| abstract | - "Are you sure this is okay?" Dawnpaw repeated for the thousandth time. Rainsplash gave her apprentice a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, Dawnpaw. These are on Blackstar's orders. Besides, DarkClan needs our help." Ashfoot turned to give them both a silencing glare. She was poised tentatively on the border of her old territory, listening for any blood warrior patrols. Usually, this would be a bad thing, but the FireClan cats wanted a couple of blood warriors to stop by. So they could kill them. Next to Rainsplash, Infernoclaw worked his long claws into the ground, getting himself ready for battle. She sniffed the air, waiting for the telltale foul scent of a blood warrior. "What if they don't come?" Dawnpaw asked out loud. Suddenly, before she could answer the apprentice's question, Rainsplash picked it up. The smell. "Get down!" she hissed. The four cats ducked beneath a large hazel bush, eyes wide with apprehension. A few minutes later, just when she was beginning to think she was wrong, Rainsplash saw them. Two blood warriors, side by side, eyes alert and jaws laden with prey. Despite the obvious evil in their eyes, she felt her belly clench. She was about to kill cats. Wasn't that against the warrior code? Shaking away her doubts, she reminded herself that a true warrior would also do anything for his or her Clan. Anything. As the blood warriors sniffed the border apprehensively, Ashfoot began creeping forward slowly, Infernoclaw at her heels. The gray-and-white she-cat signaled for Dawnpaw and Rainsplash to go around the other side, so they could trap the enemy cats between them. Nodding to show she understood, Rainsplash led her apprentice around the left of the two cats, her eyes trained on her targets. Just then, one of the blood warriors, a large brown tabby called Crusher, raised his head and opened his mouth to yowl an alarm. He never got the chance. Ashfoot was on him in a charcoal-colored blur. "Attack!" Rainsplash screeched, diving on top of the she-cat next to Crusher. Her opponent was strong, but once Dawnpaw joined in, the white cat was outmatched. Just as she was about to let the cat- Ghost, she believed her name was- free, Rainsplash remembered with a jolt what they were here to do. Her apprentice seemed to realize it too. The violet washed out of her eyes, leaving them bleak and gray with horror. "We... kill her." Helplessly, Rainsplash nodded, numb to the feel of the white she-cat's claws as she writhed in a desperate bid for freedom. "I- I'll do it." She couldn't bear Dawnpaw having to do such a gruesome task at such a young age. No apprentice deserved that. Aware that Ashfoot and Infernoclaw had already shredded Crusher and left him lying limp, Rainsplash fastened her jaws on her enemy's throat and bit down, feeling life-blood explode in her mouth like a plea to stop. But she didn't. She couldn't. It was too late. "Are you okay?" It was Stoneclaw, his eyes sympathetic and warm. She turned away, still shuddering from the feeling of warm, sticky blood filling her mouth, and the sickening taste of fur and turn flesh. How am I any better then Bloodstar? Is DarkClan worth this? Her former mentor nudged her gently. "It's okay Rainsplash. You did what needed to be done." Raising her head, she met his gray eyes hopelessly. "But at what price?" He shook his head gently, and she knew he had no real answer to that. "We must follow our hearts, and the warrior code. Sacrifices are always in order. But they're worth it." He laid his tail on her back. "I trust Blackstar, and I believe he wouldn't make FireClan cats do something he wasn't willing to do himself, or something that they couldn't handle." Rainsplash nodded weakly, then got up. "I think I'm going to take a little rest," she said softly. "Good idea." However, as she made her way to the warrior's den, a cat intercepted her. Her eyes traveled up the tortoiseshell markings, till she was staring into a clear pair of light amber eyes. "Hi Cinderflower," she said without any enthusiasm. Her sister's face clouded with pain. "I'm sorry Rainsplash." The words barely registered. "Sorry for what?" Cinderflower shuffled her paws. "For getting mad at you when you tried to tell me not to see Glazefoot. I-" She looked regretfully up at the sky. "I can't stop seeing him. That's one thing I can't promise you. But... I was wrong to get so angry." Despite her misery, a warm feeling coursed through Rainsplash's veins. She leaned forward and touched her nose to her sister's shoulder. "It's okay. I was a bit too overbearing as well. I didn't try to understand. I just didn't get how you could fall for a tom like that, and be willing to risk so much." There was wisdom in Cinderflower's voice as she mewed, "Someday you will love a tom, and you'll understand." Rainsplash snored. "I doubt that. No tom could make me feel like that." And she was sure she was telling the truth.
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