The Only Safe Place Left

If Riverclan had any kindness in their heart, they would let her clan live here. Darkstar crossed over the scent markers, Shrewkit still being held by his scruff, and led the rest of Thunderclap to safety. She set her son in a small hole between the rocks before she turned to face the burning territory, her stomach growing cold as smoldering trees crashed under their own weight, throwing even more embers into the air. Crackling in the other direction caught her attention. Riverclan was on fire as well. Surely it was impossible for the fire to jump the river, right?

...Right?

Falconpaw placed down Darkstar's kit Pinekit and looked around with worry. "D-darkstar.. where do we go from here? We're trapped!" He meowed hoarseness in his voice from smoke. "N-nevermind.. what do you need me to do? I'm s-sure prey came here for safety too.. or.. s-staying put perhaps? We should keep count." He rambled on to the leader, mostly arguing with himself.

Leafpaw staggered after Darkstar, his once-handsome pelt singed and streaked with ash. His breathing was harsh- all the smoke he'd inhaled was starting to get to him.
"How did the fire get into Riverclan?" He mewed, his voice hoarse and gravelly, barely over a whisper. "Where will the clans stay?"

Cloudstorm followed after Darkstar.

Daykit trudged after Owlpaw staying as close to her as possible.

Specklepaw stumbled and tripped as she made her way onto the stones, her shoulder rubbing against Hawkpaws she put her weight onto him. Her chest heaving as the stench of smoke refused to leave her nostrils, though that could have just been the soot that covered her nose and eyes. Specklepaw had forced herself to look at her paws and focused on how she walked lest she stumble and fall to the ground, only to be unable to get to her paws after. Specklepaw pushed herself away from Hawkpaw before falling onto to the stone with a jarring fwump, enough to send her onto a coughing spree, bringing up a paw she brushed away the saliva from her maw and turned to look at the river her body shuddering as he head spun with the movement.

Hawkpaw gave himself a good shake and the looked down at Specklepaw, with a sigh, he groomed her pelt somewhat of soot. Then, he crumbled beside her into his own coughing fit. His claws scraped stone restlessly. He watched the blaze on RiverClan territory. "What?!" He lifted his head, "Specklepaw, RiverClan is on fire too!"

His broad chest heaving, Leopardclaw let out a shallow sigh of relief as his paws touched the smooth surface of the sunning stones, his golden pelt covered with ash and the fur singed off the tip of his tail. Managing to place Cherrykit down gently on the ground before bursting out a hacking cough, the adrenaline seemed to quickly drain from his body, and the large tom began to feel deep exhaustion set in. His breath interrupted by frequent fits of coughing, the young warrior slumped to the ground and lay on his side, hazel eyes glazed over from shock and sorrow. Our territory....the camp, our home! It's all gone....where do we go now? No matter what happened next, at least the depressed tom knew that his family would be by his side, always. He heard Lichenfang padding up behind him with their twin kits in tow, and a faint feeling of peace surrounded his heart for a moment. Then, reality began to set in again, and he found he had no strength to stand. The clan needs my help......just give me...a second....

As Cherrykit was set down, she paused to swing her head around, trying to take it all in. Everything was orange and red and.. hot. Unbearably so. Everyone had been screaming fire, fire, and as her Clanmates look for room to sit upon Sunningrocks, her father plopped onto the rocks with a huff. Wordlessly, she curled up against him, trying to blink the searing pain from her eyes.

Ploverheart and Oakpaw had been one of the last cats out of camp. The old warrior had guided the apprentice, trapped in his den and lost and scared, back to the Clan once they'd been freed. They had marched along in silence, following the Clan close behind as they fled from the territories. Their silence didn't break as they arrived at Sunningrocks; it only seemed to grow heavier as they looked between each other and back to the Clan.

"Don't get hurt," Ploverheart mewed as he padded away. He hovered near Specklepaw, hesitantly touching her shoulder with his tail.

As ThunderClan gathered at Sunningrocks, Lionspark wasn't with them. Instead she forced herself to break away from the group and padded slightly further down the river, coming to a stop at the shore of the river. Her body ached, parts of her fur scorched as he fought back coughs that threaten to overwhelm her as she collapsed to the ground, her eyes wide as she struggled with everything that had happen. She hadn't been strong enough - Sandblaze had died trying to save her...What would her old apprentice Cloudstone think of her? Being forced to leave the brave warrior's body to be burned in it all...Her eyes clenched shut as she bit back a hiss, suddenly throwing her head forward into the river she found herself next to.

She laid there, her head beneath the surface for a few heartbeats before she pulled it back with a gasp for breath, letting the cool liquid run down her fur and sooth the burns that ached. She had to pull herself together, she had to be strong for ThunderClan and for her family. Her eyes flickered open as she felt her blood run cold, seeing smoke rising in front of them across the way - RiverClan was burning as well. Her mouth went dry even though her head was drenched, unsure of what even to say. The warrior simply sat in silence as she let out loose, weak coughs as water dripped down her neck. What...What had happened? She slowly lowered her head to her paws, struggling to compose herself as coughed.

She would have time to judge her actions once this was all over.

Coughing and hacking his way through Thunderclan's territory, Barkpaw followed behind the others anxiously. Every time he made more progress through the trees, he couldn't help but turn and watch the fire burning everything behind him. There was almost nothing left and they dashed towards the river, and every step made Barkpaw's heart ache. Thunderclan had become more or less a home, but here it was getting destroyed before his eyes, the roar of the flames deafening him as they tried to escape the smoke and ash. How could this have happened? He should have done more. He should have stayed and helped others, but he wasn't strong enough. He couldn't have done anything even if he wanted to.

The thoughts that buzzed in his mind like bees frustrated the young tom as they finally reached the river. Seeing the cold, clear water for the first time was an amazing and relieving experience. His first action was rushing to the river, stepping into the pools forming at the banks and wallow in it, the cold waters pouring over him like a blanket, soaking into his fur. Immediately, there was relief, both mentally and physically. However, he stopped as soon as he saw the warrior from camp, who tried helping another cat, lying not too far from him at the bank of river. Instantly, the young apprentice felt a pang of guilt. All of the self-frustration fell right back onto him as he watched Lionspark.

"Hey, um... are you okay? Can.. I do anything for you?" Barkpaw asked as he padded up to the she-cat. He was going to set this right for running away from her. Since they seemed to be safe enough now, he was going to make sure that he could fix his mistake.

Shrewkit didn't like being carried around like a piece of prey. He walk himself, and was being more reasonable than all the other cats here. Why were they freaking out so much? It was just heat, and of course the thick dark fog everywhere that made him wheeze every so often. He climbed out of the hole he had been dropped in and looked around. "Can someone explain to me why we're all so scared?" the kit asked.

Finally, Palegaze burst out of a throng of flaming bushes, his chest heaving. The moment he sucked in fresh air, he erupted into a fit of violent spluttering. It felt as though someone had filled his throat and lungs with stinging nettle, but he didn't try to hold back the coughs. It was better to get it all out than to let it fester inside of him. He smelled of charred wood and burnt flesh - the latter likely being because of his own flesh - and could feel the bite of a few sizeable burns somewhere on his flank, but he hadn't been able to bring himself to escape the camp before checking that all the kits and apprentices had been evacuated. He'd only recently come back to ThunderClan, so he'd felt doubly obligated to make sure all his new Clanmates made it to safety.

His eyes were bleary, but he could make out that they'd arrived at Sunningrocks. In the distance, he could spot more smoke. Hold on.. Was RiverClan on fire, as well? But they'd always had such a lush, wet territory.. Surely the sun hadn't dried even their lands out to a husk? Great StarClan..

One of his ears perked as a kit nearby spoke up, breaking his train of thought - Shrewkit. "Fire is very deadly," he explained, giving his pelt a shake in hopes of ridding it of ashes. "Everyone has good reason to be frightened. Even the warriors. Many moons ago, there was a fire, too, and I lost Clanmates in it."

Blazingpaw stumbled past distraught and injured cats, heaving and spluttering. Following Darkstar, he glanced around at the rocks towering above him. The only place left.

Lionspark didn't seem to acknowledge Barkpaw's presence as the young apprentice strolled up to her, not shifting her gaze from where she watched the RiverClan territory go up in smoke. A few heartbeats passed before she finally allowed her head to turn just enough to look at dark brown tom, her mouth opening as if ready to be a response but no voice came out. Instead her jaw worked weakly as she found herself trying to find the answer to that question. "I'm afraid I don't know the answer to either of those questions," she finally answered, her voice worn from all of the smoke that burned her lungs and almost a whisper. She shook her head, sending a few droplets of water onto the rocks around her before she turned her gaze onto the star above. Was the fire their will? Did they allow it? Did...Did ThunderClan and RiverClan do something wrong? She sighed. "I-I have so much to think about...But...No. I don't think I am okay. How can I be after that?"

Stormkit padded solemnly up to Hawkpaw and Specklepaw, staring at the fire on Riverclan's side of the river. "Where will we go now?" He squeaked softly.