Five cats gathered in the alleyway, their shoulders hunched as they discussed plans. One of them, not a Clan cat, gave a look of hesitance, his green eyes flashing with alarm.
"Raven, stay focused." Meadowtail said, a stern gaze directed to the skinny black tom. The BirchClan warrior was not sure yet if he could trust the young loner, hence keeping an eye on him from time time.
"We need to get Duststar's leadership taken away from him." Pondmist started afterwards, his face turning to a one of confusion. "But how?"
His words were directed towards Mistflower, who gave a small shrug. "Exilement would be best."
Rainpaw sat, listening in on the ideas that her Clanmates had to offer. She was seething with frustration at this point, angered that the only option they'd thought of was exilement for him. That would do nothing though! Duststar would simply just return back to BirchClan with a strange group of cats and attack them.
Stepping forward, the tortoiseshell apprentice made eye contact with all the cats in the group. "That wouldn't do! Think about it, Duststar would just return somehow."
Her mentor gave her a sharp look, and a Rainpaw hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should put her suggestion forward. "But he wouldn't be allowed back into BirchClan territory, or any other Clan territory for that matter."
Suppressing a hiss of annoyance, Rainpaw unsheathed her claws into the ground, shaking her head various times. She though the group would be better than this, instead of the stupid little petty ideas given out. Calmly, she flared her nostrils, announcing as clear as ice. "We kill him. That's the only option we have. He's better off dead, rotting in the Dark Forest anyway."
Silence.
Nothing.
No cat made a noise, only their eyes widened with shock. Rainpaw was confused for a second.
Why do they all look so horrified? We all want to get rid of Duststar!
Mistflower seemed to recover first, giving out a heaving gasp and shaking her head. With a few harsh steps, the curly furred she cat set her haunches down in long grasses, dark amber eyes horrified.
"We - I couldn't do that! I can't kill my own apprentice." The senior warrior continued shaking her head, before giving Rainpaw a knowing look.
Bitterness filled up inside of Rainpaw. Her own mentor was abandoning her! Without a word, she watched as Mistflower trod backwards though the grasses, and through the forest till she was nothing more than a white speck.
Right beside her, Meadowtail also shook his head, resting his tail tip on his shoulder. The ginger tom gave her an empathetic look. "I'm sorry Rainpaw, but I can't. I will stand behind you and stay in support, but I cannot kill in cold blood."
Frozen with shock, her ears pricked to hear Meadowtail also traipsing away, more slower than Mistflower had and more in sympathy and regret.
Ears flattening, the apprentice turned her eyes to the other two toms, giving them steely glares.
"You can't participate." Rainpaw hissed at Pondmist, her paw jerking to the route where Meadowtail and Mistflower has both left by. "Just leave."
"But Rainpaw-" The blind cat seemed to waver, his fur sticking up on his back in alarm. Rainpaw knew exactly what he was thinking. The medicine cat assistant would always look to help where he could, despite his blindness, and this usually meant acting spontaneously.
"No." Her voice was icy, yet a slither of regret still passed through. Pondmist nodded his head, accepting defeat, and trailed after Meadowtail, who was still visible a few fox lengths away, obviously watching the whole scene. When Pondmist approached him, the ginger tom placed his tail on the grey tabby's shoulder in a comforting gesture.
"That leaves me and you then." The skinny black tom from earlier meowed with hesitance, his green eyes looking at her curiously. The apprentice had forgotten about the presence of the loner, until now.
"You might as well leave too. There's no point for you getting involved in Clan business, the rest have left. Plus I don't want help from a cat I barely know." Rainpaw stated thoroughly gritted teeth. Even if there was the extra help off Raven, what good would it do? He didn't have any quarrel with the Clan cats, and it was pointless dragging him into the argument that wasn't his. Not to mention she'd only met the tom twice, first when he and his sister Rook brought Rowanface's body back, and the second being the current meeting plan of how to take down Duststar.
Albeit looking dejected, Raven gave a short nod, pressing his nose to Rainpaw's ear in support. "I wish you luck. If you need help, just know that me and Rook are here to help."
"Thanks." The BirchClan apprentice dipped her head in an awkward fashion, unused to Raven's gesture of comfort. As quiet as a fox, she dashed though BirchClan's territory, passing flashes of birch trees and underground while she ran.
While running, it gave her time to assess the disaster of a situation that had just happened. Rainpaw had suggested they kill Duststar - but they'd all reacted badly. And that was where Rainpaw was confused, she didn't get why they were all so horrified. After all, Duststar had the blood of many cats under his claws, so she didn't see why he couldn't be murdered in vengeance for the deaths he caused. Two of them had been willing, Pondmist and Raven, but what she really needed were cats who were warriors, deep tied within BirchClan, and would be seen as the last cat to commit a murder.
Whilst her thoughts drove her crazy, Rainpaw remained unaware of a black shape emerging through the bushes, and pouncing at her. A sudden spike of terror ran though her whole body, and Rainpaw rolled over, her claws unsheathed as she let out a menacing snarl.
"Who are you?!" The apprentice screeched, while rolling over onto her stomach, and pinning the cat into a hold.
"Well someone's sure improved their fighting skill from last time." The black tom joked, and Rainpaw was offended, to say the least. But it still didn't reveal the identity of the tom, neither to mention that they'd fought before.
"Seriously, you don't recognise your own brother? I'm offended!" Two amber eyes met with her angry green ones, and the two remained locked in eye contact for a few heartbeats.
Oh. Rainpaw felt the fur on her spine prickle with embarrassment as she stepped off the black tom. "Sorry about that Reedspring."
Silently cursing under her breath, Rainpaw hoped that her older brother wasn't still bitter about the juniper trinket she'd broken all those moons ago. After all, they were deep in the territory, a fair distance from camp. Anything could happen, she thought with a shiver.
"It's fine." Reedspring let off a light chuckle, sitting on his haunches as he examined the light scratches on his shoulders. "You don't half put up a fight, do you?"
"No." She croaked in response, looking at Reedspring with confusion. Why was he acting like this? Why wasn't he hissing at her, snapping at her and being angry? Maybe it was just an act, he'd pretend to be fine with her, then turn angry at her-
"-Rainpaw! For StarClan's sake! How would you feel about practicing battle moves?"
Her thoughts were interrupted by the black tom whacking her with his paw, looking at her with hope and curiosity. Conflicted and confused, Rainpaw couldn't help but give him a puzzled look. "Don't give me a look like that! Look, I forgive you after what happened. It was moons ago, and I've learned a lot more in those moons. Objects can be replaced. Family can't."
Flashing a cheeky smile, Rainpaw flicked her tail, preparing to get into a hunters crouch. "Come and get me then, you mousebrain!"
~~
Night cast over the sky, dappled stars shining as the moon blazed into the forest. Rainpaw lay down, panting, exhausted from the battle practice her and Reedspring had done for hours. Reedspring came soon after, giving demanding claims that he'd won, before quickly collapsing to his paws.
"That was fun." Rainpaw flicked a glance at her brother, her eyes shining with happiness. Reedspring gave a nod back, rolling onto his back and stretching, he turned to face the tortoiseshell, his paws tucked under his chest. With a cheeky smirk, Reedspring tilted his head to the side.
"I still won though."
That was followed by a harsh swat off Rainpaw, who shook her head vigorously. She had definitely won. There was no doubt about it.
Huh. Reedspring always thinking he can win everything- wait, what's that scent?
Rainpaw turned her head in an instant, glancing further down into the forest and abyss of trees, something was off. The tortoiseshell got up quickly, beckoning Reedspring to do the same. Her brother got up quickly after, aware of the suspicious scent too.
"Badger." Reedspring confirmed, twisting around to taste the air a second time. "Slightly stale, and seems a fair distance away. Nothing to worry about."
Rainpaw let out a sigh of relief. Personally, she had never seen a badger, but she didn't fancy getting into a fight with one. She'd heard they were massive, clumsy black and white beasts that were incredibly violent and aggressive. Cats had been killed by a single claw slash from them.
A bit like Duststar. Rainpaw thought, then snorted to herself. Except the massive part. He's a scrawny vole.
The sibling duo eventually trailed back to camp, both giving each other an embrace, before leaving for their nests to get a well earned sleep. Leopardpaw wasn't in the den yet, she realised, although he was probably with Brackenflower or Hareleap. In the presence of herself, Rainpaw curled in her nest, pondering in the darkness. Duststar had to be defeated one way or another.
"If no one kills Duststar, I guess I'll just have to do it myself."
A/N: welp, this was a massive chapter to write, but I think it came out pretty good! And yeah, we've got Mistflower and Meadowtail not wanting to kill Duststar, but don't hate them for it! Rainpaw has been raised in a way that she thinks murdering a cat is normal practice, but it's obviously not to Mistflower and Meadowtail. The murderous streak will be Duststar's attitude rubbing off onto her.
This also concludes part 1 of the book, where Rainpaw is an apprentice and kit. In the next part, she'll be a warrior and it'll be a four moon timeskip. So the story really is going somewhere now XD
See ya in the next chapter!
~ Ember <3