Pineclan #1: Journey to the Unknown

Chapter Nine

Rainystripe quickly jumped into the camp. “What? What happened?” she asked. She quickly took it all in. Spottedblaze stood horrified by the oak, and a gaping hole under a high-raising root. Rainystripe ran to her and asked her what had happened. 

“I-I-don’t know! She was standing here one second, and gone the next!”

A moan rose from the darkness. 

“Leafsong is in there?” Rainystripe hissed. Spottedblaze nodded quickly. 

“It’s okay! I’m okay!” a call came from the hole. Suddenly, Leafsong slithered out of the darkness, a new sense of purpose in her eyes.

“What happened?” Rainystripe asked concernedly. 

Leafsong looked her full in the eyes and said, “I just found the medicine cat den.”

Rainystripe gasped and stepped forward. “Show me.”

Leafsong nodded and padded into the hole. It had tiny cracks in the ceiling that provided light and it split into two underground caverns. One led to a slightly bigger cave where there was room for a few sick cats, an apprentice, and a medicine cat. The other led to a tiny room where there were shelve-like alcoves in the walls that could store herbs.

“Wow.” Rainystripe breathed. “This is perfect! Thanks be to Starclan!”

Sunstar padded to them and Leafpool whispered something in his ear. He led her out of the den, and seconds later, Rainystripe heard Sunstar call a clan meeting.

“I now am fully aware of this clan’s need for a Medicine Cat. I skinned my paw on the bark of the Twisted Tree!” A chorus of laughter rose from all the cats gathered. Sunstar raised his tail for silence. “Now. Pineclan really does need a Medicine Cat, no joke. The cat with this destiny has had a vision of Starclan telling her it was the right thing. Her destiny.” The orange tom looked down at the roots of the Twisted Tree. “Leafsong, will you come up here, please?” Leafpool padded shyly up the ramp. Sunstar asked her if she was sure that she wanted to give her life to Starclan and her clanmates.

“I do.” She said, all shyness gone from her voice.

“Then by the powers of Starclan, I now commit you to the role of the Medicine Cat.”

“Leafpool! Leafpool!” the clan swarmed her with congratulations. Rainystripe padded to her old friend, overcome with joy. “Medicine Cat, huh?”

Rainystripe nuzzled Leafpool and said, “You should be proud.”

                                                   ****

A raindrop woke Rainystripe. Looking up, she saw the dark clouds that had already invaded the skies. 

“Great.” she mumbled sarcastically. With a jolt, she realized she had to organize all the morning patrols. Thankfully, all the warriors slept in the clearing, so she only had to wake up a choice few to set borders.

Darkstorm, Spottedblaze and… Liontail. 

She lightly drew her tail over Spottedblaze’s tri-colored back. 

“Dawn patrol.” she whispered.

After she had awoken Darkstorm and Liontail, Rainystripe led her patrol out of camp. 

“Where are we going to set our border markers, Rainystripe?” Darkstorm asked sleepily.

The blue tabby furrowed her brow thoughtfully. “Um, we need a good-sized territory that is able to feed our warriors, but not too big, or else we’ll never be able to patrol it all.”

“And we need to be able to remember where they are, so we’ll need good landmarks.” Liontail added.

“Maybe right now we should just explore the territory. Later today we might can mark the borders!” Spottedblaze said cheerfully.

Rainystripe twitched her ear in agreement and said, “We could also look for prey, you know, to find the best places to hunt.”

The rest of the patrol nodded their agreement, and Liontail asked how. As Rainystripe demonstrated the hunter’s crouch, raindrops began to drop once more. Spottedblaze copied Darkstorm easily.

“Liontail, your haunches need to be lower,” Rainystripe looked him over, lightly touching his rump as she did so. “Also make sure that your tail hovers at least a paw length above the ground, if not more.”

Liontail was still struggling to get the stance right, so Rainystripe suggested that Darkstorm and Spottedblaze go ahead.

Darkstorm swished his tail agitatedly, but followed her instruction. 

“Come on, Spottedblaze.”

The calico she-cat shrugged dramatically and padded after the warrior. Rainystripe turned back to see Liontail making progress on his crouch.

“Good Liontail! You’re getting the hang of it!” She praised.

Liontail smiled and asked excitedly, “What next?”

Pineclan’s deputy stood beside him, raised her head, and tasted the air for prey. Sensing a mouse, she slunk lightly forward. Rainystripe’s whiskers twitched with the wind blowing her direction; the smell of mouse was overwhelming.

Finally!

She spotted the brown creature and continued to creep up on it. When she was two tail-lengths away, she stopped and assumed the hunter’s crouch. Bunching her muscles, she prepared to pounce. All at once, she leapt at the mouse, and tossing it into the air, bit its neck in a killing bite.

“Just like that!” Rainystripe said smugly.

Liontail stood with his mouth hanging open. “Wow!” He exclaimed.

Rainystripe lifted her head proudly, unaccustomed to praise.

“You try.” she commanded as she covered her kill with dirt.

Liontail scuffed his paw in the grass. “Um. I don’t know if I can do it on the first try… Could you show me again?” He ended with a beseeching look at Rainystripe. She knew this was hurting his pride to ask her to show him again. So she decided to do something to boost his ego.

“Why don’t you recount to me what I did and then I’ll show you how to do it? Step-by-step.” She suggested.

His face brightened noticeably as he nodded vigorously.

“Okay!” he paused to think. “First you scented the air.”

Rainystripe nodded encouragingly. “Go on.”

He copied Rainystripe’s earlier pose and smelt the air. “Then you crept up on the animal.” he whispered. Creeping forward, he continued to follow Rainystripe’s moves. When he forgot something, Rainystripe would silently show him. Soon, he caught the scent of a squirrel beside a tree. Completely forgetting Rainystripe, he proceeded to sneak up on the creature. Rainystripe crept around the squirrel, giving it a wide birth, until she reached the tree next to the one the it was standing beneath. Beginning to climb, she watched her apprentice stalk the creature. He was getting closer and closer to it, being careful to make his tail hover just above the ground. Once he stepped dangerously close to a lone twig. Rainystripe reached a branch that spread to the squirrel’s tree, and eased herself onto it. She balanced and prepared for the jump to the other side, feeling the branch sway beneath her. She landed with a soft thump that sent the squirrel looking up from his nut. 

Not yet!

Liontail was right on top of it. Pounce, pounce! Rainystripe inwardly screamed. She had reached the lowest branch and was waiting for Liontail’s next move. Finally, he bunched his muscles for his kill. He sprang, and almost had the squirrel before it turned its head around. Quick as a flash, Liontail swung his paw, but the squirrel was faster. It sprinted up into Rainystripe’s tree, running straight into her outstretched claws. Rainystripe dropped from her perch, the catch firmly in her jaws. She pushed the squirrel into Liontail’s mouth and went to uncover her mouse.

“Lets get back to camp.”