Disclaimer: I do NOT own Warriors. It belongs to Erin Hunter.
'Thoughts' Dreams Memories
Firepaw woke up coughing up blood. Her whole body burned in agony and she couldn't move. She was aware that it was night, the coolness of the ground and breeze blowing told her that. Everything around her was black, Firepaw was blind, she could see nothing. Still, she was alive...barely.
Firepaw could hear her own heart beating. It thrummed painfully in her chest. She tried getting up but sparks of agony stilled her and trembled, everything hurting. She then opened her eyes but still couldn't see, her breath coming out faster and faster. There were noises, so many sounds. She couldn't see, she couldn't move. Everything hurt and it felt like she was burning!
Her head was cracking, it felt like claws were digging into her skull and slowly prying it apart. Why wouldn't the pain stop?! Was something picking at her brain? She couldn't move, no matter how much she tried. Her head was ripping apart, fangs driving right into her head. Her blood was spilling on the ground as someone danced on her skull. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts! It hurts! IT HURTS!
Fear started to consume her, her chest heaving rapidly. Her blood was still flowing and her skull was still breaking. It was all dark, there was nothing. Something...was something coming towards her? She didn't know. Tears welled up in Firepaw's eyes and she opened her mouth, only one name, one cat came to her as cold started to grip her and she felt like she was falling. One final smiling face coming to her before Firepaw was plunged into darkness.
"SANDPAW!"
XxXx
The time to leave was rapidly approaching, Sandpaw, Ravenpaw, and Tigerclaw were all settled around Spottedleaf who was handing out herbs to the three cats. Yellowfang was watching nearby, her eyes narrowed. During the day Spottedleaf had asked the older cat to join her in her den, out of the elements. Many of the demons were surprised to find that the ex ShadowClan molly agreed and moved to sleep in the healer's den. Some were a little uneasy around her but seeing that she was another medicine cat and a fellow demon, they soon got over it and allowed her peace.
Sandpaw found out that the pair often bickered and fought, but she could see that while there was slight annoyance in Yellowfang's gaze, both mollies would often smile and gently insult one another while the younger of the two worked. This time was no exception.
"If you want them to make it to Highstones soon, you'd better work faster, Spottedleaf. I've seen dead turtles move faster!" Yellowfang called out, her tail flicking in amusement.
Spottedleaf smirked before flicking a berry at the older molly, shaking her head. "It can't be any slower than you, Yellowfang. Everything will be fine, don't you worry."
No sooner had she finished speaking did Bluestar show up, her ears twitching irritably and her claws scraping the ground. "Is everything ready, we need to start heading for Highstones."
Both healers regarded her with a thinly veiled contempt before Spottedleaf sighed and got to her paws. She then shoved the last bit of herbs to the traveling cats before turning her back.
"Good luck, travel safely." she muttered before heading into her den with Yellowfang following after.
Bluestar watched them before turning her gaze to the trio that would be coming with her and nodding, heading for the camp entrance. The three demons followed her with Tigerclaw taking the lead.
As they reached the entrance, Bluestar stopped to speak to Darkstripe who was standing guard with Lionheart by his side. The leader regarded them both neutrally but her tail was flicking, however she kept her voice calm.
"Be on your guard while we are away. There's no telling what ShadowClan might do if they catch wind that their leader and some if it's fighting force is away. If they do attack, show them that ThunderClan is strong. We are not WindClan, we will NOT be chased out of our territory!"
The males nodded to this while Lionheart looked down on the two apprentices, smiling at them. "This will be the farthest either of you have gone, be careful but don't be afraid to explore as much as you can. There are many things that you can learn about outside the borders of the Clans."
"There won't be any time to explore, we'll have to get to the Moonstone as soon as possible." Bluestar snapped, shaking her head and heading off without them.
The apprentices sighed at that but Darkstripe cheered them up with a low whisper and a wink. "Don't worry, I'll take you out one of these days to explore. It would be good for you."
"Maybe we can even find Firepaw if we're quick enough. No one has seen her and...I'm worried." Sandpaw muttered, clawing a little at the dirt. "Hopefully she'll be fine, Sandpaw. I don't think that Firepaw would let anything get the jump in her." Lionheart replied, giving her ear a calming lick. "Now, off you go and stay safe!"
"Look after them, Tigerclaw." Darkstripe told the older cat, giving him a nod to which the tabby said nothing and only gave a quick tail twitch.
With the trio going to catch up with Bluestar, the journey to Highstones had finally begun.
XxXx
The ThunderClan patrol traveled at a fast pace through their territory, taking to the trees to travel a bit faster. However Sandpaw and Ravenpaw struggled to keep up, they still haven't been completely trained in tree running yet so their progress was slow.
Bluestar didn't seem to care about this and urged the younger cats to move faster. Ravenpaw did his best but nearly tripped and fell. If it wasn't for Sandpaw being right behind him, the young black tom would have plunged to his death. Sandpaw had grabbed onto his scruff and hauled the other demon to his paws, Tigerclaw simply watched before turning to Bluestar.
"We're heading to the ground, there's no point in getting these apprentices killed. Even you wouldn't want innocent blood on your paws just from being too impatient to reach Highstones." The massive tabby then leapt down and looked over at the apprentices, nodding to them. Sandpaw and Ravenpaw soon followed.
Bluestar hissed and flattened her ears but as the trio continued on without her, she had no choice but follow. "Tigerclaw...you'll regret this!" she muttered to herself, growling.
As they reached the ground, Sandpaw suddenly lowered her nose to the ground and took a few steps to the left, her heart pounding in her chest. She...she could smell Firepaw! And blood, lots of it. There was also the scent of ShadowClan. She called out to the others who had looked past her and urged them to come.
"Firepaw, she's here, somewhere! Please, Bluestar, we have to find her!"
"There's no time to search for a coward!" Bluestar snapped, starting to move on. Her tail was still lashing from Tigerclaw's words earlier.
Hot fury rushed through Sandpaw and before she could stop herself, she growled at her leader. "Firepaw isn't a coward! She's brave and strong and cunning! There's ShadowClan scent here and blood. She could have fought them off and got captured! We have to save her!"
"She left the Clan because she couldn't handle what was happening around us." It was surprisingly Tigerclaw who spoke, but his voice was quiet, full of disappointment. "Someone like that, doesn't deserve to to be rescued. She made her choice, now we must make ours." He then turned to follow Bluestar, flicking his tail for the apprentices to follow.
Ravenpaw gave her a sympathetic look but said nothing, quickly hurrying after the adult cats. Sandpaw stayed rooted to the spot, her whole body feeling numb. Firepaw did leave them, she even warned Sandpaw of this, but the pale molly knew it wasn't because of cowardice. Firepaw wasn't afraid of anything!
But as Tigerlcaw's words drifted in her head, Sandpaw looked around the forest and wondered, if she could truly leave her friend behind. She took a step towards where Firepaw's scent drifted towards until an angry yowl from Bluestar cut through her thoughts.
Sandpaw flinched and flattened her ears. She lingered for a heartbeat longer before running after the rest of her patrol. 'I'm sorry, Firepaw! I know you're not a coward! Your blood has been spilled by ShadowClan! I won't give up on you! I promise to come back and find you, no matter what it takes!"
A/N: another short one, guys. Sorry this update took so long, this past month has really been something terrible. I just wasn't in the mood to update. Things are getting a little better and hopefully the chapters won't take nearly as long. Let's cling to hope that stays true. But as always, please enjoy the story.
