flamestar's rise

Chapter 5: Words of Warning

Flamepaw was bracing for the pain that would come, but it never did, slowly he opened his eyes to see russetfang chasing the dog out of camp with rookstar and snakepelt, flamepaw rolled over onto his stomach, as he collected himself his chest heaved and his mind raced, suddenly he felt a paw on his shoulder and focused his eyes on his mother. Lilyflame had a concerned look on her face "flamepaw? " He breathed one last slow breath... Then tackled his mother into a hug "i- i was so scared i thought i was done for!.." lilyflame pulled away "i was scared too, i was with rookstar, when we got closer to the camp we heard the barks and yowling and feared the worst!" She shuddered and then met his gaze "i am so SO proud of you, if it weren't for you rookstar's kits and snowbur would have died, you were so brave-" she broke off and glanced over her shoulder, flamepaw followed her gaze to russetfang who was padding closer to them. Lilyflame gave him a small smile and padded away, when russetfang stopped in front of him flamepaw braced himself for a scolding... But it never came, instead he felt his father rest his tail on his shoulder "im.... Proud of you flamepaw" russetfang murmured as he brushed past him "also.. rookstar wants to see you in her den" and with that he walked away. Flamepaw watched him go before he braced himself, stood up, and padded to his leaders den, pausing at the entrance he steadied himself and called out "rookstar? You said you wanted to see me?" Rookstars voice slipped past the den entrance "yes come in please flamepaw" he hesitated then pushed his way in, rookstar was sitting in her nest with a mouse "what... Did you wanna see me for?" She flicked her tail "you showed great bravery today flamepaw if it weren't for you my kits may have died, for that you have my thanks.... Also i think it may be time you finally received your warrior name. Ive seen how hard you work around camp and murkcloud tells me you've been making lots of progress.... So how would you feel about that? I know you have always liked to do everything with renpaw, so if you wish to continue your training with him then you may" flamepaw paused 'would renpaw mind?' he glanced up at her "do... You mind if i speak to renpaw before i give you my answer?" She nodded and he dipped his head to her and backed out of the den, as he emerged he swept his gaze across the clearing and spotted renpaw at the prey pile, flamepaw trotted over and bumped his friends shoulder with his "dare i ask how many mice you've eaten today?" Renpaw gave him a mock look of offense "im not THAT plump am i?" They laughed for a minute then flamepaw cleared his throat "so... Rookstar asked me if i would like to be made a warrior... I wanted to see if you're okay with that-" renpaw smacked him with his tail "okay!? Of course im ok with that you hare brain! I dont mind waiting for my ceremony but you risked your life today and took on a massive dog all on your own! You deserve this" flamepaw smiled at him "okay i see your point, i guess I'll tell rookstar i accept then" renpaw flicked his tail and nodded before going back to picking through the prey pile. As he padded back across the clearing he heard thumping behind him and turned a little too late as he was knocked over by two small bundles of fur "that was AWESOME!" Blizzardkit meowed "yea it was.." frostkit meowed but a lot softer than her sister, blizzardkit cut in again "and that thing you did in the air was SO COOL! TEACH ME, PLEASE!" Flamepaw chuckled "maybe in a little bit, i have to speak with rookstar" frostkit tipped her head to the side "what for? You're not in trouble with mom are you?" He shook his head "no, not at all, she's making me a warrior" as he spoke he puffed out his chest, frostkits eyes rounded in admiration "woahhhhh, i cant wait to be a warrior too!" Blizzardkit broke in.... Again "well WE have only two moons left and i BET my mentors gonna be russetfang, mom'll probably give you some cat like..... Dawnwhisp or something" frostkit batted her over the head "no she wont!" Then she turned her gaze back to flamepaw "i wanna be YOUR apprentice, you have cool moves and i bet you know a bunch of secret ones too! I mean, ive never seen a move like THAT before" blizzardkit bristled "hey no fair! I wanna be his apprentice!" With that she threw herself at frostkit and they tumbled away, chuckling he turned towards rookstar's den once more and finally reached the entrance, repeated what he had done earlier and entered when she told him to "so?" She waited patiently for his answer "I'd like to get my warrior name!... Er well.. I'd be honored to accept the name you give me" rookstar smiled "and so i shall, the ceremony will be at sunset, get some rest you'll need it" flamepaw nodded and exited the den as he padded towards the apprentice's den he stopped as snowbur caught up to him "flamepaw i know you may object but i need to check you for any injuries" he nodded, followed her to her den, sat down and waited as she gathered the herbs she would need.

Snowburs pov-

As she grabbed the herbs and headed back to flamepaw she noticed he looked proud and hesitant at the same time "you look like you've just eaten a mouth full of mouse dung, what's wrong?" As she waited for him to speak she laid her herbs down "i well... Rookstar asked me to be a warrior and i accepted and I'm thrilled but... I cant help but wish it could be me and renpaw both being made warriors.." snowbur nodded "and because you've always done everything together you're disappointed" he nodded, snowbur purred"don't worry you two will be back together before any cat can say hare" flamepaw smirked and blinked gratefully at her as she started looking through his pelt looking for wounds. After lathering the few scratches she found and seeing as nothing was internally wounded she sent him on his way, as she turned around to gather her leftover herbs she stepped on a sharp rock and grunted in pain, lifting her paw she licked at the blood that was forming and was about to apply some dock when the healers den disappeared, sucking in her breath she quickly looked around... Only to find herself surrounded by fire, bristling she almost reeled back until she realized she felt no pain or heat from the crackling flames slowly she calmed down .. then bristled again when a voice spoke " beware the flame that sparks the fire, for it will bring great despair and turmoil, trust your judgement and it alone, for the flame will wreak havoc and leave a trail of death for no one to find until it is too late..." She gasped in fear as blood flowed around her and the wails and screeches of cats unseen surrounded her, as her gaze trailed down she was horrified to see rookstar laying at her paws in a pool of blood and fought for breath... Only to realize she was getting weaker and her vision was darkening, suddenly she found herself back in her den on the floor with her chest heaving, she shakily sat up and breathed out a heavy breath ' what in our ancestors name was that.... "Beware the flame that sparks the fire? " What could that even mean!? And rookstar....' snowbur shook her head to clear it and busied herself in her herbs "whatever it was, I'll think it over later, i can't think clearly right now" she muttered.

flamepaws pov-

Flamepaw settled in his nest and closed his eyes, he suddenly found himself too tired to try and lift himself out of it even if he wanted to 'soon... Soon I'll be a warrior and all that hard work and extra training will have been worth it' as he drifted into the darkness of sleep he heard a voice 'beware .... One who sees.... No one...'.