Wow. We got about... *checks notes* 6 whole days into 2021 before a bunch of idiots thought it would be a great idea to storm the Capitol. Now I'm wholeheartedly convinced that 2020 was just the trailer.
We're getting closer and closer to the parts of Ignite that I really really REALLY wanted to write! Kind of like back some 20 chapters when I wanted to write about Fires getting kicked out and stuff? There's a scene in my head that I wanted to write down for months. Except with everyone commenting/reviewing and helping me guide this fic, I'm starting to wonder if what I originally envisioned would just throw everything off track.
Meh. I'm sure it'll be fine. My fic my rules.
Remember when I was worried cause I thought I wouldn't make it to 50 chapters? I don't think that's a problem now lol.
Now for something a bit more sobering... my dad got sick earlier this week. We were just hoping that he caught a cold, cause we've been careful and we've all been wearing masks. But of course, there are always a few jerks at his workplace that went in with Covid anyway, thinking it was fine cause they were asymptomatic.
Thanks.
My dad tested positive thanks to these people. My mom and my sister aren't feeling well either, because my dad had to stay home. We didn't think it was Covid. So now I'm the only one in my family that is feeling perfectly fine, but I might still have, or could catch it next anyway. I can't go to work on Saturday because of Covid. That's one, maybe two paychecks I'm missing out on. And now I'm worried that someone in my family will eventually have to be driven to the hospital because of Covid. All because a few idiots thought they were higher than basic courtesy.
IF YOU ARE SICK, EVEN JUST A LITTLE BIT, STAY HOME. SERIOUSLY. WEAR A FREAKING MASK. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO, JUST STAY AWAY FROM PEOPLE IF YOU'RE SICK!
Reviews are appreciated!
He was aware of his clanmates straining their ears in the hopes of hearing the sounds of battle that he had claimed to have heard. Hollyleaf was cursing behind him, muttering to herself that she was no Dovewing. He supposed it was a little far fetched to believe that he could easily hear the battle, but he had heard the other clans coming before they reached the camp, just before he had set everything ablaze. He couldn't block out the yowls and screeches of fighting cats.
He gradually slowed to a stop as they ran deeper into Thunderclan territory, his eyes horrified at the sights around him. The trees were blackened, charred, and some were burned into nothing.
"Firestar? Why did you stop?" Hollyleaf asked quickly.
"Are there cats coming?" Cherrypaw's eyes went wide.
He only stood there, stiff as a log. "Did I do this?" he muttered numbly. He turned his head around to stare blankly at the four awkward cats, who averted their own gazes. "Why didn't you tell me about how much damage I've caused to our territory? How have you survived like this?" They stood there awkwardly, glancing at each other and silently communicating as to who would give him the answers he sought.
"I mean, it wasn't easy. We've just been doing what you were doing; going outside the territory for food and stuff," Foxleap said awkwardly.
"Broaching such a topic wasn't relevant anyway. We've been surviving, and that's all that matters right now," Hollyleaf meowed.
"Plus, we were focused on finding you. And I guess... we didn't want to see you unhappy again, Father," Squirrelflight finished.
He lashed his tail, annoyed and agitated. Of course the state of Thunderclan territory was relevant if he was going to see it again anyway. He was grateful to Squirrelflight, for wanting him to be happy, but he wasn't a hatchling himself. Did they all really think he was going to have a bad reaction to hearing about the state of the territory? He knew what he did- he just didn't realize the extent of what he had done.
"Does the clan actually want me back? Or are they going to tip-toe around me, whispering about me behind my back again?" Firestar asked bluntly.
"Of course we want you back-!" Squirrelflight started to say.
"And yet my own hatchling thinks I needed to be coddled. I can see the wariness in your eyes you know. Are you all afraid I'll lash out again?" Firestar murmured dejectedly.
Squirrelflight drew in a deep breath, before marching over to her father and thrusting her head underneath his chin. "I meant what I said. I do care. And yeah, maybe I was a little afraid of how you would react to hearing about the devastation your fire brought us," she began. "But maybe that was wrong of me. I know you just want to be treated as you were before you changed." He bowed his head down, giving his hatchling a few licks, feeling sorry that he upset her.
He did want to be treated normally. He was sick of everyone acting wary around him, and he longed for his clan to treat him as Hanako and Hisako did- without fear.
He pushed her away roughly, hissing as the stone sent out a painful wave of heat across his body.
"Father!"
"Firestar!"
"I-I'm fine," he panted, turning his head to gaze down at the stone.
More energy is required. He blinked in shock- the stone hadn't spoken to him directly in a while, not since he ran into Hanako and Hisako anyway. What did it mean by needing more energy?
"That thing isn't doing anything to you again, is it?" Squirrelflight fretted. Honestly, he wasn't sure what it was doing this time. He narrowed his eyes, feeling as if the stone was planning something big. But before he could dwell on it longer, the sound of pawsteps stomping towards them easily reached his ears.
The other cats pricked their ears up, the sound close enough for them to hear as well. They got into position as four dark forest warriors burst forth from the charred trees, looking ready for a fight, until they saw Firestar.
"What the- the kittypet's back?!" one yelped.
"Fox-dung...I thought Hawkfrost said we would have more time..."
"It doesn't matter! Go back and tell Tigerstar he's back! With any luck, he'll go down easily. Just because he's got longer claws and some wings doesn't mean he'll use them. Stupid kittypet still has his kittypet softness," one scoffed. Firestar's eye twitched, ready to show these cats how 'soft' he could really be.
"Get behind me Cherrypaw!" Foxleap meowed to his apprentice, who obediently took a few steps back.
As one of the dark forest cats made a run for it, probably to find Tigerstar, the other three lunged towards Firestar. He swung around, lashing out with his tail, and they were forced to stop themselves lest they gouge themselves. He rushed forth and raked his claws down on one of the dark forest cats, before pinning the cat down. His superior strength made it so the cat was unable to push him off, and with the way he was angled, the only spots that the cat could reach were scaled.
One of the cats hissed angrily, and rushed forward, intent on doing damage to Firestar while he was busy dealing with his ally, when he was intercepted by Squirrelflight. The third cat was busy dealing with Hollyleaf and Foxleap, and was being pushed back by the two warriors.
Firestar growled angrily, and he gladly ended the foolish cat's life with a killing bite to the throat. These rogues didn't deserve mercy, not when they were so willingly to kill themselves. Not when one of them got away to alert Tigerstar that he was back, when the tabby wanted nothing more than to kill everyone that Firestar loved.
"Kill them. Fight like rogues if you have to!" he called out to his clanmates. Foxleap and Squirrelflight glanced at him, surprised, but Hollyleaf only shrugged before quickly fastening her fangs to the cat's neck, and ended his life with a snap.
Squirrelflight, though startled by Firestar's command, dodged her attacker's claws and pinned him down, and delivered her own killing bite. Pride welled up in Firestar; his hatchling was proving how strong she was! Then he realized that he was proud that his daughter had killed a cat, though well deserved, and guilt flooded into his head.
But why fight it? They deserved to die- they wouldn't have hesitated to kill anyone.
"Wow! You all took them down easily!" Cherrypaw cheered from behind them.
"We never had to kill before. The code says we don't need to kill to prove ourselves," Foxleap muttered.
"Do you think the Dark Forest cares about the code? They want us all dead," Hollyleaf meowed, a look of complete seriousness on her face.
A strike of heat and pain assaulted his body again, and he let out a pained hiss as his body stiffened up against his will.
There is not enough energy to transition into the final step. More energy is needed. An image of the crash site and the big rock appeared in his mind, along with one, simple command:
Go.
His body moved for him against his will, breaking out into a run as his clanmates yowled out their surprise behind him. The crash site wasn't too far from where he was, and he arrived there within moments. He was forced to watch as his body moved up to the big rock, and he brought down his claws and tail on its surface. He panicked, thinking that his claws and tail would surely break- he was trying to claw a rock for Starclan's sake!
But to his surprise, the rock was easily sliced open by his claws, and wispy, red energy poured out of the rock.
With dread, he remembered that he had changed here- the warmth, the bliss imprinted into his head, and the red aura the big rock was cloaked in when it originally fell from the sky, only to disappear after he changed. If the stone wanted more energy...
He realized that the stone wanted him to change further.
"Father? What's going on? What are you doing!" Squirrelflight yelped from atop the slope, Hollyleaf, Foxleap, and Cherrypaw looking down at him and the big rock with muted fear on their faces.
"I-" he struggled to move away from the energy as the stone began sucking it into itself. "I can't control my body!" he cried. All the heat rushed into him, alternating from gentle warmth to intense heat, from nothing to discomfort and then to pain and back again. He briefly wondered if this was what it felt like when he changed the first time. He moaned in discomfort, wishing that the stone would stop.
Squirrelflight finally snapped out of her shock, and bounded down the slope in a vain attempt to help her father. But by the time she made it to his side, the stone stopped its glow, having sucked away the energy that the big rock had kept inside, and Firestar fell down onto the ground. She nosed him up, the other three cats getting over their fear of the big rock and sliding down the slope to meet up with them.
"Father, are you okay?" she whimpered, needing to crane her neck to look up at him now. He glanced over himself with dull shock- his pelt was more black than it was ginger at this point! It was almost as if the scales from his legs and tail had extended into his shoulders, before advancing onto his pelt and further down into his belly. He could tell that the spines that lined his back were somewhat bigger, longer, and sharper- more prominent than before where they had just been small spikes on his back.
He looked down at his hatchling, and Squirrelflight was saddened to see that his eyes held an untold amount of sadness and fear, when it should have held their previous occupants of happiness and hope. She hated that stone. She hated the big rock and she hated the crater they were standing in. She wished they had never existed.
"No. No I'm not alright," he finally admitted. "I'm actually really scared." It took a great deal of courage for him to admit that, because he didn't want to break down in front of his hatchling- he had to show her that he was still strong enough to protect her. He had to show that he was still a capable leader.
But how could he stay strong when Jayfeather's omen of the creature and the clan's destruction seemed more real than ever?
No, Fires isn't done changing just yet. That wasn't the final step. Also I'm still bad at writing fighting :P
I think some of you can tell how I want this fic to end already. Will this fic have a sequel? Or at least a continuation? idk come on yall know me by now I don't know anything at point. These decisions are made in the spur of the moment.
This chapter was originally going to be longer with a Brambleclaw segment(a really short one though), but then I got the news about my dad, and I just didn't feel like writing more.
Please comment in regards to the chapter, and not just the Covid thing. If you really want to send prayers and stuff, then that's fine, but I really want to hear your thoughts in regards to the chapter please.