Warriors #1: Kittypet Clanborn

Chapter 23

I was lying down with my kits in the nursery, Thornclaw pressed up against me, as I suddenly began to smell something strange.

I narrowed my eyes. I was surprised I could even smell anything considering there was a huge storm going on outside.

It had been a perfectly bright and clear sunhigh just moments ago. Thornclaw and I had been sitting in front of the nursery entrance as we watched Snowkit and Goldenkit, whose eyes had been open for days now, play with a clump of moss. As soon as I had felt a drop of water fall on my head, I stood up and beckoned my kits inside the nursery.

Now, here we were, safely in the shelter of the den. The rain hadn't lasted long at all, but the outside still felt dangerous with the strong winds, loud rumbles of thunder, and the flashes of lightning.

I forgot about the strange smell I had caught for a moment as another beam of lightning flashed outside, followed almost immediately by thunder. Not a huge fan of thunderstorms, I pulled my kits closer to me with my tail before pressing my head into Thornclaw's fur.

But, I pulled away almost immediately, flicking my ears as the weird scent flooded into my nose again. For some reason, the smell brought me back to my Twoleg home. I screwed my eyes shut, trying to grasp the memory.

Thornclaw seemed to notice that I was deep in thought. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked, touching his nose to my cheek.

I looked back at my mate, flashing him an appreciative and loving look before returning back to my thoughts. "Yes, love. Don't worry," I murmured to Thornclaw, my eyes screwing shut again, "I just need to..." Twoleg den... living room... warmth... crackling... fireplace...

My ears then pricked up in alarm. Fire!

"Fire!" I repeated out loud, my heart beating at double the speed. "Fire!"

"Fire?!" Thornclaw echoed in alarm, springing up from where he'd been lying. I watched with wide eyes as he then stormed out of the den. My stomach twisted into a knot as I heard my mate's fearful gasp, and a couple of moments later he burst back into the den, panting

"The camp entrance is on fire!" He breathed, his pale blue eyes wide.

Oh, no, no, no! I was hoping that my suspicions would be wrong! "What do we do?" I gasped, sure that my heartbeat would be audible to other cats by now.

The fear and adrenaline rushing through me, I pelted past Thornclaw, not waiting for an answer as I realized something. "Stay with the kits until I get back!" I yelled back to my mate as I ran up to the Highledge, making sure that I wasn't close to the fire. Other pelts flashed beside me as I practically flew past them, making their own escape.

Just in case some cats hadn't realized what was going on yet, I yowled to the sky, "Fire! Fire! The camp is on fire! Get out of here!" before leaping up onto the Highledge and charging into Firestar's den. He won't be able to get out of here on his own when he's sick like this, I had thought. Now, Firestar had developed a bad case of greencough, so bad that just days ago, he had lost a life from it.

"Firestar!" I exclaimed as I crawled through the entrance to his den. "The camp entrance is on fire. We need to get out of here!"

Firestar lifted his head up weakly as I had spoken. "Lil-Lilypetal?" Firestar croaked.

"Yes, it's me!" I answered. Feeling more and more in danger the more time passed, I then demanded, "We have to leave now. I'll get you out." I nosed the leader out of his nest, helped him up and put my tail around his shoulders.

After we had left the den and managed to leap down from the Highledge, I knew that I had to stop by the nursery and help Thornclaw with the kits.

My precious kits! I thought. There's no way that I'm letting them burn in a darned forest fire!