Star
I hate rain so much.
It's almost worse than snow. Snow is cold. But rain... oh, rain seeps into my beautiful fluffy white fur – which I spend a lot of time to clean. Rain makes it look darker, like I'm dirty. Rain makes it plaster against my sides.
I hate rain so much.
(***)
But I love Rain.
His pelt is silvery grey, and he has the most beautiful light green eyes I've ever seen. I adore him. So does every other she-cat of our age.
Strangely enough, he's the only tom who doesn't seem to care about me.
(***)
"Gem, Star, would-"
Gem flicked her tail at the tom. "No, we would not. You want to give us that little mouse? We have Shatter's favourites hunting for us, you know, and they catch much more appetizing things then that wimpy little mouse."
The tom looked crushed. He picked up the little mouse he had dropped in front of Gem and hurried off.
Gem glanced at me. "Toms," she sighed.
I nodded. Gem and I always had toms trying to impress us. We were lying in the sun, on an old twoleg pelt. My fluffy white fur brushing against her fluffy black fur. We were the most wanted she-cats in BloodClan, and we loved it.
At that moment, a spotted silver cat – my brother Hunter – walked by. "Harsh, don't you think?" he teased Gem.
"Hunter, you're blocking my sun," I meowed. "Move."
Hunter poked me with his paw. "Grump."
"Hunter!" I lashed out at him, but he jumped out of my reach, purring. I glared at him until he walked off. As did, I noticed Gem watching him. She liked him, but that wasn't allowed. Just like I wasn't allowed to like her brother. "Gem? Off-limits."
Gem drew her eyes away from him. "I know, sorry. But imagine being the mate of one of Shatter's sons!"
"Imagine being best friends with Shatter's only daughter!" I meowed back.
Gem purred, "You're right."
"Besides, what about Leaf?"
"Leaf... he was following me around like a kit! I had to do something. Besides, we're not mates. We're just-"
"Sharing a den?"
"Well, yes. For now. I'll probably get tired of him."
"Probably," I agreed. I sat up and stretched my legs. "How about we go to the Fighting Ring, see what's happening?" I suggested casually.
Gem's green eyes sparkled. "Rain?"
"Maybe."
(***)
The Fighting Ring was a secret with the younger cats. It was in a deserted alley where cats, mostly toms, would fight. Sometimes they would be practicing warrior moves; sometimes they'd be trying to impress a she-cat. Occasionally a she-cat would put herself into the ring. In any case, watching the ring fights was always entertaining. The better toms, like Rain and my brother Storm, practically lived at the Fighting Ring.
I was hoping Rain would be there.
And he was.
Gem and I worked our way up to the front, were we could watch the fight better. We had to nudge a few cats out of our way. Rain was fighting some brown tom whose name I didn't know. Nor did I care to know. They weren't quiet at the fighting part, yet. They were circling each other, hissing insults and lashing their tails back and forth.
The brown cat attacked first. He leapt at Rain. With a few swift moves, Rain had the tom pinned to the ground. Yowls rang up from the watching cats as they cheered for him. I shook my shoulders to fluff up my fur a bit and a yowled along with them. I wanted Rain to notice me. If he'd at least notice me, I know he'd want me.
Rain let the brown cat up. "Anyone else?" he meowed.
An apprentice stepped up. "I'd just like to practice something," he meowed timidly. He was quite young, probably a recently named apprentice.
Rain nodded. "Whatever you'd like."
Of course, Rain won that fight as well. But he was much gentler than with the brown cat. That was part of why I loved him. He was a fierce fighter, but he could also be gentle and instructive.
"He'd be great with kits," I meowed out loud without realizing it.
"Kits? Star, you have to be mates first."
"Oh," I glanced at Gem. "I didn't mean-"
"I'll fight you." The collective gasp from the spectator cats is what made me look into the ring. A big, battle scarred cat had stepped into the middle and was approaching Rain. "I'll fight you."
"All right," Rain agreed.
I couldn't help it, I got so nervous to see him getting ready to fight the cat. They circled each other for a moment. When the first blow landed, I even shut my eyes. I flinched every time Rain got hit and yowled loudly with the others when Rain hit the other cat. At one point, it seemed as though the large cat was going to win and I pressed myself against Gem's side without realizing it. The toms were fighting so rough, it seemed like they were really trying to kill each other.
When Rain finally won and the big cat slunk away, the yowls of praise were so loud that I could hardly hear myself think. And maybe that's why I did the next thing.
I stepped into the circle and walked over to Rain. There were meows of surprise, as if the watching cats thought I was going to challenge him to a fight. Those idiots. I've never had to fight, I never even was trained as a warrior. I'm the only cat in BloodClan who was never trained. That's the privilege of being Shatter's only daughter.
I fluffed up my fur a bit as I approached Rain. He was watching me curiously. When I reached him I pressed myself against his side and gazed up into his eyes adoringly. "You're amazing."
(***)
I never knew I could purr so loudly. I was curled up in my den, with Rain laying beside me. I'm very protective over my fur, but I was letting Rain groom me. He was licking my ears gently.
"So," he meowed between licks. "You like watching me fight?"
"Sometimes, when you fight cats I don't know," I meowed. "But when you fight Storm..."
"I try to avoid Storm," he promised. "He's hard to beat."
"Well, I'll tell Storm to go easy on you," I teased. His licking hesitated, so I rolled over onto my back and patted at his head playfully with my paws. "How about you fight me?"
In one swift, easy motion he had my front legs pinned down. "I win."
"So you do," I lifted my head a licked his cheek.
Suddenly, we heard rain pounding down on the roof of my den.
Oh, how I hate the rain.