Rainpaw had two eyes.
She had two eyes like everyone else in her Clan. But her eyes were different colors.
"It makes you special," her mother said.
"Those eyes are weird," Juniperpaw said.
"She's destined for greatness," her Clanmates whispered.
Rainpaw didn't not like the attention. She was used to it. She just felt like she was too normal for her eyes.
Am I special enough? That's what she asked herself every time she messed up. She wasn't all that interesting; quite unremarkable, actually. She loved her family, she had fun with her friends, she worked hard and she fought for her clan. Nothing special. Not like her eyes.
She was gray, the most unremarkable color to exist, and yet her eyes were somehow the most remarkable things in the world. She sometimes cursed StarClan for her eyes.
Why can't I just have a normal life?
That all changed one day when a strange cat came into camp.
Rainpaw turned her head around from where she was conversing with Sleetpaw. The tom sidled into camp, a smug expression on his face. The entire Clan seemed to hold its breath as he approached.
The tom stopped, eyes glimmering. He was all black, save for one white spot on his forehead and a white tailtip. But his eyes…
"He has eyes like Rainpaw!" Rainpaw froze in surprise. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Glimmerwish covered her kit's mouth with her tail. Rainpaw slowly looked back at the tom.
He nodded, a faintly amused expression on his face. "Indeed." He stared into Rainpaw's gaze with a strange look, a mix between hunger and interest. "So you're Rainpaw?"
Rainpaw stared at his eyes that were amber and green. They were hypnotic and she found herself nodding.
He smiled. "Good. I must speak with you."
The Clan parted, not questioning him as he stepped forward. He stood over her, brushing her with his tail. She flinched.
His eyebrows curved. "Oh, there's no need for that. I'm a friend," he mewed smoothly. The way he said it made her want to apologize for flinching so rudely.
As she began to rise, she heard a snarling sound from the side of her. "Don't go with him, Rainpaw!"
She whirled around. There was her father, Thistlestorm. He was rapidly approaching them. He had an angry look in his eyes; his only daughter was about to leave with a strange tom, and he wouldn't allow it.
The strange tom looked away from Rainpaw. He stared right at Thistlestorm. Rainpaw couldn't see his face, but his posture shifted to that of a cat that seemed alert but also…poised in a way. She barely heard his words: "Do you have a problem, Sir?"
Her father stopped about a tail-length away, his eyes losing all anger for a moment. He shook his head vigorously and regained his mood. "Yes, I actually do! You can't just-"
"Is that so?" Thistlestorm stopped for a moment again at the strange tom's words, his tense expression melting. He just stared at the tom, looking confused.
"I…" He looked at Rainpaw, then shifted his gaze up to the tom again. "I…I suppose, if Rainpaw wishes to…"
"Good," the tall tom nodded and brushed Rainpaw with his tail again. "Come along now, young Rainpaw. I have much to tell you." He looked around quickly before smiling at the gray she-cat. "We will discuss outside of this camp of yours."
He began padding outside of camp, and Rainpaw hurriedly followed. She had no idea where she was going, or frankly, why she was going. She had no idea who this tom was, and yet she found that she trusted him completely. I mean, why would he want to hurt me? He said he was my friend.
When they were near the outer edges of their Clan's territory, the tom stopped. He sat down, motioning for Rainpaw to do the same.
"My name is Talon." he started out. He looked away from her, gazing at the trees. The two cats were facing opposite of each other, but Talon's face was unreadable. For some reason, Rainpaw didn't feel like talking.
Talon slowly shifted his two-colored eyes back to hers. "I apologize for my rather abrupt entrance. I must finish quickly, as we do not have much time."
He moved his head a bit closer. "Rainpaw, I have a story. Would you like to hear it?"
Rainpaw leaned in, nodding vigorously.
He smiled sadly. "Good. Most do." He looked down, breaking the trance. "Oh, little Rain, you have no idea how many times I've done this."
He looked back up suddenly. "There was once a little tom who had two different colored eyes. He was the smartest tom in his group. But his group, unlike yours, didn't trust him."
Rainpaw twitched her ear. Why wouldn't they trust him?
Talon smiled wryly. "Ah, the obvious question. The question of trust is one of instinct, one that is hard to answer. Of course, there is always an answer to everything, but this one is complicated. It would be much more efficient to ask ourselves a different question: Why was he the smartest tom? Tell me, young Rain, do you have an answer to this?"
Rainpaw thought for a moment. "Was it because he was different?"
Talon looked very pleased at this answer. "Yes! I am happy that you answered correctly; most of you take a while to get there."
Rainpaw was about to ask, "Who's 'they?'", but he continued before she could.
"Now, this tom had been making plans to overthrow his father, who was the leader of his group. But it wasn't an easy feat. He needed help, and that help needed to be just as cunning as he was. Now, this tom was special like you. He knew the answer to that question immediately, so he knew he needed help from a cat like him. A cat with two eyes."
"Did he find another cat with two eyes?" Rainpaw asked, finding herself transfixed.
Talon grinned again. "Indeed. He found three cats who were just as smart as him. They were all twoeyes. So they made a plan and a deal; they would all overthrow the tom's father, and they would take over the group to do what they wished with them. Do you know what they did next?"
Rainpaw leaned in closer.
Talon leaned in as well, his words barely a breath against her ear fur. "They killed them. They killed them all, slaughtered them and left their meat for the crows."
Rainpaw's eyes widened and she leaned away. "Why?"
Talon looked at her intensely. "Because, Rain. That's what we are meant to do. Us twoeyes are very unique, and very special. We are superior to all other cats, and we can do what we want."
Rainpaw felt a dark stain of fear seep into her heart. "Am I gonna kill someone?"
Talon laughed surprisedly and shook his head. "No Rain, you don't have to." He looked at her, his eyes shining. "But that's the point, young Rain. You can do whatever you want to do, because you're special. Us special cats must 'stick together', as they call it. I am personally inviting you to join us."
Rainpaw wrinkled her nose. "'Us?'"
Talon chuckled. "Yes. We are the other twoeyes. The others like you, the ones who are smart and capable and dominant. We are meant to join together, as our intelligence is unmatched when we are together. Rain, you have been blessed to be like us. Now you will join us and help us succeed in our mission."
Rainpaw stood up and began pacing. "But what about my family? They're not twoeyes. What'll happen to them?"
Talon shook his head slowly. "They don't matter, Rain. They're not special."
Rainpaw looked at Talon, sudden mistrust rising in her gut. She never should've followed him out here. "I'm sorry, Talon, it seems like an interesting time. But I'm happy with my life now, so I think I'm gonna have to decline your offer." She started off back towards camp. Nope, nope, nope nope nope. "Thank you, but no thank you."
Talon sighed behind her. "Rain, I'm sorry as well, but I'm afraid I can't let you do that."
Rainpaw stopped. What? She turned around slowly. "Talon-"
His gaze hardened, and suddenly he was on his feet. "You see, we need all of the twoeyes we can get, and that means you are required to join, whether you want to or not."
Rainpaw looked at his two-colored eyes, and felt all of the comfort she had felt before drain out of her and into the earth. His body language was all threatening, and her instincts were screaming at her that he was dangerous. She needed to get away, now.
Rainpaw turned and bolted.
"Rain!" she heard Talon's voice behind her, but she wasn't falling for that 'hypnosis' again. She needed to find her clanmates, tell Ivystar about Talon. The Clan would drive him out, and Rainpaw would never have to deal with him again.
She sprinted as fast as she could, gasping with relief as soon as she saw the green bushes up ahead. "Help, help!' She yelled, running through the bushes. But she slowed down, trailing off as the sight opened up before her.
They were dead. They were all dead. She saw most of her Clanmates, bloody bodies strewn about the clearing. She saw that a few were missing. But she saw Thistlestorm among them. They were all laid out horribly, eyes glazed and frozen in terror. Rainpaw heard a scream. She realized that it was her voice.
She sunk to the ground, mouth forming the words Mom, Dad, Ivystar, help me…
She sobbed into the brown earth. She wailed and she screamed, begging the stars that someone would come back and save her. She was there for what felt like forever and yet such a short period of time before she heard pawsteps.
"You won't find them," Talon's voice echoed behind her. He stood over her, resting his tail over her shaking back. "They killed the ones who fought back, which, apparently, seems to be most of your group." Rainpaw sobbed even more.
Talon sat beside her, and she curled into his fur, two-colored eyes leaking tears until they were dry. After an unknown amount of time, the horrid sobs finally slowed.
Talon licked the top of her head soothingly. "Little Rain, I know that you've lost everything."
"Why did they have to die?" Rainpaw asked in a choked whisper.
Talon sighed, the sound echoing through his body and lasting for a long time. "Because, Rainpaw, your group was small. They wouldn't affect anything, and their souls are much happier in the skies."
Rainpaw looked up. "Talon, can you take me home now? I'm very…tired.." she broke off, sniffling. She couldn't quite wrap her head around what had happened. Maybe it was all just a horrible nightmare, and she would wake up tomorrow morning and tell Frondpaw all about it, and they would laugh, and laugh, and laugh, because Frondpaw could make anything funny…
Talon helped her stand up, and he whispered in her ear. "Of course I'll take you home, little Rain."
"After all, that's what friends do."
...
A/N:
Whoo! I really enjoyed writing this for some reason. Maybe grief therapy? idk, but I don't know if I'm gonna continue this. Yall tell me if I should.
Please go ahead and leave a review! Thx!
-Robin