Blooming - Echoes of Relics - Book 1

Chapter 1 - The Burning Forest

"Callie!" Echo screamed at the top of her voice. She had lost where her family were, she couldn't lose her sister too.
"Echo! I'm here!" Callie's familiar voice yowled back amid the fire and the burnt and burning undergrowth.
Echo stumbled in the direction of her sister's voice. She hissed as she touched a burning twig, but broke into a run. She found her sister stumbling around above her. Echo scrambled up and Callie pulled her up the last few tail-lengths.
"Are you ok?" Echo asked her.
"Yes I'm fine." Callie rasped. "Let's get out of here."
Callie lead the way, with Echo following. They dodged burning pieces of bracken and smouldering fronds of fern. An ear splitting screech split the air, and a tree began falling down. Echo skidded to a halt.
"Callie, look out!" She yowled at the top of her voice.
"What is it Ec-" Her sister started saying, looking back and stopping too, but then the tree fell and she lost sight of her again.
"Callie!" Echo screeched, pelting around the tree to find her sister. She found her under the tree, and instantly began digging to get her body out of there. As soon as she grasped her sister's scruff, she began running as fast as she could. Her entire body felt hot as the air grew more humid, but she just kept running. The trees grew more sparse, and as soon as she saw a river, she knew she had to cross it. It didn't look too deep or wide, so Echo decided to jump. She did a tremendous leap across the river, and luckily reached the other side. But something felt off. As soon as she looked at her paws and didn't see Callie's body, she leaped in the river in the direction of the current. She didn't know how to swim, but she forced her legs to work. She had to rescue Callie. Suddenly, she grew aware of a white tom up ahead her, reaching for Callie's body. She furiously tried to go quicker, but he had already got hold of her body and was taking it to the shore. Echo jumped out of the water, ran over and jumped in between him and her sister, arching her back and spitting furiously.
"What do you think your doing?" she spat.
He looked taken aback yet oddly calm, and it annoyed Echo.
"I'm trying to save this cat here, and by the looks of it, you and her got caught in that forest fire."
Echo relaxed a little bit. "I can save my own sister, thanks."
"You are both injured. I can take you to my Clan's camp and we can heal you." he offered.
She narrowed her eyes. "And how do I know if I can trust you?"
"Because RiverClan will be kind to every cat in need of help. You must have heard of the Clans."
"Ok I'll trust you, but if you so much as lay a claw on Callie..." she unsheathed her claws.
"I won't."
Echo held Callie's scruff again, and he held her by her tail.
"Follow me."
The white tom led her deeper into the unfamiliar territory, brushing against reeds and stepping over small puddles. Finally a small island came into view. The scent of cats engulfed her, and carefully they stepped over small stepping stones and reached the island.
"This is the RiverClan camp." He whispered through Callie's fur. Echo gave a tiny nod, and they trudged across the clearing in the island over to a smaller clearing surrounded by reeds. A peculiar scent washed over her, and she recognised it as the smell of herbs. A pale tabby she-cat was sitting with her back to them, she seemed to be doing something with herbs. She looked up with her pale blue eyes as they entered.
"Whitepaw! You're back! Great timing, Ree-" she cut off seeing Callie's body and Echo. "Whitepaw, would you care to explain why you have brought these loners to the RiverClan Camp?"