Red Flower [Clan Plot Topic - CLOSED]

Juniperlight yawned a wide, gaping yawn as he sat just outside the camp entrance at about moonhigh. He'd spent the night before staying up to guard the camp for his vigil after his warrior ceremony and then went on his first patrol as an official SkyClan warrior. Tonight he was appointed as the camp guard for the night shift since he had spent the rest of his time after his early patrol asleep. It would surely be a struggle to return to a normal sleeping routine after these few nights, even as exhausted as he was. In the distance, the soft hooting of an owl called to Juniperlight like a warning. Don't fall asleep, it said to him. 'I won't. I promised I wouldn't.' He thought to himself, a whisper in his own mnd, despite the second yawn that made his teeth glint in the moonlight. Even with the sun safely hidden beyond the horizon, the hot, dry night air gathered on his pelt like a second coat of fur. He was almost used to the deep discomfort by now, and he thought longingly of the cold snow banks he used to roll in as an apprentice. The owl called again. Juniperlight realized with a start that he had let his eyes close for just the briefest moment. Or had it been longer? Now he wasn't sure anymore. The only thing he was sure of was that the owl had gotten farther away. 'Owls snatch kits. I should make sure I keep an ear open for it, or it could get into camp without me knowing.' Thinking to himself was the only way to keep his mind from slipping into sleep. The black tomcat strained his ears to listen hard for signs of the nocturnal predator.

"Is that sound... twigs snapping?"

He'd meowed it out loud from sheer surprise. The new warrior had been listening for birdcalls, not pawsteps. Juniperlight's fur began to raise along his spine. The snapping continued, light and uneven, but most certainly near. What kind of animal moved like that? He raised himself to all four paws and dared to take a few steps forward. No one in camp would know... he just wanted to see what it was. He'd be back in a heartbeat. If it was dangerous, then he should see it before it saw him, right? The tomcat wandered several more steps into the territory, the thorny camp entrance disappearing behind him. It was close. It grew loud, and as he followed it, a smell came to his attention. A strange smell. Suffocating, almost, and quite gross, like the Thunderpath but different. Juniperlight squinted into the darkness, except where he was looking... wasn't dark. It was bright like daylight. And the sound grew loud to the point where he dared not come any closer. Fear would have been any cat's natural response, but Juniperlight just wanted to know what it was. As he watched, the source of the light came into view: a moving mass of light spread quickly from tree to tree. It licked at trunks and dry branches on the ground with greed and quickly reached out for more, unsatisfied with what it had already overtaken. The light was almost too much to look at after Juniperlight had grown used to the darkness. Now his yellow eyes squinted against the sight, reflecting the orange glow with curiosity. Should he come closer? A new realization dawned on him: it was hot. Hotter than ever before. Worse than the sunniest and driest day, the strange light burned like a miniature sun, and he wanted no part of that. It was still moving fast. He needed to get away and tell someone. 'Sagelight, maybe?' Uncle Sagelight knew everything. He would know what it was.

Juniperlight made a hasty retreat, entering into camp when he found the gap again. He made a beeline for the medicine cat den when a glint of cold amber eyes from the leader's den stopped him in his tracks. He'd be in trouble for sure now that his father caught him abandoning his post, and he shuffled his paws awkwardly as the cream tabby approached with a stern look on his scarred face. Juniperlight didn't want to be lectured, he just wanted to know what he'd seen. Spottedstar was kind of old. Maybe he'd know? "Er, father, I was just coming to find someone to ask about what I saw. It was strange, I've never seen or smelled or felt anything like it. It was... red and shaped like a flower, with petals that were long and moved on their own. There wasn't even any wind! I promise I really saw it! It had seeds that it spat up and it grew really fast, on all the trees and stumps. Father, do you want to come see it?"

The leader's eyes widened, an unreadable emotion on his face. Spottedstar glanced from Juniperlight to the camp entrance, panic beginning to spread throughout his features. "Just outside the camp?" He asked, padding hurriedly towards the gap in the bushes. Juniperlight followed and nodded. "Yes. Well, no, but close. A few heartbeats of walking away." They slipped out together, and Spottedstar surveyed the moonlit trees. In the distance, a dim light glowed from where Juniperlight had come from. "See? You can hear it, too. I didn't think flowers could have pawsteps." Wordlessly, the leader whipped around and reentered camp, now fully alarmed and with fur bristled. The new warrior followed. None of his questions had been answered, and now he was a little frustrated. But before he could even open his mouth to ask again, Spottedstar had scurried to the center of camp and let out a loud commanding yowl that echoed off the surroundng trees.

"SkyClan, wake up! Awake! A fire is approaching camp! Evacuate the camp now!"

Bloodstrike had been out cold when he heard the yowling of Spottedstar's voice. He sprung to his paws faster than even he thought he could, his heart hammering in his chest and the blood in his ears louder than thunder could ever be. He rushed outside, still not entirely comprehending Spottedstar's words as he shook off his exhaustion. He slid to a stop in front of Spottedstar just as the words' meaning finally clicked and made sense.

"... No!" He said to the empty night air. His head whipped around and his eyes fell onto the apprentice den. Bloodstrike was a giant reddish flash when he entered the apprentice den.

"OUT! EVERYONE OUT! RIGHT NOW!" He bellowed, his own voice echoing inside the den. He moved aside and watched to see who came out. He would get the apprentices out and make sure his children were among them. Sweetpaw too.

"THE KITS NEED TO BE GRABBED TOO!" He yowled out to any warrior nearby. The elders... he didn't know how they could be helped.

I'll see who I can carry on my back...





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Dawnpaw startled awake, eyes wide with confusion. He froze for several seconds as panic set in, but he shook his head to clear it and leaped out of his spot in the den. He zipped by his father and then slid to a stop. "Where do we go????" He asked, panicking, confused...

Mistrain leapt up in horror as someone called out. She leapt out of the den as fast as possible and surveyed the clearing. Instantly, her eyes spotted the flickering red flames. Panicking, she dashed into the warrior’s den again, nudging her den mates up. “FIRE! THERES A FIRE WAKE UP!”  The normally quiet young she-cat’s voice was much more louder than she usually spoke. After she made sure that each and every one of them was aware of the situation, Mistrain dashed outside to meet Juniperlight and Spottedstar. Oh StarClan, please let no one get hurt.

Foxfire sat curled in his nest, nose tucked dutifully beneath his paws as he snored away in a gentle slumber. It had been pure exhaustion that had tired him out - he had been stressed from everything lately; the rising heat, the creek being dry, and mostly of all the lack of food. He wasn't the deputy anymore but it had still felt like a terrible weight on his shoulder whenever he returned with only scraps to add to the fresh-kill pile. But he had tired himself out and now was in a peaceful rest...

Until Spottedstar's screech awoken him. He jolted, raising his head as he struggled to make out the words in his groggy state. His leader had said his name? Or...He was certain he had heard a bit of it. He was forcing himself up to his paws as the rest of the sentence tumbled in his head as he struggled to make sense of it. Something was approaching, they had to evacuate - but where did his name come into it? He took in a deep breath as he stumbled forward, ready to call out but his nose scrunched up at a thick smell that caught him.

What was... He shouldered his way out of the den, only to freeze as it hit him. Oh...Spottedstar had not called out to him... He had said fire. He had never seen his name-sake before but he had heard stories about it to know how this lined up. "Spottedstar is - is there anything I can do?" His eyes glanced at the entrance of the camp, before the fur rose up on his spine. "I-Is there anything we can do other than run?" he uttered softly, eyes glancing around. He knew that he ought to run but...He couldn't, not until he was certain that most of his Clanmates were safe. He...He wasn't afraid to risk himself to make sure they got out.

Sweetpaw had been curled up in her nest quietly her tannish brown left paw had been resting over her maw for a moment. Her ears picked and as Bloodstrike showed up in the apprentices den speaking loudly she woke up quickly,groggily. She didn't quite catch what was said just that she understood whatever it was it was urgent. Her fure bristled a bit as dhe pushed past after Dawnpaw for a moment her green gaze looking around before she heard someone say something about a fire and the young apprentice quickly caught on. She moved to assist with helping the queens carry their kits if she could,rather then making a run for it without helping.

Smokefeather had been sleeping peacefully too, for once her sleep had been blessedly uninterrupted by her own thoughts. Her ears twitched at the sudden loud noise, recognizing Spottedstar's voice. She stumbled to her paws and pushed her way out of the den, gray-green eyes widening. Fire.

She bolted towards the apprentices' den, alongside Bloodstrike. "Primrosepaw! Beechpaw! We have to go, now! Dustpaw! Come on!" She urged, nudging her three daughters. She had to make sure they were safe. Had to make sure that their clanmates were safe. Smokefeather's eyes found Bloodstrike's briefly, reassured that he was helping clanmates, she spun back to the apprentices. "Primrosepaw, stay close!" She ordered. They had been working on navigating by scent and sound, had been working on hunting. Her daughter had come a long way, but there was a stars-forsaken fire and Smokefeather needed to keep her safe. And the rest of the clan. She made her way toward the nursery. There were kits, someone would have to help the queens with them, they couldn't just be abandoned!

--

The sounds of yowling woke Beechpaw, and she startled awake alongside the other apprentices. What was... Fire? Oh no.

Stepping out of the den with her fur on end, Beechpaw's dark eyes swept over the camp. She could see cats running around helping with the nursery and toward the elders den, and her gaze flickered over to the medicine cat den. Sagelight would need help, she thought. She still wasn't sure how to feel about him, but if he were to somehow get left behind... The clan needed their medicine cat. Had he heard the yowls of the others? She had to go check.

Beechpaw raced across camp towards the medicine cat den, fully prepared to nudge the medicine cat awake if he wasn't already. "Sagelight! There's a fire! We have to leave!" Already she was panting, the fire's heat could be felt from a ways off, and it was hotter than anything the young apprentice had even known.

Mintkit awoke from all the noise. “What is going on?” She thought. Then she noticed something. It was hotter then it had ever been. Mintkit slipped outside the nursery. She heard one of the warriors, Juniperflight, say that there was a fire. Fire?! She thought. Mintkit watched as the warriors headed for what was probably the camp entrance. She started to follow them, then stopped. I’m not supposed to go outside of camp. She thought. So she just stayed where she was.

Dustpaw had been sound asleep, or about as asleep as she could be in the heat, and had started kicking at the air and squirming a bit as the quiet of the night suddenly became a rush of sounds and along with it came extra heat. She was slowly waking up to try to figure out what could possibly be going on when she felt a nudge at her side and her name being shouted...by her mom? She shot to her paws, suddenly very awake. It wasn't just any old heat that was going on, no. Based on the shouts and the smells, there was fire, and a lot of it heading towards camp if it hadn't already hit it officially.

After a moment of trying to think how this could happen she stopped herself and ran outside the apprentice den and stopped when she noticed most other cats were gathering in the clearing, panicked not knowing where to go. She spied her father and brother among the crowd and barely caught the sight of one of her sisters running off toward the medicine cat den; she didn't want to be a part of the crowd forming but she wasn't sure what she was supposed to be doing either.

"What are we supposed to do? Where are we supposed to go? Do any cats in particular need help?" These questions weren't entirely directed toward anyone in particular, and she continued looking around. She wasn't too keen on getting her fur singed off or her paws burned among other things, but if she absolutely had to do something where that was the risk...she would do it. Normally putting herself in danger to help another was a big no go, but she was not about to be called a cowardly cat if she decided not to be available to help others in a situation such as this.

Primrosepaw had been sleeping deeply after a long day of training, but was woken quickly by the shouts filling camp. Her mother and father called to her and her siblings, and she hurried after them. Despite the amount of practice her and Smokefeather had done to help her navigate, it required a large amount of concentration that she couldn't manage at that moment. She would have helped get the younger cats out of camp, but didn't want to risk her mother's stress when the blind apprentice disappeared. The rush of pelts and paw steps was easy to follow, created by the many cats fleeing the camp.

Bloodstrike's roar sent Willowpaw leaping to her paws. Panic rose in her throat, and she squeezed her way out like everyone else. What was happening? Then, she felt the surging heat of the fire coming. Danger! Danger! Her instincts seemed to scream. Scrambling, she had no idea where to go. Leave! Leave! A voice seemed to call.

Tears of panic slid down her face. She couldn't help anyone else when she herself needed help. Finally, she spotted the cats rushing to the exit. She followed, tail lashing in panic.

Adderpaw twitched in her sleep at Bloodstrike's yowl, used enough to the cacophony of SkyClan's apprentice den that she didn't wake up. Someone had probably just caught some cool animal, or fought off an enemy patrol. Nothing worth getting up for. Eyes still closed, she grimaced as she heard bodies around her shift. What were they all getting so worked up about? By the sound of it, they were heading somewhere in a hurry. Where could they be going? And why? It was still the dead of night. Could there possibly be something worth waking up for? Maybe if she just went back to sleep...

And then the scent hit her. She'd never smelt it before, but she could tell it wasn't usual. It was almost suffocating, like dust but more pungent. She hesitantly opened one eye. Clearly, something was wrong. Others were getting up with alarm, yelling and running... She got to her feet. Was there finally something interesting going on? With no visible alarm, she sidled out of the den and yawned. Spotting Bloodstrike, she approached him and tilted her head questioningly. However, she needn't have bothered. In that moment, a bright red glare caught her eye. Ah. A fire. Not surprising, given the weather. Was it really as dangerous as they said? Sure, the trees were burning, but wood was a weak material. Could it kill someone? Interest gleamed in her wide eyes. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to go have a look... 

Schooling her face into a bored expression, she shook herself out of it and turned to the exit of camp. She'd have her chance to investigate. She'd only get stopped if she tried to approach it now. Plus, the fire was quickly spreading. It'd probably come to them anyway. Calm as ever, she walked out of camp as if she was only heading out for a midnight stroll.

Mintkit realized that if she didn’t leave the camp, she would soon be dead. She first looked around for her parents, and, once she spotted them she then followed the warriors out of camp. It’s so hot! Mintkit thought. The fire must be really close now! She quickened her pace, not wanting to be left behind.

Blossomstep's head rose immediately at the sound of Spottedstar's yowl, followed quickly by her kit's. Nudging her mate awake urgently, she mewed. "Wolfcall, wake up. Something is wrong, we have to go. I'm going to see how I can help." Rising and moving swiftly out of the den, her eyes searched desperately for her kits and grandkits. They landed on Bloodstrike and her apprentice and grandson Dawnpaw, and she made her way over to them. "Come with me, Dawnpaw, we'll work together to get the elders. I'll need your strength and quick-thinking." Others were already helping with the kits and queens, so without waiting to see if Dawnpaw was following she made her way to the elder's den, poking her head in. "Tinylegs? Wake up, we have to leave camp. Dawnpaw and I are here to help you." She looked over her shoulder to see if Dawnpaw was in fact there to help before gently nudging the old tom with a paw.

Having been fast asleep, the voice of Blossomstep woke up the little elder. Giving his head a shake, the sound of frantic cats outside the den told him that she wasn't just coming in to check on him, but that something was very wrong. "What's wrong-" he began as he pushed himself up from his moss lined nest, until a scent suddenly hit his nose; smoke. He'd smelt it before during his lifetime and where there was smoke came fire, which meant nothing good for any creature of the forest.

Hobbling towards the den entrance, his bones ached and his breathing was raspy, but he knew that they needed to leave as soon as possible. "Where does Spottedstar want every-cat to go?" he asked as he reached Blossomstep and Dawnpaw.

When Wolfcall opened his eyes at Blossomstep's urging, he could barely see. Smoke filled the warriors' den, thick and heavy, and an involuntary gasp of surprise burned his throat. Instantly the deputy was on his paws, shoving through the brambles to get into the camp and wildly swinging his head back and forth. Already it was hard to see - smoke obscured his vision, stinging his eyes, and soot lay heavy on his fur. "Blossomstep?" he called, frantic, but he recognized her outline, heading towards the elder's den, and Beechpaw not far ahead, ducking inside the medicine den presumably to wake Sagelight. His relief wasn't long lived, though, as his mind went immediately to Adderpaw. She couldn't call out if she was in trouble.

It was impossible to scent here, and the other frantic voices were all mingled together, a cacophony in his swirling mind. He checked the apprentice's den, but someone had beat him to it, and without waiting a beat, he whipped around and sprinted for the exit of the camp. The air was clearer here, and several cats gathered outside, waiting for instructions, Adderpaw was among them. He checked her over, swiping his tongue across her smoky head once in relief and then raising his voice to instruct the others. "To the river, now!" he yelled. "Don't wait, just go!"

With that, he spun on a heel and reentered camp. Everyone had to get out. He had to get everyone out. Where was Spottedstar? Wolfcall's eyes burned, and cats moved past him towards the exit. He called out after them, "THE RIVER! TO THE RIVER!" Eventually, he was the only one there that he could see, and the deputy retreated as flames started to lick at the camp's barrier. Wolfcall stumbled outside the camp, head spinning, eyes swimming, heading towards Bloodstrike's blurry form. "The apprentices are all out," he wheezed to the group that remained, "and there was no one in the warriors' den when I left it." Mintkit was the only kit currently, and he'd seen her get to safety, as well as Primrosekit who he knew couldn't see well.

He'd seen Blossomstep helping Tinylegs, but what about Beechpaw? And Sagelight? Had they made it out of the medicine den?

Wolfcall's breath hitched, and his eyes widened. The medicine den. "Mother..." he whispered, voice low as it dawned on him. Murkpelt was there! She couldn't walk! "Get them to the river! I need to go back in!" he told his son, voice near hysterics as he thought about his mother trapped, unable to escape with her broken leg. I need to help her. He spun, heart in his throat, and made to dash back into camp.