Rainpaw couldn't help but feel.. snappier the next day. The weather was heavier, a dull overlay of fog constantly sitting in the air. It make her head stuffy and she struggled to think straight.
Everything was too fast in her opinion. It'd barely been her first training session before Duststar had practically traumatised Mistflower, she'd found out Brackenpaw and Leopardpaw were in love (she was still yet to confront him on that one). And then out of all the cats Rainpaw had met, it had to be Cal.
Grumbling, the grey apprentice flicked her tail and she travelled past the medicine den, casually peering her head in. Only Softclaw was still curled up in his nest, probably overwhelmed by the amount of cats he treated in BirchClan.
"Hey Rainpaw!" Rainpaw let out a shocked meow, almost jumping out of her skin when she turned to see her half-brother Reedpaw gazing at her with curious eyes. To be honest, she wasn't so sure why he wasn't a warrior yet.
"Hiya Reedpaw," She let out a panting breath, calming her shaken nerves. Reedpaw gave her a concerned look, which she reciprocated with a reassuring smile.
"Must've knocked you for one there." Reedpaw let out a carefree chuckle, before sweeping his tail heavily. "So what you doing today?" He trailed off, giving her a sideways glance.
"Mistflower wanted to teach me some battle moves today," a pause. "-after how badly the last one went. And I'm going on a patrol later."
"Lucky!" Reedpaw groaned, taking a quick glance around, then he lowered his head whispering sharply, "Brightfoot hasn't really ever taught me much. That's why I'm always hanging around with Swooppaw and Rowanface, trying to work out moves. And also why I'm not a warrior yet," He said, looking down at his paws.
Rainpaw felt a shimmer of sympathy, slither down her spine for her sibling. Then, an idea flickered in her head.
"If you want, you can train with me and Mistflower."
The tom's amber eyes widened with happiness, he looked almost astounded. A smile broke each side of Reedpaw's face. He was finally going to train, properly.
"I'm sure Mistflower would let it." Rainpaw continued on, beckoning for him to stay in his place as she trekked off to find her mentor.
And out of the blue, as soon as she mentioned her mentor, Mistflower rushed out the warriors den, her flanks heaving and breathing heavy.
"Sorry, for being late."
The white she-cat panted, dipping onto her hind legs and gave a long groan, her eyes directed to the floor.
The two apprentices watched her with concerned glances. Well Reedpaw was glancing towards the medicine den, as if he was going to get Softclaw or Pondpaw.
"Trust me, you don't want to go running with Applestream in the afternoon." Mistflower shook her head, "Especially not when he's chasing after Darkwing to apologise to her for stealing her apprentice to show how responsible a mentor he is."
This received even more miffed glances off the two cats. Reedpaw slowly nodding his head, changed the subject swiftly.
"Would you be okay if I tagged along with you for training?"
"Course." Mistflower smiled, then smirked in Rainpaw's direction. "Maybe a more talented cat can at least teach this one here that she's not invincible."
Rainpaw glared at her mentor for that. She knew the senior warrior was joking with her, but it still irked the tortoiseshell.
"Great!" Reedpaw did a little appreciative glance in his sisters direction as Mistflower turned to lead the two out of camp.
"Thank you. This means a lot." He murmured under his breath quickly, not missing a single word, and Rainpaw suppressed a gasp.
Instead she looked up to his eyes.
Amber eyes glowered back at hers, and never had she seen so much gratitude in her entire life.
~~
"Make sure to keep your claws sheathed." Mistflower called to the two apprentices as Reedpaw scrabbled a few blows at his sister. The tortoiseshell groaned yet again as Reedpaw hit another successful blow to her face.
How was she supposed to prove herself to BirchClan in a battle, when she could barely fight?
As she managed to dodge another blow to the face, Rainpaw considered her options for a second. Then her mind flashbacked to when she was a kit, training in the forest. The fighting moves Duststar had taught her.
She wasn't exactly the best at performing them, but she knew they'd be more brutal in battle than the flimsy front paw strike.
Lashing upwards, Rainpaw grabbed at the black tom's lashing tail trying not to fall to the ground as he tried to buck away from her in shock. Half-attemptedly jumping into his back, Rainpaw scrabbled for a grip before knocking his hind legs from underneath him, unaware that she to would unbalance.
"Rainpaw! What was that?" Mistflower seemed slightly appalled, and she rushed forward from the grasses she'd been laying in, observing the two.
"Me attempting to fight?" She responded quickly, eyes rolling upwards to face her mentor. Awkwardly, the apprentice was lying on the floor, her face plastered to the ground and her paws ached with grazes from the mucky floor.
Expecting Reedpaw's reaction to be the same as her mentor, she noticed him chuckle lightly.
Rainpaw titled her head to the left, wondering if maybe she'd hurt him in anyway.
What's going on with him?
"That was so cool!" Reedpaw exclaimed, trotted forward. Bewildered, Rainpaw blinked a few times. I can't exactly teach him the move, Duststar would know what I've done.
"Can you teach me that move?!" Her brother questioned her, which she was expecting. He sat down, glancing at her with a twinkle on his eyes. Mistflower also seemed slightly curious from behind her, but her eyes were filled with mostly horror.
Oh great. She recognised that move I bet. Hissing in annoyance, Rainpaw shook her head wildly, much to the disappointment of Reedpaw. Her mentor seemed relieved by that, her ears pricked up.
Storm clouds tumbled from above as drops of rain poured down, soon engulfing the clearing they were training in.
Cliche. Unamused, Rainpaw dashed beside Mistflower and Reedpaw, the three hoping to find at least some shelter under a tree to keep out the rain.
"We're too far away from camp." Mistflower hurriedly said as she continued running, Reedpaw right behind her tail. However Rainpaw stopped, green eyes observing the areas around her.
A prickle of horror went up her paws as she recognised the all too familiar river, along with the sharp jagged rocks. Rainpaw shivered as she slowed down, water now seeping into her pelt.
Feels a bit like a confrontation. Rainpaw thought as she ventured towards the rocks, looking back at the area which she'd just travelled from.
"What are you doing here?" Mistflower's voice echoed towards her, and Rainpaw slipped in shock, luckily managing to keep a grip on the rocks. Looking down at where she could've fallen, there was a patch of faded blood beside a particularly sharp rock.
Torrentpaw. Grimacing, the apprentice scrabbled back up to land, eventually sitting next to Reedpaw. His eyes were transfixed on one thing. Slowly following his line of eyesight, she realised what he was focused on.
The juniper branch. Of course his siblings made that, and this is where they died. His eyes looked bitter and confused, darting up to look at Mistflower, who shrugged.
Admittedly, Rainpaw did not want another confrontation about a branch with a berry on it. Hareleap had already done that (leading to her almost drowning and being temporarily adopted by cats in the enemy Clan).
"I'm sorry Reedpaw."
"Who- who did this?" His voice was edged with anger.
Heart shattering, Rainpaw looked away at his sharp glare.
"It was me."
~~
Both Mistflower and Reedpaw were giving her angry glares now, both lowered into crouches, however they mostly seemed confused.
It's only fair to explain to them.. Rainpaw chocked, then stuttered as she looked back at her brother. "Duststar told me to do it."
Mistflower's eyes instantly widened and her ears dropped in sympathy. Meanwhile, Reedpaw was still giving off waves of anger, glances darting between her and the broken branch.
"How can I believe you? You broken one of the things that mean so much to me, and how can I believe such a vague explanation?"
With that, the black tom narrowed his eyes once more, before running off away from Mistflower and Rainpaw, his small cries could be heard as he ran away.
Understandable. Rainpaw heaved, glancing at where her brother left. What, did she expect BirchClan to believe her?
"Everyone in that damn Clan is just so oblivious!" She spat, unsheathing claws, instantly scenting a cat, particularly QuailClan.
"How about a bit of a battle to put me into practice?"
Her eyes narrowed with determination as she slunk into the bushes, ready to identify the trespasser.
A/N: well this was a flipping long chapter, and it was supposed to be published yesterday, but at least it's here now. So, i haven't really included Reedpaw much in the story, and I did want to build a relationship between them, give him some character development.
Feedback is appreciated (as this is one of the longer chapters) and I'd love to hear what people think of Reedpaw!
- See ya!
Ember <3