The Surviving Few (Warrior Cats)

Chapter two - familiar faces

Raindrop and Ryespring padded slowly through the bare forest. Their paws were black, covered in burnt grass and wet soil.

Ryespring veered to the side suddenly, seeming determined. Raindrop did not know where he was going, and could not share his certainty. Still she sulked after him, carefully avoiding any patches of grass in her way. She stopped as she realized where her brother was taking her. He stopped, too, a pleading look in his eyes. It was as if he knew that she knew, even though she herself did not know what she knew. She felt like she was loosing control over her own thoughts. She prayed to whatever was worth praying to that her voice, at least, would do as she commanded it.

"The twolegplace," she mewed simply. "Why?"

Ryespring attempted a careless shrug. It looked more like his shoulders were failing him, working in their own strange ways.

"Why are we going to the twolegplace," Raindrop repeated. She said it more like a statement than a question, which was not exactly what she had intended. It sounded as if she was judging him, accusing him, her own brother, her only surviving kin, as far as she knew. Making an effort to sound lighter, gentler, she meowed, "we're Clan cats. We don't go there."

"Well, we need food, and.. the twolegs have food, I think."

Raindrop had not thought of eating for a very long time. She thought she would rather just keep not thinking about eating. Perhaps that would keep her hunger down. She also realized that she was, right now, thinking about eating.

"You want to eat twoleg food?" she asked. Ryespring nodded helplessly, as if she had any reason to object. His paws prodded the wet earth, like he had stood before Drizzlestar as he waited to receive his warrior name. Like rocks moved by powerful wind, only his paws were both the rocks and the wind, and the ground was a river, waiting, wanting to swallow them both.

When Ryespring said no more, clearly still looking for the right words, Raindrop mewed, "fine."

Her brother seemed surprised that she did not put up more of a fight. Why should she, though? She could see no reason as to why she would not want to go to the twolegplace. StarClan had already abandoned them. Breaking a few rules of their precious warrior code surely would not matter to her dead ancestors, not now. Probably not ever again.

Twoleg dens stood in every direction, rising up toward the sky. Maybe they all dreamed of being mountains.

Beside the huge squares, monsters stood sleeping, even though the sun was still high in the sky. It did not offer much warmth where it hid behind dark clouds. Rain still poured down, now more than ever. The sharp, stone ground of the twolegplace was cold underpaw, and the wet rain made it many times worse. Raindrop did not know exactly how many times worse.

Even in the twolegplace, the fire had left traces. The grass and wood was burnt around the edges, but that was that. The twolegplace was greener than Clan territory now. Still, Raindrop felt trapped, already longing for the familiar, yet new, feeling of RiverClan territory.

"Can you smell anything?" Ryespring asked. Raindrop drew in a breath.
"Rain, she meowed simply. "And twoleg."

"Where? Can you see it?" Her brother sounded quite panicked now, even though they were well hid under the shadows of some bushes. The fresh, green leaves made Raindrop feel even worse.

A tall twoleg female was, in fact, walking toward where they stood. Raindrop nodded toward her. Ryespring's eyes widened.

"Follow me," was all he said. He then set off running, away from the twoleg, away from the bush, through the pouring rain. Raindrop raced after him.

"Raindrop..!" came a faint call from somewhere behind her. No, she was imagining things. Her brain was playing tricks on her. Raindrop shook her head, then fastened her pace to keep up with her brother. She followed him through gardens and hedges, bushes and fences, stopping as they reached a sheltered spot behind a tall twoleg fence and even more bushes. Here, the fire was not evident at all. It was refreshing, seeing such fresh leaves again. It was overwhelming, too. Raindrop tore her gaze away, focusing instead on her own breathing and the soft grass beneath her paws.

Ryespring panted heavily beside her, flank heaving and falling, quick but steady. Raindrop's paws ached from the long run, already worn out.

After a moment of quiet, no cat moving, Ryespring bent over and licked Raindrop's head once, twice.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. "We shouldn't have come here." At the same time, a voice called, "Raindrop!" yet again. It was clearer now, as if nearer. Raindrop glanced at Ryespring and, instead of acknowledging his useless apology, whispered, "can you hear that? My name."
Her brother nodded slowly. Raindrop was not imagining things, after all. Or maybe they both were. Still she moved, cautious, out of the bushes, into the rain.

A cat jumped down from the fence surrounding the garden they were in, and two more followed closely after. Raindrop thought, if there was ever an appropriate moment to feel relief at seeing cats from rival Clans, it was now. Honeydusk, Leafwillow and Poppypaw stood on the grassy ground before her, her own relief reflected in their eyes. Ryespring pushed himself out of the bushes, too, moving to stand beside Raindrop. She moved closer to him, almost instinctively.

Honeydusk, the beautiful she-cat who had been WindClan's medicine cat, stepped forward.

"Raindrop, Ryespring." She dipped her head. Poppypaw walked up to stand beside her, their pelts almost touching, as if the fact they were WindClan and SkyClan did not bother them at all. "I am so glad to see you!" Poppypaw exclaimed then. Raindrop realized she had been the one calling her name. Poppypaw, too, dipped her head, then let Honeydusk continue. Leafwillow lingered behind the two.

"As Poppypaw just said, we are all very glad that there are more of us alive."

Finally Leafwillow moved forward, appearing at her sister's side. Honeydusk whispered something in her ear, and Leafwillow meowed, "we've found food. Come on. The faster we get out of here, the better."

The question of should they unite? need not be asked. At least, Raindrop though so. Her brother seemed to think differently, surprising her as he asked, "and how do we know that we can trust you?"