Legacy (Book 1)

Chapter 42: Storms

Chapter 42: Storms

Rainstone floated back to consciousness, sighing in her contentment of quiet sleep. Golden light danced behind her closed eyelids and she felt comfortably warm with her head resting on silkiness. Wait...

Jerking her head up and opening her eyes, she was met by a much different scene then she had been waking up to for the past moon. Instead of cracked old boards and dusty air, she was staring out across the mist covered lake with its fresh breeze tickling her whiskers playfully.

Oh yeah, the events of last night rushed through her, leaving her feeling comfortably satisfied. She sighed and snuggled deeper into Needlepine's fur, watching the lake swell and slide in slow moving waves. The peal of gold light came from dawn and she knew she would need to get moving before long to avoid being seen by Dawn Patrols, but for now, she was happy to stay right where she was.

The sky was pale pink with gold crusted clouds and glowing bright yellow where the sun was just starting to peak over the surrounding hills. She felt Needlepine yawn and murmur something incoherent as he awoke, stretching his legs and rolling away from her to wobble unsteadily to his paws.

Rainstone tilted her head to look at him as she remained lying on her side and watched him open his mouth in a yawn, pink tongue lolling out and revealing two rows of sharp teeth as he kept his eyes closed. She laughed as he finally opened his green eyes that were foggy with sleep and he looked around confusedly.

Then intelligence flowed back into them and he turned to look at her laughing expression and he gave her a goofy, lop-sided smirk. "Good morning," Needlepine mewed cheerily, looking brighter than usual.

"Good morning to you too," Rainstone purred, getting to her paws and touching noses with him, letting out a ragged breath of delight as they touched.

"What are you going to do today?" Needlepine asked, letting her lean into him as they stared out over the water together.

"I was thinking of trying to find this 'Frostshine,' WindClan cat and see if she'll be of any help. If I have time I'll scout out around ThunderClan territory to find some cat that might be willing to help, or at least hear me out," Rainstone mewed lazily.

"Ha-hmn," Needlepine made a noise of approval as he rested his chin on the top of her head. "Do you want to meet again tonight?" he asked tilting his head so that his cheek was now on the top of her head.

"Absolutely," Rainstone responded with a purr, closing her eyes and capturing the moment for memory's sake. "Well," she sighed regretfully, "We should probably get moving before we're found here," she said, letting her eyes trail over to RiverClan.

"Alright," Needlepine sighed in disappointment. "I'll be here tonight, just after dusk," he promised, sealing the promise by giving her quick lick on the muzzle.

"I'll be here then," Rainstone responded, forcing her paws to carry her in the opposite directing of Needlepine. But she couldn't help but look over her shoulder to see him looking back at her too. She purred softly and waved her tail before forcing herself to continue forward.

Once away from Needlepine, she became aware of the hunger in her belly and she decided that once she'd finished skirting RiverClan territory she'd catch something. As she neared the horseplace, the sun was already half-way up the sky, but clouds had rolled in and kept the sun off her shoulders.

She stopped in her makeshift home long enough to catch a mouse amongst the dusty straw and scarfed it down ravenously. Then, with strength flowing renewed through her, she headed out of the barn and headed for WindClan territory, hesitating at their scent marks.