Flutterbreeze's Race

Chapter 6: What else can go wrong?

     Flutterpaw was guarding camp, half-asleep, but forced herself to stay awake. Owlfeather trudged up to her, sleepily. "What..are you doing?" She mumbled, yawning. "Gaurding camp," Flutterpaw answered, her eyes locked outside. "What if intruders come? We must be ready!" "Let me do it with you." The long-furred tabby insisted, sitting down next to her. "No! You need your sleep! You're the deputy, for Starclan's sake! You need to be ready to lead the clan!" Flutterpaw argued. "I'm just an apprentice out of...I don't know, 50,000?" "A very good apprentice." Owlfeather finished, sticking her head into the water. "Ohhh, good idea." Flutterpaw giggled, sticking her head into the water as well, but quickly repelled, dripping in freezing river water. Owlfeather's whiskers twitched with amusement. Suddenly, a cat leaped onto Flutterpaw, hissing and scratching. Flutterpaw quickly became alert, and kicked the cat backwards, realizing shortly after that it was her mother. "What do you want?!" She scrambled to her paws, growling. Push the other cat to the water, where you are stronger. Owlfeather's voice rang through her head as she forced her energy into her hind-legs and kicked Meadowlark into the deep end of the river, but her mother pulled her along with her, pinning her down at the bottom of the water. She slashed at her, but Flutterpaw swatted it away. Block. She nodded, then bit Meadowlark's paw, ducking under her, twisting her paw. Flutterpaw kicked her face as a boost, then shot out of the water, landing onto the surface, with a thump, breathing deeply, gasping for air. Owlfeather was half-asleep, but then quickly woke up, seeing Flutterpaw, dripping wet, and panicked. "What happened?!" She blinked, curious. "Meadowlark attacked us, but thank Starclan that you trained me!" Flutterpaw gasped, burying her head into her mentor's fur. "Sh...come now, let's go get some sleep." Flutterpaw didn't argue, and padded wearily after Owlfeather.  

      "Evacuate camp! Everyone! LEAVE!" Pebblestar yowled, waking Flutterpaw up. "What's that all about?!" She padded outside, ready to see the darkness of the night, but was surprised to see a strange bright looking water sludge across camp, the river had turned to a dark mineral rock. "What is that?!" Silverdream screeched, eyeing the weird liquid. "It's lava!" A cat burst in, eyes wide in fear. "Our volcano erupted!" "Fireteller, calm down. Help us get all the cats out of camp!" Owlfeather nodded, soothing her. Meadowlark's eyes shone happily. "This is my chance, Amberpaw. You know what to do." Her mother glanced down at Amberpaw, smirking. "Yes mother!" She sniggered, crouching down, then leapt at Flutterpaw, attempting to push her into the rushing lava. "AMBERPAW?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Flutterpaw cried in alarm, staggering to the side. Meadowlark came as well, together, they shoved Flutterpaw closer and closer to the raging lava. "What do you mean "what are we doing"? We are trying to kill you." Amberpaw and her mother chorused, their voice high with laughter. Silverdream raced in front, ramming Amberpaw and Meadowlark to the side, a fox-length away from the burning lava, with was nearing closer to them. "Everyone evacuate camp! Run! GET OUT!" Pebblestar screeched, nudging all the panicking cats outside, as soon as everyone left, they collapsed on the gathering area. The other clans, as well as some rogues and loners, stood there as well, their fur ruffled with surprise. "As you can all see, the tribe's volcano has erupted, and our camps have been destroyed, but we must live on. We will rest in a cavern that our warriors created, until we find another camp." Snakestar, the Thunderclan leader, announced. The groups of cats mumbled and muttered, all panicked and slightly annoyed. "What if we can't find new camps?!" A cat from Shadowclan yowled. "What if we can't travel?! I just got new kits!" Another cat from Thunderclan gasped. "What if the camps are already homes to badgers and foxes?" A she-cat from Windclan chimed in. "Enough!" Brackenstar yowled, and the cat's rumbling died down. "Thank you, Brackenstar. We will find new camps, and if there are any badgers or foxes, we will chase them out." Snakestar continued. "And the kits who are newborn, will be carried by the warriors." Cloverstar pitched in. Flutterpaw perked her ears, still startled by what she saw. What else can go wrong...? She mumbled to herself, sighing deeply. "Hey, what's wrong?" A random cat padded to her, eyes gleaming. "N-Nothing." She simply replied. "I guess that I'm just worried about this "Moving camps" thing." "Yeah, I know. Some of my friends died in the lava." The cat muttered, his voice deep with grief. "I-I never caught your name." "Dapplepaw." The tom answered, looking up. "I'm Flutterpaw." She smiled weakly. But then, Amberpaw sashayed to them, sitting down next to Dapplepaw. "Hi handsome!" Amberpaw giggled, acting sweet and delicate. "Uhm...hi." Dapplepaw blinked, looking at her uncomfortably. "Why are you hanging out with...her? Why not with me? Cause I'm beautiful, gorgeous, amazing, funny, did I mention beautiful?" Amberpaw fluttered her eyelashes innocently. "Yeah...well...I'm going to leave now..." Dapplepaw looked away, bounding off into the distance to another group of apprentices. Flutterpaw sighed, looking back up at the leaders. Great. I have an abusive mother, a bully-like sister, they tried to kill me, we have to find new camps, lava everywhere, there is no knowing where we are going, my sister just scared away a cat that could have been my friend, what else can go wrong?

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