Legacy (Book 1)

Chapter 43: Unneeded

Chapter 43: Unneeded

Rainstone skidded across the leaf-strewn floor on her side, using her momentum; she bounced to her paws and with her paws pushed deep into the ground, raced back for Stormstar. She ducked, jumped, and slashed, hitting the older leader hard on the head.

She hissed in pain as Stormstar didn't even flinch and counterattacked with a hard hit to her jaw. Rainstone took a few steps back and faced Stormstar with a fierce glare, she had never faced such a difficult opponent, not even Nightwing could really compare to Stormstar's tireless focus and endless strength.

She was bleeding from several scratches, none too deep to be dangerous, and she felt as battered and bruised as a kit-worn moss-ball. In sort, she was exhausted and nearing the end of her fighting strength. But she wasn't the only one.

Stormstar was panting heavily and her yellow eyes became unfocused as she gasped in breath. Around them, the storm raged with wind that whipped wet leaves into their faces and lashed their pelts with rain. The thunder growled with them and the lighting flashed with their claws; but they were in their own world, unaware of anything outside the fight.

Rainstone glared at the opposing leader with fierce determination, all her efforts to explain herself had been ignored by Stormstar, so she only had the choice to defeat the leader and force her to listen to her, she needed ThunderClan on her side. With that in mind, she charged again.

But her paws slipped as she tried to twist around Stormstar and jump on her back. Stormstar reared over her and aimed her much larger paws to swat Rainstone away. Rainstone struck like a snake and bit down hard on Stormstar's paw.

She bit down hard, feeling her fangs grate against the delicate bones in the paws. Stormstar let out a howl of pain that was drowned out by thunder. But Rainstone lacked the energy to crush the bones and so tried her best to take advantage of Stormstar's distracted pain.

She released the paw which Stormstar drew back sharply, and while Stormstar was on three legs, Rainstone dove under her belly, slipping easily on the wet grass and knocking out her back legs, sending Stormstar to the ground.

Rainstone jumped on her and tried to wrestle her into a pin, but Stormstar was larger and thus stronger, soon Rainstone was just tearing desperately and jerking at every second to avoid punishment by Stormstar's claws.

Then she felt her back paw stick against a rock and she used the stability to force Stormstar onto her back. She hooked her claws into Stormstar's shoulders, so that any movement made by the leader caused agony.

She looked down with wide, almost wild black eyes at the leader that had driven her into a sense of desperateness. But she didn't hate it, she felt more alive than she had for a long time, fear and adrenaline coursing through her to add strength to her exhausted limbs.

Stormstar stared up at her, yellow eyes blank with shock and mouth trembling in pain. "I... Win," Rainstone gasped out as her chest heaved to draw in air.

"What are you going to do now?" Stormstar asked in a whisper, still looking stunned at her defeat.

"I'm going to warn you about something that will save your pathetic life and your Clan, though after this, I doubt you deserve it," Rainstone snarled angrily, realizing as she slowly became aware of her surroundings, that it must already be almost dusk, she was going to be late for Needlepine!

"I won't believe it!" Stormstar spat.

"Then you and all your Clan is going to be destroyed, and it will be on your head!' Rainstone hissed furiously, becoming more and more enraged by this cat's insolence to turn away help when it was offered