Falling With the Rain

~ That One Small Cat ~

Rainsong's POV

I was quietly cleaning my ears and waiting for Whitestorm to return. He hadn't told me very much, which was odd of him, only that he was going with Lionheart for a sort of patrol. When I finally caught his scent re-entering the camp, I looked up and was hit by a less pleasant kittypet smell.

As Bluestar called the meeting, I planted myself near the back of the crowd of cats, like usual. Bluestar was about to start talking when a familiar white puffy pelt pressed beside mine.

"Welcome back," I whispered

He merely gave me a twitch of the ear to acknowledge my words. I then turned around to pay attention.

Rusty's POV

I had firmly stayed seated where I was, Lionheart flanked me from one side. Whitestorm on the other paw, padded over to the back where a pale tortoiseshell and white spotted she-cat was seated. For a brief moment after she had murmured something to Whitestorm, her pale clear blue eyes met mine. Her eyes pierced me like a claw or even a tooth impaling my skin. I gulped, this would be one hard she-cat to prove myself to. But the next second, her eyes were on Bluestar, as if she had never looked at me in the first place...

As soon as Bluestar had announced that I was willing to become an apprentice, some pale tabby decided it would be nice to state that I was rather 'lucky' than 'willing'.

But Bluestar ignored the tabby and addressed all of her Clan. "Lionheart and Whitestorm have met this young cat, and they agree with me that we should train him with the other apprentices."

I looked up at Lionheart, then back at the Clan, to find all eyes were on me now. My fur prickled and I swallowed nervously. There was silence for a moment. I was sure they must all be able to hear my heart pulsing and smell my fear-scent. Now a deafening crescendo of caterwauling rose from the crowd.

All that caterwauling were protests and questions as to where I was from. I found myself looking at the pale tortoiseshell at the back. She was silent compared to all of her clanmates, but her eyes were piercing through me as if to look at my soul. I stifled a shudder as the pale tabby decided to finally remark that I used to be a kittypet.

Lionheart bent down and hissed into my ear, "That tabby is Longtail. He smells your fear. They all do. You must prove to him and the other cats that your fear won't hold you back."

But I couldn't move, how was I ever supposed to prove myself to these fearsome cats? Just that she-cat in the back would be hard enough to prove myself to!

The tabby continued to jeer at me, as well as the existence of my collar.

Lionheart hissed into my ear once more: "Do you back down from a challenge?"

I continued to stay still, but this time I was trying to find Longtail from amongst the many cats. I finally found him near a dusky brown queen. (lol that would be Robinwing, Longtail's mother, as well as Rainsong's, Brindleface's, Frostfur's, Dustpaw's and Ravenpaw's.)

I flattened my ears, narrowed my eyes and, hissed, leaping through the startled cats to fling myself onto my tormentor. Longtail was completely unprepared for my attack. He staggered sideways, losing his footing on the hard-baked earth. Filled with rage and desperate to prove myself, I dug my claws deep into the tabby cat's fur and sank in my teeth. No subtle rituals of swiping and boxing preceded this fight. We both were locked in a screaming, writhing tussle that flipped and somersaulted around the clearing at the heart of the camp. The other cats had to spring out of the way to avoid the screeching whirlwind of fur.

Before I knew it, Longtail held on to my collar. I struggled to get out of his grip, or maybe even just out of the collar. I felt the collar tightening as I continued to struggle. Finding myself unable to breath, I started to struggle more, but that only made it worse. Finally I summoned all the strength I could and pushed forward, snapping that wretched collar.