw looked at Falconpaw, who looked just as shocked as she was. Slowly he got up from his spot, only to be bombarded by his parents, Alderfall and Hazelglow. Hazelglow groomed him quickly, while Alderfall stood tall and looked proudly at his son.
After they were done, Rainpaw raced up to Falconpaw and, bouncing on her paws, mewed, "Wow, your gonna be a warrior!" Suddenly, Rainpaw realized what this was going to mean. She would no longer share a den with him, nor train or hunt for the elders with him. She stopped bouncing and just looked deep into his bright hazel eyes and manged to choke out, "I'm gonna miss you."
Falconpaw took a step towed her and licked her forehead comfortingly. "Hey, I'll just be right across the clearing. It's not like I'm leaving the clan, and soon you will be a warrior too." Purring, Rainpaw butted his shoulder and mewed, "Go on, Swiftstar is waiting."
Falconpaw walked up to the High Stump, his freshly groomed light brown tabby pelt glistening in the emerging sunlight. When he got to the base of the stump, Swiftstar jumped off and stood in front of the tom.
"I, Swiftstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He had trained hard to learn the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn."
"Falconpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code, and to protect and defend this clan, even at the cost of your life?" His voice strong and proud, Falconpaw mewed, "I do."
"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Falconpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Falconwing. StarClan honors your strength and kind heart, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan."
The whole clan cheered Falconwing's new name, and all of his friends ran up to him. "Nice going Falconpaw!" Gingerpaw mewed, while Bramblepaw head-butted his shoulder. Rainpaw raced up to Falconwing and mewed "Congratulations!" before licking his cheek.
Rainpaw blushed uncontrollably, while chastising herself in her mind, Stupid! Why did you lick his cheek, now it's way too obvious that you like him! But before she could say anything, Falconwing smiled and licked her cheek in response. When he pulled away, their eyes met, and all Rainpaw could do was purr.
After the ceremony, Falconwing asked if she would want to share prey with him, and Rainpaw nodded, still too happy to speak. They both shared one of the birds they had brought back, then they groomed each other for what felt like ages. Rainpaw was still purring the whole time, and didn't even notice Bramblepaw staring at them sadly from the entrance of the den, before vanishing inside.
What did you think of Falconwing and Bramblepaw in this chapter? Tell me in the reviews if you ship RainXFalcon or RainXBramble :D Until next time!
-Rain