Conflagration [A Warrior Cats AU]

Chapter Thirteen

"I'm sorry, I-"

Rosetail and Whitestorm stalked around her as she lay on the ground, a large gash opened in her throat. Blood bubbled up in her mouth and she began to cough up the sticky liquid. 

"We don't forgive you," Rosetail and Whitestorm hissed at the same time, leaning in.

Then all was black.

Bluefur woke up with a start, jumping to her paws and realising she had shredded her moss in the night. Great, she thought. Another nightmare.

She angrily stalked out of the den. It was dawn. She yawned, sitting down and grooming herself. Her ears pricked as she saw Hailstar walk out of his den. She greeted him with a nod and he returned it. 

"You feeling better?" She asked kindly.

Hailstar smiled and nodded. "Yes. Are you alright? There seems to be something on your mind."

Bluefur hesitated. "Whitestorm and Rosetail," she blurted after a few moments. "I finally went to visit them this gathering and they both hated me."

Hailstar looked at her sympathetically and Bluefur felt whiny for telling him this. She shuffled her paws.

"Whitestorm was passive aggressive and Rosetail was cold," she murmured. "My nephew and my best friend..."

Hailstar lay his tail on her shoulder. "Maybe they know that you can't be friends anymore and that if they are friends with you again then they'll grow attached," he suggested calmly. "It's nothing against you."

"Just the choices I make," she muttered bitterly. 

Hailstar opened his mouth to reply, then shrugged. "Cats are beginning to come out of their dens. You'd better start organising the patrols. See you later, Bluefur."

Bluefur nodded. "Bye."

--

She stalked forwards, her eyes on the mouse. She tucked her paws in and held her tail still. She waited, waited, waited. Then she leapt.

"Good catch!" Bluefur purred from across the border. Rosetail looked up quickly. The pride in her gaze changed to irritation.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed. "Have you been watching me?!"

Bluefur took a step back. "No, I just arrived. I was just trying to help," she hissed.

Rosetail snorted. "Go away."

Bluefur frowned. "Rosetail, please. It was for the best. You could come with me! After a while, you'd be respected, and-"

"I'm loyal to ThunderClan," Rosetail snarled. "And I miss you too, but we're from different Clans. I'm not a traitor."

Bluefur winced as Rosetail turned her back on the deputy. She stalked off with the mouse hanging from her jaws. Bluefur sighed, turning away as well and scampering off. 

As Bluefur walked back to camp, she scented ThunderClan and began to bristle. Her walk turned into a run, which became a sprint. She skidded into the camp to see ThunderClan cats fighting RiverClan. She shook her head and yowled, launching herself into the battle. She found herself leaping at Adderfang, pinning him down and spitting in his face. "Why is Sunstar doing this?! I thought he was fair!"

Adderfang snorted. "Of course Sunstar wouldn't launch a needed attack on you fish-faces! Thistleclaw will be our leader soon, and he launched this attack on you traitors!"

Bluefur snarled, digging her claws in deeper. She clawed at his shoulder and at his belly fur, and he kicked her off with strong legs. She leapt at him but was grabbed by the scruff before she could touch him. She kicked and slashed, but she couldn't fight back. A paw raised up and she felt it hit her head before everything went black.

"Wake up," a voice snarled.

Bluefur opened her eyes, confused. "Where am I?" She murmured.

"Bluefur!"

Bluefur's eyes snapped open and she realised immediately she was in the dark forest again. She watched silently as Thistleclaw trained with Mapleshade. The she-cats ears pricked up and she stalked over. "Bluefur," she meowed smoothly. "How are you going?"

"Go away," Bluefur snarled. "Go train with Thistleclaw."

Mapleshade snarled, then smiled. "But you're so much better," she whined.

"Go away, fox-heart!" The deputy snapped, her tail bushing up.

After Mapleshade left her alone, she walked, ignoring her warnings. She walked, and none of the forests seemed to change. The same trees and rivers passed her, but it was the only thing she wanted to do in this terrible world. But nothing happened. Bluefur began to realise that Mapleshade had gone insane from this forest. She was alone. All alone. She'd be here forever and ever and ever and-

She padded over to Thistleclaw and Mapleshade, confused. She was walking away from them, wasn't she? Would she be doomed to walk in circles forever? She began to panic, breathing heavily. She collapsed, covering her eyes with her paws. Would she become Bluestar, one of the evil leaders of the Clans? Would no-one remember her for what she was? Would she be driven mad by grief? Would she become like Mapleshade? Like Thistleclaw? 

Or maybe she'd be a noble leader like Sunstar or Hailstar. Maybe she'd be respected by everyone and would show them she's not a traitor. Maybe Rosetail would forgive her and then they would be best friends again. Maybe thanks to her all of the four Clans would live together in peace.

Bluefur calmed down a little, enough to start fading away. But before she could, a paw was placed down on her throat. She began to choke, willing herself to start fading away more. If she died here, would she truly die? Panic began to rise in her chest again and she forced it down. She began to fade once more, even if the paw was holding down extremely tightly. She closed her eyes and relaxed, reassuring herself by saying everything would be fine when she woke up. Everything will be alright, she repeated in her head. I'll be back in camp with Oakheart and Mossdapple and Mistyfoot and Stonefur.

But the paw held tighter still and Bluefur began to see black at the edges of her vision when she opened her eyes. She was going to die, right here in the dark forest, and she would live there forever, and-

No. She just needed to stay calm. She completely lay limp, closing her eyes. And sure enough, she felt like she wasn't in the world of the dark forest anymore. She was safe.

When she woke up, she was in ThunderClan camp.