ECHOES

Chapter Twelve

"I look up to the stars and wonder what things would be like if you were still here."

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Flamepaw's eyes fluttered open to a starry scenery before her. A forest stood around her, dappled with stars that flickered and glowed. A gentle breeze blew through starry forest of SpiritClan ruffling rigging the ginger she-cats fur. Her green eyes were wide with surprise and she scanned her gaze around her surroundings.

Why would SpiritClan want Flamepaw amongst them? The she-cat was guilty for the murder of Chirpbark by letting it happen before her eyes. She was a traitor to her family and to SpiritClan. Was SpiritClan wanting a punishment for her? Perhaps they thought she was planning to rebel since Slap spoke to her the other night.

Flamepaw took a hesitant step forward, her gaze still scanning her surroundings. Her head was ducked and her ears were perked in alert. She didn't any cats yet, so maybe SpiritClan didn't even know she was amongst them? Either way, the she-cat was still anxious and weary of what the purpose of her waking up in SpiritClan was.

Suddenly, the pounding of paws against the earth made her head snap back up. Her gaze was locked on the area before her, her eyes squinting so she could make out where the noise was coming from. Her ears pointed forward so she could hear the pawsteps more clearly, and the cat seemed to be running. A sioulhette silhouette of a broad cat then appeared in her line of sight, racing straight towards her.

The sioulhette come into view as a dark, russette tabby tom racing towards her. His green eyes were wide and his tail was streaming behind him. When Flamepaw locked eyes with the familiar tom, his ears bolted straight up and he skidded to a halt a few fox tails away from Flamepaw.

"Dimstar," Flamepaw mumbled, heart pounding and eyes wide in disbelief. Her father's name slid off her tongue slowly, and a shiver raced down her spine. The last time she ever locked eyes with her father was during the ambush, and she felt as if he had lost all of the love for his daughter.

A long wave of silence rippled in between the two. Their gazes remained lock, but they were still as if a blizzard had blew through and froze their paws to the earth. Flamepaw knew that Dimstar was ashamed, and there would be no smiles or peaceful greetings between her father and her.

But then the unexpected happened. The russet tabby slowly began to pad towards Flamepaw, but his head was bowed and his tail dragging across the earth. Flamepaw's eyes stretched wide in surprise when her father pressed forward and lifted his head to press his muzzle to Flamepaw's. Silence still rippled between the two, but everything was placid and soothing as the two shut their eyes and embraced one another.

Soon enough, a sudden wave of sorrow slammed into Flamepaw. She choked on sobs of melancholy and moved her head to bury her face into her father's shoulder. She expected her father to move away or ask what was wrong, but instead silence remained between the two. After a few moments, Dimstar buried his muzzle into Flamepaw's neck fur and struggled to hold back his tears as well.

This wasn't the reunion Flamepaw planned out in her head, but she found it soothing and calm. To be able and cry along with her father instead of standing before him as an enemy was relaxing and eased the tension that used to exist between the two.

"Flamepaw? Dimstar?"

The familiar voice that sounded from beside Flamepaw made her ears bolt straight up. She turned away and a smile emerged onto her face at the sight of not one- but two familiar faces standing before her.

Both were cats of SpiritClan, as could be told from their star dappled pelts. The one who spoke was a small, brown tom with a white chest and paws, his eyes flickering with excitement. The tom who stood beside him was taller, and was barely familiar to Flamepaw's eyes. She knew he was though, because he was the one who saved her life by sacrificing his own.

Quailpaw and Galestorm.

Flamepaw let loose a cry of joy and pressed against her brother. She buried her muzzle in his fur as the two siblings embraced one another, a moment they had not shared since the two first became apprentices. Dimstar also stepped forward but instead he embraced Galestorm, the two toms sharing a moment of pure friendship they hadn't shared in many moons.

"Quailpaw! I'm so sorry," Flamepaw cried, pulling away from her brother and meeting his gaze.

Her brother's mouth corners only curled into a smile and a light chuckle escaped him. "It's okay, Flamepaw, it's not your fault. Also, it's Quailchaser now."

A smile slid onto Flamepaw's visage at the mention of his warrior name and she glanced Dimstar's way. Their father must have granted Quailchaser his proper, warrior name before he...passed. Flamepaw did wish that her brother had a proper ceremony for becoming a warrior, but at least he got to have one before he passed. He earned it, with his loyalty and strength.

A small chuckle erupted from behind Quailchaser, but it wasn't from Galestorm or Dimstar. The four cats turned to face Chirpbark, the warrior who had bern viciously murdered right before Flamepaw's eyes, who did nothing to save him.

"Chirpbark, I'm-"

"Stop apologizing, Flamepaw," Chirpbark mumbled softly and calmly. Galestorm and Quailchaser stepped over to the other SpiritClan tom's side, and they shared a glance with Chirpbark.

Chirpbark's face was plastered with a smile and his gaze met Flamepaw's. His nodded his head slowly, his gaze flashing as his gaze remained locked on Flamepaw.

"It's time."

Suddenly, everything around Flamepaw faded into darkness. Galestorm, Quailchaser, Chirpbark, and even Dimstar were out of her sight. Instead, she stood in a scenery of pure darkness that suddenly engulfed her like fresh prey.

A gasp of breath escaped Flamepaw as she woke back up. She was laying in the old elders den, the shadows of the den surrounding her. Her gaze flicked over to the exit to see a sky that was still dappled with stars. But something else rose up against the sky, a yowls and hisses echoed through the camp.

Flamepaw's ears twitched in curiosity, her fur standing on the end. She rose to her paws and cautiously made her way towards the exit of the den. She froze every time a yowl of agony sounded from outside, but after a few more steps she was able to peer completely out of the den and stand out of it.

A war had broke out inside of camp, cats hissing and spitting as they attacked one another. Yowls pierced through the air and made Flamepaw's eyes widen. What surprised the ginger apprentice the most though was the fact that it wasn't the rebels attacking EchoClan. Instead, cats from EchoClan such as Snakeleap, Sparrowblaze, and even Slap were lunging at the former rogues that had bowed down to Archangel.

Flamepaw was frozen in her tracks, perplexed on what she should do in the current situation. Her eyes shifted into slits though when she spotted a familiar she-cat in the center of camp glaring her way. It was Spark, the she-cat who pulled Flamepaw along into her murderous schemes and was ruining her life.

The she-cats claws were unsheathed, but this time it was against her true enemies. Her eyes flashed with hatred, and Flamepaw took a step forward.

She was going to fight, but this time she would fight alongside the right side.

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A/N: Another short chapter hhh
Sorry guys.