Forest Fire
"Fire! Wake up!"
Nightfrost woke to the yowling of his brother.
"We must leave camp at once," Fireheart ordered, "Tell Bluestar the forest is on fire!"
The deputy continued yowling. "Fire! Get out! Leave the camp! Head for the river!"
The clan drowsily woke, soon alarmed at the scent of smoke and Fireheart's yowling. As one, they hurried out of camp.
"Head for the river," Fireheart ordered. "Keep an eye on your denmates! Don't lose sight of one another!"
The deputy padded to Willowpelt, and called out to Longtail and the pale warrior padded of to the queen. The cats hurried though the forest to the river. Nightfrost raced to help Bluestar, who was helped by Frostfur.
"Wait!"
The fleeing cats stopped and turn to his brother. "Is any cat missing?" he demanded, scanning the faces.
"Where are Halftail and Patchpelt?" Cloudpaw's voice rose in a terrified mew.
Nightfrost and Frostfur turned to each other. Smallear answered, "They're not with me."
"They must still be in camp!" meowed Whitestorm.
"Where's Bramblekit?" Goldenflower's desperate wail rose through the trees above the noise of the fire. "He was behind me when I was climbing the ravine!"
"I'll find them," he promised. "It's too dangerous for you to stay here any longer. Whitestorm and Darkstripe, make sure the rest of the Clan make it to the river."
"You can't go back down there!" Sandstorm protested, forcing her way through the cats to stand beside him.
"I have to," Fireheart replied.
"I'm coming too," Sandstorm told him.
"No!" called Whitestorm. "We are short of warriors already. We need you to help get the Clan to the river."
Fireheart nodded in agreement. "The rest of you, head to the river!"
Nightfrost gritted his teeth, knowing that it meant he couldn't come as well. He watched as his brother leaped away, back to the burning flames.
The clan reached the Sunningrocks. They waited until Fireheart dragged Patchpelt with Bramblekit behind them to the Sunningrocks.
Fireheart laid Patchpelt gently on the flat surface of the stone. Bramblekit raced straight to Goldenflower, who grasped him by his scruff and gave him a sharp, angry shake, choked by the purring that rose from her chest. Then she dropped him and began washing his smoke-stained fur with furious laps that softened to gentle strokes.
Patchpelt stir beside the orange tom. The old tom lifted his head, gasping for air, before collapsing into a coughing fit that brought Yellowfang padding stiffly out from the throng of cats. She pressed her paws heavily on Patchpelt's chest, desperately trying to clear his lungs.
Patchpelt stopped coughing. He lay still, strangely silent now that he was not even wheezing, and Yellowfang looked up, her eyes brimming with sorrow. "He's dead," she murmured. Shocked mews rippled back across the rock. Bramblekit started coughing and their medicine cat was about to pad to them when Nightpaw was already there, vigorously licking his chest to stimulate his breathing. The coughing died away into a rhythmic wheezing that in turn eased.
A breeze rustled through the trees, blowing from the direction of the camp.
"It's coming this way," Fireheart yowled, his voice sore and harsh after breathing in the smoke. "We must keep going to the river. We'll only be safe if we cross to the other side. The fire won't reach us there."
The cats looked up, startled, their eyes gleaming dimly through the night. The light from the fire was already shining through the trees. Clouds of smoke began to billow down onto Sunningrocks, and the sound of the flames grew louder, fanned by the rising wind. Without warning the rocks and the forest were illuminated by a blinding flash. A thunderous crack exploded over the heads of the cats, making them flatten themselves against the rock. Nightfrost was filled with relief, rain is coming.
His brother realized this too. "Rain is coming!" he yowled, encouraging his cowering Clanmates. "It will put out the fire! But we must go now or we won't outrun the flames!" Fireheart watched his clan and flicked his tail. "This way!"
The Clan began to stream down the rock toward the trail that led to the river. A rabbit pelted from the forest and slipped to the shelter of the Sunningrocks. A waste of prey.
"Hurry!" Fireheart called, and the cats broke into a run. Mousefur and Longtail were carrying Willowpelt's kits once more, while Cloudpaw and Dustpelt dragged Patchpelt's body between them, the limp blackand-white shape jerking awkwardly over the ground. Whitestorm and Brindleface flanked Bluestar, encouraging the ThunderClan leader onward with gentle nudges. Nightpaw helped Speckletail with her remaining kit.
The clan reached the river bank and stopped there. "It's shallow enough to wade most of the way," Fireheart yowled. "Much shallower than usual. There's a place in the middle where you'll have to swim, but you'll make it." The cats looked at him with horrified eyes. "You have to trust me!" he urged.
Nightfrost glanced around to see no one willing to go to the safe river. Nightfrost stared at the water, his own icy blue eyes staring back at him.
"Are you a coward? You know it's just water." His reflection seem to taunt him. "You'll just get a little wet. Or are you scared that you'd drown? You do have a much smaller body after all."
Suddenly, he saw himself wearing the collar he had cast away many moons ago, back at Bloodclan territory. The teeth and claws collected on the collar dripped in blood.
"You know, for your last moments, you can just shred this pathetic clan into bits. I know you love blood just as I do. I'm you after all."
Splashing sound came from the water. Nightfrost looked up to see Nightpaw carrying Snowkit as she hopped in the river like it was her home. The apprentice turned expectantly to Speckletail, who hesitated. The feathery kit only continued on, forcing the queen to follow her on the river.
Nightfrost glanced back to his own reflection. For a second, he thought he saw a reddish brown tom snarling. Except, the cat wasn't snarling at him, but at Nightpaw, who swam to the other side. Speckletail reached the other bank and licked her kit.
Another splash was made as Sandstorm slipped on the stepping stones. The pale she-cat bobbed up, coughing and thrashing with her paws, but swimming steadily toward the far shore. She struggled out on the other side, her coat dark with water and clinging to her body, and called to her Clanmates, "Just keep your paws moving and you'll be okay!"
Dustpelt and Cloudpaw dragged Patchpelt's body to the water's edge. Dustpelt looked down at it, then gazed across the river, his expression bleak at the impossibility of carrying the dead cat to the other side when it would be difficult enough to swim alone. Fireheart padded to them, mewing. Both Thunderclan cats nodded and headed to the river. Fireheart touched Cloudpaw with his nose.
The deputy then locked eyes on him. Both nodded and Nightfrost wadded into the water. The water quickly reached his belly as he wadded on and started swimming. He reached the other side, dripping wet, when there was a meow of alarm. The black tom turned to see Fireheart swimming, holding Smallear in his jaws sweep away. Nightfrost felt his jaws tighten and was about to jump back into the river when he saw both cats with further down the river.
Fireheart glazed helplessly at a steep mud wall. Nightfrost padded to help when a strong scent of a Riverclan patrol came to him. Leopardfur mewed to her patrol and the Riverclan warriors padded to them, mewing concerns. Leopardfur rushed to the mud wall and grabbed Smallear from Fireheart's grasp. The Riverclan deputy then helped Fireheart up to dry land.
The two deputy exchanged words and Leopardfur swam to the Sunningrocks, grabbed Patchpelt's scuff and swam back. She meowed to Fireheart and both flicked their tails to their own clan.