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Ch.10: What Was Lost (Part 2)
"Fireshade!"
Abruptly pulled from his dream, Fireshade looked around disorientated before locking his eyes with concerned yellow orbs. That was right, him and Graystripe pressed up against each other before they went to sleep. Remembering that made his skin tingle for some reason.
"You were mewling in your sleep," the gray tom pointed out, sounding a bit like Tigerclaw. "Bad dream?"
More like I was reliving someone else's nightmare. First, Oakheart, now Jake and Talltail. Why did these dreams (memories?) choose to bother him? What did fate expect him to do with them? He shook his head, "It doesn't matter now." He stood up as Graystripe was about to contradict him. Judging by the dull light at the end of the tunnel, it was almost dawn. It was time for them to get back to it. "There's still a Clan to find," he meowed as eagerness boiled away the rest of his drowsiness. He padded towards the outside world with finality and Graystripe followed with slight annoyance behind him.
As they exited the tunnel, the duo decided amongst themselves that they would continue to search the tangle of Thunderpaths.
They came up near the edge of a patch of barren, dirty grass. Thunderpaths enclosed it on two sides, and another arch overhead. A fire burned in the middle of the grass. A few Twolegs lay around it. One of them stretched and rolled over, another grunted angrily in its sleep, but the noise and stench from the Thunderpath didn't seem to wake them.
Fireshade watched them warily, then frozed as something else caught his eye: dark outlines that flitted back and forth in front of the flames. Cats! His heart quickened at the thought of it possibly being WindClan. Fireshade looked at the fire and the cats, and his mind flooded with memories of his dreams-Oakheart destroyed, Talltail and Jake divided, and a raging inferno with two ominous green eyes inside. He didn't recall dreaming about that last one, but saw it vividly all the same. Something about it prickled him with familiarity. Just like his dream the night before.
"Fireshade? Fireshade!"
Graystripe's voice jolted Fireshade back to reality. He breathed deeply to calm himself…and pretended not to notice his friend's concerned glare.
"We need to find Tallstar and speak with him," Graystripe meowed.
The orange tom's ears flicked and he faced his companion directly, green eyes inquisitive. "Did you say Tallstar?" It couldn't be…!
"Yes…?" The gray tom confirmed with a raised eyebrow. "Have you not heard his name before?"
Fireshade realized he'd almost lost focus again and played it off. "I may have heard it in passing once and not realized it." He honestly couldn't remember; his mind was feeling increasingly like it was in disarray by the minute. It must be a coincidence! "So that was WindClan's marker we smelled yesterday?" He asked to try and veer the conversation away from his initial surprise.
"Yes," Graystripe scoffed playfully. "Some elite tracker you are."
Fireshade's ears folded in embarrassment, but his shoulders squared just a moment later. "Still," he meowed with accomplishment, "we found them."
Graystripe nodded and braced himself to leap forward. "Let's go!"
"Hang on," the ginger tom warned. "We don't want to startle them."
Just then, one of the Twolegs sat up with a jolt and began shouting at the ragged cats around the fire. The noise roused the other Twolegs, who joined in with rough, angry voices.
The WindClan cats scattered. All caution forgotten, Fireshade and Graystripe raced after them. Fireshade could feel his fur prickle with fear as he and Graystripe ran straight toward the fire and the Twolegs. Every instinct told him to keep away but dared not to lose sight of the fleeing WindClan cats.
One of the Twolegs staggered to its feet, looming up in front of him. Fireheart skidded, sending up a spray of dust. Something exploded beside him, pelting him with hard edged splinters, but nothing pierced his thick coat. He glanced backward, checking for Graystripe. He was relieved to see his friend right behind him, his eyes wide with alarm and fur standing on end.
They charged into the safety of the shadows beneath the soaring Thunderpath and after WindClan. The faster they retrieved WindClan, the faster he could get away from these bizarre circumstances.
At least that was what Fireshade hoped.
A/N: Read, Fav, Follow, Review! Thanks a million for all that you do!
P/S: I don't think I've mentioned TallSTAR by name once during this whole thing…