Ooooo, who is this mysterious 'Rain'? Read on to find out!
Rain
That night Twilight was woken again and again like the previous; by angry guards and crazy puppies. Multiple times Rai had to jump down and frighten them off, before joining her again.
In the morning she awoke slowly. The noise of waking wolves got louder and louder, and soon she couldn’t stand it. Twilight leapt off the bed and marched over to the door, exiting the cave. She trudged up the tunnel and came into the Alpha’s cave.
When she emerged she found no one was in the cave except Poderos’s mate. She looked up suddenly from her slumber and growled. “Oh, sorry…” Twilight started. She just realised she had never actually learned her name.
“Mangu.” She purred. “That is my name. Now, what are you doing out of your cave so early, pup?”
“Oh, it’s ever so noisy in there.” Replied Twilight. “May I…?
“Yes.” Said Mangu, curling back up. Twilight smiled and headed to the Under Caves. Maybe she could do some exploring. She walked down the tunnel, past all the boulder-covered entrances. The hall seemed to go forever. It got very dark and her path turned, and she was going ever deeper into the mountain.
The caves on either side were not blocked by boulders now, but barred doors like in the mountains. She couldn’t see anyone in them, and most of the doors were open. It was rather eerie. It was very dark, and the place seemed like it wasn’t ever used any more. The chamber was wide with a low roof, and the floor was dusty. The place smelled like rats, rock and filth.
As she kept going, Twilight felt she should turn back. But as she was about to, she suddenly heard scuttling claws on the rock from the tunnel.
“Twilight?” called a voice. Twilight went forward and peered into the faded light of where she had just walked. Then, just as she was about to go to see who is was, Rai came into her sight. She breathed a sigh of relief as he approached her. Moon came up behind him.
“I haven’t been gone very long.” Said Twilight, puzzled.
“Well, we were a bit annoyed too, and that ‘Mangu’ wolf told us you went down here.” Said Moon.
“We were bored.” Agreed Rai. Twilight smirked. As they sat down, Moon suddenly lifted her nose and pricked her ears.
“Do you sense that?” she said.
“What…?” asked Twilight, standing.
“That! I’ve never smelled it before. And… I hear mewing!” all of a sudden Moon took off into the dark of the tunnel.
“Moon!” cried Twilight, dashing after. Rai followed. They chased her down into the dark, when suddenly Rai bumped into Moon and fell over.
“Ouch!” he said, standing up again. Moon was standing very still in front of a barred cell. The two came up beside her and peered in. There, peering at them through the dark were two, yellow eyes. But they didn’t have round pupils like a wolf’s eye. They had little black slits, and they were a lot lower to the ground…
“Twilight, it’s a cat.” Whispered Moon. Twilight stared into the scared, helpless eyes of the creature. They did not blink. They stared right into the three perplexed wolves’ faces. As they kept watching, a mouth opened and let out a small ‘meow’.
“Why is it in here…?” said Rai.
“Let’s go in.” replied Twilight. She jumped up near where the door was shut into the rock, and ignoring Moon’s protests she yanked it open. The cat’s eyes began very wide in fear but stayed still as she approached. Her friends followed after and they all stood before the cat.
“Why are you in here?” asked Moon kindly.
“Um..” meowed the cat. A female.
“It’s OK…” soothed the wolf.
“I… failed.” Whispered the small creature as she trembled on the floor.
“Failed? At what?” asked Rai.
“It’s you! You’re the ones!” squealed the cat. It was too dark to see her expression, but she had bolted behind a boulder. “You!” she cried in terror. Twilight couldn’t understand.
“Who?” questioned Rai.
“I…I told them… you were in the forest…” she whispered.
“What?” said Rai.
“I told them!” screamed the cat. She was now crying, little tears glistening in her yellow eyes. “I saw you in the forest… I ran to the wolves and told you where you were…” she continued.
“When?” asked Twilight, beginning to know what she was talking about.
“After the first snow.” Hissed the cat. Without warning, Rai ran forward and clamped his jaws around her neck. She hissed and yowled loudly. Over the fur, Rai spoke.
“You told the Shadows where we were! In the forest! They caught us!” he snarled, shaking the furry ball around. She had brought her tail and back legs up and was scrunched up.
“No!” she sobbed. Rai roared and swung his head. As his jaws released, Moon shrieked at the sight of the poor cat being flung to the other side of the cave. She hit the wall with a thump.
“Shadow monster!” snarled Rai, approaching her. Moon squealed and ran forward. She leapt forward, blocking Rai’s path. Twilight came up beside him. She was in a bit of shock.
“Stop!” growled Moon. “We didn’t even ask,”
“We don’t need to!” barked Rai, baring his teeth.
“Rai!” snarled Moon, walking forward a bit. He backed, still with an angry expression. “How do you know she did it deliberately?” she persisted. As Rai was about to attempted to go past her, Moon turned and approached the cat.
“Are you OK?” she whispered. The black bundle opened her eyes. “What’s your name?”
“Rain.” She murmured. “They were going to kill my kittens.” Moon gasped. She shot Rai a nasty look.
“What happened?” Twilight asked. Moon gently picked up the dizzy creature and placed her upon a boulder.
“I was returning to my den after doing my job, and they came and seized me.” She said. “They accused me of not following Poderos’s orders, and I have absolutely no idea why… and they took me here. I’m sure they took my kittens. They’re gone.” Moon looked into her scared face in shock.
“Oh, you poor thing!” she cried, nuzzling Rain kindly. She gasped when the wolf came too close, but her expression softened as she felt her warm, sooty fur. Twilight smiled.
Suddenly there were footsteps from up the tunnel. The four of them looked quickly towards the door in fright.
“Quick, a guard!” yelped Rai. They ran to the door and went through, standing before it. Twilight stopped it from swinging open with her back leg just as the guard came into sight.
“What are you pups doing?” he snarled.
“Um, just… checking on the prisoner!” said Rai with an awkward smile. The guard looked at him suspiciously, then nodded and walked away.
Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, then turned back into the cell. “Hey, we’re on a rescue mission at the moment, and I promise to make sure you are with us when we leave. OK?” she said. Rain looked up at her gratefully, her whole body shaking with weakness.
“Thank you.” She whispered.
“Oh, you need food!” said Moon. “When we go back up I’ll bring you something to eat.” And with one last smile the small pack left the cave. Twilight shut the door with a rock so it wasn’t completely locked and the three walked back up the tunnel.