Chapter 35
Shadowstar breathed heavily as the scorching heat of flames swallowed the forest around him. The black tom had spent all of new-leaf searching for his daughter…but he still made no progress during his tiring journey. He was growing hopeless and he was sure that he would never find his kit until he died.
Shadowstar ran from the blinding gray smoke and rocketed up an old birch tree to try and see over the smoke…but the billowing clouds only got worse the higher up he went. Shadowstar coughed and hissed as he slipped and fell down the birch, his paw landing awkwardly. Shadowstar looked around and saw a patch of earth exposed and away from the flames. He sprinted for the gap and made it just in time before fire enclosed the space. Shadowstar kept on running from the fire and struggled for breath, the smoke clogging his lungs.
The shrill screams of another cat echoed against the deafening sounds of fire. Shadowstar tried his hardest to find the screams and he ran blindly, his instincts kicking in. The tom came to a halt when he saw the limp body of a cream tabby kit, its fur was black and scorched.
Shadowstar swallowed hard and ran when he continued to hear the blood-curtailing wails. He ran, ignoring his burning pads and lungs until he came across a pile of green leaves. Shadowstar pushed away the leaves and sucked in a faint breath when he saw two limp kits…one cream-and-white and the other…a flame-colored she-kit.
Shadowstar reached down and grabbed both kits in his jaws, running away from the dying screams and tried to find safety from the fire.
The air began to grow fresher as Shadowstar ran from the flames…and soon, the tom found an exit from the flames. The tom dragged until he found a safe place to put the two kits. Shadowstar noticed that the cream-and-white tom was already dead…his lungs clogged with smoke.
Shadowstar placed down the flame-colored kit and took a look at her. She was singed but only lightly…her white muzzle and paws stained with ash. The she-kit coughed and tried to breathe, her paws tucked close to her chest. She had to be about the same age as Shadowstar's daughter.
"It's alright…" Shadowstar wiped the ash from her face. "You're safe now."
The fire raged in the distance as Shadowstar padded away from the kit, his whisker's twitching. A smell caught his attention as he began to pad away. He turned his attention to a cat that was perched on top of a fence in front of him…it was a young tom, but old enough to be a warrior.
"That was a nice escape…." The young tom mewed. "You made it out okay?"
"Who are you?" Shadowstar meowed with narrowed eyes. The young cat looked awfully familiar, his amber eyes wide and round.
"You know me!" The tom boasted, his long fur was ruffled.
"From somewhere maybe…I don't recall." Shadowstar mewed.
"Well I know you…" the tom mewed, his chest fur sticking out. "You are Shadowstar."
Shadowstar didn't like the sound of that name…but the young cat instantly came back into his mind, that pestering cat back in SkyClan.
"Palepaw…" Shadowstar mewed.
"Yup, I knew you'd remember me, Shadowstar." Palepaw mewed.
"Yeah…." Shadowstar hesitated. "Just…just call me Shadow."
Palepaw frowned but shrugged it off. "Okay…Shadow."