Omen of the Sun Book Three: Dusk

Chapter Twenty-One

Raintail

Raintail stared down Snowdust. All traces of fear were gone. Raintail had lost his son fighting an enemy warrior. They had been separated until Sunpool had made the choice to let StarClan kill him.

He was not going to lose him again.

Snowdust snarled, also exhibiting no outward shows of fear. Raintail's hackles rose, and he quickly assessed her and Goldleaf.

"I mean," he said, "I'd hate to lose out on a valuable training session. Always good to be in practice."

"Fool," Snowdust hissed. "Like you could ever beat me. I'd love to see you try."

Raintail looked at her, and saw that she really was unafraid. She was fearless, and would throw away her life (death?) to kill them. Just to make her point: that she could beat anyone.

Fatal flaw: pride.

But Raintail doubted she'd be reckless. You couldn't wipe out an entire Clan by being a fool. So Snowdust was smart, but proud. He could work with that.

He met Goldleaf's eye. His son was crouched, breathing hard, his thick gray fur bloodstained and matted with blood and dirt. His leg muscles were tense, and his golden eyes nearly burned a hole in Raintail.

Goldleaf flicked his ears to the his back. Raintail nodded. Then he tapped his tail on the ground once, twice, three times.

And they both charged.

Goldleaf turned and sprinted away into the trees; Raintail followed, willing his paws to bring him faster. He had never been fast, always way more comfortable in the water, but now fear propelled him forward, and he found that he suddenly had a fluid grace that he had never been able to pull off on land. He suspected it was a one-time thing. And that he would need it.

Which he did.

Snowdust was on their tails. Weaving through the trees, Raintail felt elated, though it was the last place he should. He felt fluid; he felt graceful; he felt free. But he didn't know these woods, and they couldn't run forever (which was another thing: how did Dark Forest cats eat? There couldn't be any prey in the forest), and Snowdust was surely about to catch them. Still, he felt more alive than he had ever felt before.

Following Goldleaf, Raintail tucked his tail in; he remembered from a long-ago training session that letting it stream out would just slow him down. Something to do with air traction. He hadn't understood it at the time, and as he had never ad to use it, he hadn't thought of it since. His mentor had to be in StarClan... maybe he could find her and ask when they got back to StarClan...

If they survived.

Which he hoped they would. He had sent Doveheart back to tell them that he was coming with Goldleaf. She had agreed, wisely, because he wasn't going in there with her. Secretly, she was just a liability: she was a medicine cat; while she would be helpful in treating Goldleaf's wounds, she wouldn't be any help in a fight and would just weigh them down.

Everything seemed to be going according to plan, and Raintail let out a cry of wild, maniac laughter.

First mistake.

Then he slowed down ever so slightly.

Second mistake.

That one half-a-heartbeat he slowed down was all Snowdust needed. Raintail heard a massive grunt from behind him, and suddenly he was rolling, and there was a heavy weight on his back, pressing him to the ground. Claws tore at the fur around his forehead, getting dangerously close to his eyes. She caught up with me!

Raintail rolled, which was his third mistake. Snowdust's claws ripped into his belly tissue, clawing mercilessly. Raintail's world swam as her claws dug deeper than any claws should ever go, and weakly he kicked out with his hind leg.

"Raintail!"

Goldleaf. Goldleaf. Goldleaf. Raintail forced his eyes open as Snowdust's weight was barreled off of him, and then closed them again in a wave of relief. His body felt so light, despite the blood pooling around it. Was it a side affect of blood loss? Whatever it was, it felt really nice. He wished he could stay like this forever.

"Raintail!" Goldleaf gasped, running back over. Raintail's eyes flickered open, and he fixed them on his son's panicked face as he felt quick, gentle paws running along his body.

"No, nononononono," Goldleaf whispered, looking around desperately. "No... Raintail, I can't lose my father again, right after I'd been reunited with him again..."

The sadness in his voice hurt. But Raintail forced a smile. He kept getting the light feeling more and more, even more pronounced. He felt like he'd be drifting away soon...

"Goldleaf," he rasped. His lips were chapped. "Goldleaf, I'm going to float away. Okay, Goldleaf?"

"No, Raintail, please don't," Goldleaf begged. But it was no use. Raintail smiled one last time, forced out one last purr, as his eyes slipped close and he floated away.

Though Raintail was gone, Goldleaf still sat in stunned silence, and watched his father's chest rise one last time. He watched his eyes close. He finally watched his father's mangled, bloody, beaten body dissolve into starlight, leaving no trace that he was ever there in less than five heartbeats.

"Raintail," Goldleaf whispered, and wanted to curl into a ball and shut the world out for just a while.

Is it bad that I almost cried while writing this?

Also sorry for the length; I tried to elaborate but it ended where it did lol.

And the updates are getting better!! Yay!!

But poor Raintail... *quiet crying in corner*

Although, I actually really did like writing his death. THAT IS HOW I WANT TO DIE. *turns to son or daughter (in the future...)* I'M GOING TO FLOAT AWAY! OKAY?!?!?!

I'm messed up. I need help.

Bye.

~Rainfeather