Legacy (Book 1)

Chapter 40: Whatever It Takes

Chapter 40: Whatever It Takes

So... Sunstar and Nightwing are both being played for fools... this complicates things... Rainstone lay musing in the dusty hay-loft in the Horseplace by the RiverClan border. She'd found it warm, deserted, and full of mice, even if she did miss eating fish.

Anyways, it had made the perfect refuge for the past moon. She was still thinking about Sunstar's part in the whole matter, the information she'd learned only a few days after leaving RiverClan. She stared up at the cracked dark brown panels of the roof, while rolling on her back, ignoring the pricking of the hay through her fur.

He's not exactly helping them, but he's agreed to allow them safe passage through his territory on the condition that they don't attack RiverClan. Patchkit being killed was a violation of the agreement so he started moving against them, but how far will he go?

She still wished he'd warn the other leaders, make her job easier. Who would trust a rogue, after all? She'd still do it, but it may be less productive. I also need to go pay Nightwing a visit, let him know what's going with Pinefur's group. It's risky, but I need to break down their trust between each other before they attack.

Through her travels and spying between the two groups she'd learned the motives of Pinefur and the lies between the two. Both thought they were playing the other for a fool. Nightwing planned on killing Pinefur and taking his black cats as subordinates for himself, since Pinefur wasn't black-furred.

Of course, Pinefur would be the winner of the game since he had more cats at his disposal. Nightwing's cats hardly matched half of Pinefur's. I'll just bring that game to an end early. It would save Nightwing's life for the time being, but it would also break off Pinefur's reinforcements.

I estimate that at least two Clans will have to work together to take down Pinefur, even better would be all four Clans, but I'll see what I can do to encourage an alliance between the Clans. She had also been spying on the Clans and had learned a few things that would be useful.

She'd learned things such as Stormstar being known to work with other Clans in the past, as long as the dark gray leader lived, she could almost ensure one Clan willing to make an alliance to take down Pinefur. The problem with that though, is Pinefur's ThunderClan, they may not believe me until the actual battle and by then it'll be too late.

That was her most troubling conclusion, since she wasn't sure if she could get Sunstar to fight since she knew he had promised neutrality in return for neutrality, a promise that would be broken once Pinefur had control over the other Clans, no doubt.

The next problem was even if she could get ShadowClan and WindClan to align themselves, Pinefur was in ThunderClan territory, they'd still have to get ThunderClan's support or wait for a last minute counter-attack after lives had already been lost.

Grrr, Pinefur just has to be in ThunderClan... she growled to herself, watching the dim light of morning strengthen and give dusty rays to stripe the worn-out wood. But it's time to get up and get a move on, I gotta visit Needlepine today.

She'd arranged to meet with the tom to discuss explaining the situation to the ShadowClan leader, Duststar. Getting up, she crept carefully on the cracking boards. Some were wobbly, while others creaked, but the all held up for her to get to the steps, or ladder, as the twolegs called it.

Lucky for her the steps were wide enough the easily hop down, though it was difficult when one of her front paws had no feeling. At least it's healed, she thought, glad that she no longer had to worry about broken bones. It had healed a little odd, so it wouldn't move as easily, but it was for the better, as she didn't have to try to flop it the right way when she walked on it, it just stayed stiff.