Of all cats, it was Timberleaf that woke me up from my nightmare. Although I couldn't escape it, it was reality. I smiled as he looked down at me.
"Who did this to you?" he suddenly asked me.
I looked away and heard him sit down.
"Quietpaw, did your brother do this?"
I shook my head rapidly. Pine would never do that to me. He was the one that distracted my father so I could get away.
"Was it your kin?" he whispered, voice cracking a little.
I looked up at him, silently begging for him to let it go. I didn't want him to find out about my father. He laid down and buried his face into my fur. I heard him crying and lightly hit him with my muzzle. I smiled at him, lying that I was okay. He looked at me in disbelief, but smiled back. I didn't want him crying because of my father. Because of me.
Amberfeather had ordered him to help me up so I could stretch my legs. He slowly and carefully helped me get up. We very slowly made our way out of the medicine den. I soon saw my brother, with my father close behind, both with an equal amount of wounds on them. Everyone in camp was staring at them in shock.
I forced myself not to show fear because Timberleaf knew it wasn't Pine, so if I showed fear, he'd know was my father. My father briefly met my gaze and I looked at my paws. I stumbled forward to get to Pine. Timberleaf managed to catch me just before I fell. He looked at me calmly.
"Take it easy. You won't be able to move quickly for a while." he whispered.
I slightly nodded and pointed with my tail to Pine. Just at that moment, Pine looked over and saw me. I saw relief flood his sorrowful eyes. He ran over to me.
"I'm so glad you're okay Rain." he mumbled against my fur.
I looked from him to my father and sorrow filled his eyes again.
"I'm so sorry. I couldn't keep him away fr-"
I shook my head. None of this was his fault. It was my fault. I didn't know how, but I know that it wasn't anyone else's. Lucky for me, Timberleaf wasn't listening to what Pine had said. Especially when Pine said my real name. Sadly, my father wasn't nice enough to only whisper it.
"Rain, I'm so glad you're okay." he meowed, with relief flooding his eyes.
Relief that I wasn't dead and he could hurt me more.
"Rain?" Timberleaf asked.
"That's her name from before the clans." my brother explained.
"She told us that her name was Quiet." Blizzardflame meowed.
I nodded. I could feel my fathers eyes burning against my pelt.
Timberleaf smiled down at me, "I like Quiet better."
That made me know that he knew I for one, hated the name Rain. He also knew that I could talk when I had met the patrol, but stopped talking when I came to the camp. Even when I met the patrol, I barely said anything. Timberleaf took me for a walk around camp while Birchstar questioned my father and brother. Timberleaf didn't say anything, he just looked lost in thought, which was fine by me. But, then he did say something.
"Who's that other cat?" he asked while looking at me.
I looked down at my paws, then awkwardly in the direction of my father.
"Is he your kin?"
I nodded.
"Brother?"
I shook my head.
"Father?"
I nodded, and stared back down at my paws. I didn't want to lie to Timberfur about that, so I told the truth. But now if he finds out that he abused me, he'll know that it's my father. I signaled towards the camp entrance.
Timberleaf laughed, "Sorry Quietpaw, but you need to heal more before you can train."
I pouted. I didn't want to stay in camp with my monster of a father. I grabbed a small mouse from the prey pile and Timberleaf helped me to the edge of camp. He sat by me while I ate, almost like he didn't want to leave my side ever again. I wouldn't mind if he never wanted to leave my side, he made me feel safe. I finished my mouse quickly. When I finished, Birchstar called a clan meeting.
"Quietpaws father and brother will be staying here for a while. We need to give them time to heal."
No you don't! Well you can heal Pine, but not my father!
"Meeting dismissed."
My father cam over to me and Timberleaf.
"Rain I'm so glad you made it out alive!" he shrieked.
So what story is it this time?
"If I would have known that other rogues would attack, I wouldn't have asked for you to come back."
I could see a look of sorrow in his eyes, but it wasn't the kind of sorrow that everyone thought it was. It was sorrow that it would be harder for him to abuse me now. I stared up at him, hiding my helpless look.
"Well I'll let you get back to talking with your friend." my father ended.
When he left, I looked down at my paws. Timberleaf turned to me.
"Do you want to go on a walk? No training, but it would be good if you stretched your legs."
I nodded my head and tried to get up right away. I nearly fell over but caught my balance. Timberleaf laughed and let me lean against him. I could see jealousy in Silverbreezes eyes.
It's not my fault my father abused me! Well... Actually it is, I just don't know how yet.
We walked out of camp, thankfully my father was being healed so he couldn't follow us.
"So a bunch of rogues attacked you guys?" Timberleaf randomly asked.
I looked down at my paws.
No.
I forced the tears that were threatening my eyes, back. I could tell that Timberleaf was looking at me, so when I looked up, I looked away from him.
"Quietpaw? Was it a bunch of rogues?" he asked again.
I didn't know how to answer. If I said no, he'd know my father was lying. If I said yes, I'd be lying to him. I slightly nodded my head anyways and looked over to him. He was giving me a disbelieving look. I looked away and back down at my paws. I have no clue about whether or not he purposely brought us to the training hollow.
"Okay so I just had to say no training while we were in camp, but I really want to teach you some things that you could use to protect yourself."
I smiled and looked up at him. What he didn't realise, was that for the first time, it wasn't a fake smile. It was a real smile because next time my father hurts me, I can hurt him too. Hopefully.
"I just have one question before we start."
I looked up at him, hoping it wasn't one relating to my injuries.
"How many times has this happened?"
I stared at him, shocked for a while. Then I looked down at my paws. I couldn't tell him how many times. Then he would either know that my father lied, or he'd think my father was greedy and only wanted his daughter back, not caring about my safety. Which both aren't exactly lies. He was greedy. He only wanted me back so he could hurt me instead of his precious Rose.
"Quietpaw, was it multiple times?"
I slightly nodded, hoping that he wouldn't think of my father as lying, but instead thinking of him as greedy. Timberleaf looked upset, but when he saw me looking at him, he smiled.
"How about some training?" he asked.
I nodded.
"Okay, I understand that you won't be able to practice them now because you're injured, but I do want to teach you them."
He scratched a couple of boxes in the dirt.
"Okay, let's say that these boxes are cats."
He showed me a move for when your battling two cats, but it also works for one if they're about to roll you off their backs. You dig your claws into the cats back and jump onto the next, while turning your body. Then you grip your claws into the other cats back. He showed me a few more follow up attacks after that. I smiled when he finished, he looked really tired.
"I better get you back to camp now, otherwise Amberfeather won't be anywhere near happy."
We slowly walked back to camp. I actually frowned when we got to the ravine. He half carried me down the ravine, not wanting me to fall. When we got back to camp I saw a relieved look spread across Amberfeathers face.
"I think I should take that as an insult because in pretty sure that means they didn't realise I was with you." he muttered to me.
I laughed. He should definitely take that as an insult because they didn't realise he left camp.
"Quietpaw, I need to put fresh herbs on your wounds." Amberfeather called to me.
I froze. She was going to take me to the medicine den, where my father is, to put herbs on me. Timberleaf looked at me and I quickly hid my fear. He helped me walk over to Amberfeather and she took me from him. When we got in the den, I was happy to see my father was sleeping. I was still a bit tense because I felt like he was faking and was going to attack us at any moment.
Before I knew it, Amberfeather had already put fresh herbs on all my wounds. I got up as quickly as I could in my condition and limped towards the exit. Timberfur looked concerned when I ran into him.
"You okay?" he asked me.
I nodded. I was now that I wasn't in the same den as my father.
"Quietpaw, you would tell me if someone here hurt you, right?"
That was not true... Someone here had hurt me. Multiple times. I nodded anyways. I didn't want him to find out. The more I lied, the further he gets from the truth.
Whatever happens, he can't find out the truth. He already has his brother to deal with. He doesn't need to deal with my father because of me.