Here's the next chapter! Thanks for all my lovely reviews!

Breezestar looked surprised as the two young warriors returned, jaws full of food. Proudly Stormwhisker and Russetbloom set their three mice and two rabbits down in the fresh kill pile.

"Well done you two! I have sent three other hunting patrols out, so hopefully you two will eat tonight. But for now, bring that to the queens and elders," Breezestar praised. Stormwhisker mournfully picked the prey back up, careful to not bite through the mouth watering, thin, tender skin.

"Let's visit the elders first," suggested Russetbloom, retrieving the two rabbits again. Stormwhisker sighed.

"Sure," he grumbled. Personally, he thought they should at least get one mouse to split. But prey was rare this summer. A heat wave had struck BreezeClan so all the prey had fled to the nearby forest, where their enemy clan, ForestClan, dwelled.

"I feel kind of guiltily. Breezestar thinks we caught all this," mumbled Russetbloom through her load as they padded to the patch of bushes that the elders lived under.

"We did," insisted Stormwhisker. But this was not totally true. The two of them had snuck into Forestclan territory and hunted, hoping to find more prey.

"Not really, we cheated," Russetbloom fretted. Stormwhisker rolled his eyes. His best friend took things too seriously. She scowled when she caught his annoyed look.

"Come on," he muttered, picking up the pace. He ducked under the leafy branches of the bushes, and proceeded into the elder's den. The elder's den was somewhat cooler then outside, but it wasn't too pleasant. The elders were understandable grumpy.

"Finally, some food," grunted Hareleap, pawing for Stormwhisker and Russetbloom's catch. Coldwhisper and Skyfall lifted their heads lazily from their naps.

"Food?" questioned Skyfall, ruffling her beautiful blue gray pelt.

"Yep, but you can't have it all because we need to feed the queens too," Stormwhisker warned. Russetbloom frowned at him, and the elders weren't so happy either.

"But there's barely anything," Coldwhisper growled. Stormwhisker threw them a mouse and a rabbit.

"That's all we have," he hissed, his ears beginning to flatten, "Russetbloom and I tried our hardest! Be grateful for what you have!" The elders and Russetbloom stared at him in shock.

"The youngster is right," Skyfall meowed gently. Still grumbling, Hareleap grabbed the rabbit and nudged it towards Coldwhisper. The two elderly toms began to share the rabbit, and after a nod of thanks to the two young warriors, Skyfall dug into her plump mouse.

With a sigh of relief Stormwhisker and Russetbloom exited and padded into the queen's den, a thicket of huge brambles. The current queens, Rabbitstep, Grassfly, and Sunblaze were much more graceful about the little amount of prey. Sunblaze took the rabbit, but shared with all the older kits, and Grassfly and Rabbitstep devoured the other two mice.

Done delivering the prey, Stormwhisker and Russetbloom retreated to the warrior's den for a long nap. Stormwhisker ducked under the protective barrier of thorns that leaned over the side of the clump of bushes. Under the overhang of the bush, there was a roomy space that shielded the warriors from the sunlight.

Stormwhisker let a grin twist his lips as the cool air washed over him. He pinpointed his nest, a messy pile of dirty moss and dry grass that needed changing. Frowning, he ducked out of the den and spotted Breezestar just about to crawl into her den.

"Breezestar?" he called, pricking his ears for the reply. He watched as her shoulders drooped and she slowly turned around.

"Yes Stormwhisker?" she asked, exhaustion etched into her face.

"Can you get an apprentice to change the moss?" he asked, already envisioning a soft fluffy bed of feathers and cool, fresh moss. A small smile lit up his leader's face.

"Great idea Stormwhisker!" she meowed as he puffed up with pride, "It's so responsible of you to volunteer to chaperone them!" Stormwhisker froze. That wasn't supposed to happen.

"Anytime," he answered weakly, flashing a pitiful smile. Breezestar beamed at him.

"Especially after you and Russetbloom just went hunting in this heat. I would think you just would want to take a nap," she continued. "You have no idea," Stormwhisker thought sadly.

"Airpaw, Jaypaw, Sparrowpaw, Soarpaw, and Bluepaw, please go with Stormwhisker and change the bedding in all of the dens," Breezestar called, before making a rather hasty scramble into her den.

From their spot in the shade of the apprentice den, Jaypaw and Sparrowpaw shot Stormwhisker blazing glares, and Airpaw, Soarpaw, and Bluepaw stumbled sleepily out of the den its self.

Jaypaw and Sparrowpaw brought the other three up to speed, and moments later, Stormwhisker was being skewered with three more glares. The five apprentices stalked up to him, hackles raised.

"Thanks a lot," Airpaw sneered.

"Let's go," snapped Stormwhisker, spinning around. The six cats marched moodily out of camp, into the blazing sun. Jaypaw, Sparrowpaw, and Bluepaw were brothers, and while Jaypaw and Bluepaw were both a blueish silver, Sparrowpaw was a brown and white tom. Soarpaw was Airpaw's sister, but she was streaked with gray instead of all white.

"So where are we going to find moss?" challenged Airpaw, as the large patrol wandered through BreezeClan territory.

"The ForestClan border," Stormwhisker replied quickly. Airpaw snorted, but led the others in front of Stormwhisker. Stormwhisker sighed. The apprentices scuffled along the border, scraping up the dry moss with their claws.

The air seemed to be swelling with electricity and heat, and as much as they were being obnoxious, Stormwhisker knew it was dangerous for the apprentices to be out in this weather doing work.

"Come on," he meowed urgently, "Leave the moss." They started at him in shock. Stormwhisker flicked his tail irritably, "Seriously, it's getting too hot!"

"L-look!" stuttered Soarpaw, her gray and white fur puffed up in terror. Her eyes gazed past Stormwhisker, at some horror behind him. The gray warrior spun around, and his jaw dropped open.

Huge dark clouds were rolling across the plains, and menacing flashes of lightening spiked down from them. The horizon was a crimson red color, and seemed to be moving forward. A fire.

"Quickly, back to camp!" he barked. The terrified apprentices broke into a run and Stormwhisker sprinted after them. They burst into camp, all breathing heavily. Stormwhisker found the entire camp gathered under the high rock listening to Breezestar.

"Stormwhisker! Just who I was looking for! I say these words before the body of Windclaw hoping he will approve-" Breezestar called out.

"Breezestar! Please, there's-" Stormwhisker cut in. Russetbloom shoved him roughly.

"Shut up! She's making you deputy," the ginger she-cat hissed. Bewildered, Stormwhisker froze. Breezestar shot him an odd look and continued.

"Hoping he will approve," she repeated, "Stormwhisker will be the new deputy of BreezeClan!" she announced, a small smile flashing across her face. Stunned, Stormwhisker gazed around at the cheering faces of his Clanmates. But the smell of smoke snapped him back to his senses.

"Thank you Breezestar but there's a fire! That's what I was trying to tell you!" Stormwhisker shouted over the roar of his Clan.

"Silence!" Breezestar meowed sharply. BreezeClan fell silent, looking in confusion at Breezestar and Stormwhisker. Breezestar narrowed her eyes, "Elaborate." As all the eyes fell on Stormwhisker a newfound urgency filled him. An urgency to protect his Clan.

"There's a huge fire! Lightening struck and started a fire. It's spreading fast because everything's dry and dead," Stormwhisker meowed. As if on cue another prong of lightening flashed down, igniting a patch of bushes dangerously close to camp. A hardness seemed to fill Breezestar's eyes.

"How many kits are there?" she grilled Sunblaze.

"S-six," stuttered the queen nervously, her eyes wide.

"Coalflight, Eagleclaw, Highwing, Songblaze, Grasspelt, and Wheatfoot all grab a kit. Make sure you stay near their mothers. The rest of the warriors, help the elders and apprentices along. Stormwhisker, lead us towards ForestClan territory, they have streams. I'll stay in the back to make sure no one lags behind. Hurry!" ordered Breezestar. Stormwhisker was shocked how fast she could deliver orders, but followed his.

"This way!" he called, starting towards the camp entrance. Warriors helped confused elders and squealing kits out of their dens. Stormwhisker squeezed through the stone tunnel, and his Clan hurried after him.

Horror filled him. The fire touched the clouds and had lit up every bush in sight. The fire burned the grass fast, and it was sweeping across it quickly. Terror squeezed at Stormwhisker's heart, but he dashed forwards quickly.

Soft fur pressed against his. He looked down and saw Airpaw pressed against him, eyes closed tightly.

"What if we don't make it?" the little tom gulped, struggling to keep up with Stormwhisker. Stormwhisker slowed slightly and bent down until his shoulders were touching Airpaw's.

"We're going to make it," he growled, bumping Airpaw lightly, "You understand me?" Airpaw nodded slowly, and after shooting the deputy a small smile, he dropped back to his sister. A few minutes later Stormwhisker wasn't surprised to feel the familiar pelt of Russetbloom against him.

"Everyone's freaking out," she muttered, "It's chaos!" Stormwhisker flattened his ears nervously.

"We need to get them out of here," he replied, increasing his pace. The fire was roaring so close that Stormwhisker could feel the heat as if it were right next to him. The sky had turned a bright orange flecked by dark smoke. Flakes of ash blew through the air, making it unpleasantly hard to breathe.

Finally they reached the ForestClan border. Stormwhisker lunged across into the safety of the forest. He needed to get BreezeClan to water. Soon the forest would be inflamed too!

Caught up in his own thoughts and his Clan's terror, he didn't see the patrol until it was too late. There was a whoosh of air and a thump as the night black cat pinned him down. Steel claws pushed against his neck, pressing him down.

"Now what do we have here?" jeered a soft voice.

Thank you for all my reviews!

Aurea Lillium- It's always great to get a 'wow' review! I hope this chapter keeps up the great work! :p

Rising from Embers- Yay! Another nice review. In this chapter I corrected the BreezeClan capitalizing thing. So, so, so glad you love it!

Little fishy- first off, I was so happy for the constructive criticism. I'm glad you generally liked the story. I guess it is a little rushed, but I need to fit a bunch of stuff in, and only have a five chapter maximum to squeeze it into! I did call the chapter 'Before' so hopefully it will show up now that the second chapters out. I honestly don't have room to make a prologue about Windclaw's death. He just died of starvation and heat exhaustion.

By white and brown tabby fur, I meant white fur with brown tabby stripes on it. When Stormwhisker blurts out his idea, it's sudden because it kind of just plops into his head with no thought. Russetbloom was hesitant the entire time about going into ForestClan territory. She kind of goes in to make sure Stormwhisker doesn't do anything stupid, but immediately regrets it. Stormwhisker did think himself crazy, but would break the warrior code to protect his clan. Airpaw is just really sad, that's why he's rude to Stormwhisker when stormy apologizes.

With the shove thing with Russetbloom, he kind of just gave her a playful shove, hard enough to push her over. He doesn't relize his own strength, so he's concerned when she falls. When they hunt in ForestClan and get all that prey it's just to exaggerate how much prey ForestClan has. I understand that part was a bit odd. Putting thoughts in italics is just a habit of mine! you can't believe how much I loved your review. Thankyouverymuch! :p

Molly of the Chazin Clan- glad you loved my story Molly! I saw that you're going to do it too! Thanks for reviewing!

Remember, helpful reviews! :)

-Madison

-Foxstar of the coolest forum ever

-Minnowlight of the warriors challenge forum

:D