"I'll be fine," Fireheart's tail twitched behind him, his guilt was building. He touched his muzzle to Sandstorm's cheek for a moment. "I've done this before, there's no reason to worry."
Her eyes narrowed, "It's going to rain. You can't stay out here." Sandstorm twitched his ear towards the sky as she spoke, large dark clouds hung heavy overhead. It was darker than it usually would be during this time of day. "Fireheart, nothing is going to happen. You're safe. You need to come in."
Fireheart shook his head, "No. I'll stand guard tonight." He was no longer limping and there was no reason why he could not stand guard. If he did not then another cat would, another cat had already been assigned to. There was no reason for them to be out here when he was going to be here, anyway, he might as well put some use to this time. Sandstorm looked ready to continue protesting before she could Fireheart meowed. "I'll be fine, it is just one night. I've done this before, I'll be fine."
Sandstorm's ears went back, "You need to listen to me."
Fireheart held her gaze, "I'll be fine. Go."
"I'll stay out here with you," Sandstorm's eyes narrowed. Fireheart's ears went back, guilt making his belly feel heavy.
"Barkface already said that he would not let you do that, go."
There was a moment of silence before the queen let out a harsh breath from her nose, "What about Graystripe? He can stay with you."
Fireheart shook his head, "I'm going to stand guard, there's no reason for him to stay out here too." A feeling of anxiety filled his chest. He did not want to put Sandstorm's through this conversation, this argument. He did not want her to be worried about him. Fireheart had slept through snow and rain alike before; he would be fine out here. It would all be fine.
After a few moments of thought, Sandstorm sighed, "Fine. Do not get sick." There was a serious look in her eyes, he knew she did not want this conversation to end. She wanted him to come with her. In turn, he wanted to do as she asked, but it seemed to be too much for him right now. Fireheart touched his muzzle to her cheek again.
"I won't," He promised. "Sleep well."
"Good night, Fireheart." There was a tension in Sandstorm's voice as she pulled away from him. The pale ginger queen looked at him for another long moment before turning away, disappearing beneath one of the shrubs that the Clan would be staying under tonight. The guilt made his chest tighten as Fireheart watched after Sandstorm. This was not the first time they had had this discussion on this journey.
A few days had passed since the Twoleg nest, the Clan had been moving slowly but steadily upriver. Being such a big group of cats, the travel was slow. They needed to stop early to make sure they could hunt as well as avoid Twolegs as best they could. It was difficult, but they kept going. The day prior, the landscape around them had become more open. Twoleg nests were still within view, but there were fewer of them. Every now and again there was a patch of trees, there had been some talk of stopping here, but Barkface kept insisting they kept going. It seemed they had not found where the medicine cat thought they should be.
The true identity of who sent Barkface that dream still confused Fireheart. Why had they sent it? Why did StarClan not seem to care that WindClan was following their directions? Did a Clan ever leave the forest before or was it something that these mysterious entities that sent the dream made up? Where were they being sent?
A thought kept coming to the warrior, was there even a place for them to go? There had to be, there just had to be but where? Twolegplace? That was all this had offered so far. Why was StarClan letting WindClan go? If there was no real place, did they even care? Fireheart pushed the thought aside, they had to have cared. This was one of the four Clans, for StarClan's sake. They had to have cared about what happened to WindClan.
Fireheart rose to his paws, padding over to Brightheart, who had been assigned guard duty that night. He called a greeting to the young orange and white warrior as he approached, touching his muzzle against hers after she got to her paws. He ordered, "Go get some rest. I'll stand guard tonight."
"Are you sure?" Brightheart asked, a concerned light came to her blue eye. A feeling of annoyance came over Fireheart, why did the others always have to be worried about him? He was spending the night out here anyway, there was no reason for Brightheart to have to deal with the rain as well.
"I can do as good of a job as you can," She looked ready to protest. Fireheart pressed, "Go. I'm sure Cloudtail's missing your company."
A sheepish look came to Brightheart's face at the mention of Cloudtail, there was a moment of hesitation before she dipped her head to Fireheart, moving towards that night's shelter. Fireheart watched as Brightheart disappeared a few moments later into the same den that Cloudtail had gone in earlier. His mind remained on the two young warriors and how close they had gotten over the past few seasons. It's good that Brightheart and Cloudtail found such good friends in each other.
He sat where Brightheart had just been, letting his shoulders relax after the long day of walking. They were lucky that the storm had not broken during the day, they could shelter for the night, and hopefully, it will have passed by the time it was time to get moving again.
Fireheart's ear twitched as another strike of numb pain stung the side of his face. He dug his claws into the ground beneath him, taking a deep breath. He should have gone to Barkface about it earlier but they had so few supplies as it was. He doubted the medicine cat still had what was needed for his eye. It had been hurting since the sunset prior.
It did not take long for the rain to start. It started out a light trickle but quickly turned into a downpour. Fireheart shook some of the water that was clinging to his fur before he fluffed up his short pelt as best he could against the winds that had begun to blow. He let his eyes close, protecting them from the sting of the rain. He doubted anything would be out in this, there was no reason to worry about danger.
As the night continued on, the rain got harder. Lightning began to split the sky above and thunder boomed. Fireheart glanced in the direction of some trees, further up the bank. He considered moving out of the storm's wrath before deciding against it. If he went up there, he would be away from the rest of WindClan and he would be leaving his post. There was always a chance of something happening, even how little likely it was in this rain. He could not leave his post.
Fireheart slowly lowered himself to the ground, pressing his belly against the muddy grass as he tried to escape the worst of the winds. He wrapped his tail around his paws, grateful for the bit of warmth and protection it provided them. His gaze shifted upwards as a crack of lightning shot across the sky, the sky glowed and the lightning spread across it as if shattering the sky into pieces. As the world lit up around him, Fireheart recognized something in the clouds above him.
Among the purple clouds that filled the night sky, he saw Bluestar's face. It had almost a pleading look to it as it gazed down on her former Clanmate. Almost asking him to head back to the forest and TigerClan, as she had done before. Bluestar's face disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. Fireheart felt a flash of anger, he almost wanted to shout to the sky. To the cat, he had just seen in the stormy clouds above him.
I have given you my answer! Fireheart thought, you and Spottedleaf both!
The warrior forced his fur to remain flat as he looked away from the sky and towards the bushes where the rest of the Clan slept. Horror struck Fireheart as he realized the river beyond them was beginning to overflow.
Through the rain, Fireheart could see its sloshing banks grow higher with each passing moment. The warrior rose quickly to his paws, shaking the mud from his pelt before bolting the few fox lengths between him and where the rest of the Clan sheltered. He screamed, "Flood! The river's flooding!"
It took him a moment of stillness for him to realize, they could not hear him over the wind and rain. He would need to go in to warn them. A pressure formed on his chest as lightning struck above, shattering the sky as it had done before. He took a deep breath. I'll be fine. This is fine.
Fireheart forced himself towards the closest bush, taking another deep breath as he stuck his head beneath its branches. His chest was tight. He could see a few sleeping shapes of warriors, oblivious to the danger just outside. He yowled, "Get up – quickly! There's a flood!"
Fireheart saw a few shapes shift at his voice, he pulled away before there was any more reaction he could see. The ones waking up could wake the others. He needed to get to each bush. His head was spinning. The tom moved onto the next one, taking a deep breath as he forced himself beneath and repeated what he had just done. When he came out, he spotted Onewhisker, Mistyfoot, and Tornear already out from under the first bush. Cloudtail was pushing his way out presently.
Lightning struck again, followed quickly by a deafening clap of thunder. Fireheart yowled, "Get to higher ground – now!" He nodded towards the patch of trees he had seen earlier, turning away before any of the other warriors could respond.
He continued to each place where he knew cats were sleeping until they had all gotten out, by the time he was finished the water had reached the bushes and those last cats had to slosh through the soggy earth. He moved quickly over to Tallstar as the older tom had hung back to wait for him, kicking up mud behind him. His black and white pelt clung to his skinny frame, drenched by the downpour overhead. Tallstar asked, "Is that everyone?"
"I believe so," Fireheart replied. "Did you see Sandstorm?" In his rush, the tom had not been able to see his mate. Fear ran through him as he saw how close the water was getting, what if something had happened to her?
"She went with Morningflower up the bank." Fireheart felt a rush of relief at Tallstar's response. Tallstar was looking past him, at the rising water. Fireheart could see a glimmer of fear in his eyes. "We need to go."
Fireheart followed after his leader as he led the way up the bank towards the cover of trees where the rest of the Clan was waiting. Two shapes were moving towards them quickly from the cover of trees, in a flash of lightning Fireheart recognized they were Mistyfoot and Graystripe.
"Have you seen Featherpaw?" Graystripe exclaimed over the wind, "We can't find her!" Fireheart shook his head. He could see fear for the apprentice on both his friend's faces.
"Come on, we need to go find her!" He glanced at Tallstar as he spoke, the black and white tom nodded, moving up the slippery slope towards the rest of the Clan. Fireheart turned away, back towards the raging current. He heard Graystripe and Mistyfoot following him quickly towards the furious river. The deputy scanned the bank, trying to glimpse any sign of the lost apprentice. Where could she have possibly gone? How could he have let her get separated? How hadn't he noticed?
A bolt of lightning struck, lighting up the ground around them. "There!" Fireheart turned at the sound of Graystripe's yowl. The gray tom was rushing towards the water as thunder rumbled. Fireheart could see where Graystripe was headed, near where the water had been prior to the flooding was a silver fence-like structure. He could see a light gray shape clinging to it.
Fireheart rushed after Mistyfoot, who had followed Graystripe towards the water. The gray she-cat looked back at him as they got closer to the current. Over the rain, Fireheart could hear her voice. "Stay here, we need someone to help us once we've gotten her to shore."
Fireheart stopped in the shallow water, everything in him told him to keep going forward to help Featherpaw but he stayed. Mistyfoot and Graystripe were both better swimmers than him. Both stronger and larger, more capable of combatting the rushing current than him and if Mistyfoot, who had some experience in these situations, told him to stay he would. He nodded as the other warrior turned away, continuing into the surging river.
Both warriors disappeared into the darkness as Fireheart watched on, his heart was pounding as he stared at Featherpaw's shape. She was just above the waters quick current; it was less than a tail length beneath her. The warrior prayed they would be able to get to her. Both Mistyfoot and Graystripe were stronger than Featherpaw, they should be able to muscle their way through the water. The water was rising steadily around Fireheart.
With another flash of lightning, Fireheart spotted the two warriors shapes, paddling with all their might's towards the fence where the apprentice clung. The light quickly disappeared as well as Fireheart's view of Graystripe and Mistyfoot. Anxiety clung to him.
A larger shape dragged itself onto the silver rod next to Featherpaw, it took Fireheart a moment to recognize the shape as Mistyfoot. His heart pounded, where was Graystripe? A few words seemed to pass between mentor and apprentice before Mistyfoot moved closer to Featherpaw, gripping the nearly full-grown cat by her scruff. A moment later, both cats disappeared into the water rising beneath them.
Fireheart's heart lurched. Where are they? He glanced to the sky for a moment, when would there be more lightning? He had been able to see them all during it. Possibilities raced through his head. What if one of them got washed downstream? What if they all did? He would be standing here, doing nothing while his friends disappeared. A tightness was forming in his chest.
Fireheart moved a few steps further into the water, digging his claws into the ground beneath him as he held his own against the water surging past him. Through squinted eyes, he tried his best to see what was going on.
Another bolt of lightning struck, revealing the three cats moving towards the shore. Graystripe and Mistyfoot moved steadily against the current, Featherpaw pressed between them. The former RiverClan warrior still had her jaw around the apprentice's scruff as they moved.
The tension in Fireheart's chest lessened, he moved a few steps further into the icy water, ready to be there when it was needed. He began to cough as a wave drew water over his muzzle unexpectedly, filling his mouth with water. Horror filled him as he felt his grip on the ground beneath him loosen and he was lifted into the current.
Fireheart grappled to get a grip on the ground again, managing to grab onto some stone a few tail lengths downstream. He dug his claws into the rock the best he could. The warrior forced his muzzle high, trying to keep it above the waters reach as he stared into the darkness. When would they get here?
Another bolt of lightning struck and Fireheart was able to spot them again, they were not far from him. He would be able to reach them. He retracted his claws, quickly starting to kick out in the water, paddling towards the other cats.
The water resisted his movement with each kick, Fireheart kept his muzzle high as the flowing river beat against him. He locked eyes with Graystripe a moment later.
Graystripe yowled; Fireheart could barely hear him through the wind. "Grab her!"
Fireheart moved towards the three cats, Mistyfoot glanced at him as he moved his head between the two warriors. Her grip on Featherpaw loosened as he grabbed the apprentices' scruff. He started kicking back, feeling Featherpaw paddling towards him.
The surge was picking up; Fireheart kept his jaws firmly around Featherpaw's scruff as a wave washed over all four cats. The wave was stronger than the previous ones had been. It dislodged Fireheart's resistance against the current, pulling Featherpaw with him.
Graystripe's scream was the last thing Fireheart heard as they were washed downriver.
As the current carried the two cats away something tore into the warrior's side suddenly; Fireheart suppressed the urge to bite down further on Featherpaw's scruff as he groaned in pain. He felt it tear open his side causing his flank to burn against the icy water. He hoped that whatever had dug into his side had not hit the apprentice as well.
Fireheart kicked against the current as best he could with his hold on the apprentice, his heart was beating faster as fear took hold of him. He needed to get them to shore fast. He snarled, muffled by the other cat's scruff: "Swim!"
He could feel Featherpaw paddling her best beneath him, but the exhaustion of the entire event seemed to be catching up with her. As another wave hit them, water covered Fireheart's muzzle clogging his nose and coming into his mouth. He jerked his head up, trying to get his own as well as Featherpaw's out of the water as a realization dawned on him. I'm going to drown her if I keep holding her like this.
After a few moments of consideration, possibilities racing through his head, Fireheart let go of Featherpaw's scruff.