Warriors - Burnt Skies

Chapter 27

"Blizzardfrost! Blizzardfrost!" No reply.

Nightstorm could hear pawsteps pounding after her, struggling to catch up. "Nightstorm, for the love of the stars, slow down!" Tigerflame yowled.

Nightstorm slowed to a halt, allowing the large tortoiseshell to catch up with her.

"Right," Tigerflame gasped. "We need to think about this strategically. Running blindly through the night isn't going to help anyone."

Nightstorm nodded numbly.

"I last saw Snowflight near the ridge above the stream, not far from the edge of the territory. We should check there-" Tigerflame was cut off by the sound of approaching pawsteps.

"What's going on?" Shadowstrike and Emberheart asked in unison.

Nightstorm stared at them.

"We think... Something might have happened to Blizzardfrost," Tigerflame explained.

"What about Snowflight? I haven't seen him at camp either," Shadow asked, eyes narrowing with concern.

"We... Don't know," Tigerflame meowed hesitantly. "Anyway, just to be on the safe side, one of you should go back to camp in case anything attacks."

Emberheart's ears pricked. "You think something might attack camp? What in the name of StarClan do you think has happened?"

"It doesn't matter. Just go," Tigerflame growled.

Emberheart nodded and pounded away, back towards the direction of camp.

"You think Snowflight attacked Blizzardfrost," Shadowstrike stated.

Tigerflame ignored her. "Nightstorm, you can check the border near the ridge, I will check the ridge, and Shadowstrike, you can check the stream."

Nightstorm nodded again, ears ringing. She found herself sprinting towards the border, leaping over any fallen trees or vegetation in her way. She skidded to a halt.

No.

It couldn't be.

She had to be wrong.

"Blizzardfrost!" A cry escaped from her at the scene in front of her.

The grey tabby tom lay on the ground, blood clotting around a deep gash in his side. The fur around it was matted, stained with red.

She padded forward, touching her nose to his forehead. "Blizzardfrost," she whimpered.

His eyes flickered open for a brief second, before closing again.

"Nightstorm! Is everything all right? We heard- Oh, mouse dung!" Tigerflame hissed as she skidded into the clearing, Shadowstrike bounding after her.

"Is he-"

"Barely."

"Shadowstrike, go and get Dawnbreeze."

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Nightstorm sat next to Blizzardfrost, watching the imperceptible movement of his chest rising and falling. The wound had been cleaned and patched up, and now all they could do was hope.

"What happened?" Dawnbreeze asked from the other side of the den, putting away various different herbs that she had used.

"I don't know," Nightstorm muttered. "Something to do with Snow."

"You think Snowflight attacked him?"

"I do believe Snow attacked him, yes," Nightstorm growled.

Dawnbreeze paused. "Why do you think he done it?"

"No idea." Nightstorm sighed. "Blizzardfrost never trusted him. I should have listened."

Dawnbreeze trotted over, sitting down next to Nightstorm and resting her tail on Nightstorm's shoulders. "It's not your fault."

Nightstorm glared at her.

Dawnbreeze glared back.

"You should get some rest. It's been a long day." Dawnbreeze paused as Nightstorm continued glaring at her. "There's nothing else we can do for Blizzardfrost now," she meowed quietly.

Nightstorm sighed and nodded. "Fine."

She touched her nose to Blizzardfrost's fur before exiting the den, making her way over to the warriors' den. Tigerflame intercepted her before she was halfway there.

"What do you want me to tell the Clan? Because you wouldn't believe the rumours that the apprentices are making up," the large she cat asked, gazing at Nightstorm with concerned amber eyes.

"Just tell them that Blizzardfrost has been attacked and gravely injured, but, as far as the apprentices are concerned, we don't know by what. Tell the warriors everything," Nightstorm told her.

"Are you sure we shouldn't tell the apprentices as well? Their current theory is that Blizzardfrost was attacked by a group of lions. Also, if they see Snow, they won't know to avoid him," Tigerflame pointed out.

"They're staying in camp until Blizzardfrost wakes up and tells us what's going on. It's too dangerous for them to go out right now."

"Ok." Tigerflame nodded.

Nightstorm ducked into the warriors' den. It was empty. No doubt everyone was wanting to know what was going on. She probably should have been the one explaining what had happened to the Clan, but she just wanted to sleep. Maybe then she would wake up and it would all turn out to have been a nightmare.

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Nightstorm woke that morning to the crushing disappointment that it wasn't, in fact, a nightmare. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes before getting to her paws, shaking moss out of her fur. Shadowstrike was already up.

"How did you sleep?" The older she cat asked as she made her way out of the den.

"Terribly," Nightstorm muttered in response. "What about you?"

"Not great either. There's something mildly unsettling about a duplicitous murderer being on the loose," Shadowstrike admitted.

Nightstorm glanced worriedly over to the apprentices' den. "You really should keep your voice down."

Shadowstrike rolled her eyes. "It's fine. They can't hear me."

Nightstorm sighed. "Do you want to go on a patrol? I was planning on doing a quick check of the territory and try to see if we can pick up any traces of Snow."

Shadowstrike nodded. "I would love to get my claws on that traitorous fleabag, if that's what you mean."

Nightstorm gave her pelt a few licks to get the last scrap of moss out of her fur before padding out of the tunnel, Shadowstrike in tow. She nodded to Emberheart, who was guarding the entrance, and quickly set off towards the border near where she found Blizzardfrost. Blood still stained the ground from last night, the stench covering up any scent trail that Snow might have left.

"We can check by the stream. That was where Tigerflame saw him washing his paws, wasn't it?" Shadowstrike suggested, wrinkling her nose at the pool of blood on the leaves.

"Good idea." Nightstorm nodded, pushing through the bushes bordering the clearing and emerging near the stream. She followed it downstream, trying not to think about how they had had a group training session there a few days before, instead focusing on picking up any traces of where Snow might have been.

She stopped around the place Tigerflame must have seen him, nose to the ground in search of anything.

"You're acting like a dog," Shadowstrike pointed out. "They track scents like that."

Nightstorm huffed. "I don't care as long as I find something."

They didn't find anything. Even after searching all day, all they had found was a small speck of blood on the ground from when Dawnbreeze had stepped on a thorn whilst gathering herbs. Snow was clearly adept at the art of disappearing.