Herpity Derpity. Don't really know what to put here, so I'll just type whatever comes to mind. Fish sticks. Cauliflower. Diet Pepsi.
... I must be hungry.
Anyways, enjoy chapter twuuuu and I enjoy reviews, so reviewing would be nice as well. Oh! And catching mistakes. Always look for those.
tuffed titmouse: Well, here's your update. Enjoy~
Fred50208: Yes... I do like Sandstorm, just so you know. I'm not just hating on her.
GlimmerIcewood: Now you're making me feel spoiled! Thanks for the nice review, and here's the update!
Mally and Thalia: reviewing from your iPod? Hm, I'll have to try that out sometime. Enjoy~
"Firestar, in the name of StarClan, slow down!"
Firestar stopped at the entrance into Highstones, the Mothermouth. Cinderpelt was limping behind him as fast as she possibly could, sweat and foam flaking her flanks. Her blue eyes were bright and livid as she drew up next to Firestar, breath coming in rapid gasps. Firestar flicked an ear sheepishly, he had been pushing Cinderpelt hard, and had reached the Mothermouth in record time. But he still wanted to push further and faster, and only felt frustrated when Cinderpelt asked him to slow down or to rest for a moment. He had hardly paused at the thunderpath, darting across despite Cinderpelt calling for him to slow. Couldn't she tell this was important? Couldn't she feel something wrong in the world, as he did?
Obviously not, as she snorted and sat down to catch her breath. Firestar continued to pace in front of the Mothermouth as she licked a paw and drew it over her ears, and he struggled not to scream at her: There isn't time for you to wash your stupid ears! Sandstorm called me, Sandstorm need me! It was all he could do not to race into the Mothermouth blindly in search of that glowing white what seemed like an age, Cinderpelt stood and nodded to him: she was ready to go into the darkness.
Firestar lead the way, though he had never done that before. But somehow his body knew which way to go, his whiskers and nose guiding him through the darkness until at last he saw a faint light in front of him, and then the tunnel widened into a cave with a massive, glittering, white stone at the center. The Moonstone beckoned to Firestar, whispering for him to lay down and sleep with his ancestors. He turned to Cinderpelt.
"Sleep with me," he said, "You will need to see this as well."
Cinderpelt nodded shakily and walked with Firestar to the stone. She hadn't been told why they were coming. Only that it was deathly important to the Clan and to Firestar. She laid down with Firestar and together they pressed their noses to the stone and slept.
There was no wind in StarClan. There never was a wind, as far as Firestar was concerned. Why would they need wind in StarClan? Why would the dead want living air? But the passing thought was pushed aside as Firestar stood in the center of a sandy hollow and at his side, Cinderpelt rose as well. She glanced at him and then at her crippled leg, and Firestar followed her gaze and smiled. Cinderpelt was one of the most crippled cats in the Clans by day, but in her dreams she was as whole and strong as any young warrior. Cinderpelt tested her leg and smiled as well. It seemed she knew this would happen.
The world around them seemed no different that the forest they lived in except for the subtle subdued colors, ever plant and stand of grass and grain of sand was tinted the slightest shade of silver and overhead, instead of a black sky streaked with the stars of the Silverpelt, as a milky silver sky which cast a ghostish light across the world. The scents were dampened, and there were no birds chirping.
"I knew you would come, Firestar."
Both cats turned as Sandstorm entered the sandy hollow, her green eyes bright. Firestar brightened and bounded to her, pressing his nose against hers. Sandstorm purred and turned to Cinderpelt, giving her a friendly dip of the head, then turned back to Firestar and said;
"We should go now. I have many things to tell you."
She led the Leader and Medicine Cat through the forest without a word until they reached the edge of a meadow, and then down into the meadow to a pool of clear water. She motioned for Firestar and Cinderpelt to sit and then glanced around, as if searching for any other cats. Firestar did likewise, curious, but did not see anything. Sandstorm seemed to relax.
"There is change coming to the forest, Firestar." Sandstorm turned and sat on the opposite side of the pool, "And this change… it's so different, so complete, that it's changing the way the stars are aligned. Changing the way StarClan itself works and will act in the future. So different that we cannot even see the way the future will be. We haven't given you signs because we don't know what to show you."
"But surely you must have some idea what is going to happen," Cinderpelt insisted, "You know that change is coming, after all. There must be something more you know."
Sandstorm lowered her head, "We are not omniscient , Cinderpelt, there's never anything that StarClan knows for sure. The things we see in the future are often confused, garbled. StarClan saw that fire would save the Clan, but they did not know how. Prophecies so specific are rare, we will probably never see another in our lifetime. What we saw for this future is even less."
She motioned to the pool and Firestar and Cinderpelt looked in.
"No names, no faces, not even a coherent string of words. We were given images, with the fainted ideas of meanings and places. We spoke together and named them, but who they are we do not know."
The surface of the clear pool became opaque and turned white, and against the white pool a series of ink-dark shapes, like shadows, appeared and danced. Sandstorm touched a toe to the water and the shadows stilled and reformed, taking the shape of a single cat.
"We call the first one the Blind Eye." Sandstorm said. The form of the cat in the water turned towards Firestar and Cinderpelt. Where his eyes would be were patches of white. All he did was close his eyes and look away. Sandstorm looked up at Firestar and Cinderpelt, "All we know is that this cat will turn away from the loyalty to his or her Clan for a moment and spark a series of events. What these events are, we do not know. Nor do we know what it has to do with changing the forest."
She looked down to the pool again, "The next is the Broken Heart."
The shadow changed subtly, and the cat was now wailing soundlessly, head thrown back and mouth wide. The cat fell and rolled, still screaming silently as if in pain. Firestar felt a chill trickle down his spine. Sandstorm looked up again, "The Broken Heart is the clearest of the symbols. A cat who has suffered a heavy loss, one that breaks their heart into so many pieces that they are a mere shadow of whom they were, and can no longer be who they were meant to be.
"The Falling Bird." The cat changed into a small bird now that was falling, wings twisted at an awkward angle, feathers stripped from its wings and breast as it plummeted. Like the Broken Heart, its mouth was open, and Firestar could almost hear the scream that it should have been making. Next to him, Cinderpelt trembled.
"The Falling Bird we know the least about. A cat that has changed. Once noble, now fallen from grace. It could be a warrior, a medicine cat, an apprentice, a leader. This cat will fall, and the earth will shake when they meets the ground. And last…"
The image changed one last time. A single cat, sitting quietly in the center of the pool. Around him rotated the three previous images, the Falling Bird, the Broken Heart, and the Blind Eye. The cat did nothing, not even blink, as he looked from image to image and then finally, back to Firestar and Cinderpelt. Firestar felt a cold lump grow in his belly.
"The last we call the Catalyst. The center of all the change. What the other three cats will do will affect the way this cat sees the world and how this cat decides to change it. This cat is outside of our power, outside of the cosmos. Everything in the world decides upon this cat. And yet there is nothing else we know about it."
"Nothing?" Firestar looked up. Sandstorm removed her paw from the pool and the images vanished.
"We do know one other thing," she said, "No two cats are in the same Clan."
"Then there's one in every Clan." Cinderpelt said. She glanced at Firestar, "That means there's one in ThunderClan."
"Yes. There is." Sandstorm whispered.
"Do you…?"
Sandstorm shook her head. Firestar narrowed his eyes and looked down at the pool again, half expecting to see the shadows and those four strange cats again. But the pool remained clear, and he could see their faint outlines in it. Firestar growled and slammed his paw into the water. Cinderpelt and Sandstorm jumped back, surprised.
"Is there nothing StarClan can tell us?" Firestar snarled, "We have more questions than before! Can't you answer one question?"
"Firestar, we're doing all that we can-"
"That's foxdung and you know it. What about the signs you keep giving me? The adder, the sunset and the river, that four colored plant that Burntfur showed me, what did you want those to mean? Were you just going to tug us around by the tail? Why didn't you just tell us that we need to find these cats-"
"Firestar, we don't-"
"-Why don't you just find them yourselves? Why don't you ever share these things with the Clans as soon as you find them? What do you want us to do? Why do you never tell us? What give you the right to-"
"Firestar!" Sandstorm bristled like a hedgehog, lips curled in a snarl and leaf-green eyes narrowed to slits. Firestar had rarely seen her this angry, even when she was alive, "StarClan doesn't know what to do about these cats. Half of them want them dead and the other half want them alive. We don't know who is giving you these signs, these four-colored flowers or these giant snakes and riddles. Listen to me: no one knows what these cats are going to do. We can't risk war between the Clans because we cannot decide. Please, Firestar, listen to-"
She froze when Firestar stood suddenly and turned around. He watched the edge of the forest, scanning the brush. Cinderpelt stood and turned, trying to see what Firestar was seeing. Sandstorm stood as well, the fur on her shoulders still bristling, but now with a different reason. A wind was blowing through StarClan. A wind that was never supposed to be, carrying the scent of ashes and cat. Firestar closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Yes – she was here. He whispered her name:
"Burntfur."
With a roar the earth beneath them heaved, and a jagged crack split the meadow in front of them. Cinderpelt screamed as fire shot up from the crack, catching on the grasses and spreading towards the trees. Sparks danced on a now-raging wind and the earth grumbled again. With a terrifying crack the ground split again, and with a moan a jagged rock shot up from the ground directly next to Firestar. Sandstorm leaped across the pool and dodged a gush of fire that sprang from the ground as a new gorge opened. She landed next to Firestar and let out a cry. Firestar turned and saw the ground beneath Cinderpelt shudder and open, and Cinderpelt screamed again as she plummeted into darkness.
"Cinderpelt!" Firestar bellowed, scrambling after her. But another tongue of fire sprang from the crack and pushed him back. The fires were spreading, and Firestar and Sandstorm were trapped in the center of it all.
But they were not alone.
Burntfur walked between the flames as if they were harmless ferns. Her smoky fur did not catch; her white-ringed green eyes did not blink. She stepped calmly, quietly, and was speaking gently.
"Rip off the mantle of the night and you will see below the pale, naked body of truth that every living thing in the world seeks. Cast aside the light of day and you will see the burnt reek of what once was and what will be again…"
"Burntfur!" snarled Sandstorm. She charged to the translucent cat, snarling. But Burntfur dodged like a shadow, and continued to walk quietly to Firestar.
"Slit a stream by its belly and find it wriggling with worms and maggots. Crack open the bones of the earth and find the undying rage that forces mountains to bow to its will and oceans to tremble and surge..."
Firestar was rooted in his spot. Not with fear, nor wonder. His eyes did not leave Burntfur. His ears did not hear the groans of the earth or the rage of the fire or his desperate mate calling out to him. His feet did not feel the earth trembling. His nose only smelt her and her burnt scent. Burntfur stepped closer:
"Cast death aside and find life. Cast life aside and find death..."
"Fight her, Firestar!" Sandstorm screamed, "Kill her!"
"Fear not the ending but the beginning. Scream not for death but for life. Feel the sand beneath your feet melt into glass…"
"Firestar!"
"Let the rivers flow backwards, let hate blow the songs of time across the desert, let the fire in the heart…"
"…cleanse the stars in the sky." Firestar finished. Burntfur tilted her head and, for the first time, blinked slowly.
"Four to lead, four to heal, four to change, four to kill," Burntfur whispered. She raised a claw to her chest and tilted her claws awkwardly, dragging them down her chest. Four different scratches, and blood welled in each one. Black blood. White blood. Gray blood. Red blood. The scratches suddenly gushed blood in four colors across the ground, across the grass, across Firestar's chest. Burntfur stepped closer, and then closer still, until her chest pressed against his. He could feel the hot blood between the two of them. He could feel her.
"I am here because of you," Burntfur whispered to him, "I am here for you."
She stepped back, and the dream finally ended.
"Firestar, Firestar, wake up!"
Two soft paws jostled Firestar awake, and he jerked upwards to see Cinderpelt, her blue eyes wide and full of fear.
"Firestar, what happened after I woke up? Wh-what's going on?"
Firestar looked down to his chest. Four scratches ran through his fur, four shallow cuts with blood beading in them. Cinderpelt followed his gaze and drew a sharp breath. Firestar pressed a paw to the scratches and felt them sting – he wasn't dreaming, the wounds were real. Firestar looked back up to Cinderpelt with large eyes.
"I don't know. I don't have any idea."
He was lying.
Mer her her. It's 2 o'clock in the morning, it's time for the Heaven's Mirrors to blossom. Kudos to whoever knows where that comes from.
Now that we're onto the second chapter, some may be thinking: "Well, Mij, I see here that this is supposed to be a mystery/romance story with Firestar as the main character. I see the mystery and Firestar, but where's the romance?"
Well blah blah blah, it's coming. And for the Firestar/Sandstorm lovers out there, the romance doesn't have anything to do with Firestar. In the next chapter a new POV will be revealed and the romance will set in. Honestly, saying that this is a romance story is a bit of a stretch, as it is secondary to what's going on with Firestar. But I digress. Next chapter = romance. Pinky promise.