Hello! I'm back to answer your questions with a chapter!
REVIEWS and with this
"The Age of Awesomeness"- thank you! and I will try.
"Leviathan48"- Okay, well, I'll try my best to update like that!
"FrostOfTheWarriorCats"- Yeah, unfortunately it won't be revealed this chapter, but soon.
"Booklady1017"- Thanks!
"pianodevotion"- cool! home-schoolers are the best ;)
"3Snow Fox3"- Yeah, but it must be hard... And thanks!
"walkswithwheels"- that would be interesting, but Rainstone does the herbs... we'll have to see how it plays out
Dawnfeather- it's always sweet when things work out, kinda.
"Silverblaze The Mighty"- Thanks! and it is kind of funny, but her past isn't so funny. If I were her, I'd want to forget it and occupy myself with daily tasks.
"tye dye tail"- Thanks! the fight at the end was totally not planned, but I just needed to write a fight again!
"Mystified Shadow"- Yeah, not that surprising. And thanks!
"Lilyshine"- Thank you! and we'll see Scamp in this chapter ;)
Chapter 25: Lessons
By the time they got to camp it was morning. Rainstone reported to Sunstar what had happened and then Flickertail fixed up her wounds. Then came the time to ask to join the Clan.
"You want to do what?!" Sunstar gaped.
Rainstone stared back levelly, despite the irritation itching at her. "Do you doubt I couldn't do it?" she asked.
"Yes, you don't have the… disposition to be a Clan cat, too proud and stubborn," Sunstar mewed.
"I could change, I've had to change a lot already," Rainstone mewed. They were sitting alone in Sunstar's den, much more comfortably than last time, with te golden light dappling on the wounds she'd received for a Clan kit.
"You'd have to work very hard, and you'd have to respect every cat," Sunstar mewed, eyeing her hard.
Rainstone groaned, "Even the idiots?" she asked, feeling less optimistic, but she trusted Song.
"If they are in the Clan, yes. Every cat in the Clan has proved their worth one way or another," Sunstar mewed firmly, allowing to room for discussion.
"Fine," Rainstone muttered. "What else do I have to do?" she asked.
Sunstar eyed her in consideration. "I will make you an apprentice, if you make it to warrior status, you will be a part of the Clan," Sunstar mewed.
Rainstone dipped her head in assent. "Alright, on one condition, I keep my name," she mewed stubbornly.
Sunstar tilted his head to one side, "Okay, it'll remain Rainstone, its close enough to a Clan name anyways. Any particular reason why? If your past is so terrible, it'd seem you'd want a change, right?" Sunstar asked.
"It's still my past, my life, and it wasn't all bad. I had a brother, a mate, a friend, a nephew, my mother, all those were good to me," Rainstone mewed.
"What about your father?" Sunstar asked.
Rainstone's eyes grew hard as bitterness washed through her, "I have no father," she growled.
Sunstar looked surprised, but pressed no further. "I will assign you a mentor, and I'll ask Willowwater to teach you about the Clans," Sunstar mewed.
Rainstone didn't point out that Flickertail had taught her plenty, she'd like to ask Willowwater a few questions anyways. "Will there be a ceremony?" she asked.
"No, I'll just announce it," Sunstar mewed. "We can do that now, before the Dawn Patrol leaves," the leader mewed, hopping out of the den before leaping on top of it and calling the Clan together. Rainstone sat neatly at the edge of the clearing.
"RiverClan, in leaf-bare we lost many cats, and we are worn out from recovering the flood. Only in such desperate times would I accept an outsider into the Clan, but this cat has proved a worthy opponent and helpful to the Clan. Rainstone will become an apprentice of RiverClan," the announcement was met by mutterings, but no loud abjections.
"Through her apprenticeship she will be treated as a member of this Clan. At the end of her apprenticeship, it will be decided if she is to be a warrior or not," Sunstar announced. Cats nodded, it sounded reasonable.
"Sweetberry, you will take care of training Rainstone in how a RiverClan cat hunts and fights. Willowwater, you will make sure she is educated on the ways of the Clans. The meeting is over," Sunstar jumped down and went over to his deputy while Sweetberry approached her with an annoyed expression and Willowwater with a smug one.
"Ready, apprentice?" Willowwater teased with a superior smirk. Rainstone rolled her eyes, she'd long ago learned to suck up with morons, of course, they had all been toms back then.
"You take her this morning, I'll take her this afternoon," Sweetberry mewed curtly to Willowwater, turning away. Rainstone guessed she'd never gotten over how Rainstone had scratched Flickertail.
"Okay, I already showed you the camp, but we'll start on how the Clan works," Willowwater mewed.
"Don't bother, Flickertail already told me about everything, for the most part," Rainstone almost laughed at Willowwater's disappointed expression. "But there is something I did want to ask you," she added in a lower tone.
"What is it?" Willowwater asked, obviously wanting to be of some help.
"What exactly did Nightwing do to get himself exiled," Rainstone asked.
"Well, he was accused of killing the former deputy and his brother, and then once deputy, of plotting to kill the leader," Willowwater mewed.
"Did he have any particular goals?" Rainstone asked.
"He was said to want to only be leader, but I suppose other motives may have been there," Willowwater mewed.
Rainstone frowned, "He talked about a rebellion when I fought him last night, any idea of what he might mean?" she asked.
Willowwater shrugged, "He could just want to get vengeance for being driven out, anyways, its ShadowClan's problem," the she-cat mewed.
Rainstone shook her head, she didn't think it was that simple, "No, he isn't stupid, he has a broader vision then that… But I'm not sure what," she murmured.
"Well, you were up all night, go sleep in the apprentices den, Sweetberry will work you hard if I know her," Willowwater mewed with a shrug.
Rainstone nodded in appreciation, her paws felt heavy and her body felt battered. Padding to the apprentice's den surrounded by reeds, she found an empty patch of grass and curled up, asleep in an instant.
…
"Make sure your shadow doesn't fall on the water, it'll scare the fish away," Sweetberry's unfriendly voice prompted Rainstone to shift her position so that her shadow didn't fall over the stream. "Wait until you see a fish and then grab it," Sweetberry ordered. Rainstone's sharp eyes caught sight of a flash of scale and she scooped her paw, but her paw hit nothing in the rushing stream.
"You have to scoop against the current," Sweetberry growled. Rainstone flattened her ears, the paw to do that with was her dead paw. Sighing, she leapt over the stream, ignoring Sweetberry's snarl for her to stay still.
Now her dead paw was propping her up and her good paw poised to strike. Not more than a few moments passed before she saw another flickering scale. She scooped down and out camp a curved fish glittering with water drops.
It landed on the ground beside her and she pounced and snapped its neck. "Not bad, maybe you'll make it anyways," Sweetberry mewed. Rainstone rolled her eyes; it was her third day as an apprentice. Sweetberry had showed her the territory the two days before, all the best hunting places as well.
Willowwater had filled in the few holes about the Clans, and now Rainstone knew as much about the Clans as any warrior, taking her superiority a little too far. Sweetberry was annoying to work with, but a good teacher. Rainstone knew she had to do it and do it without complaining.
After a bit more needless instructions from Sweetberry, Rainstone had successfully caught two more fish. "Good, now this afternoon you can take care of the elders. Though make sure you eat and rest, Sunstar will want you to go to the gathering," the she-cat mewed with a hint of disapproval.
Rainstone shrugged as she picked up the fish. A gathering didn't sound that special, so you got to meet cats, so what? She padded in silence with Sweetberry, ignoring the gold cat's frowns. She knew she had been her first apprentice, definitely not what Sweetberry had wanted.
"Take that to the elders," Sweetberry ordered.
"No, I was going to dump them in the river," Rainstone muttered sarcastically. She stomped to the elders den, which was built under a large thorn bush. She dumped the fish in between the two elders, Mudtail was a dark brown tom with half-blind green eyes. Sheeplight was younger with pale cream and white fur with rose-tinged ears and amber eyes. In the mountains she would have been fought over.
Rainstone didn't say much to the elder's questions and offers of a story. "You know, you are quite strange, most cats would love a story from their elders," Mudtail croaked as she checked him for fleas.
"I don't like stories," Rainstone muttered.
"You said you weren't a rogue, didn't they teach you to be respectful to your elders in your Clan or whatever," Sheeplight asked.
"I lived in nothing like a Clan. Be glad you don't know. And no, there were no elders, every cat worked until they died," Rainstone mewed.
She cracked the ticks and then set about forming nests out of the moss Flickertail had given her. She smoothed and rounded it, paying extra attention to any bumpy spots that might be hard or hidden thorns.
The elders climbed back into their nests. "Well, you do a much better job than those other apprentices," Mudtail muttered, settling down to doze. But Sheeplight stared at her.
"Can I do anything for you?" Rainstone asked through clenched teeth.
"Yes, tell me what you've gone through, Flickertail says its impossibly cruel," Sheeplight mewed.
"He had no right in telling you so," Rainstone retorted.
"It arose my curiosity, please do tell," Sheeplight mewed as if Rainstone hadn't said anything. Rainstone shook her head, but the elder persisted.
"I've lived a long life, I've seen many things, and how could this possibly be different?" Sheeplight mewed. The dismissal in her voice angered Rainstone and she found herself telling Sheeplight everything. The elder listened, her eyes only growing a little wide at time.
"That must have been hard," Sheeplight admitted at the end. Rainstone felt angry and washed-out. "I'm glad you have a chance to live in the Clans," Sheeplight mewed with a friendly flick of her tail.
"Sheeplight, please don't tell any cat," Rainstone begged before she left.
"Of course not, such a tale is for few ears. Though I would encourage you to tell Sunstar and Mintbreeze," the elder mewed.
"I'll think about it," Rainstone grunted, moving to leave.
"And Rainstone, even if your father doesn't want you, we do." Sheeplight blinked her amber eyes with sympathetic kindness.
Rainstone turned her head away as she padded out of the entrance, "Thank you."
…
After eating and resting, Rainstone joined Willowwater who had decided, since there wasn't much to teach Rainstone about the Clans, to be her personal guide in everything. The gray she-cat led her at the edge of the Clan as they traveled toward the island Rainstone had been shown the day before.
Willowwater was babbling about different warriors from different Clans, which ones were cute, which ones were good fighters, the deputies and leaders, and occasionally speculating if some of her apprentice friends had been made warriors yet.
Rainstone was only half-listening; she was thinking back to the cave as she watched the full-moon rise in the darkening sky. What were they doing now? Did they ever think of her? What would they say if her kits were dead because of her?
Willowwater jerked her back to reality with a flick over the ears. "Your turn to go, and be careful, its slippery and you haven't been taught to swim yet," Willowwater mewed, nudging her to a long, stripped tree. Its branches had fallen off and it had been smoothed by thousands of paws.
Rainstone jumped up and gripped the wood with wide paws, she was used to precarious passages. Her dead paw was difficult and she had to unsheathe her claws on that paw to keep it from slipping up. She jumped down on the opposite bank, standing beneath the trunk on the sandy shore as she waited for Willowwater.
"What happens now?" she asked, looking around the unraveling green forest.
"Now, we go meet the other Clans, ShadowClan is the only one here right now," Willowwater mewed, leading her directly into the middle of the island.
Willowwater halted her in front of an impressive looking smoky gray she-cat with hard gray eyes. "Wolfseed," Willowwater mewed respectively, dipping her head low. Rainstone cocked her head and recognized her name as a deputy that Willowwater had named. And she recognized ShadowClan from the rank pine scent.
"Taking in a foreigner now?" Wolfseed mewed with mild amusement. "I remember Sunstar lecturing Stormstar when she took in a rogue last leaf-fall," the deputy mewed with stark shrewdness in her eyes.
Rainstone rolled her eyes, "I may have expected the replacement of Nightwing to be a bit more… professional," she mewed.
Wolfseed let out a hiss and Willowwater looked at her with shock. "You can't talk to a deputy that way!" Willowwater hissed.
Rainstone shrugged, "She doesn't even care," Rainstone responded with a wave of her tail.
"How do you know if I don't care?" Wolfseed asked, sounding almost curious.
"If you had, you would have been shocked into silence, you just hissed in annoyance," Rainstone responded, suppressing a yawn and looking around the green undergrowth.
"Observation won't make you a warrior," Wolfseed sniffed, striding past, though Rainstone caught the friendly twitch of an ear and knew she'd impressed the deputy with her calm analysis; at least enough to keep her from complaining about the remark.
Willowwater was looking at her with wide eyes and Rainstone just shrugged. Next Willowwater brought her to a pair of young ShadowClan she-cats. "Rainstone, this is Newtlight and Thistlebranch," Willowwater announced. "They were made warriors the same moon I was."
The cats exchanged greetings and Rainstone studied the two cats. Newtlight was a lean ginger, white, tawny, and black tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow eyes. Thistlebranch was a white, gray-brown, and dull ginger tortoiseshell she-cat with clear blue eyes.
"So, how long have you been a part of RiverClan, Rainstone?" Thistlebranch asked, sounding calm and reserved.
"A few days, officially. But I've been staying with RiverClan for over half a moon," Rainstone mewed.
"How did you wind up in RiverClan territory?" Newtlight asked, sounding much more curious.
"Oh, it just happened that way," Rainstone mewed awkwardly.
"Some cats said you had kits, is that true?" Thistlebranch's voice was doubtful and Willowwater flinched. Sadness crashed over Rainstone afresh and she blinked numbly.
"Yes…" she muttered, turning to lick the fur along her spine to hide the few tears.
Rainstone fell into silence, idly listening to Newtlight and Willowwater compare themselves. Thistlebranch sat by her and eyed her slowly. "You seem more ShadowClan then RiverClan," the she-cat commented.
Rainstone shrugged, "Maybe, but I hate pines," she growled and Thistlebranch flinched in shock.
"How could you possibly hate pines?! They are so dark and tall, they shelter you and smell so good," Thistlebranch sighed in happiness.
Rainstone shrugged, she couldn't imagine living underneath pines. "Anyways, are you from the mountains? Like that one ThunderClan warrior?" Thistlebranch's question sent Rainstone's heart beating uncomfortably.
But then she fully realized the question, "What ThunderClan warrior?" she asked, turning her head to stare into Thistlebranch's robin-egg blue eyes.
"There's a ThunderClan warrior, kind of looks like you, but bigger," Thistlebranch mewed.
"What's his name?" Rainstone asked quickly. Could it just possibly be him?
"Uh, Scorchfur, or something like that. Sounds a little weird, like yours," Thistlebranch mewed.
Rainstone's hopes fell, but she wasn't ready to give up. "Is he here?" she asked, ThunderClan had just arrived; she had scented it once when the wind was blowing from that direction. It smelled like old leaves and mud, but she'd smelled worse.
Thistlebranch peered around before shaking her head, "Sorry, I don't see him here tonight. But I'm going to go find my brother. It was nice talking to you, Rainstone," Thistlebranch mewed with a cool air before standing up and padding away.
Rainstone looked around, Willowwater had gotten herself into a heated argument with Newtlight and another ShadowClan cat, but Rainstone doubted she'd welcome any help. Instead she stood up and started weaving her way among the cats.
There were more cats here than in the cave, but just barely, and she passed them without brushing fur and nodding at the greetings, all the while looking for a black and red pelt. She was beginning to think Thistlebranch was right, and the supposed warrior wasn't there, when she rounded a bend and bumped into a thick pelt.
She stumbled and fell on her back as the cat jumped against her. "Hey! Watch what you're doing!" she snapped. She rubbed her smashed muzzle indignantly and glared up, immediately falling silent.
She blinked twice to make sure she was seeing this right, making sure she was staring into a pair of bright amber eyes she'd thought she'd only see in her mind. "Scamp?" she whispered, recognizing the black and red fur she had missed so long.
"Oh my StarClan," the tom whispered hoarsely, staring at her with wide, shocked eyes.
Rainstone began to grow impatient, "Well don't just stand there, help me up!" she snapped. Scamp jumped to help pull her to her paws and they stood staring at each other for a moment. Confusion swarmed Rainstone, she'd imagined this moment in dreams, but now that it was happening, what now?
"Rainstone? I-is that you?" Scamp whispered, emotions swirling in his eyes.
Rainstone nodded, painfully remembering the last time she had seen him, he'd left her in the mountains, knowing full well that she was in danger. He had used the excuse that Squirrel would be in danger, but Squirrel had been killed anyways.
Rainstone glared at him, "I see you're living quite lavishly," she growled.
Scamp flinched, his eyes growing angry, "And you as well, seeing that you are here. Bet you couldn't wait it out," Scamp sneered.
Rainstone drew herself up, aware that he still stood about to mouse lengths taller. "I left, because they were going to kill me," she snarled, angrily. This was not how she had expected their reunion would go.
"And whose fault is that?" Scamp asked coldly.
"My own. Don't talk to me as if I'm an idiot. You could have taken me with you," she growled, if that had happened, there would have been no kits to lose.
"I already explained a long time ago, they would have killed Squirrel," Scamp hissed.
"They killed her anyways!" Rainstone spat back, miserable fury shaped her words at all Scamp had put her through, just because he'd decided he had to go it alone.
Scamp flinched at that, amber eyes growing sad. "Why?" he asked.
"Because she bore Fox two kits, two she-kits," she spat and Scamp sighed.
"Look, I don't want to fight with you. I'm glad you're here," Scamp mewed calmly.
Rainstone relaxed slightly, it felt so good to look into his eyes, to breathe his scent, even though it was overlaid with ThunderClan odor. She pressed against his side and entwined her tail with his, like they used to. She brushed her muzzle against his and licked his cheek.
She stared as he flinched away, shaking his head. "Rainstone, no, we can't do this," Scamp mewed.
Rainstone cocked her head, "Yes we can, I could join ThunderClan or you could join RiverClan if you want to stay with the Clans. We are finally together again! I've been wishing and dreaming for this ever since you left five moons ago," Rainstone purred, stepping closer to touch noses.
But again, Scamp backed away and Rainstone felt pain tear at her chest and ice freeze at her. After all she'd been through, was he going to deny her this too? She loved him, she knew she did, she could feel it beating in her heart and in the longing at her paws.
Did he no longer feel the same? After all those nights they'd spent together, dreaming of a place like this? But Scamp was looking at her with hard eyes, no playfulness or love in them. "Rainstone, I still like you. But… I don't love you anymore. I've moved on… and you need to as well," Scamp mewed gently, as if talking to a kit.
Rainstone blinked, his words seemed foreign to her, she didn't understand them, but the truth in them clawed her heart, tore it down to threads. She saw for a crystal moment all angles clearly. Her face grew hard again.
"Who is it?" she snapped. "Who was so special that she made you stop thinking of me, after you told me you loved me," Rainstone snapped.
Scamp stared at her levelly. "Wispheart had my kits three days ago, Stonekit and Leafkit," Scamp mewed calmly.
The words sent a rush of unbelievable irony through Rainstone. Here she was, living alone among strangers, thinking for one moment she had something back; only to learn that her lover had everything she had lost. She felt hot tears spring to her eyes and she couldn't stop them as two lone drops fell upon the green grass. In her mind, those two tears were for her two kits.
"Congratulations Scamp," she mumbled, trying to hold in her sobs.
"Its Scampfur now," Scamp mewed. Rainstone looked at him more closely. She found she didn't recognize his tight muscles, his dry, leaf-scented fur, and his amber eyes, once so lively, were serious and calm. He had changed.
Rainstone turned and stumbled away. It just wasn't fair! Why had she lost her kits and her love, when he had found a new love and two kits of his own? Why was he favored? Had she done something wrong to be punished? She wasn't aware of any evil she had ever done…
Or maybe it's because so many cats have died for me… I'll be punished forever. A lump formed in her throat and she swept past a group of WindClan cats, heading toward the outer rim of the gathering island. Once away from the main cats, she sped up until she was running, passing the few cats around in a blur.
She leaped over a fallen log and dashed down the sandy shore, not noticing the red shape racing toward her until it was too late and they crashed into each other. The opposing cat was stronger and so she was knocked back, rolling with him, for it was a tom.
She saw the earth and diamond sky and felt a dull ache in her chest where his head had collided with her and she felt the splash of water on her tail as she lay beneath him hissing at him to get up by the lake. The tom moaned and rolled over directly onto her spine and she fell down, trying to breathe.
"What happened?" the cat groaned.
"Get off of me and I might just tell you," Rainstone hissed, her misery swallowed up by her annoyance and pain.
"Oh! Sorry!" the tom gasped, jumping off of her with a huff. "Let me help you," the tom mewed, not even waiting for a response as he grabbed her scruff and swung her to her paws.
"Hey! I don't need your help!" Rainstone growled, resenting the tom's touch.
"Sorry!" the cat mewed, not sounding very sorry at all.
Rainstone sat down and rubbed her chest, her wounds stung now, since they hadn't yet healed completely. She looked at the tom, he was young, her age about, maybe older. He was dark red and orange with laughing green eyes.
"My name is Needlepine," the tom introduced himself, from his scent, he was ShadowClan .
"Mine is Rainstone, not that it matters," she muttered.
"Real sorry about running into you, but the leaders are starting the gathering. Are you coming?" Needlepine asked.
Rainstone sighed before nodding. She felt angry and hot; she'd rather jump in the lake or curl down on the cool grass and sleep off her emotions. But she followed the tom, only curtly answering his questions about how she'd joined RiverClan. She wasn't going to tell him about her past.
She sat by him and learned he was Thistlebranch's brother, and she began to admire how he remained so cheerful and polite as she repeatedly brushed off his friendliness, it helped her forget Scampfur's brush-off. The leaders didn't say anything interesting, reporting the change of status in their cats and reporting how there had been more prey now that it was warm.
Well, duh, its warm, there is bound to be more prey! She was feeling frustrated and lost as the gathering ended and she followed RiverClan back to camp, not even looking for Scampfur.
She'd trained in RiverClan for less than five days and she'd learned more lessons then she had wanted. Let's hope there are no more, I don't think my heart could take it. Though life seems to like teaching me ever lesson it knows.
...
Hmm... the reunion wasn't exactly what I had in mind... but it was close! what do you guys think? Anyways, the next chapter should be more fun *evil smile* No, I'm just kidding, maybe.
Please Review!