The Home

  T h e  H o m e

 finale of fire rainbow /preface

''this one's dedicated to the amazing firey. thank you for your friendship and kindness <3''

~

Rainbow and I make it back to the band at about sundown. The cats are still milling around; Blizzard and Flare are watching over them, looking worried.

"Blizzard! Flare!" Rainbow runs up to them, who look at us with shock. They smile and run up to us.

"How was it?" Flare asked at once. "Was it fun? Did it work?" I nod, and her smile grows wider.

"How about you guys?" Blizzard turns to Jay, Nectar, and Breeze. "Was it fun?"

They all nod. "I found out my destiny." Breeze says proudly, and Blizzard laughs.

"Well, you guys should go on and tell your parents that you've come home. They've been pretty worried." Jay and Nectar run off obediently, but Breeze stays behind, once again.

"Am I allowed to tell my parents my destiny?" Blizzard glances at me, and I shake my head. Destiny for oneself, and oneself alone.

"No, Breeze. I'm sorry." Blizzard says. "But pretend like it's your own little secret."

"But why not?"

"Breeze, listen." Blizzard says quietly. "Your destiny is your destiny. It's your own little secret." Breeze nods.

"Now, would you like to ruin the secret, and tell everyone?" Breeze shakes his head. "Your destiny is yours to keep." Breeze runs off after muttering a goodbye.

"So how was it?" Blizzard asks, but when I open my mouth, no words come out. All I can think about is the future, and what might happen.

But thankfully, Rainbow save me. "It was... weird." She says. "But they were very informative, and I pretty much know the basics of how my destiny will turn out." We share a glance before I speak.

"But it actually worked, which is pretty cool." I hope that no one can tell that something is bothering me.

"So what did you find out?" Flare asks quietly.

"I can't tell you." I say, shaking my head sadly. "I'm not supposed to. It's my 'my secret', as Blizzard said." I wink and she laughs.

"Are we going to learn about our destinies soon?" Blizzard asks, and Rainbow gives an exasperated sigh.

"Of course, Bliz! You're one of the leaders; you'll be in the next batch, stupid."

"So when is the next batch going?" Flare looks almost hopeful.

"Next moon, Flare." I say, apologetically. "But listen - it doesn't matter. Destiny isn't all it's cracked up to be."

"But the little ones were fine with it - weren't they?" Blizzard glances behind him, in the direction that Jay, Nectar, and Breeze went.

"Bliz, it's not about them." Rainbow says gently. "It's about you."

"So you're saying that my destiny will be bad?"

"What we're saying is that your destiny can be good or bad."

"So we're going next moon, right?"

"Right." I nod. "Rainbow, you want to go sleep?" I ask, yawning.

She nods. "We'll probably go and crash, guys..." Bliz and Flare nod, and walk away.

"So... you wanted to talk about something, right?" Rainbow asks, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Yeah. I'm guessing that you Future Self ran off."

Rainbow looks shocked. "How did you..?"

"Know? Because the exact same thing happened to me."

"But our destinies are more important than we thought." She says slowly. "Because we're going to meet those two cats."

"Renee and Fiona."

"The 'Chosen Ones', right?"

"Yeah, that's what my Future Self said."

"Mine told me some sort of Prophecy." Rainbow says as we walk to our nests.

"Two different ones will come together, or something?"

"But what did they mean?"

"They're Future Selves. They'll tell us in the future."

"But I want to find out now," Rainbow says as we climb into our nests. "The curiosity is killing me."

"Well, I guess that we'll have to wait and see, Rain." I say, closing my eyes.

"Sweet dreams, Fir." She says softly.

"You too."

~

''For some reason, I'm back in the same clearing. Again. Maybe destiny is more important than I thought. But something doesn't feel right here...''

''"Fire." I turn around slowly to see a light ginger she-cat, her eyes two burning fires. It's me - my Future Self.''

''"Is this real?" I ask, and Fire nods. "But it's in a dream. Not from the Pool."''

"This is important. There is no time for you to travel to the Pool right now."

''"What's happening?" I ask, panic making my voice start to climb octaves. "Everything's fine, isn't it?"''

''"The future won't be as you expect, Fire. Danger is coming. Darkness is rising." Fire's eyes narrow. "Help yourself, and run away. Get as far away as possible."''

''"No." I say firmly. "I don't care what will happen, but I won't leave."''

"But you could save your life; live a happier and better one."

"My life is meaningless without the cats of the Band."

''"Rainbow would leave too." She says, and for a moment, I feel a flicker of doubt.''

"She would stay with me."

''"What if she wouldn't?" Fire challenges.''

"She would. We'd go wherever the other goes."

''"But there's Blizzard separating you too." I stiffen. "What if she does something else... perhaps follow Blizzard instead of you?"''

"Rainbow isn't unloyal. She's my best friend."

"The whole world is an illusion, Fire."

"This is my illusion - I'll make it exactly how I want it."

"But what if Blizzard, Rainbow - even quiet Flare - decide to make your illusion different from yours? Then what would you do?"

''"I would..." At that, Fire laughs, but it isn't a happy joyous one. It's hard, and cold.''

''"You don't know what to do when you're not in charge, Fire." My Future Self says. "Learn to work with others, and you might learn how to succeed."''

"But -"

''"Things aren't always what they seem, Fire. Beware." With that, Fire turns and stalks off, leaving me alone in the slowly darkening clearing. And then the world goes black.''

~

"Fire. Fire, wake up." I open my eyes to see Rainbow's blue ones, looking at me urgently. "Fire, I need to ask you something - it's important."

"Well, now that I'm awake." I get up and start washing myself. "Tell me what's happened."

"My Future Self visited me in my dream." She starts out slowly. I nearly fall over.

"Your Future Self...?" I ask, my eyes wide, and she looks a bit scared at once.

"Never mind, Fire..." She mutters, trailing off.

"The exact same thing happened to me last night too. Something was off, though... couldn't you feel it?"

"It was as if they were controlled by some force."

"Maybe it some sort of nightmare."

"But both of us getting the same dream can't be coincidental." Rainbow points out.

"Maybe it's a vision of the future!" I say, somewhat unhappily.

"Okay, seriously, Fire. Stop thinking about destiny."

"Why? Mine is messed up - my Future Self said so."

She rolls her eyes, impatient. "What I meant was - stop worrying so much. That'll only make everything worse."

"But I could better my future."

"The present is enough, Fire. We beat the Ancestors. We got Flare's Rock. We traveled to the Pool."

"We came to the valley." I say, smiling.

Rainbow nods. "It's a home for us."

"Not a home, Rain. The home. The perfect one for the perfect us."

~

Back to Fire Rainbow