Warrior Cats; Smokeskull's Revenge [ 1 ]

Chapter 40

All night, Smokeskull stayed up wondering what the words meant. They were so lopsided to her, it was touching. Yellow? Red? Orange? What? It was very confusing to her in every way.
But then, an unfamiliar stench crossed her nose. She sniffed. It was almost dawn. But another smell was coming from upwind. It couldn't be a cat...could it? No, Smokeskull knew the answer already. It was too faint to be the scent of a feline.
And it was musky. A draft entered the room. Now, Smokeskull was suddenly furious. The scent was dark; a rough, stinging haze. Fog began to steer itself around their den.
Smokeskull didn't recognize it at all. But she bent down and nudged Poppykit awake anyway. "Come, my son." She meowed gently as the patched kit got to his paws and yawned. "I don't know what's going on, but I do know something is wrong and we need to go."
Looking up at her, Poppykit was clearly worried. "Where to, mama?" He coughed in the thick black billows billows.
A flash of light flickered outside the log. "Anywhere but here!" yowled Smokeskull. She quickly bent down and took Poppykit by the scruff. He was getting heavy, but shand had no time to tell him to walk or even make him walk.
Outside was filled with heavy clouds of black smoke. Even with the morning sun rising into the sky, the fog was getting worse and Poppykit continued with his raspy coughing.
Another light flashed, coming from upwind. Smokeskull turned her head to see, but another billow was thrown into her face. Her eyes began to tear up. The patched kit in her jaws struggled, but she clamped her maw down harder and flung herself at the other direction.
A burning sensation poured in her mouth. Smokeskull finally figured out what Thornclaw had said in her dream; it was a fire!
Dashing over a tall stump, Poppykit finally wiggled free of her grasp and dropped to the left over greens of the forest. "I can run, too!" He yowled and turned the other way.
He raced through the trees, closely followed by Smokeskull. She was on his heels, even though he wasn't that fast yet. Finally, she caught his scruff and jerked back. "Are you mousebrained?!" Smokeskull growled.
Poppykit bowed his head and dropped to his haunches. "Sorry, I just-"
"No!" hissed Smokeskull. She knew she was yelling, but the point had to get across somehow. "You can't run off like that, Poppykit! What if the fire got you? What if a badger was hiding in the undergrowth waiting to catch it's prey?" Her fur was bristling, not that she was mad, but she was disappointed. She'd never been so foolish as to-
"Fire?" Poppykit's eyes shrunk as he looked over his shoulder at where they'd just come from. "Y-You mean that thing?!" He began to wail in terror. He came to Smokeskull's paws and sat big-eyed in front of her.
Smokeskull looked where he was looking. Flames were engulfing their den now. Yellow, red, orange...all the colours Thornclaw had stated. "Yes!" She cried, but looking down at the pleading Poppykit made her worry.
"Please take me away from the scary fire, mama." He mewed, tears clouding his eyes.
Nodding, Smokeskull replied, "I will." She dipped her head, grabbed his scruff and ran forward, out of the dark fumes. The fire didn't catch up until she reached the river where they had to cross the water to get to the other side.
Huge red flames pulled over the trees like a huge monster eating their leaves. Smokeskull had never come across even a stream before. It had always been a puddle or two from rain. But this was ripping, tearing, killing water that could wash away any cat they wanted to. She knew the chance had to be taken...for Poppykit.
"Okay," Smokeskull turned to her little Tom and purred as if nothing was wrong. "I want you to stay on my chest. I don't care how long you have to hold your claws in my fur, do it!" She saw the afraid kit he was now, and sighed. "Do it so we can get out of this alive."
When Poppykit nodded, Smokeskull picked him up backwards and felt his flexing claws measuring how hard he had to cling on. She breathed in and jumped into the water. The cold waves washed over her, but she paddled quickly across.
Washing against her was another strong current. It ripped at her fur, dragging her down under the water. Smokeskull watched her target shore fade away as another wave pulled her under. Poppykit dug his claws into her fur hard. His frail body was whipped against the current, but her jaws held firm and so did his claws.
She kicked her back legs and paddled with her front paws into the air once again. Smokeskull heard Poppykit gasp for air. She plunged under. But let him stay up. It was the only way he could breath. Either her or him would breathe that way; and it had to be him. Smokeskull would give her life for him any day.
Another swath of water curved over her back, but she felt the rocks under her paws, finally. Her eyes widened as her claws hooked onto a sharp stone, slicing her paw pad. Smokeskull was about to cry out when Poppykit mewed from her maw. Whirled against his body was cold water. She pulled up, crying at the pain of the rock in her foot, and launched Poppykit across the rest of the water at the shore.
The kit landed in the sand. His body laid for a heartbeat before scrambling to his paws. "Mama! What about you? Hurry!" Poppykit yowled worriedly.
Smokeskull cried out. Her yowl sounded hinfinite as she lifted her sliced paw and sunk into the water. Bubbles mounted around her. Growing from small, to big as they reached the top and disappeared. Her lungs collapsed. She couldn't breath. Her death was in a few heartbeats, she knew. Smokeskull closed her eyes and waited for death to corrupt her.
A loud splash from above her made her eyes shoot open. Her mouth went wide. She cried to call for help, scream, yowl, anything, to get this cat's attention. But the dark figure above her was not going for shore...it was Thornclaw, and he was coming for her.
The lithe-framed cat opened his maw and took her scruff. Bubbles followed him down, and bubbles followed him up. Smokeskull closed her eyes. She felt the darkness of the Dark Forest coming to take her home with them. Thornclaw's nostrils blew out more bubbles until they reached the top of the water.
He gasped for air, but Smokeskull could not breathe. She was dragged to the sandy side of the beach where Poppykit was still breathing heavily from his water adventure. "You saved her-!"
"Not yet," Thornclaw informed the patched kit as Smokeskull's vision faded into blackness. Her body went limp and she stopped breathing. But the feline's paws pushed at her stomach. She barely heard what he was yowling, but he was. It sounded like a chant. His voice was soft and gentle, not like the usual Thornclaw rasp.
Singing, Smokeskull thought and was awkwardly turned to the side. He's...singing. Thornclaw was singing to her.
Suddenly, the words got more clear as Smokeskull choked up water. She spit out most of the river in her body and choked the rest.
Poppykit was beside her the whole time. He was nuzzling her shoulders the whole time, but she didn't even feel it. "Mama, are you okay?" He mewed after she spit out the remains of the river.
Smokeskull looked up at Thornclaw. Her heart began to beat faster and faster until he got off of her. It seemed he was on top of her to give her back her life. "Better now that you're both here with me." She didn't take her eyes off Thornclaw, but remembered how she hated it when Lionstripe left her for his mate. Plus, Thornclaw wasn't her mate...just a good friend. She looked at Poppykit and smiled.
"Good," the patched kit purred and rubbed against her muzzle. "But where are we going to sleep now?" Poppykit looked over the river. The flames were taking over the forest now. If they'd stayed any longer, they'd be dead...but they weren't. Smokeskull was going to thank StarClan, but realized they'd abandoned her long ago. Plus, they sent a Dark Forest cat to save her. How is that a thing that StarClan would do? Only the Dark Forest was on her side. She thanked them, instead.
But the question Poppykit asked hit her like a storm. Where would they stay? But Thornclaw spoke before she could answer, "That's what I'm here for,"
"I thought you were here to save me from the river?" Smokeskull glared at him.
"I thought you were a kittypet!" Poppykit chirped with crooked eyes. He sat down with Smokeskull as she sat up.
Thornclaw rolled his eyes. "Kittypet. What a sick word." He growled and zoomed out from where he was looking. He was clearly thinking. "That too," Thornclaw answered Smokeskull's question. He lashed his tail and an angry look painted on his face before he met Smokeskull's eyes. He eased.
"Kittypets are weaklings, Poppykit." Smokeskull purred at his soft and gentle touch. She was relaxed, but Thornclaw was tense. "Thornclaw is not one of them."
The Dark Forest cat growled again, but this time he said nothing. Smokeskull looked at him, but he turned away. "Let's find a den. We'll need it." Thornclaw looked around, quickly copied by Poppykit.
"Where though?" The patched kit's eyes drooped. "It's all Twoleg territory; flat!"
Smokeskull dipped her head in agreement. "This is called Twolegplace, Poppykit. But yes, we do have to find shelter." She lifted her head over the river to look over. "We can go around the fire to another part of the forest...if there is still any." She bowed by her paws.
Nodding, Thornclaw looked past the river on the other side. The fire was still burning hot. It stripped the trees of their leaves, bark, and remaining cleavage. He stared into the middle; the heart.
Smokeskull didn't understand, but she shook her head with a sigh, doubtfully. She had no idea what he had in there...his family, his old friends, maybe he had kits of his own. Smokeskull had no idea what he might have just lost.
"Over there," Poppykit pointed his nose at a bent silver twoleg boulder. The silver disk was clearly pulled off and thrown fox-length away from the bin. It's thin layer of shiny grey reflected their figures, and Poppykit went closer, then backed away. He continued until he was confused. Poppykit blinked, then looked up at Smokeskull and Thornclaw for answers.
But she didn't have any. "What about it?" Smokeskull huffed irritatedly.
"There's no rubbish in it, like that one." Poppykit turned to another silver twoleg boulder with rubbish pouring from the inside. A raccoon dug at it, then scaredly looked at them. Quickly, the prey dashed for the river.
Smokeskull licked her lips and forgot about the rubbish, racing after the fat raccoon. The black-and-white animal stumbled down the side of the rushing water and screeched when a splash flew into it's face. Smokeskull sprang at it in it's moment of terror and swiftly killed it with a bite to the neck.
When she finished dragging it back, Smokeskull looked down at the prey, but disgust painted her face. White foam began to gurgle out of the raccoon's mouth as it's eyes rolled back into it's head.
Scanning the awful-stenched animal, Thornclaw looked closer while Smokeskull pushed Poppykit away from it. But loud crackling made them all look up. A huge monster in the sky was flying past. It's flapless wings soared over their heads, dripping droplets of cold water on their heads. It zoomed over until it reached the top of the fire.
Smokeskull's eyes went wide as it's underbelly opened and sprayed water at the fire. Roaring twolegs yowled from their dens. It sounded somewhat like cheering as another monster came in and dumped a huge amount of water over the forest's newborn flames.
Finally, after loads of water monsters passing over the sky, the burning stopped and the fire was put to an end.