Rainfall

Appearance
Rainfall the Shimmering Star, Captain of River Colony, or Rainfall, is a light gray speckled she-cat with sharp blue eyes. She is spiky and sleek with muscular legs, wide paws, a long, sloped muzzle, and pointed ear tips. Her tail plumes at the end. Her pale gray markings are mostly the same on both sides, but her left side has extra spots beneath her eyes and on her flank.

Personality
Rainfall was trained by Frozenpool to be cold, detached, and ruthless - but also intelligent and persuasive. From this training, Rainfall also became sinister, power-tripping, and ambitious. While Rainfall is perfectly capable of fighting her own battles, she lets Iceclaw do the dirty work for her. As shown in the first chapter of Shifting Roots, Rainfall is snobby, arrogant, and insensitive, making snarky comments and being dismissive over the murder of Sunfire and Breezeheart despite Sunfire's mother, Hawkshell, being in grieving.

Pre-Series
Rain and her siblings, Ice and Blue, were born to Iceshimmer and Frozenpool in River Colony. They grew up under the strict eye of their father, and he groomed his children from birth to be mean, tough, and to fear nothing but him. Even though Frozenpool wanted to be Captain of River Colony himself, he knew that he was getting too old to succeed the current Captain — and so as soon as his kittens were born, Frozenpool knew that he could mold Rain into the Colony's next Captain and control his Colonymates through her. He trained Rain in private and in secret from the rest of the Colony, pushing her harder and harder until she became cold, detached, and ruthless, but cunning and very persuasive.

He trained Ice as well, making Rain’s brother brutish and violent, preparing him to serve Rain in any way he could. Blue, on the other hand, never developed her siblings’ ferocity — in fact, at first, she tried to protect Rain and Ice from Frozenpool. Her efforts were shut down quickly, however, and Rain joined her father and brother in threatening and bullying Blue until she was reduced to a compliant, diffident shell. Rain had no appreciation for her sister’s concern, and she saw her in the same way that Frozenpool did: a weak and pathetic waste of time.

As a ranger, Rainfall gained followers through fear and manipulation, just as her father wanted, and by the time she had become an envoy, most of River Colony was eager to see her take over. When it came time for the then-Captain to choose his Second, the choice ultimately came down between Rainfall and another popular envoy: a tom named Brightscale. Brightscale had once been a friend of Rainfall’s, but the tension of their common goal in becoming Second had created a rift between them. Rainfall was angry and on edge; Brightscale seemed to have most of the Colony’s favor, and she couldn’t take it. She was so close to achieving her father’s goal. She couldn’t let him down now! In desperation and at Frozenpool’s egging, Rainfall finally gave in to her savage and coolly conditioned instincts, and upon catching Brightscale alone one day, she murdered him in secret — thus securing the role of Second for herself. She got her wish and was more pleased than ever... but she did not know that her crime had been witnessed by Brightscale’s young son and her own new-claw, Wolf.

After becoming Second, Rainfall quickly rose to power as Captain, and, as Frozenpool wished of her, she made Iceclaw into her Second. She kept her reigns tight on her Colony, and her father kept his reigns right on her. She and Iceclaw lowered the age at which kittens were taught to swim and prevented senior rangers from retiring, wanting to keep them busy and out of the elders’ den (thus ensuring that Rainfall had no Council to keep her actions in check). Together with Frozenpool, they arranged Blueriver’s relationship with her mate, Pineclaw. While Rainfall felt no moral guilt, the pressure of her secrets and lies began to make her paranoid after a few moons. She was wary and distrustful of any cats who dared to challenge her authority, and with Iceclaw a carrying out the dirty work, she started making certain unruly cats disappear. The only truly rebellious cats who have thus far escaped her radar are Piketail and Wolf, now Wolfthorn.

Later on, Rainfall decided with little forewarning that she the comfortable and well-protected nursery as her own den. She ordered the keepers and kittens, including Blueriver, to move out so that she could move in, and had her rangers hastily build a smaller and much more exposed nursery in its place. When questioned, she simply claimed that the Spirits Beyond had told her to do it, and her Colonymates were too afraid to openly complain, not wanting to end up like the others who had: missing or dead.

Synopsis
Rainfall made her official debut in Shifting Roots: Chapter 1. She was first seen arriving at the island with the rest of River Colony, springing up onto the Great Oak next to Hazelfur and appearing haughty and bored as she waited for Marsh Colony to arrive. Once they had, Rainfall began the Moonlight Gathering with a snide remark directed at Hawkshell regarding her looks and age. She announced that River Colony had prospered during the greenleaf and that there were four new new-claws - Lily, Grey, Moss, and Ivy, prompting Hazelfur to crossly point out that River Colony wasn’t the only Colony doing well.

When Hawkshell announced that two of her rangers, Sunfire and Breezeheart, had been found dead, Rainfall interrupted her, airily claiming that a badger had killed them, as River Colony had ran one across the border that morning. Hawkshell, enraged and grieving for her son, only snapped at Rainfall and continued on with her news. Rainfall seemed startled but moody upon being hissed at, and afterwards refused to look at the other Captains.

As the Moonlight Gathering ended, Hawkshell warned everyone to return to their bases quickly and to keep them well-guarded, to which Rainfall testily retorted that River Colony was always well-guarded before jumping off of the Great Oak and being the first to lead her Colony home.

River Colony
Almost all of River Colony lives in constant fear of Rainfall, their Captain. Though River Colony is full of healthy, strong, and loyal cats, the constant stress they are under is boiling beneath the surface. While some of the Colony is trying to rebel against Rainfall, most notably Wolfthorn and Piketail, many — such as the keepers — just keep their heads down. Some of the older cats are beginning to question her, though. Rainfall is responsible for the cats who have been said to have gone missing or left, having either killed them herself or let Iceclaw do the work for her. Though River Colony was at first eager to see her become Captain, that faith quickly turned south. They don’t dare question Rainfall's orders, but they aren't aware of what extreme lengths Rainfall is willing to go to in order to make Frozenpool proud, or of the private lessons she went through with him to become the cat she is today. Many of the cats in River Colony became Rainfall's followers through fear and manipulation. In turn, Rainfall distrusts any cat that dares to question her authority. She and Iceclaw, her Second, have had a tight grip on the Colony for about two years. To say the least, the Colony and their Captain have a rocky relationship that is built out of fear and distrust.

Iceclaw
Iceclaw is Rainfall's brother as well as her Second. Iceclaw does Rainfall's dirty work, taking pleasure in being as violent as possible, and Rainfall gives him plenty of opportunities to exercise his strength against other cats. The two have led River Colony for about two years with a tight grip, and Frozenpool's grip on them is even tighter. They work together to satisfy their father and keep him proud, making sure that they dominate the other Colonies into submission. How much they genuinely care for each other is uncertain, as both seem to view relationships through an exclusively political lens. They would each like to forget they share blood with Blueriver.

Frozenpool
Frozenpool is Rainfall's father. Since he was too old to become Captain himself, he trained Rainfall in private, pushing her harder and harder until she became cold, detached, and ruthless. Rainfall is willing to do anything to make Frozenpool proud of her, and she gained followers through fear and manipulation, just as he had wanted. Frozenpool also pulled strings to get Rainfall into a leadership position. He has a tight grasp on Rainfall, and it’s unclear if their relationship has any love to it or if it is solely founded on political ambition.

Brightscale
According to Avalon, Brightscale was formerly Rainfall’s friend. They were both ambitious in their own ways, but while Brightscale had a healthy drive to take charge and be respected, what Rainfall really wanted was control. The two became envoys together and steadily drifted apart as it became more clear that only one of them would become River Colony’s Second. They went from friends to rivals to downright enemies very quickly. To try and even out their relationship, Rainfall was given Brightscale’s son Wolf to mentor, but it did very little to mend the growing tension between them.

Ultimately, it became too much for Rainfall, and she decided that she valued power and pleasing Frozenpool over any morality or past friendships. She caught Brightscale on his own one day and killed him, telling the Colony that there had been a terrible accident and she’d been unable to save him. Her ploy was successful, and she became Second at the cost of Brightscale’s life. He was likely the first cat she ever killed, but was far from the last.

Wolfthorn
Wolfthorn is Brightscale’s son and Rainfall’s former new-claw. Their relationship is very negative, as Wolfthorn hates and fears Rainfall. Unbeknownst to her, he had watched her murder his father, and he is absolutely certain that she is causing the disappearances of River Colony’s more outspoken members. She trained him well when he was a new-claw, and while she never truly bonded with him, she was not horrible as a mentor — but it was always torment for Wolf, having to train with her every day while being the only other cat in River Colony (with the exception of perhaps Iceclaw and Frozenpool) who knew what she had done to Brightscale.

As a young ranger, Wolfthorn left the Colonies for at least a year, traveling far and wide — in part at the request of his Oak Colony love, Dawnfrost, and in part to escape from Rainfall’s reign and discover who he was. When he finally returned, Rainfall was not pleased to see him and did not trust him. She assigned Swiftmask to him as a sort of guard and gave him Grey to train in order to keep him busy, having little faith in her former new-claw and not liking the way he looked at her. Wolfthorn is currently working to stir up rebellion within River Colony, being one of the few cats to understand how tyrannical Rainfall truly is.

Blueriver
Blueriver is Rainfall's sister, although Rainfall disdains her and wants to forget that they are somehow related. When they were kittens, Blue cared for Rain and wanted to defend her from Frozenpool’s training, but Rainfall has either forgotten about that or simply doesn’t care. Blueriver does not take part in their authoritative conquest, and is submissive and beaten-down, causing the rest of her family to view her as a disappointment. To continue Frozenpool's legacy and to give her some purpose, however, Rainfall helped to arrange Blueriver's relationship with her mate, Pineclaw, a former renegade.

Forestleaf
Forestleaf is Field Colony’s Second, and she has a cold, tense relationship with Rainfall that has been built upon years of resentment. As young rangers, Rainfall and Forestleaf were big rivals, always competing with each other even throughout their time as envoys. When Forestleaf became a Second before Rainfall did, she was smug — but then Rainfall became Second and Captain of her own Colony very soon afterwards.

Rainfall used to rub her authority in Forestleaf’s face, enjoying the satisfaction of antagonizing and being above her, but since then, their relationship has gotten even colder. Rainfall deems Forestleaf to be far beneath her and not worth her time, and they are no longer on speaking terms. She constantly pushes at Field Colony’s border, too, solely to spite her old rival and enemy.

Hawkshell
Hawkshell is Marsh Colony’s Captain, and she hates Rainfall’s guts. Rainfall is constantly making thinly-veiled jabs at the older Captains and at Hawkshell in particular, amusing herself by getting on their nerves. In the first chapter of Shifting Roots, when Hawkshell mentioned that she wanted the Moonlight Gathering to begin, Rainfall cut across her with the snarky remark, “beauty before age, as always, Hawkshell”. She also showed little tact or care upon hearing about Breezeheart and Sunfire’s deaths, and arrogantly interrupted Hawkshell to claim that she knew what had killed them. Hawkshell was enraged and turned on her, calling her a “prideful toad”. At the end of the Moonlight Gathering, when Hawkshell warned the other Captains to keep their bases guarded, Rainfall wryly retorted in a matter that belittled Hawkshell’s thoughtfulness before taking her leave. The two have a sour and negative relationship, as Hawkshell is always aggravated by Rainfall and Rainfall derives pleasure from upsetting her.

Hazelfur
Hazelfur is Forestleaf’s mate and the Captain of Field Colony, and he is no more fond of Rainfall than Hawkshell is. He does not appreciate how she is always testing him and pushing at his Colony’s borders, and during Shifting Roots’s first chapter, he appeared to be irritated by her behavior all throughout the chapter. He sat beside her on the Great Oak, but mostly stayed positioned with his back to her so as to avoid unnecessary direct interaction. He could be seen glaring at her when she spoke, and was clearly put off by her snobbish summary of River Colony’s status, pointing out that her Colony was not the only one to have prospered. After Rainfall left, he made a point of being more courteous to Hawkshell than she had been.

Elmtail
Elmtail is Oak Colony’s Captain. His relationship with Rainfall is by no means a positive one, but out of all the other Captains, he seems to despise her the least. In Shifting Roots: Chapter 1, they did not address one another directly, but Elmtail nodded approvingly when Hazelfur told her off, and he was seen giving her a dirty look when she patronized Hawkshell. Unlike the other Captains, though, he made no attempts to insult or provoke her.

Trivia

 * Rainfall is the youngest Captain in the current Alliance, being only 73 moons at the time Shifting Roots began. Elmtail was 171 moons, Hawkshell was 154 moons, and Hazelfur was 108 moons.
 * She is also the only Captain not to have any children or a mate. Elmtail has his son Rowanstorm and his mates Beechleaf and Stagcharge; Hawkshell has an unnamed mate and her son Sunfire; and Hazelfur has his mate Forestleaf and daughter Whitebelly.