Mutatio

Chapter 7 FlamePaw

I had curled up to sleep at the edge of our territory, worn out and in pain from the tumble I took down the hill, and I was still there when the sun rose. The pads of my paws were bleeding, and there was cut on my side that was dripping blood as well. My muscles were sore, but I didn't care anymore. I felt cold inside... I always assumed my parents had abandoned me, but I figured that they had good reason to. If FrostDapple was my mom...then who was my dad? It obviously wasn't BurntLeaf. Was I the product of a violation of the Code? The thought made me whimper. Suddenly, my ears picked up on movement in the bushes. I raised my head and looked around, wondering what had made the noise. There was a growl behind me that made my hair stand up and caused my tail to tuck in between my legs. I turned around and saw a massive, brown bear. I was about to bark at it to get out of our territory when I looked at it's eyes. This wasn't a Mutatio. This was a real brown bear. And it was angry. Scared, I growled at it. It stood up on it's hind legs and roared at me. It brought it's paws down to crush me, but I leapt out of the way, the pain in my body all but forgotten for the fear. I ran and the bear gave chase. I howled, hoping one of the others were looking for me. To my immeasurable joy, someone howled back. I changed course to head in the direction I heard the howl from. The bear took my movement as an opportunity to strike. It's massive paw swung at me and sent me flying. I hit the trunk of a tree and cried out in pain, falling to the root that were sticking out of the ground. I struggled to get to my paws, my head swimming. The bear was coming closer. One of my paws was stuck under a root, and I couldn't get it out. The bear rocked back onto his hind legs, getting ready to crack my skull under his massive paws. I howled loudly, pulling on my paw. The bear brought his paws down and I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing myself for the pain, but...nothing. I opened an eye and saw WillowTail. She was on the bear's back, her teeth lodged in one of his ears. The bear growled and roared and attempted to pull her off. I managed to rip my paw free and turned to join the fight just as the bear grabbed MistTail's hind leg in his mouth and dragged her off his back. He flung her into a tree and MistTail fell to the ground. I raced over to her. She was still breathing, but blood was trickling from her mouth and the wound on her leg. I spun around, anger burning throughout me. I snarled at the bear and it growled back at me. I crouched low, my entire being filled with rage. The bear's eyes suddenly filled with fear and it turned and ran.

"FlamePaw..." MistTail muttered from behind me. I turned my head to look at her. Her eyes were filled with shock as she stared at me. Her eyes were reflecting a strange light... I looked down at myself and gasped. I had become pure flames. Fire in the shape of a wolf. Just like in the stories... Panic gripped my chest and I scrambled backwards, trying to get away from myself. My back hit a bush and the entire thing lit on fire. I yelped and ran away from the bush. I trembled as I watched the flames spread. My eyes met MistTail's. She was on her feet again, looking at me with nothing but concern in her eyes.

"FlamePaw, it's okay. Calm down." She instructed. There was a crack and a burning branch fell from above, crashing down and landing right in front of us. Thunder rang through the sky and I turned and ran away as fast as I could. The grass and leaves beneath my feet caught fire as I ran, the branches above my head burning. There was another clap of thunder and rain poured down, fighting against the flames. I heard a river off in the distance, and headed towards it. I slid across the muddy bank and tumbled into the cold water, hoping that it would put out the fire. It didn't. As I doggy-paddled down the river, still aflame, I began to cry. I dragged myself up onto the bank and curled up, mud covering my nose. The forest-fire had been put out by the downpour, yet I was still blazing. I turned my nose to the sky, rain pouring down my flaming muzzle. I let out a howl, tears streaming down my face, racing the rain drops to the ground.

"Why can't I just be normal?!?!"

A/N: Sorry it's kinda short, guys. The next one will be longer, I promise! :)