Fireheart braced Featherpaw between his forelegs as he let the current keep carrying them downstream. Featherpaw tensed, he could sense her fear. He coughed a few times before forcing himself to meow into her ear, "Keep your head above my shoulder and lean against my chest. I'm going to get you to safety." After a few moments, Featherpaw shifted into the position Fireheart had told her to. He could hear her coughing and gasping for air right next to his ear. He growled, "Swim towards the shore."
The silver tabby followed the command, Fireheart could feel her paddling against him. He kept his head against her back as he started to paddle with his back legs, his front legs straddled around Featherpaw. He held his breath and shut his eyes as another wave splashed against his muzzle. Relief filled the warrior as he could still hear Featherpaw breathing and following his instruction. He could feel them steadily moving towards the edge of the river.
As soon as he felt his paws touch the ground again, Fireheart dug his claws into the muddy earth. He grabbed Featherpaw's scruff as he began to move them both towards safety. The wound on his side burned. A wave hit him, clogging his nose and muzzle again. He suppressed the urge to cough as he kept struggling towards the shore.
He felt Featherpaw get her footing a few moments later, at last, Fireheart began to relax. They would be alright. Everything would be alright. The warrior gripped the young tabby's scruff, hauling her out of the water on shaky legs. They both staggered onto the muddy ground next to the river, coughing as they collapsed.
Fireheart moved away from Featherpaw for a moment. He coughed a few times before wheezing, "How did you get in the water?"
"I was going towards the others," She rasped. "I was following Bramblepaw, a wave hit me and washed me in."
Fireheart rose steadily to his paws, staggering where Featherpaw was laying, he stuck his muzzle against her side. "Come on, we need to get back to the others."
After a moment, Featherpaw rose shakily to her paws. She leaned against Fireheart as she let out a few more coughs. Fireheart led the way upstream, his muscles screamed in protest against every moment he made. He ignored the pounding pain on his side. He coughed continuously as he forced his legs to move forward, it felt like his lungs were burning. He felt lightheaded. It took him when he realized Featherpaw was having as much difficulty as he was that he realized they had to stop.
Fireheart jerked his head over Featherpaw's own, eying away from the river. There was a red cedar not far from them, it was high enough up the bank where they wouldn't get chased out by the rising waters and its large branches would provide protection from the rain.
Fireheart muttered, "Come on, let's go this way." He shifted direction, nudging the apprentice along, towards the evergreen. He could feel Featherpaw growing weaker as they approached the tree, she let out another few coughs. He nudged the apprentice's shoulder gently, murmuring an encouragement.
When they got to the tree, its branches stopping the worse of the rain from hitting them, Fireheart helped the young tabby down onto the soft needles that scattered the ground. He collapsed shakily onto his side next to her, every muscle in his body felt as if it was on fire. He rasped, "We'll rest here for now."
"What about Mistyfoot and Graystripe?" Featherpaw asked.
"They're safe. They'll be able to swim back to shore and get to the others." Fireheart assured the young she-cat. He truly believed this, but there was still the creeping doubt in the back of his head that he was wrong. If they had been washed away, it was possible one of the others would have been, too. "We'll get to them once the sun has risen," He promised. They had been washed a good distance downstream, Fireheart could vaguely remember seeing this tree before. Hopefully, both warriors had not been foolish enough to try and follow them down the river. Hopefully, they had made it back to the rest of the Clan.
"What if they think we're dead?" A twisted feeling came to Fireheart's belly at the thought. It was likely Graystripe and Mistyfoot thought they were. They had been washed downstream, for all WindClan knew they would never return. What would happen then? What would they do? The Clan cats had all already gone through enough loss as it was. Although, this was not a real loss. They would worry for the night but Fireheart and Featherpaw were fine and would return to the Clan once the sky had cleared. He blinked at Featherpaw.
"Then it'll be a surprise for them in the morning when we get to them," Fireheart rasped, touching her shoulder with his nose. "Can you clean the water off you? You mustn't get sick." The silver apprentice nodded weakly before turning to do what she was told. Fireheart turned to lick the water off himself a moment later. He looked at the scratch.
Blood covered his flank coming out from the large jagged cut on his side. The warrior felt a twinge of fear at the sight, he needed to have that looked at by Barkface. However, Featherpaw was exhausted and Fireheart was exhausted. Fireheart began to lap at the wound, cleaning the blood from it. He'd need to stop the bleeding somehow.
Fireheart turned away, scanning the area around them for anything that could stop the blood. He spotted some mossy rocks not far from them. The warrior forced himself shakily to his paws again. He needed to stop the bleeding.
"Fireheart?" The warrior twitched his ear at Featherpaw.
"Stay here, I'll be quick."
Fireheart moved as fast as his muscles would let him towards the rocks. His mind whirled and his vision began to blur as he shakily approached the green plants. He ignored the rain that further soaked his pelt as he grabbed some of the moss in his teeth, tearing it from its hold on the rocks. The earthy taste the moss had overcome the tom's senses as he tore more away from the rocks.
As soon as his jaws were filled with as much moss as he could carry, the warrior turned away. He staggered back over to the apprentice and the safety beneath the cedar's large boughs. Fireheart let his legs buckle beneath him, falling onto his uninjured side on the soft needles before turning to clean the new blood and rain from his fur. His head was pounding, and every movement took effort. He needed to deal with this quickly.
As he finished drying himself, he grabbed the moss again, squeezing it between his teeth as to get the water out of it before pressing it to his side. Fireheart let out a hiss through gritted teeth at the pain it caused, even so, he kept his paw on it, pressing the moss further on to the wound.
As soon as Fireheart was certain that the bleeding had quelled, he turned back to Featherpaw. The apprentice seemed to be beginning to calm down, she had her head rested down on her paws and her ears were dropping. He lay his tail on her back. "Get some sleep," His lungs burned with each word spoken. The dizziness from his blood loss made it hard to believe he had spoken at all. It was almost like he was in a trance. Everything barely felt real. "We'll find everyone else in the morning."
Featherpaw nodded, closing her eyes a moment later. Fireheart turned his head away, resting it down on the soft ground beneath him as the heaviness of sleep became too much. Everything seemed to hit him at once as he closed his eyes. All he could hear was the steady patter of rain and the sound of his and Featherpaw's ragged breathing as he fell asleep.
Fireheart awoke to coughing, he shifted slightly, groaning at the pain it caused. His side was pounding profusely. He turned his head, pushed the moss off of his side before he sniffed at it a moment. He could feel the heat from an infection, but there was none of that sour scent like he expected there to be.
He let out a hiss as he realized he could not smell anything; his nose was too clogged. He paused a moment, taking it to swallow a few times as his throat burned. Each breath he took felt congested. Fireheart let out a harsh cough as he turned his attention to the apprentice next to him.
Featherpaw was coughing harshly, her body shook with each one. She needs to see Barkface. Fireheart forced himself to his paws, ignoring the pain as he nudged the silver tabby gently. He rasped; his voice barely above a hoarse whisper. "Come on. We need to get back to the rest of the Clan."
Featherpaw lifted her head slowly, her mouth was open as she breathed slowly. He could hear her wheezing. After a moment, the apprentice forced herself shakily to her paws. She stumbled a few paces forward. Fireheart lay his tail over her back; he would have offered her to lean against him again but right now he did not feel as though he could. "Let's get moving."
Featherpaw nodded. As soon as she was ready, Fireheart started forward ignoring the way his muscles protested and how each movement seemed to make him dizzier. They needed to get to WindClan and then everything would be fine. They couldn't have gone that far downriver and the Clan would be trying to find them. They just needed to stick close to the river, the rest of the Clan was following it. This would be fine. They would be fine.
They left the tree behind, the sky above them was blue. There was the occasional fluffy white cloud placed throughout it but mostly it was clear. The sun was high in the sky, it shone down on their pelts, warming them quickly. It was almost mocking how there was no sign of the horrific storm that had washed them away the night prior. No sign of what Featherpaw and Fireheart had been through and what had left them here in this state.
The sun was also higher than Fireheart expected, it had to be close to sunhigh. What if the Clan already searched for them? What if they did think Fireheart and Featherpaw were dead? Would they keep going? Would they leave them behind?
No. He had to believe that they wouldn't, there was no proof either was dead. They had to still be searching, all that was needed was for Fireheart and Featherpaw to get to them. The warrior's mind went to his mate. He needed to get to Sandstorm, he needed to be there for her.
The warrior locked eyes on a patch of trees not far from them, further upriver. We need to get there. From there it was keep going to the next place then the next until they had found WindClan. Until he got to Sandstorm.
"Twoleg." Fireheart felt as though his heart had plummeted at Featherpaw's whisper. He jerked his muzzle over her lowered head, turning so his seeing eye was facing the direction Featherpaw was looking. Sure, enough there was a Twoleg standing not far from them. The fur on the warriors back rose, how had he not noticed it before? Why did his nose have to be clogged? He should have smelt it long before it got this close.
The Twoleg made a few noises at the two Clan cats. Fireheart's eyes narrowed; he curled his tail protectively around Featherpaw as he let out a hiss at the large creature. He muttered to Featherpaw, "Let's keep going."
Fear raced through his mind, neither he nor Featherpaw were moving particularly fast as it was. What if the Twoleg decided to grab one of them? What if Fireheart could not fight it off? It was on his blind side, too. There was no way he could keep an eye on it. Fireheart tilted one ear in the direction of the Twoleg as they kept trudging forward. If they got to the tree line, they could slip up a tree if need be. They just needed to get to the trees.
Fireheart heard movement which made him tense, the warrior relaxed as he realized it seemed to be going away from them. This was fine, the Twoleg had left, had lost interest in them, and everything would be alright. Fireheart forced himself to take a wheezing breath as he forced himself to move a bit faster. Once he was certain that Featherpaw was fine with his choice to increase in speed, he relaxed slightly. Everything would be alright, they just needed to find WindClan.
"Fireheart." Featherpaw sounded alarmed, "It's coming back." Oh no. Fireheart tilted his ear in the direction where the Twoleg had left to. They needed to be faster, his eyes were locked onto the trees ahead of them. "It's got something."
"We need to be faster," Fireheart grunted. He nudged the apprentice's shoulder. He felt lightheaded as he let out a cough. "Let's go!" Featherpaw sped up as he did. He could hear it coming closer to the two Clan cats. After a moment, the feeling of the other cat next to him vanished. Fireheart felt as though his heart had stopped. No!
"Fireheart!" He turned as quickly as his stumbling paws would allow him towards Featherpaw's fear-filled voice. Fireheart's claws unsheathed and his hackles rose as he glared at the Twoleg that was holding Featherpaw. The silver tabby was struggling as best she could against the Twoleg's hold. The Twoleg was old, Fireheart realized. It was making soft cooing noises at Featherpaw as it moved her towards a box it had brought.
It probably doesn't even know what it's doing! It probably thinks we're some lost kittypets! Stupid Twoleg. Fireheart hissed, "You can't have her!" He moved towards it, curling his lip back as he raised his paw to swipe at one of its forelegs. He felt light-headed, between this illness and the blood loss he had experienced every movement took effort. He could feel his legs shaking. Every movement took all of his concentration. He dug his claws into its naked foreleg, snarling, "Let her go!"
The Twoleg let out a surprised noise, dropping Featherpaw as she did. It jerked its leg away from him. There was blood coming from the scratch down its leg. The apprentice landed in the box. A moment later, the young she-cat's head appeared as she tried to climb out of it. The Twoleg pushed her head back down, closing the top of the box before turning back to Fireheart. "Featherpaw!"
The Twoleg made a noise at Fireheart next, the toms' mind was racing. He could not leave Featherpaw to this, he could not, and yet his mind was telling him to run. He looked back and forth between the box and the Twoleg. He needed to protect Featherpaw. The warrior moved closer to the box, between it and the Twoleg as he let out a warning growl. Why wouldn't it just leave them be? They needed to get away.
The Twoleg grabbed a pelt it had also brought with it. Fireheart took a step back, his mind racing. What was it going to do?
The Twoleg grabbed him, wrapping the pelt around him as it did. It was too quick for Fireheart to even realize what was going on at first. Fireheart let out a screech, jerking against the hold as he tried to swipe at the Twoleg again. His mind felt cloudy and his chest was growing tight. His claws hit the pelt instead of the Twoleg. He was picked up and set into the same box as Featherpaw. No!
His breathing was getting worse, his vision was beginning to blur and he couldn't think straight. His side pounded; he was sure it was bleeding again. The box was covered again, the only light was from a few holes on the side. Fireheart could barely see Featherpaw as they were both picked up by the Twoleg. Everything was so small, so dark. He felt so weak, he could barely breathe. How could he have let this happen?
How terrible of a warrior was he that he could not protect Featherpaw and drive off a Twoleg? This couldn't be real. There's no way he was so weak that he would let Featherpaw get caught. His whole body felt numb and he was trembling. He heard Featherpaw's voice; Fireheart was unable to recognize what she was saying. A familiar mocking voice began taunting him in his head as everything faded to darkness.