Let's kickstart this book with a one-shot of Ravenpaw and Barley, ey? Enjoy!
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Ravenpaw sprinted through WindClan territory. There was one thing to be glad about with this weather, and that was the very unlikely chance that any WindClan cat would see him. Rain poured. Lightning struck. All of LionClan and TigerClan seemed to be battling above. The moorland was muddy, splashing up as Ravenpaw ran. It even made him slip a few times, but he couldn't stop; he just needed to get to Barley's place.

As the occasional lightning strike lit up the wide hills, he concentrated on remembering where to go. Ravenpaw was sure he knew the way, but with all the rain and darkness, he couldn't help but doubt himself.

Soon, the black-furred tom spotted a barn near twolegplace and sprinted towards it. He stopped and shivered at the entrance that provided little cover from the storm. After a few heartbeats, lightning flashed again and it gave him just enough light to see the figure of a cat laying inside. He took a deep breath before his exhausted voice called out, "Um, Barley? I-is that you in there?"

There was some shuffling that could just be heard over the rain and thunder. Barley called back, "Who's there? Come in! Whoever you are you must be soaked to the bone!"

Ravenpaw hesitantly stepped inside, and Barley made his way over. "It's um, Ravenpaw. Of ThunderClan." He then mumbled, "Well, used to be."

Barley didn't seem to hear the last part. "ThunderClan? What are you doing here, then? And in this weather! Surely ThunderClan isn't in trouble?"

"Can-can I stay here? I-I caught an adder once!" Ravenpaw blurted out. It sounded so much better when Graypaw had said it. Graypaw . . . Ravenpaw thought and shook himself.

"What?" Barley asked, clearly taken back.

Ravenpaw cleared his throat and tried again. "Can I please stay here with you? I can't live in ThunderClan anymore. I-I didn't know where else to go."

There were a few heartbeats of silence, and Ravenpaw wasn't sure if Barley was contemplating or merely curious as to why he could no longer stay in his home. Lightning flashed again. He could make out Barley's white pelt contrasted against his black spots and the darkness of the barn. 

"Of course!" Barley chirped at last. "The more company the better. How about we get you cleaned up, eh? I can smell the mud all over you." He felt a tail on his shoulder and flinched in surprise before allowing himself to be lead deeper into the barn.

"Th-thank you, Barley," Ravenpaw said softly. He felt both apprehensive and grateful about the whole situation. Could he really live here with him?

"It's really no problem," Barley replied and guided him to a small mound of hay. "You can stay as long as you like."

Ravenpaw hesitated slightly before settling down in it, and when he did he let out a soft purr. Who knew hay was so warm and comfortable? He felt movement beside him and heard Barley chuckle. Was Barley sitting next to him? After a moment, Ravenpaw began to groom the mud off of his fur. The moor must have been muddier than he had imagined, because he was covered!

"Would you like some help getting all that mud off you?" Barley asked after a while. He didn't sound like he was trying to be rude, but Ravenpaw's ears still flattened in embarrassment.

"Sure erm thank you," Ravenpaw replied, right before he felt Barley's tongue against his pelt in all the hard-to-reach places. He held back a purr, busying himself with his grooming.

Ravenpaw soon finished grooming himself in all the places he could reach, but apparently Barley hadn't. He still felt the other tom's tongue against his pelt, and after a while, Ravenpaw allowed himself to rest his head on his paws. He closed his eyes for a second, and before he knew it he was asleep.

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Ravenpaw awoke to the sun in his face. He turned his head and looked at his surroundings through squinted eyes. He jumped up with a start. This wasn't the apprentices' den! Where were Firepaw, Graypaw, and . . . And then it hit him--all of last night's events up until he had fallen asleep.

I fell asleep! Ravenpaw groaned inwardly. How could I do that? What does Barley think of me now? Wait, where was Barley? Ravenpaw looked around the whole barn, but he was nowhere in sight. Sighing, Ravenpaw sat back down in the hay. Maybe he went to go make dirt or something?

After several heartbeats went by, the black-and-white tomcat padded into the barn. Upon seeing that Ravenpaw was awake, he perked his ears and set two rats down at his paws. "I figured you might be hungry when you woke up, so I brought you these," Barley said.

Ravenpaw flattened his ears once again in embarrassment. "Oh, thank you! But you didn't have to do that."

Barley shrugged and settled down into the hay. "It's no big deal." He took a bite out of one of the rats as Ravenpaw crouched down and slowly took a bite of his own. They ate in silence; Ravenpaw wasn't really sure what to talk about. He knew Barley had probably just been polite so far. He also must be curious about why he had left ThunderClan. From what he had seen, it wasn't like Barley not to ask questions. He had bombarded Bluestar with questions about ThunderClan not too long ago. What made him hold his tongue last night?

"Hey," Barley started, breaking the silence between them and Ravenpaw's train of thought. "So, like I said last night, you're more than welcome to stay here as long as you like. My barn is your barn. But . . . can I ask why you decided to leave ThunderClan?"

Ravenpaw took a big bite of rat so he didn't have to answer right away. He might as well tell Barley the truth. The friendly tom was offering him a place to stay, after all, and it's not like Tigerclaw could do anything. By now he probably thought Ravenpaw was dead.

But, when he looked up at Barley's expectant gaze, he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't want to live in the past; he just wanted to move on from it, to get away. And he couldn't do that with everything out in the open, could he?

"I'd uh rather . . . not talk about it," Ravenpaw replied softly. "I'm sorry, I just, I can't . . ."

After a long moment, Barley replied, "Alright, that's fine. I understand. Just, if you need anything, I'm all ears." He finished up his rat and stood up. "I can show you where all the best hunting places are sometime. Just let me know when you're ready." With that, Barley stood up and padded towards the entrance of the barn and walked out. Ravenpaw stared until he couldn't even see the tip of his tail anymore.

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Dew sprinkled the grass all around Ravenpaw, and the smell of rain was in the air. It had showered a few times over the past couple of days, but it was nothing like the previous storm. He slowly made his way towards one of the few hunting spots Barley had showed him. Even with the soggy weather, prey still seemed to be everywhere around here, and it made for easy hunting. He wondered what leaf-bare would be like.

Ravenpaw let out a heavy sigh as he looked back towards the direction of the moorland. He couldn't see much of it, but he knew it was there. And beyond that was the forest, along with his friends. He couldn't call the barn home just yet. Barley had been kind, and he hadn't spoke of ThunderClan again, it just wasn't the same as the forest.

He shook his head. There was no reason to be thinking about the clan. It hadn't really been his home, either. Not with the rumors Tigerclaw had been spreading. As his frustration suddenly flared, the black-furred tom raked his claws through the damp ground. Tigerclaw. How could any cat trust a despicable warrior like him? Sure, he had been scared when he was in ThunderClan, completely susceptible to anything Tigerclaw had planned. But now, away from all of that, he felt the blood pulsing through his veins every time he thought about that...murderer. He was the reason he was driven from his clan. He let out a low growl. If I wasn't such a coward . . . he thought.

"What'd the grass ever do to you?" asked a voice from behind him. Ravenpaw to spun around and crouched instinctively. "Whoa, easy there. I didn't mean to startle you. Is everything alright?" Barley questioned.

Ravenpaw looked back down and flattened his ears to his head; he had pulled all the grass from its roots. "I'm, uh, fine. Sorry, I was just--"

"Don't try to come up with an excuse," Barley cut him off. "You're obviously not fine. I may not be a clan cat, but I can tell when something's bothering someone."

Ravenpaw stared at Barley, unsure of what to say. Maybe he had been a little moody lately, and he definitely hadn't been appreciative enough of Barley's kindness. He opened his mouth to say something, but Barley held up his tail.

"I don't want to hear it unless you're about to tell me what's been bothering you." After a heartbeat, he added, more sympathetically, "I know it might be hard. But you can't keep going like this. Trust me."

Ravenpaw stared into Barley's gaze. It was welcoming, sure, but there was something else underneath it and he couldn't figure out what that was. He sighed and sat down, curling his tail over his paws.

"I suppose you're right," Ravenpaw said after another heartbeat. "You deserve to know." He took a breath and started to explain his endeavors, all the way from the beginning. He told him how he had witnessed the murder of Redtail and Oakheart, how Tigerclaw had covered it up. He explained that Tigerclaw had been hinting at how Ravenpaw was a traitor to his own Clan, when really Tigerclaw was the traitor. He told him how he had to leave the only home that he had ever known, just to get away from Tigerclaw and his lies before something bad happened. All the while, Barley listened in silence, he gaze never wavering from the black tomcat in front of him. When Ravenpaw was done telling his story, they sat in silence for what seemed like all of eternity.

Once Barley began speaking, it wasn't like his usual friendly banter but slow and serious. "I understand the feeling of having to run from your home. I had to once, long ago, and it's never a good experience. But you're here now. You'll move past this, I promise." He rested his tail on Ravenpaw's shoulder. "And I'm here to help you."

Ravenpaw continued to stare into Barley's eyes. He had detected the hidden emotion, which was now all over his broad face: understanding. Ravenpaw couldn't help but feel soothed by his words.

"Thank you, Barley. For everything."

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Written by Brook
Edited by Ren, my dudes