(Outdated) Warriors: Clouded Skies #2 - Frost

Chapter Twenty-Four

They waited until the moon was high in the sky to slink from the medicine cat's den into the cold air. The icy stone under his paws stung his pads, and Ravenpaw flinched with every step. Soon, though, they were numb enough that he couldn't feel anything.

"I'll get Eagleclaw," Mossrain meowed, heading for the leader's den. A sudden thought struck Ravenpaw.

"Where's Acornstar?" he asked, a little worried.

"She's in the leader's den as well, sleeping on the stone floor. She hasn't moved much since Eagleclaw told her about Rain. She's very angry about it. It happened while you were sleeping." Ravenpaw nodded in response to the jumbled answer. He had decided to take a few hours to himself before having to explain the truth to the three cats he trusted the most outside his family, and fell asleep curled in his nest. Mossrain had woken him not long ago.

Leaving his mentor to get Eagleclaw, Ravenpaw padded over to the nursery. He spotted the cat on guard and recognized it as Oakcloud. Of course, he would want to be close to Goldenpool tonight, as a stranger was in the den with her. The darkened shape nodded his head to him, brown eyes shadowed in the night. Nodding back, Ravenpaw slipped into the den. Instantly, Goldenpool's head rose to meet him, golden gaze dull. It seems she had been too worried about her new denmate to sleep. Rain, meanwhile, had fallen deeply into unconsciousness, Maple curled at his stomach. His muzzle was stained slightly with blood, and Ravenpaw was glad he had been fed.

"I've been waiting," Goldenpool meowed softly, licking the closest the head of the closest kit to her, which happened to be Heatherkit. She mewled and shifted, but then fell still again.

"Mossrain is getting Eagleclaw, and once they join us we can talk. Rain can talk." With soft paws, he padded over to the sleeping tom. "Rain? Rain, wake up." When the tom didn't stir, he touched his cheek with his nose.

Instantly, Rain was awake, eyes wide with fear and protective nature. His claws flashed, and he slashed his paw out. Ravenpaw flinched, shutting his eyes and waiting for the blow. When it didn't come, he slowly peeled open his eyes to see Rain had stopped himself just in time. "S-sorry," he gasped, retracting his claws and curling his leg back up. "You surprised me."

Goldenpool let out an untrusting hiss, obviously upset he had almost injured Ravenpaw. "It's okay," he said to her, then looked at Rain. "Truly. I understand."

Rain blinked in gratitude, just as Mossrain and Eagleclaw entered the den. They both seemed to sense the tension from Goldenpool, but decided to say nothing. They sat together in the center of the nursery. "Mossrain won't tell me what this is about," the deputy said as she settled.

"Because I don't know what it's about!" he said quickly.

"It's about me," Rain meowed.

"Obviously." Goldenpool stood up carefully, avoiding stepping her kits and sniffing each one before joining her friends, nodding to Mossrain before sitting right next to him, then all three looked at Rain and Ravenpaw.

After watching Maple for a few moments, Rain got up from the nest with as much care as Goldenpool had, then settled into a sit next to his kit. Ravenpaw decided to stay next to him, so Rain didn't feel alone, and just in case he had to help explain something.

"I guess I should start from before I was born, tell you about my home. But first, I should tell you my name, my true name. For the last few moons, I have been calling myself Rain, but before that I was Rainshadow, a warrior of MothClan."

Goldenpool stifled a gasp, Mossrain widened his eyes, and Eagleclaw stuttered out a jumbled mess of words. She swallowed, and managed to say, "You mean... there's a fifth Clan out there?"