Rainpaw's destiny

Chapter 2: Fire and Water

Rainkit woke up, water still stung in his eyes. Opening his eyes he started to tear up from the dirty water. All of a sudden he started to have a coughing fit, when his coughing was over he opened his eyes fully. He realized he didn’t recognize the territory around him.  Slowly he began to get to his paws.

“Up so early?” Ripplesky purred, He blinked and turned over to his mother, behind her was more cats some he didn’t know as well as some from his clan.

“Mama, where are we?” He asked a little frightened.

Ripplesky looked at him with gentle eyes then gently nudges him towards her with her paw, she purred reassuringly. “It’s okay Rainkit, we’re safe here, the water will not reach us in this place.” Feeling relieved by only a little he let his mother soothe him, he could hear the whimpering of Pebblekit and Willowkit, as they too were just as frightened as him. After his shock began to go away he looked once more at the cats that he could not recognize.

With a shaky voice he mewed, “m-mom… who are they?” He quickly ducked, somewhat frightened as one of the strange cats looked into his direction. Instantly he felt his mother tongue lick his head, trying to calm him down once more.

“It is alright Rainkit, those cats will not harm you, they are also victims of the flood.” Her voice was still soft and reassuring, however there was a hint of worry when her gaze drifted towards her clanmates.

He just blinked then struggled out of his mom’s paws and began walking over to a sand slope while also staying on the side where his clanmates were.

“Don’t go far Rainkit” Ripplesky meowed worry still edged her voice. Rainkit nodded then looked down towards the slope of sand that reached to a small lake. He watched his paws as he carefully slid down the slope of sand. Before reaching the edge of the slope he tumbled and fell onto his face.

“Rainkit!” Ripplesky’s worried voice rose as she ran over.  

“I’m okay” he coughed, sand had got into his mouth. Turning, he could see his mother’s eyes flooded with worry and his siblings amused. His siblings slid down beside him.

“Cool!” Willowkit smiled.

Rainkit sighed at how easily his siblings had landed. He knew they were bigger but he thought it would be easy to land on his paws. Slowly he got to his paws and began to walk slowly over to the water, watching his step with every paw he stopped when he saw a shell. It had ginger and grey speckles on it which were almost too small to be seen, he felt a jolt of surprise that he could even see them. “Look at this shell it has unique patterns!” He squeaked a little with delight.

Willowkit and Pebblekit padded over they looked stressed and a still a little shaken up from the flood. Willowkit blinked at the shell “pattern?” She narrowed her eyes to the shell looking closely, “It’s completely white!” She meowed hotly looking into Rainkit’s eyes. Rainkit just blinked at her then he looked back at the shell, though the specks were tiny he could still clearly see them.

Pointing to the speckles he mewed, “right here! Can’t you see them?” Willowkit just shook her head and moved close to the shell, he could see her eyes straining to see the specks but she just shook her head and frowned.

“Rainkit I don’t see any speckles, maybe you are just imagining them?” Willowkit mewed while looking at him with a small frown. Rainkit looked at Willowkit and frowned, he sat down and just looked at the shell, the speckles seemed to become more clear by each passing second. Sighing, he just nodded and began to get up when a skinny grey tabby started walking towards them. Rainkit could feel his fur beginning to bristle but after a second he recognized this cat, it was the Riverclan medicine cat, Reedheart. He watched warily as the medicine cat slowly walked over to them. Rainkit began to back up as Reedheart just suddenly stopped in front the shell. The air seemed to chill as the medicine cat stood rigid in front of the shell, when Reedheart spoke Rainkit nearly flinched from the suddenness. Him and his littermates both darted over to Ripplesky’s side as the medicine cat began to speak in an otherworldly tone.

Reedheart was looking at the shell, her eyes seemed to reflect some unknown knowledge that no cat could even cope to comprehend. “It is a sign! Fire and water will soon meet at last!” The medicine cats gaze seemed to travel throughout the cats, pausing only briefly on Rainkit as she continued. Rainkit froze with fear, what fire and water? and why did she stop to only look at me! He looked up to Ripplesky with a scared look and she only leaned forward and licked him gently on the head, she purred.

“It will be alright sweetie.”

Rainkit just looked at his mother doubtfully, he could feel fear begin to creep into his mind, he turned to Reedheart and mewed uncertainly. “But..water beats fire” he mumbled to Reedheart. The she-cat didn’t look down from where she was. Her gaze was still focused beyond them, her eyes distant. They slowly began turning back to normal and her head dropped. Slowly she began to lift her head, she looked exhausted as she turned her gaze to Rainkit. Not again he shrunk under her gaze.

“This is the message Starclan chose to share I did not choose it but Rainkit your important” Her voice shook with exhaustion. “A destiny needs to be fulfilled.” She breathed out before sluggishly padding up the sand hill.

Pebblekit looked with Rainkit to Reedheart with huge eyes then shook his head and smiled to Willowkit. “C’mon, Willowkit I bet I can beat you up the hill!” Pebblekit laughed batting his sister’s tail, Willowkit snorted in amusement as she walked a little backwards. Ripplesky padded towards them then looked at Rainkit.

“You’ll be okay If I leave for a bit right?” She asked looking at Willowkit and Pebblekit who dashed forwards, Rainkit nodded still freaked out by Reedheart’s stare. Straightening himself up he looked at the shell again, the grey speckles had disappeared. Shrugging he looked up and jumped in surprise at what he saw. A tall tom cat that looked like.. him! The exact same cat he saw as he passed out during the flood was now standing in front of him.

“You know of the prophecy?” The grey cat meowed looking into Rainkit’s eyes. Rainkit blinked in confusion, how does he know about that was he.. spying? Rainkit looked at the tom’s paws for a second water seemed to be coming out of nowhere.

“Are you the water in the prophecy?” Rainkit asked. Looking closer at the tom’s paws it looked like the water came from his pads. The way the tom answered made him jump.

“No! You Rainkit, are the water your powers should have made it obvious” He hissed the fur on his back was about to stand on edge but it flattened out. “Rainkit, listen your destiny is full of despair but it will help the darkness disappear for good.”

Rainkit looked at the tom in alarm and gulped in fear at what the strange tom said, his ears flattened and he took a step back, “despair?” Rainkit just shook his head trying to stay calm. As he looked up to question the tom his blood seemed to turn ice cold, the tom was no longer there and the scent gone as though the tom was never even there in the first place. He quickly looked around, his head whipping from side to side trying to see if he could locate the tom. When he could not see the tom he just looked down to his paws, for some reason he could feel himself shaking. “W-who is he!”