Warriors AU: Sandstar's Quest

Chapter 12

"No!" Sandstar yowled. "Fireheart! Fireheart, where are you?"

There was no reply. Sandstar ran up and down the bank, yowling his mate's name over and over. He couldn't see any sign of her, no trace of flame-colored fur among the debris thrown up on the far bank.

He raced downriver, scrambling over rocks slick with water. Desperately he scanned the banks and the surging water, convinced that every scrap of tossing debris might be his beloved mate.

He had to stop at last, sides heaving, his paws scraped and bleeding. Standing on a boulder, he stared down at the black, gurgling water a tail-length below. If Fireheart was dead, he would never, ever forgive himself.

You stupid excuse for a cat!

Oakstar's face in the cloud had clearly been a warning, but he had ignored it. He had been so wrapped up in his quest for Skyclan that he had forgotten what he owed to Fireheart. Whatever had happened to her, if she was drowned or lying injured somewhere, it was his fault. He let out a whimper of grief. How could he have let Fireheart believe that he would rather have been with Spottedleaf? It was Fireheart he loved, and he would do anything to live the time over again and send her across the tree trunk first.

Rain still fell, but more gently now, hissing into the river, and the thunder had rolled away into the distance. The gloom of day was fading to twilight. Sandstar wanted to o on, but he knew he couldn't search properly in the dark. He could easily miss Fireheart if she was lying unconscious. Every pawstep was painful, he crept underneath the jutting boulder and curled up. Exhaustion surged over him like the black water of the river, dragging him into a cold, dreamless sleep.

Pale light reflected from the surface of the water and woke Sandstar. He crawled into the open, shivering in the wind. Clouds raced above his head, tearing away to show blue sky behind them, and the sun was already climbing toward sunhigh. The storm was over. His pelt was almost dry, the fur sticking together in clumps.

For a heartbeat Sandstar drew in the clear air, gathering himself for the next stage of his journey. Then memory struck him like the blow from a badger's paw. Fireheart was gone.

All that mattered was to find his mate. He couldn't go on without her; he had to retrace his pawsteps downstream.

Sandstar stood on the edge of the river and looked across at the other bank, measuring the distance. His instincts told him to plunge in and swim, but he held back. The river was still full, and too fast-flowing for even a Riverclan cat to cross safely. With a sigh, he began to pad along the bank.

Soon more boulders reared up in front of him, too steep for Sandstar to climb. He was forced away from the edge of the river. Climbing a steep bank, he picked his way through them. With every pawstep he peered down at the river through the thin line of trees, scanning for any sign of a familiar ginger pelt.

The clouds began to clear away and the sun shone more strongly, soaking into Sandstar's drenched fur. The scent of prey drifted to him from the field, but he ignored it. As he limped onward he spotted another tree fallen slantwise across the river, but several tail-lengths separated its upper branches from the far bank, and Sandstar didn't dare risk using it to cross. He picked up his pace when he spotted a narrow wooden Twoleg bridge, only to halt in frustration as he realized that the middle section was broken away, leaving a gap too wide to leap.

The sun was already going down when he came to another bridge. His paws itched to cross, but Twolegs blocked his path: two adults and a kit. A dog padded beside them. Sandstar's neck fur bristled and he crouched down in the grass; then he noticed that the dog was old and plump, and tethered to the Twoleg kit by some sort of tendril. That meant it was much less of a risk, as long as he ran fast enough.