Legacy (Book 1)

Chapter 10: Silence For Silence

Chapter 10: Silence For Silence

Rainstone licked her paw, drawing it over her muzzle and washing off a bit of blood from the scratch that she'd gotten, courtesy of Snake. Who thought it was too rude of her to walk past him without acknowledging him.

It was about half a moon since Night had almost killed her and the shadowy black cat had cured her, turning all her wounds into scars. Neither of them had mentioned it, though a few cats had asked about the new scars on her shoulders, luckily, most of the scars were on her belly, which was mostly hidden from view.

Pepper and Whisper had returned, and then Cliff had left on his assessment, he was due back any day now. The only other change in life in the cave was that Nightly, a hunter, and one of Pepper's former trainers, had died. It was almost certain how he'd died, since his body was found at the base of a cliff-like slope where a faint trail had crumbled away and he'd had a young hawk in his jaws.

Obviously, he'd chased the hawk up the trail and then the ground had crumbled and he'd fallen and died. He hadn't had a mate, so there had been no fights over that, but one question came to Rainstone's mind at the incident. Why had the black cat saved her, but not Nightly?

She didn't know an answer, all her dreams since then had just been of stars and the word ancestor echoing through her mind, she felt like she should understand it, but she didn't. What did stars, tiny specks of light in the night sky, have to do with ancestors? Whatever ancestors were.

She sighed and shook out her fur, Night had acted better toward her since he'd attacked her. He had mated with her only once since then, and he spoke more kindly toward her. In turn, Rainstone tried to be more understanding toward him, but it was hard when Scamp was always in the back of her mind.

She stretched, Night was gone at the moment, and she'd arranged for Pepper to take her out to 'collect herbs.' Really, he was going to train her, show her a few of the more complex hunting techniques that'd he'd learned just before he'd left on his assessment and he hadn't been able to show her yet, as they'd spent the time since he'd returned in refreshing both their memories.

Rainstone hoped he'd allow them to spar, as that was the only way for them to train in fighting. She swiped the last bit of blood of her muzzle and trotted over to Pepper who was padding away from Whisper. "Are you ready to go?" Pepper asked, his blue eyes glittering with nervous anticipation.

Rainstone nodded, skipping next to him out of the cave. She bounced in the direction of the dirt clearing. Enjoying the whistle of the icy cold air in her ears and the flash of the brown, dry grass beneath her paws.

She jumped down, panting and feeling exhilarated. Pepper appeared a moment later and she waited for him to catch his breath impatiently. When he finally had, he showed her the moves, she followed them with accurate intensity and after a few tries had it perfect and trained into her muscles.

"Can we spar for a bit?" Rainstone mewed, looking at the gray clouds that hung in the sky, hiding the sun and keeping the bare mountain cold.

Pepper sighed, he didn't like sparring very much since he always lost. "Okay, but we've got to be back soon or some cat will wonder where we are, and you still need to get your herbs," Pepper mewed.

Rainstone nodded enthusiastically, her whiskers twitching as she faced Pepper, her eyes narrowed with mischief. She knew him too well. When he lunged for her, like he would with prey, she easily bounced over his paws, not letting him trip her.

When her paws touched the ground, she whirled around and kicked out with her back paws, sending Pepper, who'd been turning toward her, reeling away. She darted in and landed a few blows, although her claws were sheathed, the blows were hard and accurate, stinging her brother's muzzle and he cowered under her.