Warriors: Rainfeather's Honor

Chapter Five

Rainpaw blinked her eyes open. She still felt tired, and wondered why she was sleeping in her nest when she should be out training. She took a deep breath. Her eyes widened and she jumped up as she recalled all the events of that day.

Wolfpaw! Rainpaw scrambled out of the den. She shot across the clearing and into the medicine den. The sudden smell of herbs made her head spin, but she kept her thoughts focused. Judging by the stale scent, Wishflower was absent.

"Rainpaw?" A meow came from a nest in the den. A cat raised its head to look at her. Realizing who it was, Rainpaw bounded joyfully over to the nest.

"Wolfpaw! You're okay!" The silver-blue she-cat dropped into a crouch beside Wolfpaw's nest. The gray tom reached to touch his muzzle to hers. After pulling his head back, he spoke.

"Of course I'm okay. You think I'm going to let one little accident stop me from becoming a warrior?" He blinked at her, as though wanting to say more. Rainpaw looked away guilty.

"I don't think it was an accident, Wolfpaw."

Wolfpaw narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Before we started the mock fight, I got irritated because Stonepaw said you weren't a good fighter. So I pointed out that you had beaten him, and he got mad and just glared at me. Then after he had knocked you unconscious, he said... he said..." Rainpaw broke off, her voice choking with guilt.

Wolfpaw placed his tail on her shoulder. "You can tell me what happened, Rainpaw."

Rainpaw took a deep breath and spoke. "His exact words were 'I beat him. Do you think he's such a good fighter now? Wouldn't you want a strong tom to defend the Clan? To defend you? When you're expecting kits, who do you want to look out for you? Him?'"

Rainpaw stared at the green moss of the nest to avoid Wolfpaw's eyes. She'd caused his injury. He would never want to be her friend now. And if he didn't want to be her friend, they would definitely never be anything more than that. But Rainpaw would not admit, not even to herself, that she had thought about being Wolfpaw's mate.

When she glanced up, she saw Wolfpaw frown and narrow his eyes. She couldn't help herself, so she asked, "What do you think he meant?" Her ear flicked with uneasiness.

Wolfpaw looked back at her, as though just remembering she was there. He shook out his white chest fur and replied. "I think I might know." Seeing her questioning look, he quickly, and suspiciously, added, "It's got nothing to do with you, though."

Rainpaw nodded and yawned. The events of the day had tired her out. Wolfpaw seemed to sense this.

"You should sleep," he said.

"Are you sure? I don't want to get in trouble with Beesting." Rainpaw struggled to keep her eyes open.

Wolfpaw nodded and inched over in the nest to make room for her. She slid in next to him and settled herself. Wolfpaw curved himself comfortably around her, so that her spine pressed into his underside. The two apprentices faces were close to each other; they were breathing the same air. Wolfpaw curled his tail around Rainpaw and placed his folded foreleg protectively over her shoulder and chest. The gray tom's body was larger than the younger she-cat's, so her head was tucked under his chin and in front of his throat.

Rainpaw felt Wolfpaw's body curled around her with extreme awareness. She'd never been this close to another cat who wasn't her family, especially not a tomcat. At the same time, she felt very tired. She wanted to sleep and was being pulled ever closer towards her dreams.

But she only let herself succumb to the urge to rest when Wolfpaw said, "Goodnight Rainpaw. Sweet dreams. Don't worry, I'll be with you when you wake up." After an unsure pause, he added, "I'll always be with you." But by then Rainpaw was already dreaming with StarClan.

When Rainpaw awoke, she was happily surprised to see Wolfpaw still beside her. The apprentices' tails were twined and curled near the edge of the nest. Wolfpaw's foreleg was still lying over Rainpaw. His muzzle was resting over her head, their whiskers brushing.

Rainpaw squeezed her eyes shut for a second, wishing this moment could last forever. StarClan seemed to acknowledge her wish, at least for an instant: Wolfpaw opened his eyes sleepily and his gaze instantly snapped down to Rainpaw. Rainpaw stared dreamily up into his mismatched eyes. She could see her own green eyes reflected there.

"What's going on here?" A cat had entered the shadowed den. It was Strikepelt, Rainpaw's father. Another cat followed closely behind him. Rainpaw recognized Wolfpaw's father, Foxfang. Strikepelt's dark ginger fur was bristling around his shoulders, while Foxfang's brown tabby pelt was rather smooth. His look, however, was judgmental and cold.

Rainpaw's eyes shot to the small space between her and Wolfpaw, or rather, the absence of space. She untangled herself from the tom, hopped out of the nest, and swept a piece of moss off her flank with her tail. Wolfpaw lifted his head and glared at the intruding toms in defiance.

"Hello, Father. What are you doing here?" Rainpaw meowed meekly. She had always felt shy and nervous around her father because he was an important tom in the Clan. But now, as she stood under his judgement, she was scared.

Strikepelt cast his eyes around the den. They landed on the flattened nest and Wolfpaw. "I came to find you. You weren't in the apprentice den. Stormpaw said I could find you here. It seems it's a good thing I came."

Foxfang stepped forward and broke into Strikepelt's words. "I came to see my son. Well, now I see that he's perfectly okay. Okay enough, in fact, to have visitors." His gaze flicked towards Rainpaw and her father. Strikepelt gave him a mean look.

"Come on, Rainpaw. Let's go. We need to talk." The ginger tom stalked out of the den. Rainpaw followed with her head and tail drooping. She paused before stepping out into the clearing to shoot a yearning glance at Wolfpaw, but he was already speaking angrily with his father.