"Try swiping with more power, but make sure you have a sure footing when you land or you'll end up hurting yourself more than the enemy." Graystripe instructed. Firepaw gave a nod before he followed with the instructions.
Crouching down, he sprung upwards, the muscles in his haunches propelling him high in the air. He hung there for a split second before he brought his paws crashing down to the earth, dust swirling up from the impact.
"Great StarClan that was some jump...where'd you learn to jump so high?" Graystripe meowed in shock, his amber eyes wide.
Firepaw blinked. "I just did what you told me." Firepaw mewed in response, unsure of what his mentor was talking about. Graystripe shook his head disbelievingly. "Are you kidding me, you jumped at least a good fox length into the air." Staring disbelievingly at his mentor, Firepaw shuffled his paws like he couldn't quite comprehend weather Graystripe was praising or scolding him.
"Hold on, I'll be right back." Graystripe hurried out of the training area, his gray fur brushing against the foliage. Firepaw stood in the clearing, unsure of what he should do at the moment. He had been training hard since his apprenticeship that seemed such a long ways back but was only two moons ago.
He still had a long ways to go before he was ever going to become a warrior. But he didn't mind. As long as the training came in handy, which it would Firepaw would wait forever to become a warrior. But as he waited in the clearing, the foggiest feeling stirred in his heart that made his mind flood with some sort of image.
Closing his eyes, the image became clearer and what he saw was frightening. There was a cat, almost the exact replica of himself, but bigger. He was accompanied by a blue-gray cat that was resting their head on this cat's while the ginger licked the other cats shoulder in respect.
"ThunderClan welcomes you as a full warrior." The blue-furred cat spoke out loud. The ginger cat turned and faced their fellow warriors who hailed this cat by his new name. "Fireheart, Fireheart, Fireheart!"
Suddenly the images were ripped away when the rustling of leaves as cats pushed through them alerted Firepaw of their presence. Graystripe emerged first, excitedly telling his follower of Firepaw's accomplishments. The next cat to appear was none other than Bramblestar!
Great StarClan…he's going to watch me jump all because I impressed Graystripe? Firepaw felt hot embarrassment creep under his pelt. "Alright Firepaw, show me that move I taught you." Graystripe and Bramblestar sat a tail-length away from where Firepaw stood. The dark tabby only sat there majestically, his tail wrapped around his paws waiting for something to happen.
"O-okay…" Firepaw murmured, crouching down. This is some pressure…having the Clan leader watching too. With all his might, Firepaw sprung upwards like he had done previously. He hung in the air before bringing himself down with everything he had. By the time the dust lifted, Bramblestar was in shock. His mouth hung open and he was standing up. He was speechless at the amount of force that Firepaw exerted while bringing his paws down to the ground.
"That was absolutely amazing…I've never in all my seasons seen a cat put that much effort into that move. Nor have I seen a jump that high by any warrior…not even Spiderleg." Firepaw blinked. Spiderleg was the lankiest tom in the entire Clan, not to mention the tallest. He had long legs too. Firepaw envied him for those traits. To have Bramblestar compare Firepaw who wasn't even full grown yet to the senior warrior was an honor.
"Firepaw, keep up the great work and in no time you'll be the best warrior there is in this forest." Bramblestar meowed enthusiastically, turning towards the bushes. Firepaw felt giddy. He hadn't ever had kinder words said to him.
I just got praised by Bramblestar…
"Fire will save the Clans." A dappled she-cat spoke in an ominous tone, as if she were foretelling the future of her Clan. Around him, Firepaw felt cold and lonely the glittering of the stars weren't enough comfort for him to feel any relief. Two cats stood before him, a blue-furred she-cat like the one he had seen earlier that day. She had a grizzled white muzzle from aging and a glossy pelt. The other cat was young and healthy with a heart-achingly familiar spotted coat.
Firepaw felt his chest constrict with pain as he gazed upon the young she-cat. For some reason, she held a deep place in his heart even though he didn't know why as he had never met this pretty she-cat before.
"You've never been wrong before." The blue-furred queen sitting beside the spotted cat gazed at her companion with tired eyes. The moonlight was filtering above them, illuminating the sky with its radiant silver-white glow.
The pain was becoming unbearable and Firepaw squeezed his eyes shut as he crouched to the ground to try and lessen it. Suddenly the ground was ripped away from him and he was tumbling through darkness until he landed hard on his stomach, knocking the breath out of him.
He blinked as he regained his whereabouts. Opening his eyes, Firepaw realized that he was in a forest, located beside a wooden fence that bordered the trees. It was tall, maybe three or four tail lengths high. Atop the fence sat a familiar bright ginger coat. A blue piece of fabric lined the coat which contrasted against his bright fur that made this cat look like a flame. The sun hit his vibrant coat making it look even more like fire.
Firepaw was only recently aware at the moment that he was crouched behind a bush, observing this cat who was surveying the forest with a keen, green gaze. It seemed that they were excited to explore this land that was unfamiliar to them.
Again, the ground fell away from his paws and Firepaw tumbled through a black void. He fell longer this time, the feelings of excitement, sadness, anger, heartache and fear flowing through him rapidly. This time he flipped around so that his paws would hit the ground first but instead he landed in water. Panic instantly fueled his actions as he thrashed about. "Graystripe, help!" Firepaw yowled in fear. As he flailed helplessly, he saw a body floating past him. It was black, and limp.
Then another body came by.
This cat had his coat, except without that blue fabric wrapped around their neck. This cats coat was slicked against their sides as they fought the current and swam after the lump floating hopelessly down the river's current. More bodies passed by and Firepaw realized those were dogs!
But before he could react, he felt dry land beneath his paws and to his surprise; his drenched coat wasn't even damp! "Oh thank StarClan…" Before him, those same two cats were on the bank, one was talking quietly and the other was listening intently. Firepaw couldn't make out any words as he was too shaken up.
Then the blue-furred cat went limp and the other cat grieved. Firepaw wasn't making any sense of what was going on. Then he was taken to a burial ceremony of the blue-pelted cat. The flame-colored cat was now standing on top of a ledge that Firepaw assumed was the leaders den. Cats gathered around the base, looking up at the other cat with worried gazes.
He felt then nine strokes of pain course through him as the images faded to black. He glimpsed a bright light in front of him and the body of that same cat lying in front of it. Those were whisked away from him to be replaced by the bodies of some familiar cats that Firepaw didn't know at all. They were all complete strangers to him, yet he could recall their names as if he knew them his entire life.
There was Redtail, Bluestar, Brindleface, Lionheart, Swiftpaw, Spottedleaf, Silverstream, Runningwind and Yellowfang.
It was surprising that he knew these nine cats despite having never met them.
The cats then vanished and were replaced by a horrible scene that stood in front of him. That ginger cat was lying, motionless on the grass blood pooling from his wounds and a small black cat standing in front of him, claws unnaturally long and the fabric around his neck studded with the teeth of other animals. Firepaw had no idea what was going on or why this was being shown to him, but he didn't have time to ask any questions or even collect his thoughts before he saw a young, fluffy gray cat being named deputy in place of another whom lie dead in the clearing.
Then he felt the sense of victory flood through him as he celebrated the defeat of these strange cats and the death of the tiny black cat that had killed the ginger earlier.
Many more memories whizzed by him and each life that had been given was being ripped away. Until he felt tired and exhausted. Then his world finally went black completely.
He felt something jab him in the side and instantly, Firepaw's eyes opened to reveal a star-studded sky. A feeling of peace and tranquility swept him off his paws and Firepaw wondered for a half instant, where he was. Until he felt something light touch his cheek.
"Young Firepaw," A voice spoke up.
Whipping around, Firepaw paw came face-to-face with a beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat that he instantly recognized as Spottedleaf.
"Hush my dear, you're time with us won't be for seasons. But I must warn you of your future. You will endure a hardship that the whole Clan will feel for moons during your absence." The she-cat's dappled fur weaved around Firepaw's ginger fur and he felt a sense of heartache yet affection for her. For a brief moment, Firepaw felt a sense of foreboding and fear for what lie ahead of him but that was quickly erased from his mind as he reached forward and brushed his muzzle against the tortoiseshells.
"I missed you Spottedleaf…" Firepaw couldn't stop the words from coming from his mouth. A sense of grief overcame the young medicine cat and she only pressed her nose to his shoulder. "Firestar…" She murmured softly, before backing away silently and bounding off into the plentiful hunting grounds of StarClan without another word.
But before he could do anything else, he jolted awake to find Bramblestar poking him gently in the side with an upraised paw. "Firepaw, we need you outside."
It was still dark outside, not a single beam of light penetrated the leafy den roof. Stretching, Firepaw relieved his stiff joints before he followed the dark tabby out into the camp. Outside, he saw Daisy, Graystripe and Bramblestar sitting patiently awaiting him. Their scents wreathed around him and Firepaw gave a small, flick of his tail. But then he was interrupted by the voices of two cats that he didn't know.
"Copper…" They breathed.