A.N: Okay guys, chapter 2! What will happen? Ooh, ooh, I know! Ask me!
Fireheart was shocked, but he quickly got over his surprise.
"Stay back!" he rasped with fear glowing in his eyes. Sandstorm came to a halt a fox-length from him.
"Don't do this Fireheart!" she pleaded. "The clan needs you! We need you! I need you!" Sandstorm's voice became thick with sobs. She continued to stare at Fireheart with a pleading look in her eyes. Graystripe and Cloudpaw were sitting behind Sandstorm, pleading with the suicidal feline. Fireheart just stared at his friends, and started to calm down. His fur lay flat and the wild look in his eyes disappeared. He took several long shaky breaths and shook his head to clear it. He padded away from the edge and sat next to Sandstorm, pelts brushing. Sandstorm sobbed in relief and pressed against the flame- pelted tom's side. Graystripe and Cloudpaw sat next to them, the immediate threat distinguished. All of a sudden, a yowl sounded behind them. The four cats turned to see Bluestar charging toward them with Darkstripe close behind. Bluestar halted when she got close.
"Good, he's trapped! Get rid of him!" she yowled. Sandstorm stood up and calmly stood in front of her leader, Cloudpaw and Graystripe on either side of her. The trio of cats stepped away from Fireheart and stood in front of Bluestar, forming a wall in front in front of him.
"No Bluestar." Sandstorm mewed, her voice icily calm. Bluestar stared at them.
"Traitors! He broke the code, he must be punished!" she hissed.
"Broke...the...code...must...be...punished." mewed Fireheart slowly. Everyone looked at the exiled tom. He had a strange look in his eyes and his head was tilted to one side as if they were a difficult problem he was trying to solve.
"Fireheart?" asked Sandstorm worriedly.
"Broke the code, must be punished! Broke the code, must be punished!" Fireheart chanted, his voice getting louder until he was yowling.
"Broke the code, must be punished!" he yowled at the top of his lungs.
"Fireheart...Fireheart?!?" Sandstorm questioned loudly, throughly worried now.
"PUNISHED!!!" Fireheart yowled one more time. He turned and faced the edge of the gorge. There was a flash of ginger fur...and he was gone.
It took Sandstorm less than a heartbeat to register what had happened. There was another flash of fur, and Sandstorm was over the side of the gorge. She hit the water with a loud splash and popped up, scanning the water for her beloved. She spotted him downstream a few good fox-lengths away. He kept going under and coming back up at the last minute.
Her goal in sight, Sandstorm swam furiously with speed that would rival a Riverclan cat. Meanwhile, at the top of the gorge, Graystripe and Cloudpaw sprinted as fast as they could go, trying to keep up with the ginger blobs in the river. As the two felines went over the first set of rapids, the river began to move swifter, carrying Fireheart and Sandstorm further away. Graystripe ran as hard as he could, but he was still getting left behind. I can't lose them!his mind screamed. Back in the river, Sandstorm finally caught up with the drowning Fireheart.
"Broke the code, must be punished!" Fireheart gurgled, popping up after going over another set of rapids.
"Fireheart, snap out of it!" Sandstorm screamed. The ginger she-cat stuck her teeth into Fireheart's scruff and swam toward shore. It wasn't easy. Sandstorm was quickly running out of strength, the cold water sucking it out of her. Fireheart wasn't swimming, making it that much harder. Sandstorm's vision swam, a black wave threatening to engulf her but she shook it off.
As the river swept the pair under the twoleg bridge, Sandstorm saw an opportunity. There was a small pebble beach, Graystripe and Cloudtail were racing full tilt toward it.. Sandstorm made a last ditch effort, and made one final stroke toward the beach. Sucking a lung full of air through her jaws, she moved toward the beach. The black wave returned and she couldn't fight it. She saw Fireheart floating in front of her, and everything was gone.
Sandstorm took a deep breath, coming back from unconsciousness. She slowly sat up, a dull headache coming over her. She looked to her side and saw Graystripe and Cloudpaw sitting next to her.
"Welcome back," Graystripe rasped. He sounded sad. Sandstorm suddenly remembered, Fireheart! Where was he? The she-cay looked around frantically before relaxing when she saw Fireheart lying beside her. The panic returned when she saw that the ex-deputy wasn't moving. She turned back and saw that Graystripe and Cloudpaw and saw their heads bowed in mourning.
"No..." Sandstorm whispered turning to the unmoving form of Fireheart. She shook the deputy gently with her forepaw, then harder when he didn't respond.
"No...Fireheart no! Please don't leave me!" she yowled. Sandstorm collapsed from grief, sobs shaking her body.
"I love you..." she whispered into Fireheart's unmoving ear. She got no response. Fireheart was dead.
A.N: Next chapter up soon! Review please! Peace out!
