Warriors Adventures of TreeClan Book # 1 of Fire vs Fire

Chapter Six

After the SoulClan warriors had thanked TreeClan for helping them, Barkpaw, Shinepaw, and Oakwood started dragging Dusttail back to camp. His long body getting wet, but the rain washed off some of the blood. When they returned, the clan seemed to all inhale sharply at the sight of Dusttail's battered body trailing between two apprentices and a warrior. The rest of the saving party's faces were grim and their scars showed all that had happened. Fernsong walked out of her den and when she saw them hurried back inside and started coming out to treat their wounds. Glowstorm winced as Fernsong rubbed some sort of herb poultice on a wound on her flank that was bubbling with blood, making it sting badly.

'It will help it, I promise. You had a rough time out there, surely your hungry, I'll get you a thrush after this. I saw a good fat one in the pile.'

She mewed softly in her ear. But she shook her head.

'No. Any fat prey should be going to Willowstar, not me.'

Glowstorm concluded stubbornly.

Fernsong looked like she was about to retort when a yowl came from across camp. Briorpaw came cantering out of the apprentice den and pelted over to Dusttail. The bond between apprentice and mentor would never break, not even after all of the nine lives of a clan leader.

'No! Dusttail, no! Please don't leave me! You can't go now, not after everything!'

She sobbed, her eyes stained with tears.

Treelight padded over to her, and nudged her gently with his muzzle and she sniffed, stepping away and bowing her head sorrowfuly for her lost mentor. Willowstar leapt up onto the Junglebranch and Leafstripe followed, sitting on his smaller ledge underneath her.

'All cats young and old gather beneath the Junglebranch for a clan meeting!'

Glowstorm simultaniously trotted up, realising that the leader had called out a different call this time, her call meaning even elders and kits should come beneath the Junglebranch.

'Cats of TreeClan, I call you all here on this grim evening to tell you that our beloved clan, and maybe SnowClan may be in danger. Moons ago, when I was an apprentice, I met a young SnowClan she-cat called Whitepaw. We were at the gathering. When I met her, I remembered that she was from the mountains. Me and some fellow warriors left camp tonight to save SoulClan from an attack that probably would've been fatal for our fellow clan. SoulClan were being attacked by a clan called DarkClan, they smelled of fox, but not normal fox, snow fox, they are from the mountains. The last warrior stated that we should be wary of the claws of DarkClan. I think that we should warn SnowClan of this horrible clan. Something else horrible happened tonight. As some of you must've seen, our beloved and noble warrior Dusttail has fallen in battle. As tradition we must bury him beneath the last branch of the Great Tree. Those who are closest to him will bury him, including his father Oakwood, his mother Mosstree, his best friend Treelight, and his apprentice Briorpaw. I'm so sorry that this has happened. Tomorrow is the gathering and we must tell everyone this grim news. Clan dismissed.'

She turned her head away and leapt solemnly down from the branch.

The rest of the clan padded over to Dusttail and payed their last respects to him. After Glowstorm had dug her nose into his neck fur and whispered,

'I know that you will watch over us and hunt joyfully with StarClan from now on, and I look forward to seeing you again once my time has come. You served the clan well, and I know that you will watch over us and protect us from harm as best as you can.'

She stood up and backed away, sitting in the long line of her clan members and bowed her head, looking at the ground. Mosstree, Oakwood, Briorpaw, and Treelight all nodded to the clan and then trotted gloomily over to Dusttail, and, sharing the weight between them, leapt down onto the first branch, and then the next, and then the next. All the while, Glowstorm thinking, thinking about how strange it would be without Dusttail on patrols, making silly jokes about her and how she was restless at night. And most of all, not sharing tongues or eating fresh prey with him any longer.

*

That night, as Glowstorm settled down in her nest, she had a dream. A dream that she was running through the forest with a blurred outline of a cat that looked exactly like her beside her. The cat turned up her head and laughed, a metallic, echoey laugh, that sent chills down Glowstorm's back. This cat was the same cat that was in her dream only two or three moons ago, she could feel the same vibration of danger and mystery in her voice.

'Who are you?! Are you my mother?!'

She called out, her call only being drowned out by a roaring of a distant wind. Suddenly, the cat from before vanished, and Dusttail appeared, he was a spirit, glowing a light blue.

'Watch for the wind that comes, it is coming, and will not stop.'

He said, then faded away, leaving Glowstorm alone, with a whirlwind coming right for her. And then, when it was only a few mouse-lengths away, it changed direction and disappeared into the forest. Leaving her in pitch blackness, scared, and alone.