Burst of Fire

Chapter 11

Petal and Oak stayed by the fallen cats until dusk. All the while, Fire and Sun became cold-furred, which was a sign of death.

Oh, Fire... Petal thought with longing, I wish that you could hear me now. Let the clouds help me bring you back. I know that you can wake up, I know it. Petal rose to her paws and padded away, leaving Oak by Fire's side.

Petal journeyed into the forest to find a long piece of bark, so that she could drag her loved ones to the human-shelter. Finally, coming upon a dead tree with still-strong bark, she spotted her second son, Twig, hunting amongst the bushes nearby. With a jolt of pain, Petal motioned to him with her tail. When Twig reached her, he asked,

"Hey, what are you doing out here? What's with the bark?"

"Have you heard... What happened... With your father... and your brother?" Petal asked him, pain choking her voice. When Twig shook his head, she broke down into sobs and cried,

"They were poisoned! The both of them! Wind and Crystal found them with single claw marks down their backs, and the slashes were infected with yew berry juice! I'm taking them to the healer-humans who used to take care of me. It will be a long journey, but they can heal our family!"

Twig didn't say anything, but looked on with sorrow in his eyes. Petal tried to approach him again, but he only padded away towards the tribe clearing. My son. My wonderful second son. Petal couldn't help but think, My second Sun, his little clone. I wish my little Sun would wake up...

"Why are you saying that in front of me?!" Twig finally stopped and yowled in outrage. "I am absolutely NOT my brother's clone! I hate it when you say that! Just shut up already, you senile, old she-cat!"

"I didn't say that..." Petal declared with confusion, "I only thought it. How did you know what I was thinking?" Twig didn't seem to realize that she spoke. Instead, he turned and headed back to the clearing, leaving Petal completely alone.

**********************************

Cloud left Oak and headed back to his shelter. How could something like this happen? Cloud asked himself in frustration. Here I was, trying to protect everybody. Now, all that's come out of it is my best soldier, poisoned, the same as his battle-ready son. Quite literally, his battle-ready Sun. I can't even do anything about it.

"I can sense your thoughts, you know." Came an encouraging purr from behind him. "Stop blaming yourself."

"Oh, shut your furry muzzle." Cloud spat, recognizing the raspy voice without turning. "Aren't you the one who brands me a killer, anyways?" Heart's russet-colored figure appeared before him, and she spat back,

"Well, perhaps I'm having second thoughts! So why don't you shut your own muzzle before you start trashing my opinion. Or was it truly fact? Hmm?" There was a moment of stunned silence.

"Wait just a split second here!" Cloud exclaimed with confusion, "So you're saying that you just think that I'm the killer? It was completely your opinion?!" Heart kept her head down as she muttered with embarrassment,

"Just because you die, it doesn't make you wiser." Cloud felt anger welling up inside of him, and he had to let it out somehow. Cloud ended up slicing the she-cat's stomach, but since Heart was already dead, it just made a shimmering line across her body, and then she disappeared.

Crazy old she-cat, Cloud thought with anger. Then he curled up on his mound of twigs and leaves and fell into a deep blackness.

************************************

Petal returned to the clearing, pushing the bark ahead of her with her furry, blue muzzle. In the clearing, she came upon many cats gathered around the big-rock. Cloud set atop it, deadly silent and somberful. However, spotting Petal, he stirred from his statue- like form and spoke to the crowd,

"Cats of the Pine Forest. All here know what has happened at sun-high today." All throughout the clearing, cats were nodding their heads in sorrow and regret. "However, there is still hope for our soldiers, and for our tribe." At this, all of the Pine Forest cats raised their bowed muzzles in astonishment, wondering what their leader meant.

"Petal, who has a deep relationship with both of the victims, has come up with an idea of how to save our soldiers. She knows of humans that can heal poisons, so she will take her mate and her son to them." Gasps of shock rang throughout the clearing, but all soon quieted down. No one protested. However, the gasps told Petal that everyone was concerned for her safety. "And also, there is something that you should all hear from our healer cats. Wind, Crystal, come to stand beside me."

Wind and Crystal leaped gracefully from the crowd and onto the big-rock, seemingly knowing exactly what to say.

"Fellow Pine Forest cats," Wind began, his voice somber, "Today we have some shocking news. As healer cats, we have examined the poisoned bodies and found evidence of murder." Yowls of horror erupted throughout the cats assembled at the big-rock. The kitten-mothers wrapped their tails around their kittens, and the full-fledged elderly cats seemed disgusted with the news.

"The wounds that were infected with the yew berry juice were claw marks, CAT claw marks." Wind spat in fury. "And, by examining those wounds, we have determined which tribe may include this murderer. The scent was partly concealed by the yew berry juice, but we were able to find out what tribe, at least, this murderer is from." Wind beckoned with his tail for silence among the clearing. After everything quieted down, he yowled in outrage,

"The murderer is none other than a Pine Forest cat!"

~Dun dun DUNNNNNNNNNN! (idk sorry xD)