As the patrol vanished, the Clan erupted into questions.
“What kind of leader do we have?”
“Sunstar led a patrol into a snow drift?”
Unanswered quandaries hopped around camp, and the lone elder, Larkear, stepped out of his den. “What’s all this about?” His mew was hoarse from lack of use.
Adderface quickly related the story to the cat, who pricked his ears in interest.
“You don’t have to yell, Adderface, I’m not deaf yet!”
Adderface obediently softened his voice, but as soon as he did, Larkear interrupted him.
“Well don’t mumble! Oh well, I get the story well enough. This was just an accident. No need to get worked up.” He turned and wandered back to Rainystripe’s old den, of which he made use as the elder’s den.
“Larkear is right!” Rainystripe was surprised to hear her own voice speaking to all the Clan. “Respect what he has to say, you should listen to him! He is an elder, after all.”
Her clanmates looked at her in surprise, as if they had forgotten she had been their deputy.
“Spottedblaze!” Sharpfang’s meow split the air. “Lead Whitefur and Dotpelt on a hunting patrol.”
Spottedblaze nodded and led the requested cats out of the camp. Rainystripe turned, with nothing else to do, to the Medicine den. She followed the passageway to the sick cave, and saw the whole patrol and Darkstorm sprawled on the floor. Leafsong must have went to retrieve more herbs, because she wasn’t in this cave. Immediately, Rainystripe lay beside Darkstorm and pressed her fur to his.
“Are you okay?” She had barely got the question out before Leafsong stormed into the cave.
“Alright, I’ve got-” She stopped and stared at Rainystripe. “Get out!” She screeched. “You’ll catch whatever they have!”
Rainystripe jumped to her feet and ran out of the cave. That tone meant business. As soon as she surfaced, her ears burned hot with shame. She had just run because Leafsong had told her. She glanced toward the nursery. Would anyone see her if she snuck out to hunt? She glanced around the clearing; no one was watching. She crouched low to the ground, but her extended belly fur brushed against the ground loudly. Looking up sharply, she raised her belly from the ground.
That isn’t going to work. She thought angrily.
She looked longingly at the long sunset shadows that would have been great for disguising her striped pelt. But walking as nonchalantly as possible, Rainystripe made her way toward the nursery. She walked toward the back, passing up the entrance. She suddenly flattened herself to the ground and squeezed under a hole in the barrier. Thorns snagged her pelt, but Rainystripe was persistent. She pushed upward, shook her fur, and sniffed the air hopefully. She lifted a paw to step forward, then she stopped. A hole full of muddy snow blocked her path, and she had an idea. She suddenly bounced forward, straight into the mud. After a while, when she was completely covered in mud and who knows what, she pounced out of the hole and shook her dirty self. There, now I can’t be scented. She sniffed the air again, pushing past her own stink, and searched for any sign of prey. Snow began to fall, and she twitched her ears disgustedly. Then a leaf moved. A tiny heartbeat vibrated the ground, making Rainystripe’s paws itch with elation. Before she knew it, she had raced forward, pounced, and killed a mole. Pain instantly took hold of her belly, making her retch. An awful taste still in her maw, she looked longingly at her mole. She shook her head and buried the thing along with her hunger. The sun had set now, and things were beginning to cool off. All warmth seeped from her paws as she tread the icy ground. Her blood froze as the snow grew heavier. Soon she could see her own breath in front of her muzzle, and she couldn’t smell because of the crust encasing her nostrils. Eyelids growing heavier by the second, she made her way to a sturdy-looking beech tree. The last she heard was a distant voice, calling out of the fog.
***
“Leafsong!” Sharpfang’s mew echoed down the tunnel to where Leafsong was tending the ‘snow patrol’. The flustered Medicine Cat looked up from Sunstar and padded toward Darkstorm, who was moaning incessantly. “What is it, Sharpfang?”
The dark tom entered and sat as far away from the sick cats as he could, but just outside the shadow of the exit. “I was just wondering if you needed any help, that’s all,”
“Rainystripe, Rainystripe,” Darkstorm muttered ominously.
Exasperated, Leafsong looked Sharpfang in the eyes. “No, thank you, but a warrior like you would just get in the way,”
Sharpfang nodded understandingly and stood. “Of course,”
Suddenly, Darkstorm’s moans gained volume. “Rainystripe! Rainystripe!”
“Wait!” Sharpfang stopped as Leafsong called out. “Please get Rainystripe for me,”
Sharpfang’s body went ridged, but he nodded stiffly. Leafsong turned back to her patient and listened to the retreating pawsteps of Sharpfang. Darkstorm wriggled beneath her paws, then said weakly, “Rainystripe,”
