Bloodflower

Chapter 47

"Rosethorn, Dawnfire! Is that you?"

Dawnfire and her sister were abruptly jolted out of the moment they'd been sharing by a familiar voice. Raising their heads in surprise, they realized a narrow gap had formed between the flames on the fallen tree. And through that gap they could see the cat who had called for them—Nightshade—peering at them hopefully through the fire.

"Nightshade, thank StarClan! It's us, we're here!" Rosethorn yowled, her voice laced with joy.

Even weaker than before with relief, Dawnfire had to lean a bit heavier on her sister's shoulder. I was so sure we were going to die here. But now, maybe, we have a real chance.

"Everyone, it's them! They're alive!" Nightshade shouted to the SunClan cats, who Dawnfire could just see gathered behind him—all of them, including the ones that had gone to the Gathering. They all let out trills and yowls of astonishment and joy.

Beside her, Rosethorn was beginning to tremble. She could sense her sister felt as relieved as she did. "How do we get to you?" she called to Nightshade.

"Maybe you could jump through this gap in the fire, if you leap high enough!" Nightshade responded.

"I could," Rosethorn meowed, "but Dawnfire can't. She was hurt when the tree fell; she's too weak. There's got to be something else we can try!"

Normally Dawnfire would have argued indignantly that she could make the leap if she tried hard enough, but this time she agreed with Rosethorn. In her scorched state, there was no way she'd have enough power in her leap to clear the burning tree.

"I don't think there is anything else you could try, Rosethorn." Nightshade's voice cracked as he spoke; Dawnfire couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going through now. "The fire's surrounding you on all sides. There's nowhere else to go."

"I am not leaving my sister here," Rosethorn hissed fiercely. She was trembling harder now.

"Rosethorn, it's okay," Dawnfire said quietly so only her sister could hear her. "Just go without me. It'll be—"

"No," Rosethorn growled. "I'll never leave you behind. It's like you said: either we make it out together, or we die trying together. I'm not having this any other way."

"That was before we had a possible way to escape!" Dawnfire argued. "You have to go. I don't want to be the reason you die. I won't!"

"I'm not going," Rosethorn said. Dawnfire detected a hint of a sob in her voice, and her heart cracked with sorrow.

"You have to hurry," Nightshade shouted. "The flames are rising again; the gap might not come back!"

Rosethorn looked from her best friend and the rest of her Clan, to her sister, and back again. Her eyes held the most fear Dawnfire had ever seen in a creature's eyes.

"Rosethorn, go," she urged softly. "I wish it didn't have to be this way, but I can't make it across that gap. You and I both know that. You can't sacrifice the whole life you have ahead of you for me."

Rosethorn turned her head until she was staring into her eyes, her muzzle less than a mouse-length from her own. "Yes, I can," she whispered. "I will not lose you like I lost Pineclaw. And besides," she added a bit tentatively, "I'll see him again in StarClan. I'll be happy there with him, and with you."

"You're already happy here!" Dawnfire insisted. "You have Nightshade, and Shadowpool, and Patchflower and Quickstorm. You have the whole Clan! You can't just let yourself die with me, even though you could have made it out. You have so much more to live for than me. And think of what you'd be doing to the Clan!"