The Fire Prophecy/Book 1

Chapter 5

Firepaw narrowed his eyes, his tail swishing from side to side behind him. He dug his claws into the ground, watching the small creature scurry across the forest floor. Not yet. He felt the frosted ground touch his belly. Leaf-bare had come sooner than the clans expected.

It had only been one moon since Firepaw had become an apprentice and he trained as hard as he could. The mouse then stopped, lifting its head while its ears perked up. Now! Firepaw pounced, claws unsheathed.

"Hey, Cursedpaw!"

The mouse quickly scurried away and Firepaw hit the solid cold ground. He sat up and rubbed his muzzle, which was throbbing with pain. He turned towards Emberpaw and hissed.

"You did that on purpose!" Firepaw growled, his claws unsheathed.

"No, I didn't. You could've caught it if it didn't see that mark on your face. It saw the mark of fire and knew it was gonna be cursed forever." Emberpaw sneered, making Firepaw flatten his ears in anger.

"Emberpaw!" Burnwing ran up to both apprentices and growled at Emberpaw. Ashblade, Scorchingfire, and Blazepaw were right behind him.

"Why did you interrupt his hunt? This is the worst season for the clans and we need all the prey we can get!" Burnwing hissed, making Emberpaw look away.

"I didn't. If he was a better hunter and didn't have a curse he would have caught it." Emberpaw mumbled.

The senior warrior's tortoiseshell fur rose as he arched his back, hissing. Emberpaw tucked his tail between his legs and backed away, making Burnwing step closer. A tail then rested on the warrior's shoulder.

"Calm Burnwing." Scorchingfire meowed softly. She nuzzled his ear and Burnwing relaxed at his mate's touch.

After everything calmed down the group headed back to camp. Instantly when they walked through the entrance Emberstar's yowl echoed around the clearing.

"Let all cats old enough to fight with fire come to the bottom of water-rock." The clan came out of their dens and sat down, all in their separate categories. Blackkit poked his head out of the nursery but was soon pulled back in by his mother, Sparkblast.

"Blazepaw!" Emberstar jumped down and walked over to the apprentice. He's getting his warrior name! Firepaw watched, his eyes filling with pride.

"You have trained well and I hope that Starclan will lead your path. From this moment on you will be known as Blazefang, Fireclan honors your strength and wisdom, serve your clan well." Emberstar meowed softly, touching his nose to Blazefang's head.

"Thank you, Emberstar." Blazefang bowed his head, all around him the clan cheered.

"Blazefang! Blazefang!" Firepaw yowled the loudest.

As Blazefang and Firepaw laid side by side, sharing tongues, Ashblade walked up to them.

"Emberstar wants you both to come to the gathering. Don't worry Blazefang you will keep watch when you come back." The grey warrior looked at Blazefang with pride in his eyes, after all, Blazefang is his son. Ashblade bowed his head and walked over to the group of cats by the entrance.

"Come on Firepaw, ready for your first gathering?" Blazefang asked as he stood up, Firepaw instantly standing up.

"Yes!" Firepaw meowed happily, following Blazefang over to the entrance of the camp.

Firepaw and Blazefang ran side by side as they left for the gathering. Firepaw couldn't even be nervous with his best friend with him. However, that was until they got to Fourtrees.

Firepaw looked around and crouched down, making himself look smaller. He flattened his ears and scrunched up his nose. Unfamiliar cats passed him, looking down at him. He saw Ashblade and ran over to him. Before he could make it, however, he ran into another cat.

"Hey, watch it!" A huge black tabby tom turned around and looked down at Firepaw, growling.

The large tom froze when he saw Firepaw, looking into his eyes. They stared at each other for what felt like moons. Firepaw backed away, feeling the evil in the larger cat.

"I'm sorry Tigerstar, this is his first time at a gathering." Ashblade stepped in front of Firepaw and bowed his head at the larger male.

"Oh, I see. Make sure the little furball watches where he is going next time." Tigerstar growled, walking back, glancing back at Firepaw from time to time.

"That was Tigerstar, leader of Moonclan. Watch yourself around him." Ashblade meowed sternly, sitting beside his apprentice.

Firepaw nodded and wrapped his tail around his paws, looking up at the leaders. Firepaw caught sight of a light brown pelt as Oakstar, the leader of Treeclan, stepped forward.

"Treeclan is doing well. We had a new litter of kits join us just last moon. Bugkit, Mosskit, and Waterkit. We hope that Treeclan will keep growing strong." The Treeclan leader stepped back as Tigerstar stepped forward. Tigerstar instantly turned to Emberstar, growling.

"Your clan is a disgrace." Tigerstar hissed. Yowls of protests came from the Fireclan cats.

"How dare you call my clan a disgrace! What makes you ever think something like that?" Emberstar yowled, rage and anger in his voice.

"I can call it whatever I want! I have thought about this for a very long time and some cat needed to say something about this! Your clan knows how to fight with fire! Are you too weak to fight like the rest of us? Either teach all the clans or get rid of it all together!" Tigerstar unsheathed his claws, hissing.

As Emberstar was about to pounce, clouds covered the moon, making a dark aura rise. Every cat froze. Starclan has spoken.