Warrior Cats: Sky of Storms

Chapter 22

Echostar's dreams wavered, like wind winding through trees. She wasn't sure where she was, and she wasn't sure who was visiting her. 

She closed her eyes, waiting for the spinning to stop, but it never did. Will I be stuck like this forever? But suddenly, it felt as if a giant paw was lifting her out of her nightmare and placing her in a green meadow.

Echostar looked around. It certainly wasn't RiverClan territory. A shadow cast upon her, and she looked up to see a cat, flying. The wings were made of feathers, except the cat was the smallest kit ever. 

*She was a white tabby with patches of grey, and she flew in circles. It took Echostar a moment to realize that the kit had wings, a beautiful shade of white with linings of gray. She landed gracefully and looked around. *

"Hello?" Echostar called. The kit didn't react. She plucked a blue flower from the meadow and wound it around her claws. "Hello?" Echstor called again. She carefully stepped forward, avoiding the squelching parts of the meadow.

The kit had dark blue eyes, but as Echostar gazed into them, she realized they were worried and scared. The RiverClan leader sat down, her tail tightly wrapped around her paws. 

"Who are you?" Echostar whispered. The kit turned around and looked right at her, but still no reaction. She can't see me. Who is this cat? Nobody in the Clans has ever mentioned a cat with wings. 

"Skykit?" The kit suddenly called. "Cloudkit? Featherspots? Bluewing?"

Echostar felt deep sorrow for this kit. She was lost, away from her father and mother and littermates. She was a stray. 

"Like you." A voice whispered through the wind. The kit and the meadow faded away, and Echostar stood up quickly, yowling, "Wait! No! I want to help the kit!"

But she was soon in darkness. Wings of misery unfolded inside of her, and she began to cry. Like me. She thought. I'm lost. I don't know where I am. I don't know who I am. What can I do?

Suddenly, the dream shifted again, and she almost fell over at the sudden light. 

Echostar was in RiverClan territory again. In fact, on the very edge of it. She twitched her whiskers, confused. 

She trotted along the river, all the way to the sunny spot she and the elders liked to rest. Echostar liked this sunny spot even better than the real world. But it seemed every time she awoke, a new problem nestled itself on Echostar's shoulders. A new cloud thundered overhead. 

Her nose trembled and she looked up. She was at the Twoleg house, where the black water spilled into the river. Right now it was off, but the vile stench still crowded in her scent glands. 

For whatever reason, she walked inside. All around her, it was blistering hot. Coal burned in one corner, while buckets of black water were being roasted in the other.

She winced, walking up the scorching hot stairs. Railings dusted with debris looked as if one touch would break it, and from there she could see where the black water traveled into the river. 

A small half-pipe was carved into the floor, and buckets full of the black water stood next to it, but others were empty. A tunnel was carved into the wall, and she dared to lean over to look. A ramp flowed down, almost touching the clean blue water. She saw in one corner discarded Twoleg trash, and it reeked with the smell of rats. 

Clean water. She thought. In all my life I never experienced that. 

Suddenly, a Twoleg appeared in front of her and she yowled, jumping back. Echostar darted over to hide behind a bucket, but the Twoleg took no notice of her.

She peeked over the railing, and to her surprise, saw herself. She was leading a patrol into the den, charging in and raking any Twoleg that stood in her way. Bluetail, Rockheart, Firestar, and Graystripe bounded up the stairs, Echostar close behind them. 

Up the stairs was where the most Twolegs were gathered, and Graystripe yowled for help. Sandstorm, Dustpelt, and Sorreltail broke away from their battle and charged up the stairs. 

Bluetail and Rockheart worked together to drive off the smallest, while the ThunderClan cats battled the legs of the biggest. Most Twolegs ran away screaming, their legs pounding with blood, but some stood still to guard their black water. 

Echostar saw herself charge forward, Blackclaw and Rockheart right behind her. "Grab something sturdy!" She shouted. Bluetail suddenly emerged and grabbed a discarded piece of wood, while Blackclaw grabbed two rocks.

Except one of the rocks where oddly shaped, and Echostar thought she saw a spark when they clashed together. Blackclaw shoved them in and they clashed together again, making more sparks. The other Echostar jumped back and yowled in fury as the wood plank began to catch on fire. 

"Fire!" Rockheart shouted loudly. All the cats stopped fighting to look up at him. "Run! Run!"

The fire spread quickly, and it poofed wildly as it caught fire to a bucket. It screeched fiercely, begging for more food. Echostar ran along with her dream patrol. They and the ThunderClan cats just made it down the stairs as the second floor suddenly exploded. 

Debris flew everywhere, cutting Echostar's flank. Cats screamed in horror, while Firestar tried to yowl above the noise. "Everyone! Get out! Get out!"

Twolegs were running out as well. They darted between cats and stumbled over them. Sunpaw screeched in pain as a Twoleg stepped on his paw. Bluetail darted to him and struggled to get him up. 

Every other cat had evacuated now, and dream Echostar was outside, pacing worriedly, shouting, "Bluetail! Bluetail!"

Only she could see what was happening. The den was collapsing, pieces of metal and wood fell down, plummeting and almost impaling them. Bluetail finally got Sunpaw up and hissed as the largest piece fell down. 

Her deputy used all his might to throw Sunpaw through the doorway, but the metal plate fell down on top of him, crushing him.

* Teaser for my next book involving Echostar!*