Legacy (Book 1)

Chapter 29: Ruthless

Chapter 29: Ruthless

"Are you sure we shouldn't go into the camp?" Needlepine asked for the umpteenth time.

"Yes," Rainstone sighed, trying to ignore Needlepine sniffing at his fur. It was the morning after she had made him sit in the black dye pool for the entire night. His fur was glossy black but smelled strongly of pine even after a few washes.

She'd wished they'd been able to let it dry longer, but at least it'd work better than a cover of soot. "Are you sure this will come out?" Needlepine asked, a little worriedly.

Rainstone groaned, out of all the cats in the Clans, why was he the one sent here? "Yes, it'll start to fade out after a moon or two," Rainstone mewed.

"So we have that long to do... what exactly?" Needlepine asked.

"You were the one sent here! I just got permission to come," Rainstone snapped.

"They didn't really give me details," Needlepine mewed, shifting uncomfortably and she guessed his belly wound was still bothering him.

"Well, we want to find out their main plan of attack. The little skirmishes they're talking about are hardly damaging. They must have a bigger plan to take over the Clans, more than just a few fights with the rabble they've collected," Rainstone mewed, wondering what the plan was.

"Oh," Needlepine fell silent for a moment.

"So why are we sitting at the top of the camp?" he asked again and Rainstone groaned.

"I told you, if we sneak into camp it'll look suspicious. If we just sit here like we're not hiding anything, it won't look so discreet," Rainstone explained, to her it was quite obvious. Of course, she'd been sneaking to do things all her life while maybe Needlepine hadn't...

"Well, how long until we can go into the camp?" Needlepine asked.

"Until some cat calls us down," Rainstone mewed, confident that she had already told him that.

"Oh," Needlepine mewed, shifting his paws. What was biting him? He obviously wanted to ask her something, but wasn't asking.

"Do you want to know something?" she asked testily.

Needlepine shot her a quick glance, "How did you know?" he asked in a cautious voice.

"You're not very subtle," Rainstone mewed in a tight voice, grating each word out in agitation.

"Oh, well, I just wanted to know where you lived before the Clans. I meant to ask at the gathering," Needlepine mewed, green eyes uncomfortable, but sharply keen.

Rainstone growled, "It remains a mystery," she mewed in a hard voice, giving him a stony look.

Needlepine sighed. "If I tell you about my past, will you tell me about yours?" Needlepine asked.

Rainstone rolled her eyes, "I'm not telling you about my past, not ever. I just want to forget it. But if you want to talk about your past, you might as well, since every cat seems to want to sleep in until sun-high," she growled, looking at the gray streaks of approaching dawn. Lucky and unlucky for them, the guard had fallen asleep.

"Well, for starters, I don't know who my father is. My mother assured me he was ShadowClan, but that he had moved on from her, and no tom ever showed any interest in me or my sister," Needlepine started, his voice turning monotone and his eyes gazing at the horizon, as if seeing something else. Good story-telling qualities, not that a sappy story was something she wanted to hear right now.

Rainstone gave a resigned sigh and sat on her belly, listening as there was nothing else to do. "My sister, Thistlebranch, you met her, was always better at everything, including getting in trouble," Needlepine went on, a bit of envy crept into his voice, but he seemed to push it away.