Infinita Frigus

Chapter 1

Flamestorm grumbled as a paw prodded him in his ribs. "Wake up!" a voice hissed in his ear.

The black-and-orange tom rolled over. "Lemme sleep..." he mumbled, sleep slurring his words.

The paw prodded him again. "Hurry up, Flamestorm! You have to see this! I swear, if it's not worth your trouble, I'll let you have my fresh-kill for a week, but it won't be!" the voice- Which he now recognized as Echoflight's- demanded urgently.

Heaving an overdramatic sigh, he heaved himself to his feet, blinking sleepily at the she-cat. Echoflight's eyes were wide, and she was shifting nervously from paw to paw.

Must be something big to get her agitated, he mused. Shaking his head to clear some of the sleep out of his brain, he yawned and then followed Echoflight out of the den, and the camp.

Once they were out of the hollow, Echoflight broke into a sprint, racing through the undergrowth. The sun broke through the trees, shining on her silver fur. As he ran alongside her, he thought about how insanely lucky he was to have her for a friend. This amazing, wonderful, she-cat; who was he compared to her?

They burst out of the treeline, a stunning view of the lake stretching out before them. The two cats were both panting, but it wasn't just lack of breath that rendered Flamestorm speechless, it was what lay beyond the lake.

Huge storm clouds were coming towards them a rapid rate. Beneath them, a blur of white signified falling snow.

"But- But it's Greenleaf!" Flamestorm exclaimed. "There can't be snow!"

Echoflight shot him a withering glance. "No duh, Flamestorm," she sighed.

The tom felt his face heat up. "Sorry," he mumbled. "But how? There haven't even been any clouds in the sky recently!"

"If I knew, don't you think I'd tell you?" Echoflight snapped. Flamestorm's face fell, and he turned his gaze back to the oncoming storm. "Ah, fox-dung, I'm sorry Flamestorm, I'm really sorry, please forgive me-"

Flamestorm held up his tail to silence her, before turning his head to lock eyes with the she-cat. His face was unusually serious and solemn. Slowly he brought his face closer to hers, the air thick around them.

An orange paw flashed out of nowhere and booped Echoflight's nose. "There, forgiven," Flamestorm announced proudly.

Echoflight scowled. "Flamestorm now is not the time for your antics. We have a serious problem-"

A rustling in the bushes cut the she-cat off, and 5 cats burst out. He recognized Froststar in the lead, followed by Dustblaze and Fernleaf. Two senior warriors, Redstorm (his foster father) and Sparrowwing followed.

"Is it true?" Dustblaze gasped.

Wordlessly, Echoflight nodded towards the oncoming storm. The assortment of cats stared silently at it, now halfway across the lake. With a jolt, Flamestorm noticed that the water was freezing beneath it as it moved.

"Fernleaf," Redstorm began. "what does it mean? How is this possible?"

The light brown she-cat took a step back. "I-I don't know," she stammered. "Surely- Surely we have done nothing wrong? This is a mistake, it has to be a mistake..."

Froststar cleared her throat. "Regardless, we must deal with this. Sparrowwing and Flamestorm, stay here and watch its approach. You can alternate on updates. Dustblaze, Sparrowwing, and Echoflight, I need you to go find and call back all patrols. Fernleaf, do whatever you need to do. I'm-" she trailed off for a split second here, an odd look in her eyes. "I'm going back to camp."

Nodding at them, she turned and raced back into the forest. The three sent to retrieve the patrols headed in different directions, and Fernleaf stood, conflicted, for a moment before heading shakily towards the WindClan border.

Sparrowwing settled down to watch and wait. "When it hits shore, you can head back and tell Froststar," he said quietly.

Flamestorm nodded. "Okay!" he chirped, before scrambling down the ridge to the shore itself. He wanted a better view of the approaching phenomenon.

The storm clouds writhed, turning over one another. They churned and twisted, spinning in a sick dance. Their colors changed perpetually, from gray to white to black. "They're not moving," Flamestorm said aloud as he realized it. "New ones are just forming, in front of them- How?"

Standing in wonder, he admitted one thing to himself. "It is kind of cool. In a weird way. Wonder how this will go down in history?"

A voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Flamestorm! What are you doing down there? Get back up here, you don't want to get caught in the storm."

Flamestorm hung his head. "Coming, Sparrowwing," he mumbled, before scrambling back up the slope.

Sparrowwing's amber eyes looked disdainfully at the younger warrior. "Really, Flamestorm, you need to act more mature one of these days. You'd think you were still a rouge kit, the way you  act- What is it?" he suddenly demanded of the younger cat. "What are you looking at?"

Flamestorm's mouth was slightly agape, his blue eyes wide and fixated on something behind the light brown tom. Sparrowwing twisted around, beginning to ask a question, only to trail off as he laid eyes on what the black-and-brown cat was staring at. 

The storm had traversed quickly, and was almost upon them while the two talked. Sparrowwing gaped at it for a moment, before snapping out of it and yelling at Flamestorm. "Run, you fool!"

Flamestorm whirled around, shoving off the ground with powerful hind legs. Sparrowwing followed, panting with the exertion. But Flamestorm was the faster runner, and he soon overtook the senior warrior. 

Paws drumming on the ground, a yowl caused the warrior to skid on the leaves and turn around.

"Flamestorm!"

Sparrowwing was running as fast as he could, but the storm was overtaking him. "Run!" the senior warrior screeched, before being lost in the whirling blizzard.

Flamestorm didn't have time to be horrified- He ran, ran as fast as he could, wondering what would happen to the brown warrior, hoping that he could reach the stone hollow in time.

The enterace came into sight. Flamestorm let out a yell. "It's coming! Take cover!"

He ran the final few tail-lenghts into the hollow, then, without pausing my bolted into the warrior's den. There he lay, taking shuddering breaths, eyes closed tightly. A blast of cold wind and snow let him know that the blizzard had reached the camp; he whimpered and burrowed further into his nest. His paws were sweaty, he was dreadfully thirsty, and he felt dizzy and nauseous.

He hoped Sparrowwing was still alive. He tried to convince himself that the senior warrior was. But deep in his heart, he knew that there was no chance, and he didn't want to think about who else would go to StarClan because of this storm.