Ok this chapter kinda sucks but bear with me!

Chapter Two:

"Rainingstar...?" The blue-grey she-cat opened one eye sleepily to see a ginger cat staring down at her.

"Wuh..." she drawled, obviously still half asleep.

Redclaw sighed. "Are you okay?" he asked, sounding concerned.

She scrambled to get up. "I'm fine. Just fine," she muttered. He gave her a curious look. "What?" she snapped. He looked away.

"You seem down today, " he commented.

She blinked. "Down..?"

"Yes down. Did your parent's and your brother's death upset you that much?"

Rainingstar said irritatedly, "No. I'm fine." She stood up and shook the scraps of moss of her pelt. "Come," she commaned as she stepped outside to the clearing.

"Desertscale has sent out the dawn patrol," he told her. "She went with them."

Rainingstar nodded. "MossShadow," she called out. ''Take Smokewalker and Goldenpaw on a hunting patrol." The tabby tom dipped his head and went to go get the chosen cats.

Redclaw asked, "Are you sure you don't want me to get any herbs for you?"

"I'm not sick," she insisted. "My parents and brother are hunting with StarClan now. They will never suffer again."

Redclaw was a smart cat. He noticed how edgy she was and could see the pain in her eyes. After all, he had seen the same look in the eyes of many other cats as they watched their loved one suffer in his den.

"Look, shouldn't you be gathering borage? You said you were running low. What happens if a cat suffers a fever?"

"It's almost leaf-fall," he replied. "They usually don't get fevers during leaf-fall."

"Key word: almost. We can still suffer from the hot weather. And also, you know storms hit the most in green-leaf. We're just lucky none has hit us yet this season. And also, since it'd almost leaf-fall maybe you should be getting tansy for coughs," she said icily. She whipped around. "I don't have time for this. I'm StormClan leader and my Clan needs me."

As she stalked away, Redclaw couldn't help but think, "She still has her PhoenixClan temper..."

Rainingstar bit into the rabbit she was sharing with Larchpaw and Tigerpaw. She sometimes ate with the apprentices when she had the time. She always felt that a leader needed a bond with the younger cats as well as the older. And the apprentices loved her for it.

"So, Tigerpaw, how did your training session go with Fawnspots today?" she asked.

The pale tabby looked down at his paws. When he looked up, his blue eyes were filled with sadness.

"What's wrong?" Rainingstar inquired, concerned.

"Fawnspots hasn't taken him out lately," his brother Larchpaw answered for him.

"Really? She told me she was taking you you out today, Tigerpaw..." Rainingstar blinked. 'I wonder why she hasn't been training him...'

As if reading her mind, Larchpaw said, "Tigerpaw doesn't know why. But I do."

"Then why haven't you told me?" Tigerpaw said, sounding peeved.

"Because I wanted to tell Rainingstar first," he retorted. He turned back to his leader. "She's been hanging around with Cloudsky!"

The blue-grey she-cat was silent. She wondered if Fawnspots had developed a friendship...or more. But no matter what, if angered her that she hadn't been paying attention to Tigerpaw lately. And it angered her more because Cloudsky had a mate, as well as three kit. 'Still, cats can fall in love more than once...but he's Birdbeak's mate. Plus, Fawnspots shouldn't forget about her apprentice...'

"I will speak to her," she promised Tigerpaw.

Larchpaw asked, "Well what about her and Cloudsky?"

"I can't interfere with anything going on the Clan, but I can only hope that nothing is going on between them," she murmured.

When they were done with the rabbit, she flicked her tail in a friendly gesture at them and walked away. She heard pawsteps behind her and turned around. She blinked.

"Do you need something Larchpaw?"

The brown and white tom looked as his paws as he said, "You look very pretty today."

Rainingstar could hardly suppress a chuckle. "Why thank you Larchpaw. You look handsome today too." He looked up at her, eyes shining, and padded off.

She laughed a bit. An apprentice crushing on a leader? C'mon, that was amusing.

"What's so funny?" She turned a bit to see Redclaw coming towards her.

"It seems to me Larchpaw has developed a liking for his leader," she purred.

Redclaw chuckled. "How sweet. You are an attractive young cat."

"Why thank you dearest Redclaw," she replied. "Now, on to more serious business."

He frowned. She said lightly, "Don't worry it's not that serious. It's just that Fawnspots has been neglecting Tigerpaw. He says that she hasn't taken him out in a while to train. His brother told me that she's been hanging around with Cloudsky."

"You mean Birdbeak's mate...?"

"I don't know another Cloudsky." Rainingstar sat down and licked her paws casually. "Do you think they have anything going on?..."

"I haven't been paying attention. After all, a pretty she-cat had told me to go gather tansy today," he said.

Rainingstar shrugged. She offered no apology. He hadn't expected one. "Well, obviously Birdbeak doesn't know and if she does, she hasn't shown it," Rainingstar commented as she watched the queen scold her kit for something. "I cannot tamper with my Clan's personal life. I can only hope that if something is going on, that Cloudsky will do what's right."

"You mean go back to Birdbeak?"

The dark she-cat stared at Redclaw, with such intensity in her blue eyes that he looked away. "No Redclaw, though I do think he should do so. I hope he will choose wisely and follows his heart, rather than what he thinks he must do. That is what I believe is right."

The ginger tom blinked. This was so different from her earlier, when she was edgy and angry. "When did you become so wise?" he asked softly, a bit mystified.

She was silent for a minute. "When I received my nine lives, I guess."

"I wish you could've let me come with you, the traditional way."

Rainingstar shrugged uncomfortably. "No, you were better off tending to our Clan. They needed you."

An awkward silence followed, the hair thick with tension.

"I ran through my whole supply of thyme that day," Redclaw chuckled, trying to break the tension.

"Do you miss Brackenclaw?" she asked all of a sudden.

"Well of course!" Redclaw said, surprised. He had died shortly after Rainingstar had joined. He was also Goldtail's brother, and his death had made her a firm believer that it was a sign that Rainingstar shouldn't have joined.

Rainingstar nodded and padded towards her den. "I'm going to sleep," she said, yawning.

Her friend nodded, his own eyes starting to feel heavy. As he walked to his den, he reflected upon what had just happen. That sort of tension had never been there between them before, when he was Redclaw the medicine cat apprentice, and she was Rainingfire, the warrior who had left her whole life behind her to start a new one. As he lay down in his nest, he wondered if Rainingstar had also left a lover behind...

Well, being the bitch I am, I may not say anything about Rainingstar's old mate for a WHILE...or will i? mwuahahha...Please review!! (also, i think its cute that larchpaw has a crush on her! isnt it? lol)