Legacy (Book 1)

Chapter 44: Quiet

Chapter 44: Quiet

Rainstone breathed in deeply as warm scent of flowers and the fresh air drifted around her. She exhaled and sighed, closing her eyes as she soaked in the pool of sunshine. Opening her eyes again from where she sat in the green grassed clearing, she could see the wave of trees and the shimmer of a small stream not too far away.

It had been four days since she'd first woken up from her sick fever, and even though she still got dizzy when she pushed herself too hard, she was recovering nicely. Needlepine had gone back to his Clan two days ago and only been able to come over once, his Clan suspicious and worried about his sudden disappearance.

"It's in the air, even if the cats don't all know what's going on, you can just sense... the quietness of everything is concealing something."

The words she'd spoken to Needlepine before he left last time echoed in her mind. It was true, the peacefulness just felt superficial. It made Rainstone uneasy; it was too much like the mountains, where the beautiful weather and nature seemed to be trying to hide the atrocities shamelessly committed by the cats in the mountains.

It kept her constantly looking over her shoulder, something she did just now. It unnerved her that there was nothing there and she was wired on edge, she couldn't shake this sense of fear that rang through her at every sudden sound or movement. She stiffened as a sudden burst of wind swept around her, waving her tail to the side.

She turned her head, making sure nothing was approaching while her ears and nose were blocked by the wind. When it calmed, the sun continued beating down and the gurgle of the stream continued happily. She looked out over the large, grassy meadow; it was surrounded by pine trees, but they were only like a dark shadow on the edge of the vision since the meadow was so big.

One of the line of pine trees was where ShadowClan territory laid, making it easy for Needlepine to get to her while keeping her out of Nightwing's territory. Needlepine had told her that he had spotted her underneath the dock on patrol and had taken her here, a place where he used to play with his sister when they were apprentices.

Rainstone liked it here, it was peaceful, she never saw or even smelled danger and there was plenty of prey hiding in the meadow bushes and flower beds. But even with the quiet, she wasn't as ease, not even when Needlepine was there could she fully shake the sense of danger.

That's it, I'm leaving this lake the day after the full moon, that ends my deal with Song, and by then Nightwing and Pinefur should be defeated and I'm free to go. She'd decided that for a while now, but now she felt the urge to leave even more strongly than before.

She looked up at the cloud-patched sky, trying to calm herself down, but even as she struggled to enjoy the quiet, she wanted nothing more than to get up and move. There's just one thing stopping me, and he has two green eyes.

She whined to herself quietly, lying down on her belly and covering her face in her paws. After all she'd gone through; the thing preventing her from continuing now was a tom. But... he's not like those I once knew, he's kinder and gentler then even Pepper.

But she knew she couldn't leave without him. So, what? If he doesn't want to leave, do I end up staying here forever? Maybe when I have his kits, I won't need him so much, and then I could leave my kits here to become warriors... The thought wasn't all bad, but thinking about parting with her kits again tore at her heart and she doubted she was strong enough to do it.

I'm too broken, I can't break anymore or there won't be anything left! Rainstone felt tears in her eyes, she couldn't stay here, but she couldn't leave, what was she to do?! The agony of the paradox forced her to sleep and when she woke the long shadows and indigo sky told her it was just after dusk.