Echoing Fire Chapter 1: The Warning

Time for chapter 1! Time to meet the...not so heroish cat...

A small light broke through the vortex of darkness that surrounded the faded blue tom. He padded towards the small flicker that turned into a raging inferno. Flames burned all around, leaping from branch to branch in a large, overgrown forest. The tom tried dousing the flames with dirt, but to no avail. He quickly sprinted through the forest, yelling for help. An ear-splitting crack sounded and a branch fell in front of the tom. The tom stumbled backwards, his eyes full of fear in them. "Help!" the tom shouted again. Another burning branch fell and landed on top of him, stealing his breath. The branch left him enough room to roll onto his paws and try lifting the branch, but something inside the fire caught his eye. Another cat, who he did not know, sat on the leader's cliff edge in Echoclan's camp. A name wedged its way into his head as he discovered who this cat was. "Kindlestar" was his name.

The tom laid there, gazing into the fire with astonishment, until a he felt a claw slash him in the side. Instantly, reality overcame him and a voice said, "Arrowhead! Wake up!" Arrowhead jolted out of his nest, fur on edge. The warriors den, which consisted of a deep cave, was empty except for Arrowhead and his attacker. "Arrowhead? Are you ok?"

"I don't know, Lilystorm." Arrowhead admitted with a loud sigh. Arrowhead forced his fur to lie flat before continuing. "I had the strangest dream."

The tortoiseshell she-cat eyed Arrowhead curiously before saying, "Well, you were shouting in your sleep. I got worried and decided to wake you up."

Arrowhead stretched and shook himself to shake off his sleepiness and some moss that clung to his fur. "Thanks, Lilystorm. I needed to wake up, but I still think the way you get others to get up is- crude."

Lilystorm let out a soft purr and amusement showed on her face. "It's the only way to make sure those lazy enough to sleep past sun-high get out of bed."

Arrowhead stopped licking his fur and looked out of the den at the half-cloudy sky. It is past sun-high! Arrowhead thought amazed.

His gaze then turned to the enclosed camp. The rock walls reflected the sunlight, making the area bright and warm. He saw Neonpelt and Wishclaw sharing tongues together by the fresh kill pile and saw Princess coming out of the nursery, her belly big with her kits inside.

Lilystorm shoved her way out of the den and looked back at Arrowhead saying, "Come on. You have night patrol later."

"Who made you deputy?" Arrowhead countered playfully.

"I'm kin to the deputy. That answer your question?" Lilystorm retorted.

"Then I'm kin to the late leader." Arrowhead responded with victory as he followed Lilystorm to the freshkill pile.

Spot intercepted them and said, "I'm current leader, and where have you been, Arrowhead?" Eavesdropper! Arrowhead thought with a swift glance at Lilystorm.

"Sleeping." Arrowhead responded slowly. He felt guilty that he was becoming lazy. He kept sleeping until sun high since a season after his battle with Nightsign.

Spot looked Arrowhead over. His messy fur told Spot that he had just woken up or just ended a fight with a badger. Spot saw no signs of battle so he knew that Arrowhead was telling the truth. "Well, as punishment, you have to go with Roughpelt's hunting patrol and night patrol with Neonpelt."

Arrowhead bowed his head respectfully and nodded. "I will try not to sleep in again."

"Good." Spot said as he turned away. "Lilystorm will be joining you on your patrols since she has been quietly mocking you."

Lilystorm's jaw dropped when she heard Spot's decree. How did he know! She wondered awestruck. Arrowhead nudged her before saying, "Welcome to the patrols." He purred as she cuffed him around his ear.

They hurried over to Roughpelt, the deputy, who was talking to Stripeclaw about battle training. He stopped speaking when Arrowhead and Lilystorm padded up. "We're going to hunt with you." Arrowhead explained. "It's my punishment for sleeping in."

Roughpelt had a spark of knowledge in his eye when Arrowhead said "punishment". "Alright, are we ready to go then?" Roughpelt asked looking at the three cats. They nodded in response. "Let's go." Roughpelt turned and led the hunting party under the stone arch and out of camp.

Well, I was originally going to end with Lilystorm joining Arrowhead on his patrols, but I hate cliffhangers, so I decided to add some to where it didn't seem like a cliffhanger. (sorry if it does)