Doktor Katz: Welp, here are folks! My first Warriors fanfic, and the first one I actually plan on finishing.
Sol: He doesn't finish anything. Ever. Don't believe a thing he says.
Prologue
There was a fire in the hollow. The smell of burning fur and ash invaded his senses. He was afraid to open his sightless blue eyes, and find everything and every cat he loved… gone. Was it a dream? Jayfeather slowly opened his left eye. He was surrounded by flames and smoke. It smothered him, choking him, burning his eyes and throat. The tongues of fire lapped at his tail, and the heat was unbearable. "Jayfeather," a voice- one he never head, but felt familiar- called to him. He reached past the agony he was in and looked up. The black profile of an unusually large cat was embedded in the fire. There was a cat, just beyond those flames. Jayfeather struggled to stand, but dropped back to the charred ground in defeat.
"The fire is coming," the voice said again. The cat had vanished- and appeared in front of him. It was Sol. Jayfeather gasped in surprise, which turned into a hoarse cough as he inhaled ash particles. "The fire is coming," Sol repeated, backing away from Jayfeather. "And only a long night of solace can stop it."
Jayfeather awoke with a jolt. His fur was matted with sweat, and moss clung to it. Signs of his unconscious struggle were eminent in the medicine cat's den; the moss was strewn across the ground, and some herbs were mixed together. He sighed and began putting them back into place. It was still night, but he didn't mind – after such a horrible vision, how could he possibly go to sleep?
1
Dovepaw awoke to a flurry of claw and fur. She sighed and sprang to her paws. Ashpaw and Icepaw were a tangle of fury and bristling pelts. Why did they always have to fight? There was plenty of room in the new apprentice's den. Yet the white tom and grey she-cat were always stuck in an endless struggle. She jumped over the wrestling cats and pushed her way through the bramble screen. The clearing was bustling with activity. Brambleclaw was organizing a patrol, while Jayfeather was busy teaching Cherrypaw about herbs. He was a bit more edgy than usual; his usually sharp remarks were now claws that raked Cherrypaw's heart. His eyes were dull and tired. What happened to him?
"Dovepaw, hunting patrol." Lionblaze's order derailed Dovepaw's train of thought. She looked at her mentor, and then to Jayfeather, who was still snapping at Cherrypaw. She waited with Lionblaze by the entrance.
"Who else is coming?" Dovepaw asked. Lionblaze pointed his tail towards Ivypaw and Cinderheart, who were padding over toward them. She touched noses with her sister, and mewed a greeting to Cinderheart. The four cats walked into the forest. Rays of sunlight passed through the lush screen of the treetops. This Greenleaf was full of life and growth. Dovepaw heard a squirrel gnawing on an acorn. She dropped into a low crouch and stalked over to it, leaving the others to their devices. The squirrel was plump from mother hood. She probably had little ones to get back to. Dovepaw wondered what would happen to them.
No, she thought to herself. She couldn't think like that; if she did, almost every piece of fresh-kill she caught would still be alive. She pounced on the squirrel, killing it with a swift bite to the throat. She buried it under the roots of a nearby tree. Wondering what everyone else was up to, she reached out with her senses, encompassing the entire ThunderClan territory. Lionblaze had just caught another mouse, adding to his catch of two. Ivypaw had caught a single blackbird, and Cinderheart was still stalking her prey- a big, fat pigeon. There was another cat, one she didn't recognize. The cat was following Cinderheart. Dovepaw envisioned a lithe black she-cat with burning red eyes. The cat was as silent as night; Cinderheart would be too busy with her catch to notice her.
Abandoning her fresh-kill, Dovepaw bounded through the thick underbrush towards Cinderheart. She crashed through a tangle of bracken and into Cinderheart. They tumbled on the ground for a heart beat before Cinderheart pushed Dovepaw off. Her claws were unsheathed and tearing at the ground. Dovepaw feared that could have been her under those.
"What is your problem?" Cinderheart hissed. "My prey got away because of you!" Dovepaw opened her mouth to explain, but the bushes behind Cinderheart parted to give way to the cat she had sensed earlier. Cinderheart spun around- and right into a swinging paw. The blow sent her staggering back. The black cat's eyes glowed viciously, and with a yowl she pounced on Dovepaw. She was instantly pinned. The cat was powerful for her small size. She battered Dovepaw's belly with her hind paws before being crashed into by Cinderheart. They disappeared into a bush, tufts of fur catching in the thorns. Lionblaze bounded after them, and Ivypaw padded up to Dovepaw.
"What's going on?" She asked. Dovepaw shook her head and ran after her fighting clan mates. The black warrior stood over Cinderheart, unsheathed claws gleaming viciously in the sunlight.
"No!" Lionblaze yowled, running on a crash course with the cat, who simply side-stepped his pounce and raked her claws against his flank. Lionblaze staggered for a second, but quickly regained his strength. Her spun around just as the cat brought her claws down into Cinderheart's pelt, taking tufts of fur and leaving a deep gash. Blood gushed out of the wound. Lionblaze's eyes lost their glow, and he attacked the she-cat furiously. She backed away slowly, taunting him by flashing her claws, still covered in Cinderheart's blood.
Lionblaze pounced at the warrior again, who ducked under him and jumped up, throwing him onto his back. She raised her paw to attack, but stopped when Firestar's warning yowl sounded through the forest. She hisses venomously at Lionblaze before retreating into the shadows. As she left, Firestar and a whole patrol of ThunderClan warriors appeared. Thornclaw, Berrynose, Sandstorm, and Jayfeather stood in a circle around Cinderheart's still bleeding form. Jayfeather sniffed her catiously, then turned his icy gaze to Lionblaze. The look in his eyes said it all; she was gone.
