Hey! yes, I finally managed to make a fast update, as in, in less then one week. But not many people reviewed!

REVIEWS

"Birdflame"- Yeah, we might see her again.

"TheMouseOfAwesomeness"- No what in the world would make you think that? (note, very sarcastic ;)

Dawnfeather- Thanks! and yeah, Dawnpaw is Dawnflower, I thought that's what I wrote...

"Macdisney123"- Maybe! Honestly, I won't even know until I write it.

"Leviathan48"- Hmm, maybe, though I don't like to be repetitive.

Sunfire- I hope you had a great Easter Sunday as well! and being random is awesome ;)

Chapter 34: No Help

Rainstone flexed her broken paw and glanced up at Flickertail. She hadn't felt so good since she'd left RiverClan. No bones ached, no scratches stung, no paws were sore. She picked at a stray dock leaf on one of her paw wraps and glanced at Flickertail again.

It'd been three days since she'd returned and she'd been in his den for the entire time. However, Willowwater had given her some good news yesterday…

"It's all set! Needlepine will meet us on the dock at the border just after sunset. I have to admit, I didn't think he'd go, but I guess I was wrong," Willowwater whispered in her ear with one eye on Flickertail.

"Good," Rainstone breathed back, "Though I might have some trouble with getting Flickertail to let me out of here so late in the day…"

"Leave that to me!" Willowwater had purred, and then she'd left.

Rainstone hadn't seen her since and with the sun starting to go down, she was anxiously awaiting Willowwater and hoping her plan wouldn't mess anything up. Although, Willowwater is a little edgy and catches on quickly enough… she'd have been a lot more useful than Needlepine.

But Rainstone couldn't help but miss Needlepine's honest naivety, always trying to do his best and help every cat. He wasn't the smartest cat, but he knew when it was time to do his part. She wondered how long it'd be until this whole mess was resolved and they could meet more regularly. Rainstone wasn't ready to let this friendship go yet.

It's weird, I grew up hating toms, except for my brother of course, but now my favorite friend is a tom! So weird… Rainstone shifted to a sitting position in her nest, preparing herself for the night ahead.

Flickertail glanced back at her over his shoulder from where he was making a poultice for the elder, Sheeplight. "Are you still hungry? I can go get another fish if you want," Flickertail offered, neatly wrapping the poultice in a leaf packet with a few poppy seeds. Something Rainstone hadn't had in the mountains and wasn't sure what they did exactly.

"Nah, I'm good, I'm just feeling restless. I'm not used to lying around," Rainstone mewed, feeling a twinge of gloom as she thought about when she'd been confined in the cave in the mountains. At least she'd been able to walk around.

"Well, you can start trying to walk on it tomorrow, okay?" Flickertail mewed, his constantly flicking tail knocked over a carefully placed pile of leaves, sending them in all directions. "Frog-dung!' Flickertail cursed under his breath and set to gathering them up while keeping his tail from not knocking over anything else.

Rainstone watched him quizzically; does that tail have a mind of its own or something? Or does he just do it for comedy? Watching as Flickertail growled to himself, she guessed it was the first one.

"Hey! Rainstone!" Rainstone jerked her head away from watching Flickertail race around the den after flitting leaves like a kit.

"Willowwater, what is it?" Rainstone asked levelly, keeping herself calm and poised, no way she was going to allow the medicine-cat to be the first to become suspicious!

"Why don't you come out into the clearing, catch a bit of the sun and share a meal!" Willowwater invited.

Rainstone groaned inwardly, but decided to test Willowwater. "I already ate, sorry," she mewed as Flickertail paused to glance at Willowwater for a moment.

"Sorry, but Rainstone needs to rest now. Maybe tomorrow," the red-brown tom's fur glowed bronze and his cream dappled spots glowed white in the sun.

"Oh, well, uh," Willowwater looked confused and gave her a perplexing glance.

Rainstone didn't respond, feeling no sympathy. Seriously?! She says she'll take care of it and then comes up with something as simple as that! "Good bye Willowwater!" Rainstone called, waving her tail and giving her a sharp look.

I knew it'd be better without help… I don't need any help anyways! She looked at Flickertail, "I need a drink, and I don't want it from this stream!" she started complaining in a high-pitched voice. It was very simple, really, she just kept up complaining about menial things in a super annoying way, and Flickertail was bound to give in.

"Okay!" he finally snapped, glaring at her. "Go outside and do whatever, but be back before long, okay?" Flickertail sighed, waving his tail in deliberate exasperation.

Rainstone smirked to herself, works every time! She stood up and carefully made her way out of the den, making sure she stayed off her broken as long as she was in Flickertail's line of sight, and then went to barely touching it to the ground as she limped over to Willowwater.

She glared at the silver tabby as she approached. "That was your idea?! I've heard better excuses from a kit! We really need to work on that if you're going to be of any help…" Rainstone sighed and shook her head.

Willowwater ducked her head in embarrassment, but then lifted her head with fierce defiance in her eyes. "I'll do better next time, so what now?" Willowwater asked with her old danger-loving excitement.

"Now we are going to go get a drink of water outside of camp and then take a short walk that takes a lot longer then we meant it to," Rainstone mewed.

"Okay! Sounds good to me," Willowwater smirked at her and her eyes danced with excitement. At least she's smart enough to catch onto that… I'm not sure if Needlepine would.

"Good, now let's leave, quickly," Rainstone mewed, glancing around the mostly empty clearing. The sun was just a slim crescent over the horizon and they were going to be late. "You lead," Rainstone ordered in a low voice.

Willowwater nodded and led her across the stream. Rainstone crossed using the stepping stones; she wanted to keep her bandaged paws dry. No cat stopped them; Rainstone supposed they didn't care about her like they would a Clan cat, whatever, it made her job easier.

Rainstone paused to take a quick drink from the stream once they were a little bit away from camp. She hadn't been completely lying that she needed a drink… Then they continued in silence, the warm night air flowing over her ruffled fur and frayed whiskers.

"We're almost there," Willowwater mewed quietly as Rainstone peered around the taller she-cat. Rainstone nodded tensely, thinking hard about how they were going to do this.

It's going to be difficult and dangerous. But it could help clear up a lot of things; let's just hope we don't run into the enemy… I'm not exactly in my strongest state right now.

Rainstone sighed and shook her head; they would just have to hope for a little luck. Amazingly, they made it to the border with still a little light in the sky and without bumping into any cats. Heh, after I wished for luck, I'd thought I'd never get it!

Peering around and crouched low to the ground, Willowwater signaled for her to stop moving. Rainstone rolled her eyes and stood up and strolled onto the wooden dock. The wind was blowing their scents away from the Clans and she wasn't going onto ShadowClan territory anyways.

Willowwater still hissed at her as she inspected her paw to make sure the splint was still intact. It was and she hadn't felt any pain in her leg to indicate that she was messing it up. About this time, using it will start to help it anyways… Or at least it would have if it'd been taken care of at the very start.

Willowwater sat nervously next to her, sifting her sharp gaze from one border to the next. Rainstone stared down at the slow moving water, a pool full of stars. The inky black depths and the rhythmic ripples lulled her senses and made her feel dreamy.

Yet, she was still the first one to detect Needlepine's presence. "Is it him?" Willowwater asked nervously.

"Yep," Rainstone answered in a low voice. She could tell from the pattern of his bouncy paw-steps. She glimpsed his laughing green eyes that sparked with excitement and passion. She swallowed, her heart was beating fast in her chest and she was completely focused on his approach. No, focused on him.

Come on! She scowled at herself, what's gotten into me? "Hey, Needlepine," she called softly and he jerked his head, which was silhouetted against the fading light of the sky, toward her and picked up his pace until he was right in front of her.

"Rainstone, it's good to see you again," he purred and leaned forward as if to touch noses in greeting. Then he drew abruptly back as he saw Willowwater glaring at him. "Oh, sorry, old habit," he muttered under his breath, taking a pace or two backwards.

Rainstone rolled her eyes at Willowwater, but doubted it was seen in the dark. "Let's get going, we need to be back just after moon-high," she mewed, moving down to the shore from the dock and heading into ShadowClan territory.

There was a hesitation and then two sets of paws started following her. "Needlepine, lead," Rainstone ordered, letting him move up besides she while she slipped back a pace.

"Ah, okay, but what are we doing exactly?" Needlepine asked.

"We're going to try to figure out who Nightwing's allies are of course," Rainstone answered, glancing up as an owl swooped overhead.

Needlepine stumbled and Willowwater's steps faltered. "Is that a problem?" Rainstone questioned testily, glancing at Willowwater.

"No, but I would like to ask how you want to find out?" Willowwater questioned, looking angry. "I didn't come out here to go on a wild goose-chase."

Rainstone's whiskers twitched, "You can go back to camp whenever you want. Do you Needlepine, want to go home too?" she questioned in a silky voice.

Needlepine shook his head, "No, I trust you, I know you'll find a way, even if it doesn't make sense," the tom answered, turning his head forward again. Rainstone nodded and they continued in silence, though Willowwater seemed to grow sulkier.

Still, it was half-way to moon-high when they reached ThunderClan territory. "This is going to take longer than I thought," Rainstone sighed, looking around with narrowed eyes.

The forest was as dark as a cave with twisty looking tendrils strewn across the floor just waiting to trip them up. "How do cats live in a mess like this?" she muttered as she headed into the territory.

"Wait! We can't go into their territory," Willowwater hissed.

"It's their own fault. However, you should roll in their scent markers so they won't detect you," Rainstone advised, her fur already drenched in the musty scent. She didn't find it directly unpleasant, but not as favorable as RiverClan or even ShadowClan.

The two Clan-born cats wrinkled their noes as they withered against the scent markers. "And try not to make so much noise," Rainstone sighed as leaves and twigs crackled against the two squirming cats.

"Sorry," Needlepine apologized, standing still with heavy ThunderClan scent.

"Perfect," Rainstone purred, laughing on the inside at how he looked like a ruffled kit with his fur sticking up everywhere. Willowwater wasn't much better but looked angrier about it.

"I'm going to stink worse than a fox for moons," the gray tabby moaned.

Rainstone scowled, she was starting to get annoyed with her Clan-mate. "Well, keep it to yourself until we're back in our territory. We need to get going real quiet-like," Rainstone ordered looking down at her smoky black paws. She really wished they'd turn gray again so that she couldn't be identified as easily by her enemies.

She took the lead now, as neither of the other two cats knew ThunderClan territory. Scent was impossible to track, but Rainstone had grown up in the mountains where scents didn't stay on stone so she was right at home following small visual signs.

"Shh, the camp is right ahead," Rainstone whispered, peering through the shaded forest. She was pressed against a leafy tree; she was sure these cats called it a maple tree, and blended right into the shadows.

Needlepine and Willowwater were back a few paces pressed against a large thorny plant and nodded to acknowledge they had heard. Rainstone crept a few steps forward until she came to a wall of brambles.

Stifling a hiss of pain as one stabbed her cheek, she backed up. Must be the camp barrier. Rainstone thought, peering up to see an opening in the sky past the bramble barrier. Now here comes the tricky part…

"You guys stay right here, don't do anything. If you get seen, run back to the border fast as you can," Rainstone whispered, creeping back to the two cats.

"Where are you going?" Willowwater asked while Needlepine nodded at her words.

"To do what I came here to do! With any luck, I'll come back just fine," Rainstone whispered.

Willowwater hesitated before muttering what sounded like an agreement. Rainstone nodded, locking eyes with Needlepine for a moment. "Good luck," he whispered and Rainstone purred, she was glad he hadn't said, 'be careful,' or something like that. It showed he had faith in her.

He just knows what I like so easily. She thought, turning back toward the barrier. She followed the barrier until she reached an opening. Wriggling through the tight space she gasped as her front paws hit nothing.

Lurching back she heard the clatter of a few pebbles fall down from wherever she was and the tear of her fur against the brambles. Catching her breath, she leaned forward cautiously. Her eyes widened as she saw the bottom of the camp and that she was at least the height of the surrounding trees below her.

Well, I know why they don't get attacked; no cat would want to try to navigate a fighting force around this in the dark! Rainstone shivered, discovering how much more difficult her job was now. The only way to get in was the entrance where the guard was stationed.

Might as well check it out anyways. She moved carefully down the slope to the entrance, more confident of her paw-steps now that her path was illuminated by the moonlight. She halted as she heard the rustling of leaves in front of her.

Heart leaping to her throat as panic flowed through her; she dove for a fern bush and tried to quiet her heavy breathing. Peering through the leaves, she caught sight of a cat, she recognized by scent the guard, prowling up the ravine.

She held her breath, wondering if she'd been spotted. But the guard was moving in a relaxed and lazy way, almost looking resentful. "What was Pinefur thinking putting me on guard duty after the dusk patrol? I'm exhausted, besides, it was Scampfur's turn," the cat muttered.

Rainstone waited for him to pass up the path. He's probably checking the boundaries, so the entrance will be unguarded for a few minutes. She slid down to the entrance and passed into the camp; fully aware she was in enemy territory and stood no chance of escape while in this camp that was guarded by such steep walls.

She rested in the deep shadows of camp for a few minutes until the guard returned to his spot at the entrance. She had been unsure of how well he would be able to see the camp at the top of the hollow, but hadn't been interested in finding out.

Now she had been given time to figure the camp out. She had deduced that the warriors den was probably the biggest gorse and bramble den; luckily, she could approach it while staying in the shadows the entire way. I just hope I get his attention without getting anyone else's attention…

She sighed and starting creeping like a mouse over to the den. She took a deep breath and dared to peer her head into the den. The den was full of dark sleeping bodies and rhythmic breathing. Swallowing, well aware she was creeping into the lion's den, she stepped forward, and searched for the one cat she needed.

She caught her breath as she found him, than growled in annoyance as she saw he was at the very back of the den. Backing out of the den and taking refuge in the shadows, she thought hard for a moment before making her way to the back of the den on the outside.

He's a light sleeper and also suspicious, this should work. She took a deep breath and reached her un-broken paw under the den, hoping she had judged the distance right and was grabbing his tail and not some other cat's tail.

Her claws managed to tweak the tail, and then she drew back and waited in agonizing silence as she heard a surprised grunt and movement from the inside. She prayed to Song that this was the right cat.

She waited in the deep shadows, eyes fixed on the entrance. She stared in surprise as the silhouette of a cat became outlined against the dark night sky. But is this my cat? She waited with suspended breath as the cat slowly turned.

There, those amber eyes, no doubting it now. Taking a deep breath, she tried to quiet her trembling, but gave up and just faced him. The eyes flashed with anger, sadness, fear, and recognition all at once as she faced him.

This is it; I told myself I didn't need help. But right now, I really need his. She drew another deep breath, hoping she wouldn't pass out as she tried to speak. "Hello, Scamp."

...

Well, that's that. Now I need to figure out more of this story then just the ultimate end...

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