Legacy (Book 1)

Chapter 45: Too Early

Chapter 45: Too Early

Rainstone looked up at the gray-torn sky alone in the abandoned meadow that she had been staying in for half a moon. Tonight... it all goes down, she thought. Tomorrow night it would be the full moon, so tonight Pinefur and Nightwing would attack the Clans and they'd either win or be defeated.

I wonder what the Clans have in mind... She'd left the Clans alone for the most part recently, not stepping paw on Clan territory since she'd last seen Willowwater. She was willing to allow herself to trust and be surprised by the Clans.

She hadn't really seen Needlepine since she'd told him she was leaving, he'd only come over a few times to check up on her and had left after a few words. She rubbed her slightly rounded belly with a paw, trying to feel the kits.

She didn't feel much, and guessed there were only two, like last time, or one. But she'd been so busy last time; she hadn't really been able to think about how it felt. It was an odd feeling, having something moving around her belly on its own, but it filled her with shivers of delight and motherly warmth.

If I told Needlepine I was expecting his kits, would that convince him to come with me? But she didn't want him to come with her if he wouldn't be happy, he had to make this decision on his own. She'd be leaving the day after tomorrow, it was so close, and there was so little time.

But... he never told me a definite, 'no,' so, maybe he hasn't decided? She mused on that for a while, shivering against the wind that actually felt chilly. The warm season will be ending soon, I wonder if they get snow down here?

But she wasn't scared or even nervous about venturing into the unknown with unborn kits. She knew she would be fine, she'd find the place where she could live the rest of her life in content happiness, though she wondered if she would ever forget about the mountains, and all the cats she left back there.

I wonder...? No! I can't go back, they'd kill me on sight, nothing would change if I'm dead, I just have to wait and hope for another cat to come along and pick up my legacy where I left off. She looked up at the sky again, the sun was half-way down the sky, and it'd be show-time before long.

She ate and drank and slept, making herself as strong as she could for the night ahead. She wanted to stay out of the fighting as much as she could, but she needed to be prepared. She had already decided what she'd do a few days ago. First, she'd go see how the Shadow-Thunder- Wind alliance went and get the final answer from Needlepine if he was coming or staying.

After that, assuming the Clans won, she'd head over to RiverClan and see what was going on with Nightwing. And again, assuming the Clan won, she'd say goodbye to Willowwater before spending her last day on the edge of the Clans, getting ready to leave.

She could feel the butterflies in her stomach again and she willed them to quiet down as she got up and headed out of the meadow. The dark pines seemed darker than usual under the restless sky and the muffled quiet of the forest pressed denser than before.

Rainstone slunk through the trees, heading along the path she knew would take her to the lake. She wondered why she hadn't seen, or even seen any sign of neither cat nor prey. She made it to the lake without incident, and by then, it was just past dusk.

Okay... so this is it. She took a deep breath and headed toward where ThunderClan territory. Figures, my least favorite territory is where it's going down. She glanced at the gray lake; it was unusually still just like the wind, as if everything was building up right on top of them.

A storm is the last thing they need; it'll give the advantage to Pinefur's cats that have been living underground in the dark... though Needlepine says ShadowClan is a nighttime Clan. Rainstone continued along the edge of the lake until she entered ThunderClan territory.