Legacy (Book 1)

Chapter 19: Alone

Chapter 19: Alone

The clouds were white and fluffy like sheep fur, the sky a robin egg blue background. Rainstone snorted as a bit of sheep fur stuck onto her nose. She glared at the wholly creatures, their plaintive baas filled their ear while their stench made Rainstone retch.

She looked ahead, the dark haze she and Crystal had been padding after for the past two days had grown close enough that Rainstone could see the individual branches of the bare trees and the green haze over the forest floor as grass shot up from the dark soil and ferns released new leaves.

The air had steadily grown warmer as they'd headed south-west, following the sun's descent at an angle. "So, where is this waterfall of yours?" Rainstone asked, shaking a bit of dirt from her limp paw.

"Just at the very edge, the other cats should be there waiting," Crystal mewed, her voice lacking the happy bounce it'd had when they'd first met. They were both grieving for Dusty.

Rainstone couldn't shake off a sense of guilt that if she hadn't run away from the foxes, she would have been able to help Dusty before the infection had taken hold of her. But the fresh air blowing and the red strains of dusk streaking out far across the sky along with strands of gold and vibrant orange, life went on.

They left the field of sheep behind and entered the forest. Rainstone gazed around with a frown, she didn't like forests anymore. Not that she liked them much to begin with, but she hated them even more now that she knew they harbored savage creatures such as foxes that could kill without remorse.

The shadows deepened and darkened as Rainstone heard the relentless splashing that she remembered from back in the cave. She was brought back to standing by the small stream dropping and bubbling along a rock current down the dusty slope.

Rainstone eyed the glimmering sunlight through the trees, it seemed dusty and old, not like when it rose as a ball of shining glory in the morning. But the earth was cool and the scents were fresh as the warm season came on with new life.

Crystal led her along a faint trail, the ground cool to the touch and the soft tickling of grass rubbed away the raw soreness in her paws. She could smell the other cats up ahead, the absence of Dusty's familiar scent pulled at her heart and she and Crystal both slowed as the ground sloped down.

But Crystal rounded the bend without hesitating and let out a joyful yowl as Flake, Pummel, and Stretch nuzzled her. Rainstone stayed a step back, looking on wistfully. My family wouldn't welcome me back like that... They'd kill me.

Wryness pulled at her muzzle and she had to stop herself from scowling. After a few moments, in which the sun completely hid itself from view, the cats broke away from their tight bundle and started questioning each other loudly.

Rainstone studied the surroundings as they caught each other up. The small waterfall, only about six fox-lengths tall, was made of rocks that sat on top of each other in perfect harmony. Their were plenty of paw holds to climb it. Around her, the earth rose up to meet the top of the waterfall.

Stretching her muzzle up, she saw the ground above the rise was flat, meaning they sat in a hollow. The grass was bare and brown, turning a soft green with new growth. The waterfall had a little pool that it splashed into. Rainstone wondered if the whole hollow had once been filled with water, and that if a tiny underground tunnel had carried the excess water elsewhere.

She padded to the pool, the ground turned to mud, it felt cold and molded her paw-prints into the ground, but her paws came off clean as she stepped back with water dripping from her whiskers.

"But Dusty hasn't come yet, she might still be back at home," the words Rainstone hadn't wanted to hear had been spoken by Flake. She turned to Flake, would she be happy her daughter was gone? Or would she grieve?