Book 2 - Warriors: The Servant's Promise

Chapter Three

Rainfur blinked his eyes open with a flinch. There had been nothing but complete silence, and he couldn't see or hear anything. All of his senses had vanished while he was asleep, so the sudden whispering that came to his ears and the bright sunlight that leaked through the entrance made him sit up quickly.

The den was a small cave, though it was larger than he had expected for some reason. The walls were a dark grey, and though he felt locked in, the warm air made him comfortable. He was more curious than anything, because this was so different from what he'd imagined it to be.

"Oh! You're awake!" came a small voice that made Rainfur turn around. His eyes widened as he caught sight of a light grey she-cat whose bright blue eyes were staring straight into his. Rainfur backed away as quickly as he could, having no trust for the cat because he didn't know her. Even though she looked innocent, and she honestly didn't seem that threatening, he didn't want to trust her, not when the last thing he could remember was nearly being killed.

"Who are you?" Rainfur demanded, though his voice wavered with fear. He was on the very of shaking as his fur bristled and his claws unsheathed. Instinct told him to do these things, and he followed, since it was the only thing he really knew.

"I'm A Ripple In The Water, but you can just call me Ripple," the frail looking she-cat told him, her voice wavering with the shock of nearly being attacked. "I-I'm the Healer here, and I was just surprised that you actually woke. You've been asleep for two moons, a-and I wasn't sure if I failed to heal you correctly or not." Rainfur's eyes narrowed, still unable to trust her. She could've been lying. . .

Just trust her already, idiot, came. . .what was his name again? Oh, yeah, Jactur. She healed you while you were asleep. Now can you get on with it? I want to see what this 'Clan' is and why I can't feel StarClan any longer. Rainfur continued to stare at Ripple, but was now interested in what his friend was talking about.

StarClan? What is that? And what's a 'Clan'? How can you even feel them anyway? Should I be able to do this as well? Rainfur was thinking of so many questions because there was so much he didn't know, yet somehow, Jactur did. It was as if Jactur was the life he'd forgotten.

Stop asking questions and relax! Jactur yelled at him, seeming mildly irritated as well as annoyed. Look, I can't exactly tell you, and you wouldn't believe me anyway, so just stop worrying about the potentially untrustworthy cat in front of you—although, if you don't want to, just remember that I could fight her off in no time—and get on with it! I need to know where we are in order to find out why—well, I can't tell you that either. Just trust this cat so we can get on with our life, okay? Rainfur frowned, because in all honesty he really didn't want to trust the she-cat in front of him. He didn't know how to, either, though instinct guided him there too.

Rainfur relaxed his body and let his fur lay flat on his back. Ripple seemed very scared now, and though he hated seeing that expression on ones face for whatever reason, he wasn't thinking of that. He still didn't trust her, but at least he was now giving her the chance to talk him into it.

"Why am I here?" asked Rainfur, trying to sound mature, though with the cautiousness came fear and the fear made his voice a bit higher than he wanted to sound frightening. However, Ripple didn't seem like he was that less of a threat, so he was happy.

"Just two moons ago you were brought to my den after acquiring a fatal wound," Ripple explained, her blue eyes narrowed in concentration. "I-I didn't honestly believe you were going to live, seeing as. . .well. . .you'd been asleep for so long. . .and I—" Ripple suddenly stopped and whipped her head around, making Rainfur's gaze shift over to where the healer was looking at, finding a golden she-cat standing in the entrance way. Rainfur knew her . . . what was her name again?