Warriors: Rainfeather's Honor

Chapter Eight

Strike, swerve, roll, leap, strike, duck, pin him down!

"I win!" Rainpaw meowed happily. Below her paws lay Reedflow, struggling to get up. Her battle training had been going so well that Beesting has had to call in other cats for her to practice with. So far, she'd beaten Swiftsprout, Doeleap, Bloomclaw, Beesting, Thrushswoop, Cedarwhisker, Waspwing, all of her own littermates, and, now, Reedflow.

Reedflow scrambled up and shuddered to get the sand off his shoulders. He turned to Beesting and meowed, "She's good. Have you tried her against Foxfang, Strikepelt, or Wolfpaw yet?"

Beesting shook his head. "She's going against Wolfpaw tomorrow. I'm afraid to let her fight Foxfang. He's so big, she'd probably get hurt. And I think Strikepelt would go easy on her."

Rainpaw snorted quietly. Strikepelt is the last cat to go easy on me.

Unfortunately, Beesting heard her snort and whipped his head around to look at her.

"What's so funny? Do you think Foxfang or Strikepelt would be easy to beat? Or Wolfpaw, for that matter? They are all very good and more experienced fighters than you. You may have inherited Strikepelt's fighting skills, but we already know that Wolfpaw will be a better fighter than his father, and maybe yours, too. So don't get overconfident yet. Overconfidence is what kills cats!"

Rainpaw's ears flattened and her tail dropped. She shocked by her mentor's rant. He'd never gotten mad at her like that.

"I wasn't laughing at that, Beesting. I just know that Strikepelt won't go easy on me, he never has," she said meekly.

Beesting's gaze softened immediately. "I'm sorry. I'm not mad, and I shouldn't have been so sharp with you. I just don't want you getting hurt. I've seen so many good fighters like you get overconfident when they become warriors. They go into battle thinking they can beat any cat, and they get seriously injured, or even killed. Like my brother was."

Rainpaw, like all young cats, had been told the legend of Sandwasp, Beesting's brother, the cat Waspwing was named after. Beesting and Sandwasp had just been dubbed warriors, when WinterClan attacked a SpringClan border patrol. SpringClan retaliated, and Sandwasp was struck down by the WinterClan deputy, Frostheart. Sandwasp was honored for his sacrifice, for most cats believed his death had caused them to win the battle.

"I promise I'll be careful." Rainpaw pledged as the three cats entered the camp.

"I know you will," he responded. "Get some rest. I know it's only sunhigh, but you're going to the Gathering tonight so you need to regain some energy."

Rainpaw skipped with excitement. "Okay, Beesting!"

As she headed to the shady spot under an alder where she normally groomed and rested, a dappled gray cat fell in step beside her. In the quarter moon since their first afternoon hunt, Riverstep had spent more and more time padding after her, fetching her fresh-kill, making sure she was always in the front at Clan meetings, and even grooming the hard-to reach spots on her silver-blue pelt. Rainpaw hated that Wolfpaw had to watch an older tom spending all his time with her, but Riverstep never took the hints that she didn't like him.

Rainpaw settled herself in her usual spot under the alder. Riverstep laid down near her, not quite next to her, but closer than he normally did. Rainpaw began grooming her paws, slowly moving up her foreleg with every lick. She could feel Riverstep looking at her.

He finally cleared his throat, indicating he was about to speak.

"Rainpaw," he began. The apprentice did not stop grooming; she could do what she wanted around this particular cat. Riverstep realized this and continued. "I think you know that I have been waiting for a while for a litter of she-cats, as I wanted a mate, and there were no unpaired she-cats in the Clan. This makes me older than you by quite a few seasons."