encore [c]

In life, Rainstrike had done a lot of traveling. After being exiled from ThunderClan, the pointed tabby she-cat had made her way all around the clans' territory... ShadowClan, WindClan, SkyClan, RiverClan... the dirt of them all had come and gone from beneath her paws, and this morning, it was the timbers of SkyClan that called to her. Morningstar was there, with his family, but she had no real interest in either. An amused smile played at her scarred lips at the memory of their battle all those moons ago... her, Beechfang, and and Morningstar... though they'd been Beechpaw and Dawnpaw then.

Where would we be today if I'd murdered the little furballs when I had the chance? Hero of the clans, probably... though they'd of course have had no idea that Dawnpaw would grow... and die, to become Morningstar. Rainstrike didn't have too strong of an opinion one way or another - Morningstar was a means to an end, as most things were to the former ThunderClanner. Oakstar, Jaydream, every single one of her kits... they all had a purpose and for the most part, they'd served it. The only cat she'd ever cared about had been taken from her by StarClan... and the only other one that had come close... well... she'd been a letdown, too. Dustcloud. Rainstrike's claws slid from their sheathes and into the wet dirt. How her grandmother still had the gall to draw breath in this forest. If I didn't have other priorities... I'd be in ThunderClan bathing in your blood, too.

Suddenly agitated, she raked her claws against the bark of a tree, exhaling heavily through her nostrils, and with the fresh inhale, came the scent of SkyClan. Rainstrike froze, a grin replacing the anger on her face as she slunk through the underbrush to get closer. It was a patrol - hunting, probably - and as the sleek tabby emerged from the bushes, her single eye fixed on a familiar pelt... "Beechfang... how nice to see you again."

Beechfang's jaws closed around the neck of a bluejay, and the catch was quickly buried for later before the massive, scarred tabby continued forward. She'd chosen to hunt near the Shadowclan border, refreshing scent-markers as she went. Dawnhawk had given the fallen oak to Thunderclan, it seemed, and Skyclan needed to protect what territory they could. the foul scent of the dark forest cats that accompanied her was something she was slowly beginning to get used to, but the scent that wafted from across the border was not. It certainly wasn't Shadowclan, either. After a moment the form it belonged to became visible through the trees, and Beechfang came to a stop. The white and gray tabby was a bit too far into Skyclan's territory, but that wasn't all that concerned Beechfang.

A flicker of vague recognition sparked in her eye after a moment of observing the shadowy figure. "You." Beechfang snorted, "Could've saved us all a lot of trouble if you'd killed my littermate all those moons ago." There was a hint of amusement in her tone as she spoke, though she made no move toward the other she-cat and eyed her warily, even so.

"How bizarre, dear, I was just thinking the same thing," Rainstrike purred, moving from the shadow of the foliage to a position more out in the open. She tilted her head at Beechfang, and it went just a little too far to the side to be natural. "However... your kin has done us a great service," she tipped her chin towards the ghastly things that haunted Beechfang's trail, grinning to herself as she edged closer. "It had grown quite boring there before Morningstar gave us this beautiful opportunity."

Half a fox-length away, Rainstrike sat down, lifting a paw to rasp her tongue across it, and curling her tail around the other three. She drew it across her cheek, pausing a moment to survey Beechfang. "That said, it looks like the stars have not been kind to you, Beechfang... have you considered that perhaps you're on the wrong side, dear? I could put in a good word... if you want me to, of course. Wouldn't dream of overstepping."

"Starclan-" Beechfang sneered, tone venomous, "-can stay gone. We'll all be better off.". It would be useless to point out that the dark forest wasn't much of a better choice either, of course. For they were here, they were the ones walking the lands of the living and holding power over them. Starclan could stay banished, for all she cared.

"Looks like they weren't kind to you either, hmm? How does a twolegplace rogue wind up in the dark forest, anyways?" As far as she'd known, the cat in front of her had been a clan cat... She'd just been a scrawny, brutish rogue to the hotheaded apprentice Beechfang had once been.

A hint of amusement shone in Rainstrike's eye as Beechfang cursed StarClan, but her expression turned sour as the SkyClanner went on to ask how she'd ended up in the Dark Forest. The pointed tabby spat, the shadows swirling around her angrily. "I was born no rogue... ThunderClan was my home until those cowards cast me out for being vocal about our weaknesses as a clan. I tried to make them stronger... I gave half my face to protect them... and in return got nothing but scorn."

Her tail whipped angrily. "They put too much faith in StarClan," she continued bitterly. "'StarClan will guide us,' they say... 'StarClan will show us the way,'" Rainstrike raked her claws across the forest floor, picturing Oakstar's neck opening up beneath them. "You've done well to abandon their influence."

Beechfang couldn't quite hide her surprise at the she-cat's words. She'd been a warrior, then. And apparently had gone just an unappreciated as Beechfang had been during her time as a medicine cat. How rich. "Thunderclan, you? Mossbloom finished my training after I was forced into being a medicine cat. Sagelight was so sure of that stupid dream he had. He acted as if picking flowers and watching as my clanmates died one by one with no way of actually stopping it was some noble calling. As if waiting for the stars to actually give some sort of useful information rather than cryptic foxdung was something to enjoy. Like I'd be grateful for everything I wanted in life being against the code for medicine cats." A snort of disgust left her. "They struck me with lightning because of two idiot apprentices at a gathering, and before that lectured me when we attacked Windclan for harboring Dawnhawk. They've never guided anything but conflict and they've never shown the way to anything. They've proven over and over that they don't care about anything but their ego. Being cut off from them was the most restful my sleep has ever been. At least Bloodstar understood that much." Beechfang muttered, not that that understanding had stopped Bloodstar from getting his throat torn out by Dawnhawk, of course. "Even Mossbloom understood where I was coming from. Some cats are still completely blind to it and will stay that way. There's no reasoning with fanatics." Truly, Beechfang thought, there was something freeing about not listening to or caring about the stars that had been blacked out of the sky.

"I don't care for the dead either way, you'd all fill your ranks if you could." She continued, "But at least most of you aren't going to judge someone for breaking Starclan's precious code, right?"