When Rainbowheart opened her eyes again, she was no longer in the beautiful scenery of StarClan. The new light of day shone through the opening of the burrow, warming the ground in front of the warrior's nest. With a big yawn, she got up and stretched, and then proceeded to wake up the still snoozing Brick.
The injured tom stirred awake irritably, before realizing who it was that woke him up.
Seeing that he was up, Rainbowheart got out of her nest. "Come on, it's time to get up. The others should be here by now." Without another word, the she-cat gloomily walked and stood by the exit.
Brick looked at her for a second, before stretching, and padding after. He stopped next to her and, seeing that the she-cat hadn't acknowledged his presence, he touched his tail to her shoulder.
Rainbowheart jumped slightly, suddenly aware of the red tom.
Concerned for the warrior, Brick offered her words of encouragement. "You know, my mom, before she passed, always used to tell me that even when something bad happens, you should never give up. I don't know how things will go today but..."
The tom shook his head, looking the she-cat in the eyes. "I'll support whatever you end up doing."
Rainbowheart took a couple of seconds to take in what the tom had said, and then touched a paw to his shoulder in gratitude.
"Thanks Brick, that means a lot."
Once outside, both cats could see that there was quite an amount of activity going on, and it wasn't just between the trainees. Looking around the clearing, Rainbowheart could see that there were many cats from twolegplace.
It was then clearly noted that everyone seemed to be in some sort of heated argument.
"What's going on here?" Rainbowheart questioned, confusion in her eyes.
"Rainbowheart, Brick!"
Both cats turned to see Blair and Nutmeg running toward them. Nutmeg reached them before the black she-cat, and immediately started nuzzling Brick.
"Are you okay? We heard what happened. I'm sorry we couldn't have been here last night, for Chris' burial."
"Heh, I'm fine, just scratched up," Brick muttered, embarrassed.
Rainbowheart looked at Blair, who looked exhausted for some reason, "What's going on, why are all of these cats here?"
The blue-eye she-cat twitched her grey tipped tail angrily. "The Peace Reapers is what happened. They sent their punishers to give everyone a message. They told everyone that if you weren't driven away from here, then they'd start killing the younger cats. Now these flea-bags all want you gone from here, and to make matters worse, Bloodstorm sent some of his cats to make sure things went his way. Look, over there."
The black she-cat pointed with her tail to a small group of cats sitting by themselves.
Rainbowheart was surprised to see Gem and Bronze were in the group, along with Crack. "I recognize those three, but who are the others?" she asked.
Blair, seeing where the warrior was looking at, began naming the cats off. "Those two white cats, are punishers; the tom's name is Blizzard, and his sister is Blitz. The big she-cat sitting next to Crack is a guard; her name is Scream."
The she-cat shook her head, "Honestly, I think Bloodstorm went easy on us, by sending these ones."
Rainbowheart stared at the Peace Reapers for a bit before saying anything.
"No, I think he's trying to either break their spirit or test their loyalty. Either way, he's being cruel..."
She directed her attention to the throng of arguing cats, wanting to get the situation settled before it got completely out of hand.
"Please everyone, calm down, calm down." Around the clearing, the debating cats stopped to gaze over at Rainbowheart. "Now that I have your attention, how about we talk like civilized cats."
"You want to talk, alright then, we think that you've overstayed your welcome," an old kittypet tom yelled.
"Yeah, you being here has gotten us nowhere. You put our lives in jeopardy now," voiced a smoky colored loner.
Every cat around the clearing started joining in with voicing their concerns on her still being there.
Rainbowheart couldn't even get a word in, and was gazing around distraughtly. She shut her eyes tightly, the voices giving her a migraine.
"Shut up, all of you!" a voice boomed from a few fox-lengths away to Rainbowheart's left. Buck padded away from their group of friends, to stand next to the black-and-white cat.
"All of you should be ashamed of yourselves. If you'll remember, you were the ones that wanted the help when I said I'd try and find it. Out of all of you, only a handful even showed up to get training. Now you complain like kits!"
"Even if she does leave, will that really help us? Bloodstorm will still treat us the way he always has. He is a tyrant without a heart, and you are all so weak as to be sucked into his game. And you," Buck turned to glare at the small group of Peace Reapers who had come to observe, "You all make me sick. You were once good cats, but you allowed Bloodstorm to rule your hearts."
Bronze's eyes widened at Buck's statement, while Gem and Blitz looked away, ashamed. The other three stared at Buck and Rainbowheart with troubled looks etched on their faces.
"I thought I could help us take back our home if I found someone who could teach us. You're all ungrateful wretches. I should never have wasted my time trying to help those who can't help themselves." Buck fumed where he stood. Realization had finally hit him that fighting for such a lost cause was pointless.
These cats before him were worthless strays and soft-mouths.
Rainbowheart glanced at the ground for a moment, thinking before she addressed the cats, "I've thought about what all has been said here. I shall leave."
Before any of the cats could say anything, the warrior also added, "Not because you all could die, though, but because my friend's were threatened. Like Buck said, nothing is going to change." Her words darkened as her gaze did.
"If I leave with my friends, we will all live. You though, because of your cowardice, will still die by the claws of those who still threaten you."
Most of the cats were now staring with surprise at the black-and-white cat's ominous words.
"That is all," the warrior stated, flicking an ear and clearly dismissing the cats.
One by one, each of the cats who'd come to drive her off, left silently. All who were left, were the Peace Reapers, whom Raibowheart padded towards.
"Tell your leader that he got what he wanted, and that I won't be living here anymore. I'm not one to risk the lives of my cats like he is." She considered them for a moment, and then added in a soft voice, "You know, you really do seem like a good group of cats. It's a shame really, that you'd let scum take control of your will. I have to say, I'm disappointed in your abilities."
The she-cat guard, known as Scream, narrowed her eyes angrily, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Rainbowheart shrugged, and turned away, "You should probably get back to your 'friends'. I'm sure they must be worried about you."
This caused the scarred she-cat to hiss angrily, and she probably would have leaped at Rainbowheart. Luckily, Crack stopped her.
"Scream, stop it, she's not worth the trouble," the large tom spoke in a soothing voice, which seemed to calm Scream down. "Come on, we have to go meet with Nightclaw now. Everyone will want to hear the… good news," he hesitated with the last part of his sentence. The members of his group nodded, and left without looking back.
"So… you really are going to leave?" Brick spoke first. The red-brown tom had expected as such.
The black and white warrior padded over, and sat in front of him, "I can't stay if they don't want me here, and Bloodstorm has already threatened to kill all of you if I don't. I'm not going to risk your lives. There was no reason for me to be here in the first place. Those cats just gave me more of a reason to leave quicker."
"Who cares what those mouse-brains think. They never could take care of themselves anyway. I wanted my home back though, we all did. There's only one way to get it back, and they just turned their backs on what they wanted and needed."
There was fury in Buck's voice, something he could easily show when it came to his passion for fighting for what was right. This was one thing that Rainbowheart liked about the tom, but also found extremely irritating. He had a kind and strong attitude, and he stuck up for what he thought was the right thing to do. The downside was that he hardly thought of others' thoughts.
Rainbowheart grimaced and shook her head, "Like you said, they're scared. They can't be helped because of that. It's pointless." Remorsefully, she looked around at everyone, "That said, I think that it's about time that you all went back to your homes. I'm not going to let any more of you die like Spiritjump did."
Silence grew between the cats, before it was broken by Brick. "I wish you'd acknowledge I was at fault too. You know, I could barely fall asleep because of what kept replaying in my mind. I should have kept watch when we had stopped in that bush, or I should have fought harder so that they would choose to have killed me instead..."
Nutmeg, who had been sitting next to the red-brown tom, began to lick his ears comfortingly. "It wasn't anyone's fault, except that blood-thirsty beast of a cat."
The others around them murmured in agreement.
Brick shook his head lightly with his eyes still distant and trained on the ground, "It was the worst thing I've ever witnessed. To be unable to do anything about it. I'm sure we all feel that way, Rainbowheart, not just you."
He glanced up, and seemed to be staring through Rainbowheart with sadness. "I understand why you need to leave, because you want to protect the rest of us. Please don't look at us though and think you're the only one who has been touched by what happened to Spiritjump."
Steadily Brick breathed in and out. He then gazed at the ground once more. "You're going to leave us behind, leave us to defend ourselves. I know you know we can defend ourselves. That's why you're not worried about leaving us, right?"
The tom didn't wait for an answer as he kept going. His claws dug into the soil, his head shaking.
"Well I swear by my claws that I will continue to fight, and not be one of those cowards. I swear on Spiritjump's grave, I won't give up." Brick stood up, not looking at the black-and-white cat. "This is goodbye, so…"
Before he could say more, Brick bolted away, heading back for the twolegplace. He didn't look back.
"Brick!" Buck and several of the others yelled after him, but the tom kept running, and disappeared into the forest.
Nutmeg and Suzie soon broke away from the others and ran in the direction that the red tom was sure to be.
"We'll go after him and make sure he doesn't do anything drastic," called Nutmeg.
Once they were out of sight, all eyes were back on Rainbowheart.
Cliff, who had been silent through the whole thing, finally padded up to the black-and-white warrior. "I suppose that since you are leaving, you will be on your way to make that clan you were talking about?"
Rainbowheart nodded, her expression unreadable.
The light brown tom stared at her for a second, before closing his eyes, deep in thought. A moment later he opened his eyes up a small smile plastered on his face. "Well in that case, I'm coming with you."
The red-eyed warrior looked at the tom with a surprised expression, "But what about your home?"
"What home? It doesn't matter what Brick says, as far as I know, that place isn't home anymore. Even if we stay, Bloodstorm will send his cats to terrorize us, maybe even kill us," Cliff was silent as he let his words sink into everyone's thoughts, before he went on.
"I think I'd rather leave with cats I know, than go to a different place that could cause me more problems. Besides if I go with you, I'll get more training done which will give me the chance to get back at those rat-faces if I decide to come back." Seemed simple enough of a plan to him.
The tom gave a pleading look, "Please allow me to go with you and to become a part of your clan. Even if it's just for a little while" He dipped his head low. "I swear that I will work hard to become a great warrior in Spiritjump's honor."
Rainbowheart blinked, considering the tom for a second, admiring his willingness to leave his home, so that he could become stronger in someone else's name.
"If you are willing to go, then I guess I will go also."
Everyone's eyes turned to stare at Buck. The big tom returned their gaze with confidence, and then went back to looking at Rainbowheart. He licked the bottom teeth that stuck out of his mouth, before speaking,
"I… I now realize… how dumb I was being before, with asking you to help us. I agree with Cliff; home isn't home anymore. I wanted to help, but," Buck sighed, "I think it's time for me to just move on, and let someone else bother with those mouse-brains."
The brown cat turned to glance over at the others, "I also agree that by going with Rainbowheart, we will get more training done. And if those mouse-hearts come to us for help again and if we actually feel generous enough to lend our services, we'll be ready. So," Buck turned fully to face the others, his back to Rainbowheart, "who's with me?"
The rest of the cats stared wide-eyed at Buck for a moment, then looked over at the proud looking Cliff. Each cat looked around at another, questioning what they should do. Silence ensued for a short amount of time, but it seemed like moons.
Finally the silence broke, when Meera accompanied by Apple, separated from the group to stand in front of their friend and foster sibling.
"You know very well that wherever you go, we go too," the grey she-cat stated. She then gave a crooked smile, "Might be fun anyway. We haven't lived together in a large group for a while since we left our group. I'm guessing we have to take orders from Patchy over there though- the only downside."
The remark caused Rainbowheart to frown. She'd probably never be used to Meera's sharp, joking insults.
Apple gave a grimace, "And we won't have to deal with that heartless excuse for a living creature. I'd rather try my luck with surviving out in the forest than go back to trying to survive off of the measly scraps of food we get to eat."
Both cats dipped their head, not waiting for Rainbowheart to respond, and then went to sit beside Cliff. Buck gazed at his lifelong companions with happiness, and then turned back to the rest of the group, "Is that it?"
After another long moment passed, again, another set of paws stepped away. Hampton padded forward, going passed Buck and placing himself in front of Rainbowheart. The grey tom stared straight into the warrior's eyes, before dipping his head, and then going to sit with the others. He was soon followed by Spike, who made no comment, or gesture, and simply sat next to him. (way to ruin the repetition Spike)
"We'll go too. The last moments I spent talking with… Well, let's just say I think I'd like to find out if a few points were right. I think it'd be nice making some other young cats beside my daughter, slave away taking care of me anyway," Rockslide stated with a laugh.
"I shall also join you all," Star said with a straight face. "After all, you need someone to help look after you all if you get injured."
Jewel, Blair, and Chilly were now the only ones left standing, that hadn't agreed to join. Everyone knew why; they were kittypets. They wouldn't be able to leave behind their old life. Even though Nutmeg and Suzie weren't there at the moment, they too, would have answered with silence.
Rainbowheart stepped forward, and addressed the remaining cats, who wore sorry expressions.
"You do not need to feel bad about your decision. We all know you aren't like the rest of them. You aren't weak-minded or weak-hearted." The warrior gave a warm smile, "You're always welcome to visit us though." Wherever that may be, she didn't quite know.
She turned to the others now, and gave a thoughtful expression. "You all amaze me, and though I know your stay might be temporary, I'm still glad I can get to know you all during a time that doesn't involve getting you ready to go to war."
It really was relieving to not be pressured and involved in such a thing anymore.
"I think that now it is time that we take our leave."
Jewel padded forward to Rainbowheart, and touched noses with her. "I'm sorry that we cannot come with you, but it is not for the reason that you may think."
"If it weren't for the others, we would definitely come with you," stated Blair.
"Nutmeg and Suzie wouldn't be able to make out in the forest though," Chilly added, remorsefully. "We have to look after them, and make sure that they remain safe from the Peace Reapers."
Jewel joined the other two kittypets near the edge of the clearing, ready to leave. She gave Rainbowheart an appreciative glance, "Thank you for trying to help. I know you didn't really want to at first, but we're glad you stayed. We'll tell Brick you all said bye. Good luck."
Taking the lead, she padded away, with Blair and Chilly following.
Behind her, Rainbowheart thought that she heard Hampton sigh heavily, and Cliff chuckle.
"Don't be so sad Hampton. There are many more pelts out there to choose from. Although, I guess not all of them can have such a fiery personality like Jewel's."
Rainbowheart turned around just in time to see Hampton swipe his paws at Cliff.
"What are you talking about?" The grey tom took another few swipes at his friend, before Rainbowheart broke it up.
"We still have some time before we leave. I say we put it to good use. There's no telling where we'll end up, and it would probably be good to travel with full bellies," Rainbowheart stated.
"Hampton, Hazel, Streak, and Buck, will come with me."
The cats chosen for the hunting party joined Rainbowheart, and they headed in the opposite direction, away from the twolegplace.