Deadly Desert

In a arid desert, wind blew sand off the sand dunes and it looked like a sandstorm was forming. On the sandy ground, two heads were peering out of the ground, but these weren't just any heads; they were cat heads. Their heads were above the sand, but their bodies were buried underneath them. The first head was a golden tom with light brown ears, stripes on each cheek, a white muzzle, and amber eyes. The other was a grey she-cat with dark grey ears and blue eyes. The golden tom opened his eyes slowly, his vision was blurry, but once he regained his vision, he saw the grey she-cat.

"C-Cinderheart?" he meowed.

"L-Lionblaze?" she meowed.

Cinderheart opened her eyes slowly and looked around. She didn't recognized the area nor had she seen this place before. Cinderheart started to panic and struggled to get out of the sand.

"Wh-Where are we?! What's going on?!" she meowed panicking.

"Calm down Cinderheart, please." Lionblaze meowed calmly.

He tried to dig himself out of the ground, but the impact from the sand in the ground made it difficult for him. Lionblaze wondered how he and Cinderheart got into this mess. As he continued to dig out of the ground, Lionblaze started to remember how he and Cinderheart got into this mess in the first place.

Flashback

Deep in the Thunderclan territory, a horrible fight broke out between a gang of rogues and a Thunderclan patrol. Bramblestar was leading the patrol and he had pinned the rogue leader to the ground.

"ATTACK!" he yowled.

Bramblestar, Cherryfall, Squirrelflight, Dewnose, Molewhisker, Sparkpelt, Cinderheart, and Lionblaze ran out of the bushes and attacked the rogues. Lionblaze pinned a rogue down and scratched his face. The rogue hissed and managed to kick Lionblaze off of him. Lionblaze landed hard on the ground, but managed to get up and leaped onto the rogue again. Blood and fur sprayed all around them as cats from both sides fought each other. After a few moments of yowling and hissing, the rogue leader kicked off Bramblestar and started to flee.

"RETREAT!" he yowled.

The rogues kicked off their attackers and they started to flee. Before Bramblestar could say anything, Lionblaze and Cinderheart chased after the rogues and followed them to the river. Lionblaze and Cinderheart looked around and wondered if the rogues had crossed the border. As they sniffed the air, Lionblaze saw the rogue leader and was side tracked by his sudden hit and fell to the ground hard. A rogue jumped at Cinderheart and knocked her out as well. The rogues came out of the bushes and laughed sinisterly, thinking they would finally get retribution for loosing that fight; no one dared makes them feel like cowards. The rogue leader looked around, finding a perfect place to hide the unconscious cats until they were rid of the Thunderclan patrol and so they could take the unconscious cats to their execution. Finally, the rogue leader looked at the river; it was moving fast but it would make it quicker to get upstream and get them before they died from drowning.

"Put them in the river." He ordered.

The other rogues looked at their leader in disbelief and thought he was crazy.

"Uh, are you sure? What if they drown?" one of them asked.

"Trust me." The leader smiled sinisterly.

The Thunderclan patrol managed to reach the river, but it was too late, Bramblestar saw the rogues put Lionblaze and Cinderheart's bodies in the river and he saw a little bit of blood on the grass. Tears swelled the patrol's eyes as they had lost two of their clanmates and to some, their kin. Squirrelflight sobbed as the kit she once called her own was dead and Bramblestar's eyes formed tears. One of the rogues must've scented the patrol, because he turned around and smirked.

"THIS SOULD TEACH THEM TO NEVER MAKE FOOLS OF US!" the rogue yowled.

The patrol glared at them enraged. This wouldn't be the last time they saw those rogues and when they did, they would kill them. The rogues manage to leave the forest and got Lionblaze and Cinderheart out of the river. With the help of a few contacts, they managed to tie Lionblaze and Cinderheart's together and smuggle them to the desert. There were times where Lionblaze tried to wake up, but he would be knocked out the moment he tried. Once they got to the desert, they took off the rope and buried them until they were at head level and laughed at their cruel fate.

"Look at this, two pathetic scum that couldn't beat all of us, how pathetic!" the leader mocked.

The other rogues laughed at the cruel comment, then walked away. Some of them snickered and laughed and soon, they disappeared.

Back to the present

Lionblaze was starting to remember on how they got here and he was remembering the parts where he was trying to wake up, but only to be knocked out again; he knew he was far, but he didn't think he was that far. Lionblaze had to admit, being tied up the way he was felt uncomfortable and being buried like this had that same exact feeling as having your legs tied up.

"I know how we got here." He spoke.

"How?" Cinderheart asked.

"Those rogues, remember? The ones we fought back in the forest." Lionblaze explained.

"Yes, I remember them, but how did they get us here?" Cinderheart asked confused.

"They must've had help. In the streets, anything is possible." Lionblaze guessed.

"So, is anyone coming for us?" Cinderheart asked desperately.

He didn't want to answer and looked away. He knew from the bottom of his heart that no one was coming and he remembered hearing a conversation about hiding them in the river. It would make any cat, even a kit think that they were dead. Lionblaze looked at Cinderheart; upset and numb.

"No…no one's coming, Cinderheart." He meowed.

Lionblaze flattened his ears and was numb. He accepted the fact that he was going to die and that he was never going to come home. He was going to miss his family, his kits, and his friends, but he knew that Starclan was waiting for them. Lionblaze would see Leafpool, Hollyleaf, Firestar, Sandstorm, and all of his former clanmates and Cinderheart would see her family, Cinderpelt, and all of her former clanmates as well. Suddenly, Lionblaze heard sobs coming from Cinderheart and looked at her. Tears streamed from her eyes and sand was covering her fur and getting into Lionblaze's eyes; causing temporary irritation in his eyes.

"Lionblaze, what are we going to do? We're never going to see our families again, our kits!" Cinderheart cried.

"C-Calm down, Cinderheart. If we can dig ourselves out, then there's a chance we could return home." Lionblaze comforted.

"You think that could work?" Cinderheart asked skeptically.

"It's worth a shot." Lionblaze said hopeful.

If this was true, then it was worth a shot, but there was a problem: even if they did dig their way out of the ground, the chance of getting back home was slim. Lionblaze and Cinderheart have not been properly treated for their wounds, plus there was the matter of dehydration and starvation. The desert is a big place, there's not much food or water a cat could get. There was also the fact that they wouldn't know where to start, Lionblaze and Cinderheart had never been here, so their ideas on direction was one in a million. Lionblaze and Cinderheart struggled to dig out of the ground and as they did, their determination came from thinking about their loved ones and their home. After a few minutes of digging, Lionblaze and Cinderheart felt like they were making progress, until Lionblaze stopped and perked in surprised.

"Cinderheart, don't move." He warned.

"Why?" she asked confused.

"Please, just don't." Lionblaze pleaded.

Just as Cinderheart stopped, a scorpion was a few feet behind her. Lionblaze had never seen such a creature, but he wasn't taking any chances. He and the scorpion continued staring at each other while Cinderheart tried to look behind her without moving her head.

"Lionblaze, I just want you to know; if we don't make it out of this, just know that I was proud to be your mate and the mother to our kits." Cinderheart whispered.

"Same here." Lionblaze whispered.

The cats continued to remain still. After a few moments of staying still, the scorpion got closer and then, it suddenly stung Cinderheart at the back of her head. Cinderheart flinched in pain.

"CINDERHEART!" Lionblaze screeched.

He tried even harder to get out of the ground, but even he knew that it was probably hopeless. The chance of him and Cinderheart trying to get out of the sand was slim and that scorpion looks like it just doesn't sting animals for nothing. As Lionblaze continued struggling to get out of the sand, he looked at Cinderheart and saw her seizing and foam was coming out of her mouth. Then, the scorpion approached Lionblaze and stung him on the head as well. Lionblaze yowled in pain and started to feel dizzy. He stopped digging and just accepted death. Lionblaze looked at Cinderheart one last time and than started seizing. Cinderheart died first, than it was Lionblaze. Vultures flew above the two cats and circled their prey; waiting for their prey to really be dead.