"Rainbowheart, I want to ask you to stay and help us fight Bloodstorm."
The red-eyed warrior couldn't help but feel a little irritated with Buck. It appeared to Rainbowheart that the tom was quite desperate to fight against Bloodstorm and the Peace Reapers. That was exactly the kind of thing Rainbowheart didn't wish to take part in.
"I'm sorry," she said to Buck, "but I can't help you further than training."
Buck sprang up from where he sat, "But you have to, please, you must." He was pleading with the trained warrior now. "None of these cats would actually be out there right now if it wasn't for you being here." There needed to be a reason. If his reason could make the cat stay and help, they might have a chance.
Rainbowheart turned her head to the side and stared at the ground. "I am sorry, but I cannot be involved in a conflict that has nothing to do with me. All I am able to do is train you and the others, and if I have to, heal whoever is injured or sick."
"But…" The tom was at a loss for words. He knew deep down that the she-cat had made her case with plausible facts but there was still irritation at his core, that the warrior would not help him fight against the hated dictator and his followers.
In the end, Buck had to agree, lest Rainbowheart take away her free services to him and the others. The brown tom licked the teeth that stuck out of his mouth, "I will accept your answer." He looked up with defeated eyes, "But please, I urge you to think about considering my offer."
Rainbowheart glanced at Buck and then the ground. "I make no promises… but okay." She had to say it if she was going to get the cat to stop badgering her.
Buck nodded, "That is all I shall ask of you." He dipped his head once, and then padded out of the den, leaving Rainbowheart to her own thoughts.
I'm sorry Buck, but I won't be changing my mind...
"Rainbowheart!"
The black and white warrior snapped herself around to see Meera standing in the den entrance. "Meera, what's wrong?" She could tell that the she-cat was a bit irritated, indicated by her ruffled fur.
The ash-pelted cat flicked an ear, "The kittypets and loners are fighting. They're at each other's throats. Buck told me to get you, to see if you could control them, so get out here and work your 'almighty clan magic', Patchy."
Despite the fact Rainbowheart was now irritated with Meera from that comment, she immediately padded after her outside.
There was tension in the air, that much Rainbowheart could tell. There were two groups of the trainees, both arguing with someone from the other. "What happened?" she questioned Streak, who padded over to her side.
Streak grimaced, "Well, everyone was doing fine, but then Blue said something to Hampton, and then he got mad and ended up insulting the kittypets. The other loners then joined in after Jewel said something about them."
Streak seemed a bit stressed. "I tried to get them to calm down, but they won't listen to me. They're all too busy arguing with each other. The only one who isn't fighting is Chris."
Rainbowheart flicked her ears at the name, "Where's he at?"
"He and Apple said that they would accompany Jade and the kits on a little walk." Star padded up to the other cats with Buck at her side. She stopped in front of Rainbowheart, her face expressionless, "If I may suggest it, you should probably get the others to stop fighting now. They are embarrassing themselves."
The warrior thanked StarClan that the young ones weren't there to see this. Taking in a deep breath she gathered her voice, and then released an ear-splitting yowl. The cats near her flattened their ears against their heads, and gave a shocked look towards the red-eyed cat. The arguing cats suddenly stopped.
Looking around, Rainbowheart exhaled and gave a satisfied smirk. The trainees had a hard time continuing their argument after that.
Rainbowheart replaced her smirk with a disappointed gaze. "Look at yourselves. Even the kits are more behaved than this."
A few of the cats averted their eyes, too ashamed to look their new mentor in the eyes.
Rainbowheart took a deep breath, "I'm not going to even ask who started it. You all chose to join in the silly quarrel, so you all will be punished."
Behind her Rainbowheart could hear branches and twigs snapping. Jade and the kits, accompanied by Apple and Chris emerged from the undergrowth. "What happened? We heard a really loud yowl." The she-cat looked around wildly, with both Chris and Apple next to her and the kits behind them. Streak padded up her to panicked sister and whispered into her ear. The white queen's worried face fell. "Oh..."
"Jewel and Hampton, since you are already being punished, you will do a few chores around the clearing; hunting and helping me with gathering herbs." Both cats that had been called out lowered their heads at Rainbowheart's statement. "As for the rest of you, since you seem so keen on arguing about which cats are better, you will all be assigned a partner from the other side, just like these two."
"Blair, you will be partnered with Cliff." Rainbowheart heard the she-cat give a barely audible whine, and saw Cliff rolling his eyes.
"Suzie, you and Spike shall be partners," she saw both of them grimace, but they turned and gave each other hesitant nods.
"And Brick and Nutmeg, since you both seem to work well together you will be partners."
Neither cat reacted like the others, instead choosing to exchange smiles, and Nutmeg was playing with her paws.
"Um, Rainbowheart." Chilly's blue eyes were filled with interest, her tone rather curious instead of angry or down. "I don't mean to interrupt, but Blue and I are the only ones left, and we're both house cats. So I was wondering…"
"Chilly you will train with Chris and Blue will train with me." Rainbowheart glanced behind her, "Is that alright with you Chris?" She didn't want to punish the tom since he hadn't been there, but the others were already paired up.
Chris shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind." It wouldn't be a problem for the cat to partner with a kittypet. All of the cats liked the tom, and knew him to be a very hyperactive, but sweet cat.
"It's settled then. I want all of you to get to know your partner during the time you spend training." Rainbowheart's expression hardened, "This will be the last time that I hear about who is better than the other. You are all here to train, but if the peace around here continues to be disrupted, I will resign from teaching you all any further."
As soon as Rainbowheart finished, Buck padded over to whisper something in her ear.
"Oh, that's right." Rainbowheart tured back to the trainees, "Before we go on to training, I have a little matter that I'd like to discuss with you all. It seems that Bloodstorm has invited me to a little get together, with him and his Peace Reapers, in four days."
"What!" Hampton lashed his tail irritably. The tom was obviously not happy about the news.
Cliff, trying to be a little more controlled, spoke in a calm tone. "Please tell me you said no."
Rainbowheart shook her head, getting yowls of disapproval. "I am sorry," she spoke above the voices, "but no was not an option for me."
More yowls.
"Please calm down all of you. I know that this could possibly be a trap, but Bloodstorm has agreed to act in a civilized manner."
"Civilized manner?!" Hampton hissed, lashing his tail.
"I'm sorry Rainbowheart, but I must say that I disapprove of your view of Bloodstorm," Jewel padded up to stand next to Hampton. "Cats have tried to reason with him, but he continues to ignore our pleas. There is no 'civilized manner' with him."
"I used to think that one must show others true kindness, before they themselves can show kindness and see the light that hides within the dark," Rainbowheart spoke calmly, eyes closed. "But I'm not so stupid as to believe what Bloodstorm says."
Her eyes opened, half-lidded, "It doesn't change my mind." She didn't say why exactly. The reason she was going was because she had been threatened with information concerning the den's location and who stayed here.
How did Bloodstorm know this though?
"Well if you go by yourself, there's a good chance that Bloodstorm will drive you off by force, or worse kill you. We can't have that now can we?" Buck sat down next to the she-cat.
He gazed over at the trainees. "Alright you lot, those of you who aren't kittypets, you'll be accompanying us to meet with Bloodstorm. Those who are kittypets, can choose to go if they wish. I won't convince you to go, if you don't want to."
A few of the cats shifted in place, and Nutmeg whispered something to Blair and Suzie. The two she-cats nodded their heads slightly, apparently agreeing with whatever the shy cat had said.
Blair, being the more outspoken, answered for them, "I am sorry, but we will not go with you. I hope that you understand."
Rainbowheart understood, but did not say anything. She turned to the other kittypets. "And you three?"
"We will also stay beh-"
"I'll go," Jewel cut Blue off, before he could finish his sentence. Hampton, who was still standing next to her, gave her a skeptical stare. She caught his stare, and glared, "I may be a kittypet, but I'm not going to give you all the chance to be able to prove yourselves, when you have nothing to prove."
She fluffed out her fur, and looked the tabby tom straight in the eye. "I am just as strong as the rest of you."
For once, the tom didn't take the chance to snipe back at the kittypet. It was obvious that the quick-tongued tom had met his match. He gulped. "Whatever you say," was all the tom could manage out.
That was it, for those who had a chosen to go to the meeting with the Peace Reapers. And once it was settled, it was time to get back to training. "Like I said, we will be training with partners. Today's lesson will involve groups of three, with two cats taking on one cat. Now who wants to help me demonstrate?"
Training went on for a while after demonstrations.
Currently, Rainbowheart was in a bout, with Blue and Streak trying to knock her over. Though this was training, the warrior was not going to make it easy to catch her off guard. It took a while until her opponents were finally able to trip her up, with Blue practically running circles around her, and Streak taking the chance while her friend was distracted.
Now, Streak stood above Rainbowheart, triumphant in her stance. The black cat was definitely pleased with herself, as she should be.
Rainbowheart rolled her eyes at the she-cat's cockiness, "Don't get too full of yourselves. It still took you a while to get me pinned." The fallen faces of her group members, called for her to add, "You both did well though. Why don't you take a break; I think Meera, Jewel, and Hampton are done. Streak, why don't you lead a hunting party?"
The she-cat seemed taken aback, "Are you sure?"
"I think that you'll be able to handle it," said Rainbowheart.
Streak blinked, "W-well if you think so. I won't let you down."
"I know. Off you go then," Rainbowheart waved both off with a nod of her head. She watched, as they walked over to the three cats who were already finished, and looking pretty tired.
Streak seemed to be relaying Rainbowheart's message, as she was pointing over in the warrior's direction with her tail. After that, all five of them got up, and disappeared in the foliage that surrounded the clearing.
Rainbowheart took the momentary reprieve and looked around the clearing, observing the helping cats correct the inexperienced one's mistakes, with few flaws. As the warrior's gaze wandered closer to the den, it landed Hazel, who was intently watching the training going on. To Rainbowheart though, the look in her eyes betrayed that she was thinking of something completely separate from battle training.
Near the den entrance, Rockslide was telling the kits a very engrossing tale. What the story was about, Rainbowheart couldn't tell, but it was keeping the rambunctious youngsters occupied.
Deciding to confront the troubled she-cat, Rainbowheart quietly made her way over to Hazel. "Hey Hazel," she saw the cat's eyes flicker up, but then they moved to focusing on the ground. Sighing, Rainbowheart sat down next to the blue-eyed cat, which in turn, triggered her to sit as well.
"So," Rainbowheart started, "You've been pretty distant. Thinking about your mother?"
Hazel was silent for a bit, but Rainbowheart didn't mind. "Those cats you saw, with the Peace Reapers, you know the ones…" Hazel trailed off.
Well that certainly wasn't close to what Rainbowheart thought the cat was thinking about. "Hmn… Were they your friends?"
"... They had tried to stand up to Bloodstorm a couple of moons ago. I was trying to bring some food back, for my parents because my father wasn't able to hunt. On the way back I was attacked by Hiss. She told me to either give her the food, or give her my life." Hazel spoke quietly, emotionless as she recalled the day.
"I had never been more scared in my life, but it wasn't because I may die. It was knowing that if I die, then so do my parents. All I could do, was watch as Hiss got ready to attack me again."
Rainbowheart could see the dream-like expression form on Hazel's face.
"It was Amethyst and Bronze who came to my rescue. They ended up beating Hiss. I was grateful to them, for being there for me when I needed them the most."
Hazel's voice suddenly filled with a sort of regret. "It was my fault that they got taken away; them and Bronze's brothers. When Bloodstorm came for them, he asked where Bronze had learned to fight. His brothers had been the ones to teach him and Amethyst."
Rainbowheart touched her tail to the brown cat's shoulder, "There's nothing you could have done."
"I-I know but… they used to be so happy, and now when I see them, if I see them, they look so… broken. Sometimes I wish that I could just go back and set things on a better path."
"I'm sure we all feel like that at times…" Rainbowheart stated. There were definitely things she wished she could go back and change in her life.
"Your name is quite unique. Is it from the clans that the others were talking about?" Hazel's eyes still held the sadness of the earlier conversation, but they also held a genuine interest to what the answer to her question might be. She was obviously trying to get things away from herself now.
For once, Rainbowheart gave a fond sigh. "During my travels, I was known as Rainbow, and the ending of my name came from the clans. When I was accepted into the clan, I asked that I keep my name, but allowed my mentor to incorporate it into a clan name. You see, a dear friend of mine had given me my name. He had said that it suited me."
Hazel cocked her head a bit to the side, "Why is that?"
Rainbowheart shook her head. "I don't really know. He told me that a rainbow appears after a storm, after it rains. There is birthed a light that takes its opportunity to make to world beautiful once more. It is made up of many colors, that all balance each other out." She looked down to see Hazel's contemplating stare. "That's what my friend had told me, before he died."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't..."
"It's ok, you didn't know." The red-eyed warrior looked back up at the sky, "I know he's out there somewhere, watching over me." She added in her mind, It doesn't mend my regrets, though.
"Hey guys, look what we've got!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing, to draw their attention to the source of the voice. Streak's hunting party was now walking out of the forest, success on their faces and in their jaws.
The proud black cat padded over to an area near the large stump, and put the two squirrels she had caught, down.
"Eat up everyone," Meera placed a rabbit she'd caught, iin the pile.
"Wow, you guys caught so much!" Chilly complemented.
Jewel dropped two birds onto the pile, and shook off the squirrels that were on her back also. "It was no problem. Streak and Meera taught us how to hunt while we out there."
"Hey Rainbowheart, can learning how to hunt help with battle training also?" Cliff questioned, picking out a bird for himself.
The warrior padded over with Hazel and the kits by her side. The kits ran to greet their aunt, while Hazel picked out a lean rabbit for herself and Rockslide.
"Well yes. If you want to learn how to take an enemy by surprise, then hunting is certainly a good way to learn." Rainbowheart picked up a bird.
"In that case, can you teach everyone how to hunt?" asked Chris.
"Well, since it would still be training, I guess. Let's eat first though," Rainbowheart said through the feathers of the prey in her jaws.
"Hey Rainbowheart, when do we get to hunt?" Topaz stared at the she-cat, a bit of wonder in his eyes.
"Yeah, you said that you'd make us clan apprentices, and Jade and Streak warriors." Sparrow joined in with her brother.
"Apprentices and warriors, what, are you making your own clan now?" Hampton joked. No one was laughing. The grey tom noticed, and blinked his blue eyes, "You are making your own clan, aren't you."
Rainbowheart's jaws were still packed with prey, so all she could do was move a paw around the dirt and grass. All was silent, even the kits.
"Why's everyone so quiet?" All eyes were suddenly on Chris, who gave the others a puzzled look.
"What's wrong with making a clan? You all didn't seem so judgmental about it yesterday. I think that it's a great idea." The young tom lifted his head up, and puffed out his chest fur. "You're all just jealous of them I think."
Hampton gave the young cat a skeptical look, but rethought about what he had said earlier. "Chris is right, at least about the judgmental part. I should not have joked about it," the tabby lowered his head. "I am sorry."
"It's quite alright. Now how about we all eat," Rainbowheart said through feathers, wanting to get this day over with.