Legacy (Book 1)

Chapter 41: Misty Stars

Chapter 41: Misty Stars

Rainstone left Needlepine in the clearing and headed off toward RiverClan territory, skirting Clan territory. Her limp was hardly visible as she strolled through the sun and shade of the sparsely placed pine trees. Sun-high was approaching quickly and the air was wet and heavy around her, making her feel uncomfortable and she irritably flicked her ears to shoo the flies buzzing around her ears away.

It was never humid in the mountains, but it's humid all the time down here, just another thing to miss about the mountains, she thought with annoyance. She moved forward languidly, in not rush to do the job she was going to do.

They'll kill me on sight, especially after that stunt I just pulled, but if I can get Nightwing alone... He may be curious enough to hear me out and then I can escape when I'm done. That was the best case scenario, though she couldn't help but feeling that her luck would run out eventually, probably at the worst possible time.

Well, I've got to try, between Needlepine and Willowwater, everything I know is known by other cats, so it's no great loss if I do die, she thought dismally, her life seeming so useless was constantly weighing down on her. At least I mean something to Needlepine.

She instantly brightened and her step became a bit bouncier as her tail waved behind her, she realized she was looking forward to meeting Needlepine alone that night. His naive personality, his kind eyes, his soft touch, and the way he looked at her with bated breath... as if she was the most special cat in the world.

She blinked her eyes, shoving the vision of twin green eyes full of stars out of her mind and realized she had stopped and that her heart was beating rapidly and painfully in her chest. She groaned, how could she be love-struck? After everything she'd gone through, she had fallen so far for a cat that she'd be leaving next moon!

Well, after this afternoon, it might not even matter; she thought pessimistically and wondered if there was something wrong that she wasn't even the tiniest bit nervous about facing such a dangerous situation. She'd be walking on death's line, that's for sure.

She halted and stood with a paw elevated in the air at a sudden rustling in the pine needles at the base of a pine tree to her left. Turning her head ever so slowly, she spotted a squirrel digging, its busy brown tail flicking rapidly.

I may hate squirrel, but at least its food and it's probably best not to face Nightwing on an empty stomach. Moving slowly to the ground she stalked forward with her breath held back and her eyes focused on the squirrel while her nose and ears kept watch for any intruders on her proximity.

With a massive leap capable of only cats from the mountains, she landed on the squirrel's tail as it tried to run away. Sighing at its annoying squeal, she killed it and gulped it down, spitting at the hairs that got stuck in her teeth. Using a claw, she scratched at the hairs before moving on with an irritated sigh, hairs still tickling her tongue.

She paused as she came to the Thunderpath just passed Clan territory. On the other side of the strip of smelly black rock, was Nightwing's territory. Yes, she was walking right into danger, and she hardly cared enough to look around to see that the coast was clear.

The Thunderpath's harsh smell left her with a headache as her nose burned and she rubbed her paws on the soft grass on the other side. She looked around, the small sloping hills blocked the view of most of the territory, but there was only a spotty tree or bush in her line of sight, so she knew she was alone, for the moment.

Walking almost aimlessly, she unconsciously noted the way the wind was blowing; it was blowing her scent back towards the Thunderpath where it would be lost. Of course, as she went further in the territory, it'd leave a pretty nice trail for cats to follow her.