Frustration and fear prickled through Rain's paws as she paced back and fourth, back and fourth. Every step she made, every turn she made in the tiny den she was confined to was watched. Two large Elites sat at the entrance to the den, glaring down at her as she paced. When she had woken, she had been in this den. Th Elites watching over her had informed her once she was lucid that, as soon as morning came, Shard and Crescent would come for her and get rid of the kits. Her fate after that would be decided by Shard. Her heart was slamming into her chest so loudly she knew the Elites had to be listening to its ravenous beating. Her tail trembled as it dragged on the ground behind her and her ears sat against her skull, her eyes wide and filled with terror as thoughts of what would happen at dawn filled her head endlessly. She stopped pacing and looked out of the den at the sky. It was still dark, but it was lighter than it had been earlier.
A panicked yowl almost escaped her, but she managed to hold it in when the Elites glared at her and tapped their long claws threateningly against the cold ground. She ducked her head a bit and looked away, quickly resuming her pacing. She was growing more and more anxious as the sky gradually grew lighter. She paused, however, when a third Elite walked up to the other two. He was a black and white tom with piercing blue eyes and a thin, narrow face. One she knew well. "Shard wants to see you two," he said calmly, holding his head up high, his eyes narrowed as he stared at the other two toms. They didn't dare question him and hurried off to see what their leader wanted. The tom then turned his attention to Rain, his expression cold and stoic as he entered the den. The moment he was out of sight, love flooded into his eyes and he raced to Rain, nuzzling her tenderly and entwining his body around hers.
"Wave!" She breathed happily, trying to press herself as close to her brother as she possibly could. She felt his tongue rasp over her ear and then the untreated wound on her shoulder. She let out a trembling purr and stayed pressed against him for a moment before pulling back. "What are you doing here?" She asked quietly. "You're hardly ever allowed to leave the peak."
"Shard called back all Elites to the cave," he informed her. "All because of you. He wants every Elite to keep an eye on you and make sure you stay put until morning comes." He pulled back and looked at her, the seriousness in his eyes frightening her a bit. "Rain...Please, listen. I love you and you know I'd never do anything to hurt you...but I think you should just let Shard kill the kits."
"WHAT?" Rain cried, leaping back from her brother. He tried to quiet her but she ignored him, her eyes wide, her fur bristling. "Let him kill them? Let him kill my kits! Are you STUPID?"
"Rain, calm down!" Wave came closer and shoved her back some, glancing over his shoulder before looking back at her. "I'm thinking of what's best for you, Rain. As your older brother, I would rather have you loose those kits and live than be killed for protecting the kittens of someone you hate!"
"They're innocent!" She keened, staring up at him desperate. "It's not their fault Shard is their father! Why should they be punished just because Shard is a selfish piece of-"
"Rain!" Wave snapped, silencing her. "Rain...please. Calm down and listen to me," he sighed and nuzzled her cheek gently. "Your life is more important than theirs. To me, at least. A-and...I just think it would be in your best interest to let the kits be killed. At least then you could go on living."
"I don't care about me, Wave!" Rain argued, shaking her head. "I care about them! Shard could kill me as many times as he wanted, as long as he left the kits alone!" She looked over Wave's shoulder and whimpered when she saw a faint shade of purple mixing with the dark navy of the night sky. The stars were beginning to vanish from the sky and a very faint halo of light was spreading over the mountains. "It's almost morning!" She hissed, resuming her pacing. "What am I going to do...?"
"I gave you my advice, Rain," Wave murmured, sitting down and watching her. "I suggest you follow it, but...in the end, it's your deci-" He was silenced by an eerie sound that was carried into the cave by a cold wind. A distant howl danced into the giant cavern and moaned in the ears of every cat that dwelt within it. Rain felt ice filling her entire body at that dreary sound...and how close it seemed.
"Wolves!" Hissed Wave, his blue eyes wide as he looked at the mouth of the cave.
Rain watched over his shoulder as Fallen leaped down from a den higher up in the cave walls, shouting orders to the Elites within the cave. They all came at once, gathering at his call. Wave looked at Rain and prepared to join them. Before he could, however, a yowl from Shard silenced the cave. Rain saw the large tom come stalking out of his den, his orange eyes narrowed as he walked into the center of the cave. "Fallen, dismiss the Elites!" He snapped at the amber colored tom.
"What?" Fallen leaped down from the rock he had been standing on and approached their leader. "S-Shard, wolves are coming! You pulled all of our Elites from the watch out peaks, so now we have to put together our defenses-"
"We don't have to pull together any defenses!" Shard snapped. "There is a much simpler way to discern the wolves!" He shoved past the tom, walking over to another den. Rain followed him with her eyes, tensing in terror when he entered the den, a shrill cry of terror coming soon after. It wasn't long before Shard backed out of the den, dragging out a small kit with him. The kit's mother stumbled out of the den, clearly horrified as she pleaded with Shard to let the kit go. One tip of the leaders head and two Elites forced the queen to back away as Shard dropped her kit. "We will throw this kit into the canyon," he announced to the Elites and members of the Tribe. "The wolves will relish in the easy meal and will settle for it rather than going through the trouble of trying to get inside of the caves."
A frightened murmur rippled through the cave, almost drowned out by the wail of despair and terror that came from the kit's mother. Rain felt her heart leap to her throat as Shard picked up the kit and began to go to the cave entrance, the mother screaming at him and trying to get to her kit.
Before Rain even knew what she was doing, she heard Wave calling her name and the shocked gasps of her Tribe mates around her. The next thing she knew she had slammed into Shard and knocked him to the ground, the kit flying from his grasp and landing with a squeak a few tail lengths away. Shard screamed in fury and hooked his claws into Rain's shoulders, throwing her off of him. She flew towards the kit, almost landing on it, but somehow managed to flip herself to the side, landing painfully beside the kit instead of on it. She felt Shard's thunderous paws booming towards her and laid there for a moment, panting, before forcing herself up.
She met him head on, screeching and attacking his eyes. He howled in pain as she raked her claws across the tom's face, the acrid smell of blood so powerful it made her dizzy. He reared up, nearly throwing the small she-cat off of her. She persisted, however, and dug her claws fiercely into his thick sides. He bucked, twisted, turned and kicked, trying to throw Rain off of his shaggy body. She clung to him for dear life, thinking that, somehow, she'd be able to stay on him until he was worn out. That hope was destroyed, however, when Shard suddenly flung himself backwards. Rain cried out in pain as she was squashed beneath him.
With a furious spit, Rain kicked at the tom as hard as she could with her hind legs until she finally got him off of her. She leaped to her feet, ready to face him only to see him just standing there, panting and glaring at her. "Fallen!" He snarled, alerting the tom. "Throw that kit into the canyon!"
Rain's eyes whipped onto the crying kit in time to see Fallen scoop it up and race towards the yawning mouth of the cave. Rain screamed and raced after him, Wave howling for her to stop, Shard clearly charging after her. She ignored both of them and all of the commotion of the cave. She even ignored the ominous howling that was growing closer and closer. The only thing she was paying attention to was the desperately crying kitten, its wails reaching out to her and begging for her to save it.
The moment Fallen got out of the cave was the moment he stopped running. A heartbeat later, Rain exploded out of the cave as well and slammed into Fallen as hard as she could. The kit screeched as it landed dangerously close to the edge, its hardly opened eyes streaming with terrified tears. Rain rolled with Fallen, screaming and spitting along with the tom as they both scratched and bit at one another. Rain finally managed to pin him down and snapped threateningly at him before bo0unding off of his body, racing over to the kitten and scooping it up by its scruff.
"Rain!" Snarled Shard, making her freeze.
She looked over at the cave as Shard stalked out, the entire Tribe behind her. She saw Wave trying to keep a panicked Dew back, away from the danger. She saw the kitten's mother desperately struggling against two Elites to try and get to her kitten. Most of all, though, she saw the rage in Shard's eyes. "Rain..." he growled dangerously, taking a threatening step towards her. In reply, Rain took a step back, closer to the cliff side that led into the deep canyon below their cave.
"Rain...throw that kit into the canyon," Shard breathed dangerously.
She narrowed her eyes in both fear and anger before shaking her head.
"Rain, I will not kill those wretched kits if you just throw that kit into the canyon! Understand? You'll get what you want, so just throw the blasted kit into the canyon!"
She shook her head again and backed away even more, stopping when her back right foot nearly slipped down the cliff side.
"You'll get to keep those damned kits, Rain! What else do you want?"
Rain froze, staring at him. She felt all of the eyes of the Tribe burning into her fur. A soft wind blew around her, the howls of the wolves growing ever closer. Though, for some reason, they didn't sound as terrifying as they had moments ago. She hesitated, blinking, before slowly setting the kit down between her paws. She then lifted her head and stared right back at Shard. She was terrified. She was trembling, bristling her fur and reeked of fear scent...but she didn't back down. "I'm leaving, Shard," she told him in a quivering voice. "I'm leaving."
"HAA!" Shard threw his head back to let out the echoing laugh. He then lowered it, his body shaking with the blasting laughs that came from him. When he finally stopped, he lifted his head and stared maliciously at her. "Leaving?" He chuckled. "Leaving? You leaving is as likely as our Tribe making peace with the wolves! You're a coward, Rain! You're one of the most pathetic, timid, cowardly cats I have ever met! Even if you somehow make it out of our territory before you are killed, you won't make it very far afterwards. I'll track you down and kill you...or nature itself will kill you."
"Let it try!" Rain cried, her voice cracking some, but she forced herself to stand strong. "Let nature try to kill me! YOU try to kill me! You won't succeed!" She took a shaky breath, her eyes full of tears. "I may be a coward, Shard...I may be timid, a-and weak and pathetic...But I'll run from you and fight you for as long as I need to in order to protect my kits!"
Fallen growled and stood, starting to pad towards her until Shard stopped him.
Rain glared at Shard in confusion, wondering why he had stopped Fallen. A moment later, she found out. A howl sounded beside her that was so close and so terrifying that it sent a chill as cold as any ice right up her spine.
She grabbed the kit at her paws and leaped forward just in time. Right as her tail left the edge of the cliff, a pair of huge salivating jaws slammed down where she had been. Black talons raked at the icy cliff as the murderous, snarling wolf, fur the same shade as storm clouds, scrambled at the cliff side in a desperate attempt to trap Rain within its rotting yellow teeth.
All hell broke loose as the tribe cats wailed in horror and darted this way and that, climbing up the cliff leading above the cave in desperate attempts to escape the wolf. Rain could only watch in terror as three other wolves fought to get to her and the terrified cats of her Tribe. A shriek from the kit in her grip made her jolt back to reality. She realized with horror that the largest of the four wolves was focused on her and the wailing kitten. Eyes widening, Rain turned and bolted away from the cliff side, the wolf managing to haul itself up from the canyon and give chase. Rain could feel its foul breath on the back of her neck and was horrified that she would be killed right here. She was terrified that, despite the strength she had gathered in order to protect her unborn kits...that she would be killed by this wolf. That she would never be able to give her kits a chance to live.
To make matters worse, she was just managing to get some distance between the wolf and herself when a frighteningly familiar yowl caught her attention. The kit flew from her grasp as Shard leaped down from the cliffs and smashed into Rain, rolling her over and holding her down, claws digging into her flesh. "I'm going to kill you..." He hissed into her ear. "And I'm going to enjoy it!"
"RAIN!"
With a grunt of pain Shard was thrown off of the trembling she-cat, Wave standing in his place, panting and bleeding, but not a bit deterred by his wounds. A vicious snarl behind her made Rain look over her shoulder. Her eyes widened at seeing Dew fighting furiously with the wolf that had been chasing her. "D-De-" Rain struggled to her paws and tried to help her friend, but Wave intercepted her.
"Go," he panted, shoving her to the side some.
Rain stumbled some before looking at him, terror making her shake like a leaf. "W-Wave-"
"GO!" Wave snarled, running at her with his claws extended.
Horrified, Rain turned and fled from him, running for only a moment before Wave stopped chasing her. The kit she had saved was crying and crawling nearby, seeking warmth and comfort from the day of fear. Rain glanced at it before looking over at Wave, who was staring at her with sad, loving eyes. She stared back with eyes that reflected the same emotions before she forced herself to look away. She looked at the kit and, without hesitation, scooped it back up and ran. She couldn't just leave it and it was impossible to get it back to its mother...so she took it with her.
She ran as fast as her legs would allow her, not looking back once. She was so worried about her brother and her dear friend...but she knew she couldn't stay. She was horrible at fighting. At the fighting she had done up until now had been based off of pure instinct. She knew she would be worthless in defending those she loved against the wolves. The only lives she was able to protect from the wolves were the kits inside of her and the young kit dangling from her jaws.
Everything became oddly silent the further and further she got from the cave. It all seemed unreal. She didn't recognize anything nor were any scents the least bit familiar to her. She didn't see any other cats and she felt no one constantly breathing down her neck.
On one hand, it was exhilarating, liberating and exciting...on the other hands, it was positively terrifying. She had never been so alone as she was now, racing along the narrow paths that wound through the mountains.
After an unknown amount of time, Rain had to stop. The kitten had fallen silent, though she could tell it was still breathing. The path she had been following had ended with the huge face of a cliff. It was impossibly to climb up it, Rain realized, after a few minutes of observing. She frowned and set the kit down for a moment before padding over to the edge of the path that seemed to drop off into sheer nothingness. Looking down, she saw that there was a roughly flowing river at the bottom of the cliff she was standing on. Her heart dropped until she spotted a steep, narrow, but still existent path leading down to the river. Further down the river was a fallen, clearly dead tree that was trapped in place by several fallen boulders. She followed the tree with her gaze and saw that she could easily get to the other side of the river by crossing it.
"Well..." she sighed. "It's risky, but it seems like the only option I have..." she turned back to the kit and picked it up, then returning to the beginning of the zig zagging path that led to the river. She began the dangerous track down the narrow path, eyes on her paws, being extremely careful with every small, delicate step she took.
She paused when the kit began to struggle and whine, flailing its paws and squeaking in protest, obviously demanding to be released. Rain took a deep breath before continuing, doing her best to ignore the kits fighting and keep her balance. The closer she got, the louder the roaring of the river became and the more dangerous it revealed itself to be. She was still a good distance from the bottom of the path when she felt flecks of water being sprayed at her from the roaring rapids below.
Rain winced when the kitten, whose struggling intensified the further they went, managed to fling its paws up so far it scratched her. The world seemed to flip over as she lost her balance, leaning precariously over the side of the path. With a muffled cry of terror, Rain scrambled against the stone under her paws, trying to correct her balance. She managed to do so just in time, backing away from the edge until she was pressed against the stone hugging the dangerous path.
For a moment she just stared at the roaring waters that had almost devoured her. When she registered that she had not fallen, her shoulders weakened and she let out a breath of relief.
She soon realized, however, that said breath came far too soon.
A loud cracking alerted her to what was about to happen. Before she could react, the stone gave way beneath her paws. Her stomach flipped and leaped to her throat as she seemed to hover in mid air for what seemed like forever. The moment she looked down, however, time resumed its flow and she plummeted down, an electrifying terror coursing through her entire body.
She grasped the kitten firmly in her teeth, reaching her paws up to it and managing to wrap them around the kitten right as she hit the water.
It was like no pain she had ever experienced before. All of the breath was knocked out of her in one single, shattering blow. Her mind ejected itself from her body to escape the pain that was the freezing water. It stabbed her body with thousands and thousands of tiny needles that were colder than the coldest ice. She was encased in those needles, unable to struggle free, unable to even take a single breath.
She felt the blood thirsty snatch the kit from her and parted her yowls in a scream only for the freezing water to rush into her, invading her body and attacking the warmth within. She was tossed about like a rag doll, her body slamming into rock after rock as all of the air rushed out of her quicker than anything she had ever experienced before.
Desperate, Rain tried to kick her back legs only for the river to grab them and flip her over. She flew into the air, a strangled cry of agony escaping her before she crashed back into the icy waves. She closed her eyes tightly and fought with all of her weakened might against the river, but in her heart, she knew there was no use. This was how she was going to die. She had escaped Shard, she had escaped the wolves...but now, the river was going to take her. It was going to swallow her whole and never give her body the satisfaction of seeing the light of the sun ever again.
When a piercing pain stabbed at her neck, she figured it was just the river, grabbing her scruff to drag her into its abyss, ending her torment. This thought was put to the side, however, by the barely conscious confusion that sprung up when something hauled Rain upwards. Sudden strength that burned like fire screamed at her to fight. And so she did. She kicked and writhed viciously, pushing against the water, desperately trying to go to where the pain in her neck was pulling her.
Suddenly, her head broke the surface.
She took in a deep, hungry breath. The cold air stung her lungs, but it was such a relief compared to the cold water that had been filling them. She coughed and gasped, still fighting as something hauled her out of the water and then dropped her onto a cold slab of stone.
For a moment, she couldn't breathe. After her first breath, no others had arrived. She just gulped pathetically, like a fish yanked from the water it needed to survive. When something pressed down hard on her chest, she felt bile rising in her throat and flipped over, vomiting up what seemed to be the whole river.
When it ended she laid there, trembling in the cold, coughing and panting shakily. A pathetic mewling soon reached her ears and made her freeze. Looking to her side, she saw the small kitten from the Tribe trembling beside her, its body looking so much smaller now that its fluffy baby fur was soaked to its skin.
Rain struggled to sit up, trying to get to the kit to comfort and warm it. She was stopped, however, by a large, dark ginger paw stepping between herself and the kitten. She blinked blearily, confused. After a small hesitation, she blue she-cat slowly looked up to see who was keeping her from the kitten. Terror entered her the moment she saw the cat that was between them.
He was one of the largest toms she had ever seen. This tom could easily take on Fallen, Wave and Shard all together...and win. His short, ruffled pelt was such a dark shade of orange that it was almost brown. Two narrowed, golden eyes stared coldly down at her...but that wasn't the terrifying part. This cat had the face of a killer. Snarling lips that revealed snow white, jagged fangs threatened to snap her in half if she even so much as moved. A scrunched up nose caused so many creases and lines on the cat's face that a permanent shadow had been cast between his eyes and to the top of his nose. He had scars all over. Everywhere she looked, a scar of some varying length or size scored into his fur.
Her eyes hesitantly traveled to the terrifying tom's paws, which she now noticed had claws that looked as sharp as an eagle's talons. Her heart hammering, Rain slowly looked back up at the murderous cat before her.
"Who are you?" He growled in a voice so gravely and dry, it sounded like he had never had a drink of water in his life. "And why are you on my land?"
Cliffhanger. :3 So, while I didn't do any Authors Comments on chapter one, here I am, doing one now at the end of chapter two. So, to all who read this, it is very nice to meet you and I hope you enjoyed this chapter of "Dreams of Rain". Please continued to read~!