Flash
Burnpaw woke up with a start. He saw a flash of white in the corner of his eye. "Cherrypaw?"
Startled amber eyes turned towards Burnpaw. "Um, uh... You are sleeping, Burnpaw. This is all a dream! S-sent from, uh, StarClan!" Cherrypaw's bright eyes darted back and forth.
"Nice try, Cherrypaw. You've tried that a million times and it has never worked once," he mumbled groggily as he got to his paws. "What are you up to this time?"
"N-nothing." Cherrypaw flashed her teeth. "I'm just going on a walk. No need to worry."
"Knowing you, I need to be very worried." Burnpaw narrowed his eyes, half playful and half suspicious. His sister was always getting into trouble.
"Hey!" she exclaimed, looking offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nevermind." Burnpaw flicked his tail. "Well come on. If you're going on a walk, I'm coming with you. You need a big, strong tom to protect you."
"Then where's the big, strong tom? Is he behind you?" Cherrypaw moved to look behind Burnpaw, but started giggling and stopped when she saw the annoyed expression he was making. "Oh, calm down. I was just messing with you!"
Burnpaw rolled his eyes and stretched, his black paws extending. He was glad that he and his sister were the only apprentices. Briarstrike had just been made a warrior, and tonight he was sitting his vig-
"Cherrypaw?"
"Mm?"
"Briarstrike is sitting his vigil. How are we supposed to get out of camp without suspicion?" he asked her, worry masking his voice.
"Easy. Sneak out through the dirtplace tunnel. Haven't you ever snuck out of camp before?" When he didn't answer, Cherrypaw's amber eyes turned towards the opening of the apprentices' den. The dirtplace tunnel was in sight. "Come on, let's go!"
"Sh, not so loud. Briarstrike might hear us," hissed Burnpaw as they stepped outside.
"I wouldn't worry about that." Cherrypaw flicked her ginger tail towards the brown tabby warrior, who was fast asleep.
Burnpaw snickered. "StarClan will wake him up." He heard a snort come from Cherrypaw. "Or not. If I was leader, I would put him on the dawn patrol."
Cherrypaw let out a low laugh. "Forget the dawn patrol. Put Briarstrike on a patrol around the entirety of both our territory and DashClan's."
"And then he can go hunting," Burnpaw added, his whiskers twitching. He smiled. "And can't come back until he's caught a huge pile of prey."
"Yeah. It would have to be ten fox lengths high!" Cherrypaw giggled. "Or maybe it'll have to touch the sky." She paused, then burst into another fit of giggles.
Burnpaw rolled his eyes. "Good job, Cherrypaw. You made it rhyme."
"Why can't you make it rhyme like that? It makes it so much... fat..." Cherrypaw flattened her ears.
"That rhyme was awful. It was so bad, it might give me greencough," Burnpaw told her. "I might even go deaf."
"Shut up, party pooper. You couldn't do better." She turned towards him, her amber eyes flaring.
"Calm down, Cherrypaw. You act like such a kit sometimes." Burnpaw flicked his tail. "Come on, I'll race you to the Thunderpath."
Cherrypaw opened her mouth to say something, but Burnpaw had already zoomed past her, going out the dirtplace tunnel.
Burnpaw pelted through the undergrowth, occasionally hearing his sister call out his name. "Stop, Burnpaw!" He knew it was all a trick. He was going to make her slow down, then get ahead of him. He wasn't going to lose this race. He refused to.
Eventually Burnpaw slowed down and his sister caught up. They were almost to the Thunderpath. "Burnpaw, why didn't you stop?" she demanded, unnaturally angry.
"You were going to trick me! You always do. You're always telling me you're in trouble or something stupid like that then get ahead of me. Not anymore!" Burnpaw's pelt was starting to bristle, the ends becoming pointy.
"I wasn't this time." She adverted her eyes. "I-I'm afraid of the Thunderpath."
Burnpaw narrowed his eyes. "You're lying. What are you hiding?"
Cherrypaw's eyes shot up to his. "I'm not hiding anything!" she insisted. "I would never hide anything from you."
"You're still lying," he said slowly. "I'm your brother. I know when you're lying."
Cherrypaw growled. "You have no right to accuse me of lying!"
"I have every right. You're not our leader!"
"Whatever!" Cherrypaw stormed off, in the direction of the Thunderpath.
"I knew you were lying!" he screamed at her as he followed her. "You're not allowed at the Thunderpath alone. You're an apprentice!"
"So are you," she shouted over her shoulder.
As he continued to follow Cherrypaw, he could being too clearly hear the Thunderpath and its monsters. Burnpaw sighed, defeated. "Know what? You win. Now let's go back to camp."
"Why? Are you scared of the Thunderpath?" He could hear the mock in her voice.
He didn't answer. After a short pause he dared to speak again. "It's getting closer to dawn. We need to get back to camp."
"Nice try. We haven't been out here for that long," Cherrypaw shot over her shoulder.
Burnpaw growled, beginning to get annoyed. "Let's just go, Cherrypaw. Come on!"
Cherrypaw stopped suddenly and whipped around, her fur bristling. "I'm not going back to camp yet! I'm going to the Thunderpath."
Burnpaw creased his non-existent brows. "What's the matter with you, Cherrypaw? You're acting weird."
"And you're acting like a piece of fox-dung!" Cherrypaw spun on her paws and ran away from Burnpaw.
What is wrong with her? He pelted after her. He could hear the Thunderpath, and he could see more light than what came from the moon. His eyes widened in fear, and shut suddenly when there was no more light.
He slowed down. Even though his eyes were still shut tightly, he could feel the edge of the Thunderpath beneath his paws. His eyes opened. A white blur was on the Thunderpath.
"Cherrypaw!" It was his sister. He knew it was. Who else would be there?
"What do you want?" Her voice was full of spite. Had he really made her that angry?
Burnpaw frowned. "Come back! We need to get back to camp. We're in danger!"
"In danger of what?" Cherrypaw's voice came to him confused. The anger was still there, mixed in.
And then he saw it.
Out of the corner of his wide amber eyes he saw it. He knew what it was, but he didn't want to admit that is was.
His voice came out louder than he thought it would. One word that would change his life forever. "Monster!"
Cherrypaw's head turned, slowly. He could hear her screaming, but she wasn't moving. He knew why. She was so afraid she couldn't move. She was frozen with fear.
Then it was like time was slowing down. Burnpaw's black paws flew across the Thunderpath, pushing him as fast as he could. Right before he reached his sister, time sped up once more. He tackled her, but it was too late. He couldn't even feel the pain. All he was aware of was a a final flash.
Flash.
Flash.
Burnpaw's eyes couldn't open. Pain seared through his body. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He could still feel the side of the Thunderpath under his body. His breaths came in rasps.
He could hear talking. He recognized all the voices but one. His leader, Wolfstar. His mother, Redsky. His sister, Cherrypaw. His mentor, Brightsoul. The medicine cat, Sootstorm. Then one last voice. The one he couldn't recognize.
"Are you sure he's going to die?" It was his mother, voice full of worry.
"I'm certain. He'll die a warrior's death. The most honorable thing he could've done was done. He will be remembered." That was Sootstorm.
"I don't want him to die. It's all my fault!" Cherrypaw.
"It's not your fault. It was all mine." The unknown cat. It was enough to make Burnpaw stir, despite the pain.
"Burnpaw!" He grunted as his sister plowed into his side, nuzzling him as hard as she could. "I'm so glad you're awake. Sootstorm said you wouldn't wake up! I was so worried."
He couldn't say anything to her. He couldn't even open her eyes. He managed to lick Cherrypaw's ear comfortingly, despite not being able to see her.
"Burnpaw, open your eyes. I want you to meet someone." Cherrypaw's voice was insistent.
Slowly, he managed to shake his head.
"Why not?" she asked.
"He can't. He's too injured to talk, and he doesn't have his eyes any longer," Sootstorm told his sister. He managed to feel a prickle of irritation that he couldn't answer himself.
"Well, I can tell you about him, then." He imagined Cherrypaw smiling. "This is Orville, my, uh, tom-friend from DashClan."
Burnpaw's eyes flew open. Cherrypaw is a traitor! He looked at this strange tom named Orville. He felt a growl in his throat as he got to his paws.
"What are you doing?" demanded Sootstorm.
Burnpaw ignored him. His eyes were set on the DashClan cat. He limped towards the tom and, with his last bit of strength, attacked the tom.
He saw a flash of claws, and heard Cherrypaw scream. Burnpaw fell back, and he heard a loud crack.
"Orville, what did you do?" Cherrypaw sounded hysterical.
"He was attacking me!"
"He's on the verge of death. You have no right." Even to the end, his sister defended him.
The two young cats continued to bicker as Burnpaw felt himself slipping. His eyes fell closed, and the last thing he saw before the darkness consumed him was a flash.
AN: 1,600 words exactly. This was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
Like all the other ones in the book of one-shots, this takes place in the WolfClan universe. Wolfstar is Shadow/paw/storm's brother. *nodnod*
Bye now!
