Resurging Rain

Author's Note
This is my first actual fan fiction (besides the Allegiences for this story [Rainkit's Prophecy: Allegiences]), so I hope you enjoy it! All positive feedback is welcomed. :)

Chapter One
"Get off me," groaned Rainkit. A heavy dark brown tom was laying on her, and she shoved him off. "Mosskit!"

Mosskit woke with a start. His head brushed the bramble bush under which was the nursery, and he glared at his younger denmate before rolling over in his nest of moss and bracken, snuggling closer to his mother, Orchidtail, and his sister, Littlekit, before falling back asleep with his paw over his ears.

Now that she was awake, Rainkit peered out of the nursery and saw warriors trotting back and forth, and a large tortoiseshell she-cat sitting on top of the Highledge, grooming her paws, while a dark gray tom paced beneath her, giving her a report.

The tortoiseshell she-cat leaped down into the hollow of the camp, and called to the tom. "Pebblecloud, assemble a border patrol, if you will, make sure all's quiet on the ShadowClan border. I'm going to lead a hunting patrol. Weaselnose! Get Scorchpaw. You're going to come on a hunting patrol with Firepaw and myself!"

A dark ginger tom, who was washing himself next to the warriors' den, looked up and nodded to his leader. "Will do, Twilightstar." He poked his head into a crevice in the tall cliff rising up around the camp, and called, "Scorchpaw! Get up! We're going on a hunting patrol!"

Moments later a dark red she-cat came padding out, blearily blinking sleep from her tired eyes, but brightened when she saw her sister, a ginger she-cat, standing next to the leader. "Firepaw!"

"You're up early," purred Firepaw, nuzzling her sister. She looked up at Twilightstar, who was also her mentor. "Where are we going to go?"

"How about the abandoned Twoleg Nest?" ventured Weaselnose. "That's always rich in prey."

"Great idea," mewed Twilightstar. "Come on."

Rainkit drew her head back into the nursery. Her mother, Stormflight, was still snoring loud as a badger, so Rainkit settled down and began to wash her paws. Even though it was almost sunhigh, the queens and the kits were still asleep, though Littlekit appeared to be stirring, her cream-colored pelt gleaming slightly in the sunlight that cascaded through the arms of the bramble bush.

"Rainkit!"

Rainkit jerked around towards the camp when she heard a cat call her name, but no cat was looking towards the nursery. She went back to washing her paws.

"Rainkit!"

The voice again. Rainkit poked her head out of the nursery, and glanced both ways, but again, saw no cat.

"Rainkit!" Rainkit looked up to see a light gray she-cat with starry fur sitting in the nursery next to a darker gray cat and a strong, golden-brown cat. "Rainkit."

Rainkit began to tremble, but the she-cat smiled kindly. "It's okay, little one. We have come to you to tell you something."

"About the Great Battle," interrupted the darker gray tom, whose blue eyes glinted sightlessly. "The Dark Forest and some bitter, neglected, left out cats against the rest of us and StarClan."

"The battle in which all three of us died," mewed the golden cat. "I am Lionblaze, Rainkit. I couldn't be injured in battle, but that battle was one in which I was destined to get hurt...and I died."

"I am Jayfeather. I was a medicine cat, and I could see in my dreams. I also had a special connection with cats of the past..."

"And I am Dovewing. My senses are stronger than other cats, and I can extend them far away, I can see things at the edge of the forest, hear conversations in other camps," meowed the pale silver-gray she-cat.

"Together," chorused all three. "We are the Three."

Jayfeather turned to Lionblaze, and Dovewing settled down beside Stormflight, licking her gently between the ears. "This is my great granddaughter," Dovewing mewed. She turned her pale golden gaze on Rainkit. "You are my great-great-granddaughter. My daughter's son's daughter is Stormflight. My sister is Ivypool."

"Ivypool?" Rainkit gasped. Ivypool was one of the elders, the oldest in the Clan. She was virtually blind, and half deaf.

"Yes, Ivypool," mewed Dovewing, a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. "She is one of the only survivors of the Great Battle."

"How come she survived?" breathed Rainkit, her green eyes wide.

"Because she was a traitor, at the beginning," growled Jayfeather, and Dovewing whipped around, her neck fur beginning to bristle.

"She was not a traitor!" hissed Dovewing. "She didn't know." She turned to Rainkit. "My sister had joined the Dark Forest at the beginning, not knowing what htey were planning because she felt neglected. She didn't know why I was receiving special attention, and it made her feel terrible. I didn't know why, and we frequently fought about it. In the end, I told her, and Lionblaze and Jayfeather convinced her to spy for us on the Dark Forest. The Dark Forest believed she was on their side for the whole battle. They never realized that she was killing the Dark Forest cats, because none of them ever lived to tell the others."

"Wow."

"And then, of course, we were killed as well," interjected Jayfeather. "By Tigerstar, no less."

"You were killed by Tigerstar. Brokenstar has vanished out of the Dark Forest for good. He's faded. But we were both killed in the end," Lionblaze said with a sigh. "If only we had lived."

"You might have been dead by now," reminded Dovewing.

Rainkit just stared at the Three fearfully. "So why are you....why did you come to me?"

"You have a great destiny, Rainkit," said Jayfeather, turning his blind gaze on the kit, who flinched. "But fire, yes, fire, will be your destruction. Be warned."

"Like Firepaw?" echoed Rainkit, but the three cats were already fading, as Stormflight sat up.

"Rainkit, just who are you talking to?"

"StarClan," muttered Rainkit, too low for her mother to hear.

And then she realized: She had forgotten to ask the Three who had won the battle.

Chapter Two
"Littlekit! Littlekit, get back here! Don't get under Nightfire's paws!"

Orchidtail's mew jerked Rainkit awake, and she peered around in the gloom of the nursery. It was just after dawn, and Littlekit was already working with the medicine cat. Rainkit could tell that her denmate wanted to be a medicine cat and not a warrior.

My apprentice ceremony! remembered Rainkit with a jolt. It was her sixth moon, and she was excited for her ceremony.

"I'm glad we waited for you," mewed Mosskit sarcastically. "It's been so much fun being stuck in the nursery for an extra moon, waiting for you to become an apprentice."

"You didn't have to wait," retaliated Rainkit, but after seeing the dismay in Mosskit's teasing eyes, she instantly regretted her words. Littlekit and Mosskit had been kind enough to wait for her so she wouldn't be left alone in the nursery, but Flowertail would be kitting soon...she was still grateful, however.

Almost all of the apprentices had become warriors as well, mind the exception of Scorchpaw, who was still recovering from a deep wound as well as a sprained paw that she had gotten over two moons ago from a ShadowClan warrior. Firepaw had become Firepelt, Moonpaw Moonshadow, Fernpaw Fernfur, and Pinepaw Pinewillow.

"Your ceremony's going to be at sunhigh, Twilightstar said," mewed Stormflight sleepily. "Go outside. You're as excited as a newborn kit."

Rainkit bounced out of the nursery with Mosskit on her paws. Littlekit had pretended not to hear her mother and had continued helping Nightfire mix herbs.

"Attack!" screeched Mosskit, and, as Rainkit turned around, alarmed, she was bowled over by the muscular brown scrap of fur. The two wrestled for a moment, before a haughty voice wrenched them apart.

"Kits fighting already?" It was Firepelt. Rainkit leaped away from Mosskit and dusted herself off. "Or are you just in love?"

"Shut up," hissed Rainkit. Firepelt pretended to be offended, but still looked smug.

"Show some respect, kit," she growled, putting as much contempt in the last word as she could. She stalked off, and Mosskit stared back at her, affronted. Rainkit remembered that she was his sibling from an older litter, and realized it musn't feel good to have a mean show-off for a sister.

"When did she get so mean?" inquired Mosskit, licking his chest fur with embarrasment. "We've always gotten along well...she always wanted to advise me, and she helped me with my hunter's crouch, and told me about the warrior code and how nothing is more important..." He trailed off, sharing an awkward glance with Rainkit. The two inched away from each other.

"I think I hear Stormflight calling my name," lied Rainkit. She darted into the nursery.

"Yeah...me too," mumbled Mosskit, and he trotted over to the fresh-kill pile, snatching a shrew off the top of it.

***

"Rainkit, you have reached the age of six moons and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Rainpaw. Your mentor will be Firepelt. I hope she passes on all she knows to you."

Firepelt's jaw dropped.

However, the young warrior rested her muzzle on Rainpaw's head, and Rainpaw reluctantly licked her mentor's shoulder. When she backed away to stand next to Mosspaw, whose mentor was Blackpelt, and Littlepaw, who, as predicted, was standing next to Nightfire with happiness radiating from her eyes and pelt.

Firepelt began to smile.

Chapter Three
"No! Lower!" snapped Firepelt. "How many times, Rainpaw?"

Rainpaw flattened herself to the ground. "Higher!" Rainpaw raised her hindquarters a few centimeters. Firepelt sat back.

Rainpaw had been practicing her hunting crouch since dawn when she had gotten back from the dawn patrol, and it was almost sunhigh. She was itching to sink her claws into some kind of prey before she raked them across her smug mentor's face.

"Now try and catch that mouse over there," Firepelt ordered. Rainpaw slid forward, not lifting her paws from the mossy ground to create less noise.

Rainpaw stopped and tasted the air. The scent of fresh-kill was blowing straight towards her, so far, so good: she could smell the mouse; the mouse couldn't smell her.

"Pounce!" Firepelt's mew was loud and clear, and Rainpaw saw the mouse freeze, its tiny paws still clasped around the seed it was eating. Rainpaw became as still as the trees around her, slunk forward a few more tail-lengths, and pounced, landing with her paws squarely on the mouse's back, stunning it. She killed it with a quick nip to the spine.

Firepelt nodded somewhat grudgingly, but there was appreciation in her eyes. "Not too bad," she remarked. "I can taste squirrel. Go catch me one. Don't go past the Sky Oak."

Firepelt darted off. "See if you can catch a squirrel before I catch a bird!" she called. Rainpaw didn't have time to explain to her mentor that since it was greenleaf already, shouldn't there be more prey towards the Sky Oak, which annually shed acorns?

However, Rainpaw was determined to beat her mentor for once. She sat back, tasted the air, and immediately smelled squirrel to her left, away from the Sky Oak, but not beyond. The tabby apprentice darted forward, silent as a snake.

She spotted the squirrel, nibbling on an acorn that it had probably scavenged from beneath the boughs of the Sky Oak. The squirrel was sitting down on a rock, its bushy tail fluffed out, sitting right in front of a large opening, similar to that of a tunnel, but darker and seeming more mysterious.

Rainpaw listened. The squirrel had tensed, despite the fact that Rainpaw was downwind of it. It had scented something from inside the tunnel...something sinister. It fled before Rainpaw had the chance to pounce, and within moments she was faced with the largest creature she had seen so far in her seven moons.

The creature was red like Socrchpaw, but massive, with black paws, pointed ears, huge, slavering jaws and a bushy red tail that was tipped with white.

"Rainpaw! Run!" And Rainpaw ran.

She could tell that the fox was pelting after her, and she did her best to attempt to lead it away from the camp, though her efforts failed when, as she hared past the thorn barrier, many cat-lengths from the entrance, the fox halted, gazing at the thorn barrier, than growled, barked triumphantly, and plunged into the camp.

"Stormflight! Orchidtail! Stay in the nursery!" A yowl came from inside the camp.

"FOX!" yowled Scorchpaw. "Nightfire, fox! Save the supplies!"

"I'll defend you, Scorchpaw!" cried Littlepaw, and she planted herself in front of the nursery as Rainpaw skidded into camp behind the fox.

"Rainpaw? Rainpaw, where are you?" wailed a frightened voice. "Rainpaw, come back!"

Rainpaw stopped and turn, recognizing the voice. Firepelt. And then everything went black.

***

Rainpaw awoke to a pale gray face swimming in the air above her, and two other cats joined the first.

"D-Dovewing? Lionblaze? Jayfeather? What are you...? Am I--am I dead?" Rainpaw's voice trembled, but Dovewing consoled her.

"No, little one, you are not dead...it is not your time yet," Dovewing mewed gently.

"What about Firepelt? Is she okay?" For once, Rainpaw was concerned for her mentor, who had obviously known about the fox and the squirrel.

"Firepelt's okay. She's resting beside you, you know," snapped Jayfeather gruffly, gesturing with his tail to a ginger figure lying next to him in the medicine den.

"Why--?" But the StarClan cats seemed to know what she was thinking.

"Firepelt was hiding up a tree nearby. She had hoped that by saving you, her apprentice, she would be able to be more honored by her Clanmates. She feels neglected next to her brother Moonpaw, Moonshadow, who is always getting compliments because he was the deputy's apprentice, and she felt like she should be getting special treatment because she was the leader's apprentice. Her path is not an easy one, and we urge you not to make it harder," Lionblaze said with a cough. "I'm sorry, Rainpaw."

"Can I go back now?" Rainpaw pleaded. "I want to tell Firepelt I'm sorry. We'll have to be better friends, we're mentor and apprentice!"

"Oh, little Rainpaw," Dovewing said softly. "You will never be friends. Only one of you can live. Fire and Rain must douse each other to see who will win."

***

Rainpaw woke up with a jolt, her head colliding with Littlepaw's paw. The cream apprentice jumped back in alarm.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried. "I was just looking for some thyme...you know, for shock. Also, some cobwebs, you're kind of bleeding a lot, I mean the fox did grab you, thank goodness only Blackpelt and Appleleaf are the only other ones hurt as well as Firepelt, I mean, not that it's good that they're hurt, but, you know, that more cats aren't hurt, and it must have been so terrifying facing that fox, I mean...oh, yes, poppy seeds, you might want that for your shock as well, I mean, you're probably shocked and confused, and poppy seeds will give you a whole lot of nice sleep, and maybe some foxglove seeds? Oh no, no, no, not foxglove that's poisonous! Remember, Littlepaw, foxglove is poisonous! Bad foxglove, bad foxglove, bad foxglove," rambled Littlepaw, then stepped back when she saw Rainpaw looking dazed.

"How do you remember all of that?"

"Well, normally I'm a whole lot better, but today--"

"Um, actually, don't answer that," mewed Rainpaw. "I'm okay." She tried to sit up, but Nightfire pushed a firm paw back down on her chest from where she was checking on Firepelt.

"No, Rainpaw, you're not okay. You're suffering from serious shock, you're confused, and you've sprained your hind paw. You are most certainly not all right," mewed Nightfire firmly. "Now, Littlepaw, give her the poppy seeds and I'll make her a leaf wrap for when she gets up. "

"I don't need--"

But Nightfire shoved the leaf containing the poppy seeds into Rainpaw's face, and the apprentice had no choice but to lick them up and fall alseep to the soothing sound of the bubbling pool in the back of the medicine den.

Chapter Four
Rainpaw's claws scored the trunk of the tree as she struggled for the next pawhold. She heaved herself sideways onto a branch, and then sat at the top of the tree staring down at her substitute mentor.

Moonshadow was talking with Owlstorm, who was laughing. Rainpaw gave a triumphant yowl. "Firepelt never would've let me climb this high!"

Moonshadow shared an embarrased glance with Owlstorm. The young silver tom was standing in for her mentor as Firepelt was complaining of a bellyache as well as her tail hurting. The fox had bitten half of it off as she fought it in the camp, she claimed. Nightfire said she had found a bunch of ginger fur left on some brambles.

"Should I tell her to get down?" Moonshadow asked the older warrior anxiously. Owlstorm shook her head.

"It's good practice," shrugged Owlstorm. She also looked fairly worried, but the reason why became apparent within the next few moments as she whispered in Moonshadow's ear, "I'm afraid she doesn't have that good of a relationship with Firepelt. I've found the two spitting at each other during battle practice. I'm worried that one day Firepelt will just go too far..."

Rainpaw leaped lightly down to stand beside her stand-in mentor and the senior warrior. "Hi. Can we hunt?"

Owlstorm nodded. "See if you can bring me back a mouse and a bird."

Rainpaw slunk away, her tail sticking straight out like a stick, sliding her paws over the ground. Her ears were pricked for any sound of movement, her mouth open to try and detect the scent of prey.

The apprentice padded towards the ShadowClan border. Above her, she heard a bird singing on a branch. Itfluttered down right in front of Rainpaw's nose, and she snagged it wth a claw before biting its spine and killing it. She buried a hole and scraped earth over her catch, before sitting up and staring out over ShadowClan land.

There was a black feather on her nose, which made her sneeze. An eerie silence fell over the air, like there was no an absence of voices. A twig snapped to her left, and she turned, seeing a familiar ginger pelt leaning over the border towards a dark ginger tom.

"I'll meet you tomorrow," said a swift voice.

"Please! Don't go..." The familiarity of the second voice rang in Rainpaw's ears as she sat on a pile of leaves, frozen, listening to Firepelt talk to a cat that smelled so awful it burned Rainpaw's nose.

When Rainpaw was sure that Firepelt had gone, she crept through the trees and saw a dark ginger tom sitting on his side of the border, washing his paws. He was on ShadowClan land, but he was obviously not a warrior.

"What are you doing?" Rainpaw asked in a sharp voice, trying to stay hidden so that the tom assumed there were cats bigger, stronger, and more powerful than she.

"Washing my paws..." replied the cat, staring into a branch over the ThunderClan border. "Show yourself!"

Rainpaw nervously stepped out. "My...my mentor's gone for help, you know!" she stammered. "There might be more of you around!"

The cat cocked his head. "And why would there be more of us? I come alone."

"You're...you're a kittypet! I've heard stories about...I can't...you might...I can't trust you!"

"Loner," corrected the tom quickly. "But why? Why can't you trust me? Because I was meeting with a cat from your own Clan? Firepelt's a lovely warrior, you know."

"She tried to kill me!"

"Did she?"

"I...I..."

"My name's Tiger. Meet me at moonhigh."

Chapter Five
The sun was high in the sky by the time Rainpaw woke up. She had decided not to go meet Tiger at moonhigh, so she wouldn't be betraying her Clan. She would just have to find out more.

Rainpaw was pacing the spot where she had seen Tiger before, and, soon enough, he showed up on ShadowClan territory.

"I waited for you at moonhigh you know," he mewed in the same matter-of-fact voice he had used the day before.

"I couldn't come! I'm already betraying my Clan by meeting you," Rainpaw hissed. "How'd you find out about Firepelt? Why do you like her so much?"

"You don't...you don't know?" mewed Tiger disbelievingly. "You don't know about...about me? I was Tigershine, I was the greatest warrior, but then I was exiled from ThunderClan!"

"Why?"

"I'll explain in a moment...but you seriously don't know? You've been listening to the elders for over six moons, and you don't know about me?"

Rainpaw shook her head. "But tell me about Firepelt. Why's she so special to you?"

Tiger sat back on his haunches, and stared at the sky. "Firepelt and I...well, she was Firepaw then, but Firepelt and I go way back. Ever since I...well, I used to be ShadowClan, you know, but I loved Firepelt so I moved to ThunderClan. My father was leader of ShadowClan then...and Firepelt's father was deputy before Pebblecloud, so we were both quite close to th leaders, in relationships...but then there was this horrible, horrible battle between ThunderClan and ShadowClan. So many ShadowClan warriors suffered wounds from the brambles and the claws of ThunderClan warriors that most of the fighting cats died. My own father had lost a life from an infected belly wound during that battle. But anyways...why I was exiled? I had to choose between saving Twilightstar and saving my father. My new Clan leader, or my own flesh-and-blood? My father was on his last life....but I didn't know how many Twilightstar had left. You can imagine the choice I made."

"Your father?" whispered Rainpaw, and Tiger nodded.

"Twilightstar lost a life, and Firepelt's father exiled me in the name of Twilightstar, who was still recovering from her death...she still has plenty more to go, however, at least three...but anyways, Firepelt is special...she's had a troubled past, Rainpaw. I'll tell you everything, if you like."

Rainpaw sat back and nodded.

"Firepelt was born to two cats, named Shiningtail and Willowfern. Shiningtail was a WindClan cat, and Willowfern a RiverClan cat. They both moved to ThunderClan to split their differences, pretending to be loners by disguising their scents when they stumbled onto the territory. Firepelt wasn't even a moon old when the two decided to leave her with ThunderClan. Shiningtail proved himself to be a talented warrior, fit for hunting mice, shrews, and birds as well as rabbits. He quickly rose to the position of deputy under Twilightstar. Firepelt didn't even know she was half-Clan...not even a drop ThunderClan, until recently," meowed Tiger. "And...and Firepelt was so torn when she realized that she was half-Clan. She was always so loyal to the warrior code...and...do you want to know why she was so bitter...why she's so...so aggravated and annoyed with you? Why she hates you so much?"

Rainpaw nodded cautiously. Tiger gave her a small smile.

"I can't tell you that now, Rainpaw."

"But--"

"Not now, little one. In time. Now go back to your Clanmates and be nice to your mentor."

Rainpaw hunted on her way back, so as not to arouse suspicion, and brought back two starlings and a squirrel.

Just as she was carrying the prey back into camp did she realize: she had never, not once, mentioned her name to Tiger.

Chapter Six
Coming soon!