Melody of the Rain

Prologue

"Honestly Slate, are you trying to re-break your leg?!" scolded a young calico she-cat, shaking her head at a handsome tabby tom who was trying to climb the walls of the medicine den. Slate grinned back at her. "Only if it means I get to stay here with you longer," he said, climbing back down with a hopeful smile.

The calico rolled her eyes and sat next to him, trying to suppress a laugh. "Don't let my clanmates hear you talking like that," she mewed, "They're already pretty uncomfortable with having a rogue in camp as it is." 

Slate scoffed. "Oh, please Meadowpaw, I've got the whole clan wrapped around my paw. You know they all love me! I mean, who wouldn't? Certainly not you. " He raised his eyebrows at her with a smirk. Meadowpaw shoved him lightly with one paw. "Don't get all cocky! I don't know what you're talking about." She looked away from him with a sniff. Still, she knew deep down that he was right. She did love him. She wanted him to stay forever. Heck, even most of the clan had already accepted him at this point.

Slate had been found inside SnowClan territory a few moons ago with several severe injuries due to a fox attack. Though most of her clanmates had been mistrusting at first, Meadowpaw liked him right away. She visited him during all of her free time, and they had been inseparable ever since. He'd proven to have the heart of a warrior when OakClan had attacked their camp a moon ago. Despite his half-healed injuries, he threw himself into the fray to protect the SnowClan cats. He single-handedly defended the nursery and kept the kits and queens safe until the battle was over. If anything, he'd earned a place in SnowClan a thousand times over.

As much as Meadowpaw hoped for him to stay, she knew he wouldn't. They'd had this conversation several times already. He always told her he preferred life as a rogue, with no responsibilities for anyone other than himself. He'd asked her to come with him, but she declined, knowing that no matter how much she loved him, she could never leave her clan.

Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of fur brushing through the thick leaf curtain of the den entrance. A soft ginger face poked through, covered in leaves and twigs. Meadowpaw did her best to suppress a laugh, but Slate had other ideas. "Amberpaw, did the trees try to recruit you as one of their own?" he asked, "You look like you got dragged through every bush in SnowClan territory!"

Amberpaw stuck out her tongue at him. "Quit teasing me or I'll break your other leg, Slate." She shook out her thick fur, but only managed to dislodge a few leaves. "Otterfoot had me out looking for cobwebs just in case we needed extra. I found a whole bunch in a hole at the top of that big pine tree by the EagleClan border." She wrinkled her nose. "Unfortunately, a squirrel had recently made a nest in it, and I seem to have gotten the entire nest stuck in my fur." She shook out her pelt again, growling in frustration when none of the leaves dislodged this time.

Meadowpaw laughed lightly and started to help her sister pull the leaves out of her pelt. As she did so, a voice rang out nearby. "Amberpaw, where did you put the cobwebs?" A brown tom stepped into the den, looking confused. "They should be with the rest of the herbs now, Otterfoot. Didn't you see them?" Otterfoot padded over to their herb store to double check. "Ah, I see them now. Thanks, Amberpaw."

Otterfoot turned his attention to Slate and Meadowpaw. "Back to bother my patient again?" he asked her, a teasing tone in his voice. "All the time!" Slate mewed, casting a playful glance at the apprentice. Otterfoot snorted and beckoned Amberpaw over. "Tell me how you think Slate's leg looks."

The red tortoiseshell gently felt Slate's leg up and down. "Stretch it as much as you can for me. I want to see how much mobility you've gotten back." Slate obliged, moving his leg as she instructed. Finally, Amberpaw sat back. "It doesn't look stiff and there's no infection. It was a clean break, but it seems to have healed very nicely so far. I'd say he should be good to go anytime." Otterfoot nodded in agreement. "Very nicely done, Amberpaw. I would have said the same thing."