He will do what it takes to survive (Open)

Rockthorn wouldn't be able to get too far into Riverclan territory in fear of the streams that he could be falling too, or accidentally trip and extinguish it. Paws slapped against the ground until he came to a screeching halt, the tom looked wildly for the most flammable material on the territory. Pushing the branch into the higher parts of a tree, and the crisper leaves to a bush before stepping back with a sneer as he watched it travel and spark, despite the wetness. It acted as if it wasn't even there!

But he couldn't stand and marvel, he still had to visit three more clans after all! Though the tom was running out of breath from how long he was running, lots of clans to light on fire but not enough time or energy. Snorting the tom whipped around, off to Shadowclan to cause even more devastation. There'd be no rest for the wicked.

Sootwhisper was fishing calmly when the scent of smoke reached his nose as well as that on an unknown cat. He raised his head just to catch sight of Rockthorn for half a second before he disappeared from sight, he would had given chase if it wasn’t for the most urgent sight right beside him Fire… Without thinking it twice, he turned around, knowing he probably was the first one to notice the danger and the responsible to carry the news to the rest of the clan before it was too late. Never in his whole life he had run so fast, he almost felt like he was flying and his legs forgotten how to grow tired, adrenaline rushing through him.

It didn’t took him long to reach camp and, for the first time in his whole life, he nearly screamed instead of talking barely above mere whispers, his deep voice loud enough for any cat to hear “Fire! The forest is on fire and its approaching fast” His different colored eyes immediately darted from side to side of camp, hoping that his clanmates would react quickly, as well as looking around for Fishstar and his mother, Ivyfall.

Finchpaw had trouble sleeping that night, the new-leaf heat was beginning to not mix well with her thick fluffy pelt, and the small she-cat had opted to lay in the calm clearing, where a gentle breeze might help cool her down. With a sigh, she was beginning to doze off when a rapid set of paw steps sounded right next to her, and the skittish apprentice jumped to her paws with a startled screech, fur fluffed up. When she saw it was Sootwhisper, she calmed a bit, but only for a moment. Fire? Fire! I can smell the smoke already! Oh no no no....this is bad....this is really really bad! Golden eyes wide with fear, for a moment the young molly couldn't move, her breath coming in heavy gasps; but she quickly pushed aside her fear the best she could and helped Sootwhisper, dashing over to the nearest den, the apprentice's den, and yowling; "Wake up! Wake up, there's a fire! We have to get out of here!"

The fire was quick to spread through the dry husks of the reeds that Greenleaf heat had swallowed whole. Ivyfall knew the dangers of fire well, growing up amongst ThunderClannners, it was all they ever spoke about in the elder's den alongside the conquest of Sunningrocks. Fire would eat through almost everything, burning all, boiling water if it had to. But no fire was strong enough to swallow a river, so she took charge of her clan. "Everyone, stay in camp. The fire cannot cross over onto an island. Sootwhisper, go call in the patrols quickly. Finchpaw, make sure no kits are wandering the edges of camp. And someone get Cloudstone to prepare herbs for smoke poisoning!"

Ivyfall pitied ThunderClan and WindClan in the distance. Fire would not be so kind to them.

It wasn't the smell of the approaching flames that woke Fishstar, but the panicked screams of her Clanmates.

As swiftly as her tired muscles allowed her, she scrambled to her paws and bolted towards the exit of her den. Images of ThunderClan's surprise attack on RiverClan's camp so many moons ago came to mind as she pushed through the foliage obscuring her view of the camp, but as soon as she was out, a sharp, unidentifiable odor hit her nose.

And then she saw the smoke.

It wasn't a surprise attack at all, it was.. Fire? Fire, in RiverClan territory? Her eyes widened in shock as she watched thick, swirling blackness arising from somewhere out by the river, blotting out the weak Newleaf sun. For a heartbeat, she was frozen, watching her Clanmates scramble around her in panic, but she deftly shook her head, pushing her own doubts and fears aside. The camp was an island. Unless fire could leap over water, then it wouldn't touch the camp.. Of course, that was to say nothing of the rest of the territory, though, but that was not the main concern. As struck as she was by such a rare phenomenon, it would do no one any good if she let her shock show.

She spotted Ivyfall standing a little ways away, instructing several of the panicked cats around her. It was good to see not everyone had lost it yet. The leader strode up beside her. "Great StarClan.. I've never seen a fire in our territory before. Not even during the hottest periods of Greenleaf.." She narrowed her eyes as she studied the billowing smoke, unable to tear her gaze from it. It was almost surreal. ThunderClan had experienced a deadly fire back when Spottedstar had been leading it, but Fishstar had only seen a few trees smoldering from a distance. Now it was blazing through the reeds right at her doorstep.

The deputy sighed in relief when she saw Fishstar come out of the Leader's den, that was one less cat to worry about. She'd feared that the Leader had lead a patrol and she would be in charge completely as her clan panicked over the fire. As Fishstar said, RiverClan had never experienced a fire before, none of them really knew what to do except pray that the River held it at bay. Wrinkling her nose at the acrid scent of smoke, she went over to Fishstar, tail held low in concern. "Do you think StarClan is punishing us, Fishstar? Or this is just but another unfortunate incident. First our kin go missing, and now this."

The deputy wasn't one to be superstitious, in fact, until StarClan literally came down from above to fight the Dark Forest, she was a non-believer. But after all that had happened, and Cloudstone's verdict that Snowpaw's death was most mysterious, she couldn't help but wonder, was this something that they had brought onto themselves?

Amberpelt pulled herself from the warrior's den with flat ears, her head swimming at the yowling voices as she struggled to make out the words that were being shouted back and forth. Finally she grasped what the problem was as she caught sight of the smoke that cloaked the horizon. Fire. Her fur prickled with fear as she spotted Fishstar and Ivyfall staring out onto the flame-covered horizon with a strange...Peace to them, hearing Ivyfall's words and finding comfort in it. Right, the deputy was right. Their camp was safe even if the rest of their territory was not. She sighed, trying to shake down the fear that swelled inside of her as she carefully padded behind the leader and deputy, staring over their shoulders at the terrible sight. Was had happened? Her ears remained perked, finding interest in the words Fishstar and Ivyfall were sharing but didn't dare open her mouth to say anything, finding herself speechless at the turn of events.

Cinderpaw was fast asleep curled up in her nest when there was a acid tang in her mouth. Blinking awake she coughed nudging the cats near her then padded out. Her ears and tail fluffed up as she saw the piles of smoke building up to the sky. She saw the leader and the deputy was calmly watching it. Is this fire? What would happen if it gets to camp? We are surrounded by water though. She padded over to them then sat quietly next to another cat trembling as she saw the smoke.

Willowpaw's head shot up in her nest among the reeds at the acrid smell of smoke and the yowls of her clanmates. What's going on? There couldn't be a fire.. Everything was too damp to catch fire naturally.. What happened? How? Her mind raced with questions and panic as she made her way out into the middle of camp to see her grandparents, Ivyfall and Fishstar, trying to keep everyone safe. Holding back a whimper of fear, she padded up to them. "H-how is this happening? w-what.. It's not possible, right?" She meowed, panic lacing her small voice. Then her panic deepend. Her mother. Where was Tawnystorm? Her worried blue gazed raked the clearing for her mother quickly before returning to her grandparents. "W-where's mom? I-Is she okay?" She questioned anxiously.

Splashpaw was fast asleep, deeply embedded in the now familiar nightmare that consisted of the terrible day that Sparkwillow dragged Snowpaw's corpse was dragged back home. Although this time the scent that clung to Snowpaw's form wasn't the sweet, rancid scent of death but something else, something far different. It tasted like heat, rotting wood, and the foul scent left behind by Monsters on the Thunderpath and was so acrid it scorched the back of her throat and nose. It was...Fire! Splashpaw jolted away from her nightmare, eyes going wide at the ominous light that filled the camp despite it being nighttime. Now that she was awake, the terrible scent of smoke was much, much stronger and it stung her eyes and nose greatly, causing her to wheeze slightly as she scrambled to her paws.

Splashpaw slithered from the Apprentice's den and screwed up her face as the terrible scent grew even stronger, watching with panic-glazed eyes as Fishstar and Ivyfall merely observed the terrible column of smoke that wafted from somewhere within the territory. Weren't they scared?! Galloping towards the little gaggle of warriors and apprentices that surrounded the Leader and Deputy, she did her best to search for the familiar pelts of Shellwater and Sparkwillow; were they okay? The thought of her mother or only remaining sister being caught out in the terrifying source of the smoke made Splashpaw's legs tremble as she remained close to the cluster of cats who lingered within the clearing."Shellwater?! Sparkwillow?!" She cried loudly, anxiety evident in her panicked call for her family.

Nutpaw woke up with a start. In her dream she had smelled smoke, and now awakened to the sound of yowls of terror, realizing it hadn't been a dream. She ran over to Finchpaw, terror causing her heart to pound. "It's okay, Finchpaw. We're on an island, so we'll be fine. We should splash water on the reeds, just to make sure though," Nutpaw suggested. She was mostly confident they were safe, but she wouldn't let herself just stand there. She raced to the edge of camp, splashing river water on the reeds, making them damp. She coughed as she inhaled some smoke, and reeled back into the center of camp.

Sootwhisper nodded as soon as Ivyfall was done speaking, turning around a jumping on the water once more, his legs and paws instantly bolting into a full-speed run as they touched solid land and taking him at full speed in the same direction he had seen the patrols leave when he left camp. If any of them hadn’t spotted the fire by now they would need to be warned right away. He knew that by rushing away from camp he was putting himself on greater danger, as he was getting away from the safety of the isolated island, but lives were at risk at the time. Just to make sure that he wasn’t going to be stuck on a suicide mission he was careful to stay as close as possible to the water as he ran towards the patrols, so he could jump inside the water if he saw himself surrounded by the spreading fire and swim back to camp.

Molepaw didn't need to be warned twice. He lifted his head from his paws once the unpleasant smell of smoke drifted into his nose. His ears were immediately greeted with the terrifying sound of his Clanmates shouting in panic and warning. The apprentice rose from his nest swiftly, bounding out of the apprentices' den and stopping once he was in the midst of the camp. Instinctively, his nose wrinkled as the smoke scent got stronger due to him being out of his den. He had never smelt smoke or seen fire before, and he had been hoping that he'd never have the chance to see it. As a kit, Molepaw had heard stories about the greedy and merciless red tongues of the flames that now lingered outside of RiverClan's island camp. Now, it was as if stories were becoming reality. The water surrounding the camp would have to stop the fire if it got too close, but Molepaw could only hope that no other cats that were out on patrol were injured, or worse...dead.

Cloudstone was visibly more affected by the sight of fire than Ivyfall or Fishstar, as he was pacing by the water's edge. There was a look on his face that combined fear with rage; would StarClan ever bother stopping the disasters that came RiverClan's way? "Do you think we are separate from our territory? The fire will chase away the prey and destroy the herbs. The smoke will kill the bees and ruin the honey that would soothe our throats! The ash will fall in the water and make it undrinkable while poisoning the fish." The usually peaceable tom had his hackles raised and his claws dug into the damp soil. He wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, however, he was furious with himself.

'I should have gathered more herbs when I had the chance. Idiot!' He'd hoped that Newleaf would have marked the arrival of more herbs, but alas they were dashed by the sight of smoke inching closer and closer to the camp. The medicine cat was more than irritated with how the deputy and leader appeared so calm. A clan was nothing without its territory.

As the putrid stench of smoke hit her nose, Tawnystorm rushed out to the middle of the camp, frantically searching the crowd for her family. Ivyfall, yes. Willowpaw, yes. Frogjaw? Where was he? And Aspentail? Oh StarClan, please... She pulled Willowpaw closer to her as she heard he daughter's calls. "It's okay, I'm here." She gave her a quick, comforting lick, but her gaze was directed elsewhere - searching for the others. "Frogjaw? Aspentail? she called, fearing for their safety. She darted over to Ivyfall and Fishstar. "It hasn't been dry at all lately, there's no way this fire could be natural. Someone, or something must have set it off. Do we know if anyone's out on a patrol? I can't find Aspentail or Frogjaw...."