Chapter 7

Rainpelt's eyes flickered open. She yowled in surprise. "Graystripe!" The gray tom was standing directly in front of her, eyes wide with humor, and his nose just a paw step away. She pawed at him with her claws sheathed. He jumped back in surprise and meowed with laughter.

"It's about time you woke up. Dawn patrol's going to leave any second."

"What!" She sprang to her feet and ran out of the warriors' den, panting to catch her breath.

"Rainpelt…there you are." Tigerclaw gave a flick of his tail. Fireheart and Rainpelt followed him through the gorse tunnel and out of camp. Rainpelt looked up, her eyes following a yellow butterfly with spots on the top of each of its wings.

"Ah!" She froze as the butterfly settled upon her nose, flapping its wings slowly. Fireheart stopped to look back and purred. The eyes of the wings made Rainpelt look as though she had eyes as big as large pebbles. She snorted as the powder from its wings drifted into her nose. They watched it fly away, its silhouette drifting closer to the rising sun.

"Hey! We're on morning patrol; not butterfly patrol! Let's get going!" Tigerclaw roared. Fireheart jumped and followed him silently, Rainpelt following him just a rabbit hop away. She kept her eyes to the ground as they padded on, Tigerclaw stopping to sniff the air every once in a while.

A familiar scent filled Rainpelt's nose as they passed Fourtress. She looked around. Not seeing anything, she looked at her allies. They seemed to have picked up the strange scent as well. Her ear twitched in annoyance that she could not put her paw on where it was coming from. Tigerclaw continued on and they followed in curious silence as they neared Sunningrocks.

Rainpelt stared across the river to RiverClan territory. Her paws tingled at the prick of curiosity. What was the RiverClan territory like? She blinked the thought away as they continued on toward camp. Her stomach growled of hunger. She knew she could hunt and eat it on patrol, but she decided against it. Tigerclaw seemed to want to get back to camp, so she had no choice but to follow. She could eat when they reached camp.

When they returned through the gorse tunnel, Rainpelt headed strait for the fresh-kill pile. Tigerclaw headed off to report to Bluestar, and Fireheart dashed over to Sandstorm. Rainpelt ate in utter silence. She'd only spoken a few words that morning and they were senseless words that she didn't even need to speak. Licking her chops after she finished her meal, she walked silently over to Yellowfang's den.

She poked her head in, looking around at the dark and musty den. "Yellowfang?" she meowed.

"Yes, Rainpelt?" The medicine cat appeared from the dim light of where Cinderpaw still lay.

"How's Cinderpaw?" Rainpelt's eyes glanced up to the moss bed.

"She's sleeping right now," she rasped. Rainpelt nodded and walked slowly up to Cinderpaw. The she-cat immediately awoke, panting in pain.

"Cinderpaw? Are you alright?" The apprentice winced in pain. She began to lick her leg.

"Yellowfang! My leg!" She yowled in pain.

"What's going on?" Rainpelt questioned as Yellowfang made her way to Cinderpaw quickly with poppeyseeds.

"A storm's coming," Cinderpaw mewed before taking a few poppeyseeds. Rainpelt's ears pricked forward.

"Rain isn't so bad," she confided.

"Not rain," she panted before quickly falling back asleep from the seeds. Yellowfang sighed and walked back to her herbs.

"Yellowfang? What does she mean?" Rainpelt padded after her.

"It means a storm is coming. You should be back outside," the medicine cat replied. Rainpelt nodded and left the den. Cinderpaw had been right; the sky was turning a dark gray. She shook it off and left camp to hunt.

A caterwaul rang through the still air. Everything had fallen still and silent. Bluestar was yowling for the Clan to return to their dens. The leader ducked in response to hail falling from the sky. She dashed for her den, as did the other cats to theirs. Hail continued to bounce against the ground, denting the dirt.

"Yellowfang? Where's Rainpelt?" Cinderpaw was limping down to the hollow of the medicine cat's den. Yellowfang looked up from her moss bed.

"I'm sure she's safe in her den, Cinderpaw," she responded. Cinderpaw wouldn't listen. She rain out, limping into the falling hail. Everything fell silent and still once more. She ran as fast as she could through the gorse tunnel. "Cinderpaw!" Yellowfang yowled. Her eyes widened and she dashed to find Bluestar.

Cinderpaw raced on, sniffing the air for her new friend. "Rainpelt!" she yowled. She caterwauled in surprise as a twister plunged its way to the ground. It was in RiverClan territory and making it's way to ThunderClan territory! She wouldn't give up meowing to Rainpelt. The she-cat had to be out here somewhere.

Rainpelt dashed into camp, dropping her kill. "Twister!" she yowled to the Clan, ears back in fear. Yellowfang was running up to her.

"Rainpelt! Have you seen Cinderpaw?" Rainpelt shook her head.

"Where is she?" Her ears pricked forward as the she-cat's face filled with fear.

"She went looking for you!"

"What?" she hissed. "We have to find her!"

"No, Rainpelt! It's too late!" Bluestar yowled from the entrance of her den. Rainpelt shook her head, disagreeing, and then ran off through the rain and hail outside of camp.

"Cinderpaw!" The blasting wind blew her fur in all different directions as her eyes darted back and forth in search of the gray figure. She took off running again, her eyes turning a gray as the twister reflected off of them. She was heading strait for it, but she kept running. She could feel herself being pulled its way and lifting off the ground.

In reaction, she unsheathed her claws and kept running. "Uh!" She tripped and looked behind her, spitting out dirt from her mouth. "Cinderpaw!" The she-cat was lying helpless on the ground, in shock of the roaring winds and the approaching storm. Rainpelt sunk her teeth into her scruff, dragging her as fast as possible toward camp.

The twister roared forward, drawing close to the two cats. She struggled with the weight she was clinging to. Surely she couldn't outrun one of these things! She stared up in fear, freezing in place. It was only about 25 rabbit hops away from them! She continued to drag Cinderpaw toward camp. When she reached the gorse tunnel, relief flooded over her, but her job was not finished yet. The closest den that they could occupy was the warriors' den.

Rainpelt once again felt herself beginning to lift, even with her claws unsheathed. The twister was getting so close she could taste its dust. The brambles that made the warriors' den blasted away. Where were the warriors? She looked around frantically, and then made her way toward Bluestar's den. With one leap, her and Cinderpaw dropped safely in their leader's den. Cinderpaw began to cough.

Rainpelt was panting for breath as she looked around at all of the glowing eyes that stared at her. The whole Clan was in here! She began to wheeze and back up in fear, seeing the twister roar near the entrance. She began to drag Cinderpaw toward the wall when she felt a lick on her head.

"That'll do. She'll be fine where she is." She turned around to look in the grateful eyes of Yellowfang. She nodded and backed against the wall near Tigerclaw. He looked down at her with admiring eyes.

"Well done, Rainpelt," he meowed. She blinked her thanks before huddling down to the floor as the storm passed.