Warrior Cat Rants

Rainflower: Neutral

(Spoilers for Crookedstar's Promise)

Rainflower couldn't handle it. The fact that she failed her son, the one who she loved slightly

more than Oakkit because her senses told her that Stormkit was the better one. Finding out that Stormkit broke his jaw crushed her and made her realise that she failed him, her "handsome little brave warrior". She was in shock and hated herself for not keeping an eye on her kits. She couldn't stand the fact that she pretty much let Stormkit fall into a life where he would most likely be lonely and looked down on. She believed Stormkit was going to die. It's like Millie, who thought that Briarlight would die. Cats react differently than humans; cats can't get their injuries healed while humans can. It was impossible for Stormkit to return to his original state and it was the first time Rainflower saw a cat like that, let alone was unlikely to know you can break your jaw.

In Crookedstar's side, we see her as completely selfish, cold and a horrible mother. On Rainflower's side, she feels as though she failed her son and blames herself for not watching him. She was sleeping/doing something that she couldn't be able to do while watching her kits. She did say something about it being Stormkit's fault, which it partly was since he shouldn't have went out of the camp, but it was also her fault for not watching him and she knew it well enough. That's why she'd feel really, really bad. There's a possibility, however, that Rainflower had a type of illness like Palebird did and it was triggered when Stormkit broke his jaw.

Rainflower did love Stormkit. Her grief and anger at herself got to her and she couldn't stand the fact that she made her son's life possibly change for the worst. She just couldn't look at Stormkit without being reminded how much she failed him as a mother. It was her duty to protect him from harm, and to her she immediately hated herself for being a horrible mother by not watching him. Grief took a hold of her more than anything.

"She's grieving," Echomist murmured in his ear. "She doesn't realize what she's saying." - Crookedstar's Promise, page 52. A mother cares deeply about their kits, and seeing them hurt will affect her badly.

There's a high chance that Crookedkit was given to Stormkit because of how Rainflower felt: Her life fell apart and became crooked because she couldn't even protect her son from harm. She knew how wrong it was, but she couldn't look at Crookedkit as the Stormkit she could protect. To her, she was reminded of how much she was a bad mother to him for not stopping him from going out of the camp.

And then the fact that Shellheart no longer wanted to be her mate even though he still loved her made her feel even more miserable and a failure. Rainflower is just like Dawnpelt; they were both full of grief for the fact they couldn't be there for the cats they cared about and felt like failures for it.

Not long after that, her son runs away and Rainflower feels worse. Her son had ran away because of her and she just felt even more miserable. She wanted to show that he was still her brave little warrior but couldn't because she believed she was a complete failure at everything: She failed as a mate and mother. It was just too much for her and nothing helped her at all. Her pain took control of her and she couldn't bear to see Crookedkit or even pay attention to him because she didn't want him to get even more hurt like he did with his jaw.

Knowing that her son was fine when he returned, she felt happy about it but still knew she could never change anything. "Can I welcome back my kit?" Rainflower was waiting behind Birdsong. The elder scuttled out of the way. "Welcome home." The pale gray she-cat touched her muzzle lightly to Crookedkit's head. "I'm glad you're safe." - Crookedstar's Promise, page 112. If Rainflower never cared about Crookedkit, she wouldn't bother acknowledging him. She didn't say it aggressively or hatefully; she said it politely and was welcoming towards him. She also said "my kit" which would mean she still thinks of him as hers, not a stray or anything else.

"Crookedpaw stared at his mother, his heart quickening as she [Rainflower] stood still and silent. Then, with a rush of relief, he watched her lift her muzzle and call his new name. "Crookedpaw!" - Crookedstar's Promise, page 126. If Rainflower hated him, she wouldn't bother cheering for him. She was proud that her son finally got made a 'paw even if she hardly showed it.

"Well done, Crookedpaw." - Crookedstar's Promise, page 183. Rainflower praised him, meaning she must still care for him. If she didn't, she wouldn't have bothered and would have just went right past him. Crookedpaw had just been battling and she thought he was good so she decided to praise him. She indicated that; she tried telling Crookedpaw that he fought really well. But Crookedpaw didn't see it in that way.

Before Rainflower died, she actually wanted to tell Crookedjaw that she loved him but couldn't so instead she tried to hint it. She felt that if she told him that she loved him and never hated him, he wouldn't care anymore. He had no faith in her because Rainflower felt horrible about herself. Shellheart did tell Crookedjaw that Rainflower found it hard to admit that she was wrong and that she'd be watching him from StarClan, regretting it all.

"She was wrong. Ever since I've known her, she's always found it hard to admit when she was wrong. She will come to see that. I bet she's watching you now from StarClan, regretting how much she missed." - Crookedstar's Promise, page 403.

"She [Rainflower] is here. But your last life is mine to give." - Crookedstar's Promise, page 444. Rainflower was present at Crookedstar's leader ceremony but Crookedstar didn't notice her. Shellheart even confirmed that Rainflower was present. Rainflower still cared about him and loved him. She just couldn't give her son a life because it would exceed the amount of lives he was supposed to get or because Crookedstar was a lot more closer to Shellheart than he was with Rainflower.

Don't get me wrong, I did hate Rainflower until I thought really hard about how she'd have felt about Crookedkit's accident. She did slightly take things in the wrong way, but it was her grief that got to her badly, and the fact that she believed she was a horrible mother for letting her kit get badly hurt to make her change.