Disintegrate

''This is the seventh episode of Vale, season 4. Written by Rainy. Read, enjoy, & comment!''

Disintegrate
Something about knowing there was a rabid dog just outside our homeland made SpringClan just the tad bit antsy.

By that, I mean that the camp was an absolute madhouse when Ryan, Minkears and I got there. Poolkit and Petalkit were wailing at the top of their lungs, and Cranelegs and Cloverflower weren't having much success in calming them down. The elders were having a heated argument with some senior warriors about what to do about the dog. Dewfrost and Quailstar were standing with Yellowsun and Lionpatch, conferring in urgent, hushed voices. Blossomleaf was comforting poor Flowerpaw, who was having a full-blown panic attack, while her littermates and Eveningfall stood nearby watchfully.

"Here, take these seeds, they'll help you calm down," Blossomleaf said soothingly, licking Flowerpaw on the forehead. Looking at Eveningfall, she said, "Why don't you have her go lie down?"

"Anything I can do to help?" I offered.

"Could you watch Brightpaw and Sleepypaw for me?" whispered Eveningfall as she helped Flowerpaw to her paws.

"Of course," I promised. Daisyheart was already trotting towards us, and had taken Brightpaw and her brother under her wing as well. She was muttering quiet words of calming to them, but for once even Sleepypaw had his eyes wide with panic.

"A rabid dog," he muttered feverishly. "We don't stand a chance."

"Shut up. Talking like that won't help anyone," Brightpaw snapped.

"Neither will being rude to your brother," Daisyheart reprimanded her apprentice. "Why don't the two of you fetch some water-soaked moss from the medicine cat's den to help Flowerpaw calm down?"

Once the two younger cats had left, Daisyheart turned to me and yelped, "We don't stand a chance!"

"I agree," Minkears said.

"Well, you're a pessimist. I get that. But you? Daisyheart, you're ever the optimist," said Ren, padding up to us.

"Even I have my limits," Daisyheart sighed.

"How are you so calm?" I demanded of Ren.

He shrugged. "I guess it's living in the city. I've dealt with dogs numerous times." But something about his expression made me think he wasn't as nonchalant as he appeared at first glance.

"You should help us out, give some advice," suggested Minkears.

He flicked his tail. "Already done. Quailstar and Dewfrost think my idea is too dangerous. They'll take their time mulling over every other possible option, realize nothing else will save us, and come back to mine."

"What is your idea?"

"We've got to kill it."

I stared at him. "You've got to be kidding. It's a rabid, murderous dog, Ren."

"Oh, I know. We won't be able to kill it ourselves. We need to get it near a Twoleg with a firestick, and have the Twoleg shoot the dog."

Gaping, Daisyheart squeaked, "That idea's not only dangerous, it's absolutely crazy!"

"It's the only way. We don't have the power to take down a mad dog," Ren said gravely.

We all knew he was right. Quailstar and Dewfrost eventually realized it too, and they gave up trying to fight the idea, instead picking cats to go on the patrols that would be needed to take the dog down.

Quailstar chose Fire, Daisyheart, Bluebird, Saori, and Specklenose. Dewfrost chose me, Ren and Minkears. Goldenburst and Thistleblossom were put on guard duty to watch the camp and make sure no other cats got out until after the lockdown was called off.

Just before we left the camp, Quailstar turned to us. "I know you're expecting a briefing on what we're going to be doing, but the truth is, we're going to have to make it up as we go. This dog is unpredictable, which means all of you need to be alert. And you need to listen to me. This plan is a long shot, but if we work together, we can pull it off. I trust in you. You're my warriors. Make me proud."

She turned around to lead us out, but not before I caught the glimmer of tears in her eyes. Quailstar wasn't as indifferent as she let on. She had her softer side, no matter how much she hid it.

And she knew she was leading us into one of the most dangerous battles we'd ever faced. It took no stretch of the imagination to acknowledge that we could all be dead by sundown tonight.

Ren, in particular, looked like he was going to be sick with worry. He'd been good at hiding it when presenting his plan to Quailstar and the other warriors, but now that no one was looking directly at him, I could see his doubts clear as day all over his face. Dewfrost and Quailstar had agreed not to split the two patrols unless it became necessary, so Ren was walking next to Daisyheart, with her tail lying across his back. I walked just behind them with Minkears on one side and Specklenose on the other. Having them with me made me feel slightly more brave in the face of impending doom. As Specklenose would say, at least "the squad's all here".

I felt a nudge at my right shoulder. It was Daisyheart. "Breezeflight, I... do you remember that conversation we had a while ago, before the fight with the League? How I said I wasn't a hero?"

"Yeah, I do."

"I'm... I'm so scared right now. I know it's cowardly, but I feel like I'm going to vomit with fear," she whispered. "I feel so useless, but I just..."

"It's not cowardly. It's normal... you'd be crazy not to be scared. Can't you hear my teeth chattering?"

She shut her eyes. I could feel her shaking where her pelt pressed against mine. "Hey," I murmured. "We'll survive this together. We're best friends forever. No rabid dog can change that, you know. Think of all we've overcome side-by-side."

Taking a deep breath, she nodded, giving me a small smile of gratefulness. She might not have realized it, but I was drawing on her strength too. Just her familiar scent reminded me of all the cats back home, relying on us. Our territory would be unspeakably dangerous unless we ended the rabid dog before it got into our homeland.

''I'm a warrior. This is what I live for. To risk everything for my Clan is part of my job.''

We reached a clearing on the far reaches of SpringClan territory, which was where the dog sightings had been reported. My heart sank as I realized it was the same place where we'd seen Duskwatcher be lit on fire. Now though, there was no sign of any barbeques or Twolegs. The grass was still charred, and there was a big bare patch in the middle of the clearing. I knew Bluebird had realized where we were from the way he flinched. Minkears looked at him sadly, but made no move to comfort him. I figured something had happened between them, maybe an argument that had gotten out of paw, but now wasn't the time to probe.

"Where's the- Oh."

Dewfrost didn't need to finish his question, because right then the dog came staggering over the rise of a hill. Even from a distance, you could sense the unnaturalness of its gait and bearings. Every part of me was unnerved at seeing a fellow creature move with such disorientation, and I felt the hair along my neck rise in trepidation. "It's sick all right," whispered Saori.

Quailstar turned to Ren. "We need a Twoleg with a firestick, right? How do you propose we get one?"

"There's a nasty one that lives just behind that hill," Ren said, pointing with his tail. "He has a firestick; he's the groundsman who watches over this clearing and campsite. If we get him to notice the dog, he'll shoot it for sure. The thing is, he doesn't like cats either."

With a noise of disgust, Bluebird said, "Well that's stupid. You'd think a rabid dog would be enough to get him to ignore us."

"I wouldn't bet on it," said Ren doubtfully. "Twolegs are the stupidest creatures to walk the planet, but also some of the most dangerous."

"I hear that," said Quailstar. "Ren, Saori, you two should be the ones to get the Twoleg. I know it's risky, but you're the only ones who know where he lives and what his patterns are."

The thing was, now that the danger was being placed on only him, Ren looked fearless. I realized that all his worry had been coming from guilt; he knew that this idea, despite it being our only hope, was all from him, and felt that anything that went wrong would be his burden to bear for the rest of his life.

Well, it was all good that he felt free because the danger of death was on his shoulders, but it didn't spare the rest of us from worrying about him. Once Ren and Saori disappeared from sight over the hilltop, all I could hear was Daisyheart's heavy breathing; she was about to hyperventilate, it sounded like. "Shut up," Minkears whispered. "We don't want to draw the dog's attention before we're ready for it."

"We might not have a choice," said Quailstar gravely. "It knows we're here."

Dread weighted my limbs as I realized she was right. The dog was still moving in a zigzag trail, but it was definitely coming towards us. And there was murder in its bloodshot eyes.

Bluebird swore. Specklenose swore twice. Minkears swore so much that Quailstar stepped on her paw to shut her up.

"We can't let it touch us. No scratching. No biting. Nothing. If you get infected, you get left behind. There's nothing we can do for a creature with the madness," hissed Quailstar. Her tone and words were harsh, but the message was necessary. Rabies wasn't something to fool around with. If one of us came back after being bitten, we would sentence the entire Clan to death. Anyone infected has to be cut loose, I told myself. ''No other options. Just leave them.'' Though I really hoped it wouldn't come to that action.

"But how can we fight an enemy we can't touch?" questioned Specklenose.

Valid question. Quailstar shook her head. "We can't fight it. We can only hold it off as long as possible. And we need to hurry. The closer it gets to us, the farther it is from Ren, Saori, and the Twoleg. We need to rush it and lead it towards them. Here's the plan. We'll switch off. I'm dividing us into teams. Fire, Daisyheart and I will be one group. Bluebird, Minkears and Specklenose will be another. Dewfrost and Breezeflight will be the last team, since you two are fast enough on your paws to rival any three cats. Switch off. I know that eventually the teams will wear out and we'll all be forced to be onsite at once, but try to keep to the teams as long as possible, so that you can each have time to regain your energy between shifts. My team will go out first. The other two teams, go around and wait at the dog's right and left flanks in the grass. Be ready to move in when I call a switch."

Nodding, Dewfrost motioned for me and him to go around to the left. Meanwhile, Minkears led her group around to the dog's right flank. And then we waited.

Quailstar, Fire, and Daisyheart approached the dog head-on, all of them tense and on their toes. Foaming at the mouth, the dog lunged at Fire, its jaws snapping shut with a sound like a sonic boom. But Fire wasn't there anymore; she'd moved so fast that she seemed to rematerialize on the other side of the dog. The dog lumbered to face her, but Daisyheart caterwauled, drawing its attention to her. And then Quailstar flicked grass at it, engaging it in a deadly dance.

Still, even with all three she-cats, it was a tremendously difficult job. There were several close calls, and one moment where I was sure Fire was about to lose her leg to the dog's hungry jaws.

Quailstar was a trooper, but she knew the stakes were too high to bother being prideful and refusing help. Exhausted, she finally called a switch. Dewfrost and I sprang up to take their place. I bumped shoulders with Daisyheart. "Nice job."

She shook her head, unable to even register the fact that she was being a hero at that very instant. "Where are Ren and Saori?" she hissed, more out of frustration and worry than out of anger.

Hopefully on their way.

I know this'll sound like bragging, but I'd always been a pretty fast runner. Dewfrost and I had gotten along great when he was my mentor because of it; we loved to go on early morning jogs before our training sessions to stay in shape and enjoy the scenery. Whenever a quick cat was needed, I was usually called upon.

Yet, in all my times of supplying speed, I had never been asked of so much.

Dodging the blows of a mentally affected dog might not sound hard, but it was. Rabies might've made the dog dazed, but it had exponentially magnified its intent to kill. Every snap or swipe was intended to lay Dewfrost or I flat, and I knew there was no way we could let that happen. The tiniest nip, and we were fatally wounded. There was no recovering from a blow sustained in this battle. Rabies was not a forgiving opponent.

Dewfrost called a switch, and I leaped out of the way as Minkears, Bluebird, and Specklenose shuttled past. "Good luck," I croaked hoarsely. My lungs and ribcage ached, and I found myself leaning on Dewfrost as we limped away.

Honestly, I whispered, "I don't know how many times I can do this."

Dewfrost nodded, his eyes dark with concern.

In the middle of the clearing, Quailstar let out a grunt of pain as she hit the ground. Scared out of my wits, I turned to Dewfrost. "Did she get bit?"

"She's dying," he whispered. "She won't contract rabies, but it's costing her a life... maybe even more. We need to get her out of there while she recovers."

And so the system of teams broke. We all rushed forward at once. Disorganization might cost us in the long run, but what choice did we really have? Answer: none. Minkears and Bluebird joined Daisyheart and Fire in distracting the dog, while the rest of us hauled Quailstar's limp body off to the side. Our leader was quivering and jerking in her unconsciousness, her limbs twitching and her tail thrashing spasmodically.

"StarClan doesn't have to deal with the madness very often. This might take a while to heal," said Dewfrost.

"Great. So we're one cat short," I said grimly.

At that moment, an earsplitting boom resounded through the valley. "Gunshot!" Fire yelled.

"Ren!" cried Daisyheart.

Fearing the worst, I turned towards the hilltop, straining to see any sign of my friends or a Twoleg.

I almost melted with relief when both Ren and Saori appeared at the top of the hill, running madly for their lives.

The Twoleg who appeared behind them was a mess. His face was covered in scruffy brown fur, and he smelled gross, like flames and smoke and dirt.

The most repulsive thing about him, though, was the long firestick he held in his hands. It was made mostly of wood, with a shiny black barrel tip and a wide handle for him to heft it over his shoulder. There was a tiny glint of silver, shaped like a cat's claw, which I believe Ren had previously referred to as a "trigger".

I was a wild cat. I'd never really encountered a firestick before. Yet I already knew with every part of me that they were evil. I could practically sense the ability to cause utter destruction, rolling off the instrument in waves.

I understood now why Saori and Ren had changed their names from Smoke and Fire. In the world of Twolegs, both of those things were bad, bad omens.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY BEFORE HE SHOOTS ALL OF US!" screamed Saori.

The Twoleg screeched something that definitely wasn't a compliment for our intelligence and bravery in baiting a rabid dog to his doorstep. We fled, scattering in all directions. Bullets zinged through the air.

To my shock, instead of focusing on the dog, the idiot Twoleg ran towards Quailstar's limp form, sprawled in the grass. His eyes glittered with malice, and he lifted a foot to kick her.

"NO!" Dewfrost launced himself at the Twoleg, clawing at his legs furiously.

Oh, StarClan. All that time I'd spent with Dewfrost as his apprentice, and I'd never realized that he was absolutely out of his mind.

I couldn't just leave him to stay on the Twoleg like that. For now, the man seemed unable to do anything to Dewfrost, since he risked shooting himself. But it wouldn't take long for him to seriously wound the SpringClan deputy.

"Come on, guys! We've got to help!" I jumped at the Twoleg and hung onto his arm. He jerked violently, but I clung to him for a solid minute. When I hit the ground, I landed wrong, and I felt a spurt of pain shoot up my leg.

Before the Twoleg could aim his firestick at me while I was off-balance, Daisyheart and Minkears attacked him.

"We can't keep fighting a Twoleg!" screamed Fire. "We have to draw his attention back to the dog!"

"She's right, but how?" grunted Bluebird. He was bleeding heavily from the side of his head where the Twoleg had rammed him with the firestick.

"Bluebird, that head wound looks really bad-"

I had barely finished saying that when his eyes rolled back into his head and he hit the ground face-first, unconscious.

"Bluebird!" Minkears leaped down from the Twoleg (she'd been literally sitting on his head, clawing his fur out while he swatted at his own skull fierce enough to give himself a concussion).

Landing beside Bluebird, Minkears began pawing the blood from his fur, but it was no use; more crimson just stained the side of his head, pooling on the grass. "He's going to bleed out," she said, eyes wide.

"Get him out of here. Put him with Quailstar and run and get Lionpatch or Blossomleaf."

"But you guys need me!"

"He needs you!"

She nodded and began dragging him away. It was good that she chose that instant, because a second later, a kick from the Twoleg sent me sprawling so hard that I literally ate mud. Spitting out rocks and blood, I stumbled to my paws, trying to decipher which way was up and why the world wouldn't stop spinning.

"Breezeflight!" Saori screamed.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I told the sky, my head feeling like it'd been bashed inside out.

I had never felt so weak and helpless. Ultimately, we stood no chance at defeating the Twoleg. He'd succeeded in flinging us all off of him, and was readying his firestick. Now that we were in range, he would blast holes in all of us. And the dog hadn't even-

The dog.

Out of nowhere, it came careening into view. Right towards me.

Too weak to move, I could only brace myself. I hoped he just killed me on the spot, because I wouldn't be able to bear the slow descent into insanity and death that being infected with the madness would bring.

Then... nothing. The dog thundered past me and lunged at the Twoleg, knocking the firestick to the ground. Squalling the Twoleg leaped out of range, grasping for his firearm.

"Run, you guys! Leave them to battle it out!" yelled Dewfrost.

We all attempted to make a run for it. I almost thought that it would end like this, with the Twoleg and dog left to fight each other and all of us able to go home to try to recover.

Then I heard a desperate scream from behind me. Saori had fallen. And the dog was bearing down on her. Behind her, the Twoleg was raising his firestick to shoot the dog, but it would be too late for the she-cat by that time.

"Saori!" screamed Ren. Both he and I turned and began running for her, but there was no way we'd make it in time.

There was only one cat close enough to reach her. Just as the dog leaped for Saori, jaws of death wide open, Daisyheart leaped in front of the ginger she-cat.

She was there for a split second, like an angel or a savior, cream fur billowing and snarl echoing.

Then she disappeared, swept into the air in the dog's jaws.

I screamed so loudly that I think I might've bled out my own eardrums.

Dewfrost grabbed Saori, hoisting her up and leading her away. Meanwhile, I grabbed the scruff of Daisyheart's neck, yanking her away from the dog.

"Leave me," she sobbed. "Please, Breezeflight, you can't die."

The dog had grabbed her hindleg. Specks of her blood flew into the air as the dog and I played a twisted game of tug-of-war.

"She's infected! Breezeflight, get out of there!" someone yelled from behind me.

"I have to save her!" I shouted. "I have to save you!" I told Daisyheart. Our eyes locked. Her hazel eyes were swimming with tears. Blood matted her right ear and her mangled leg.

"It's hopeless," she croaked. She shoved me off of her. "GET OUT OF HERE!"

"NO!" I fell over backwards, landing hard on my injured leg and choking on my own spit. I clawed frantically at the air, trying again to resume pulling Daisyheart out of the dog's jaws.

A gunshot went off. And the dog, with an abrupt whine, went stock-still. Then it collapsed, shaking the ground beneath my paws.

Yes. For one deranged moment, I felt joyful, like everything would be okay. Like Quailstar hadn't lost a life and Bluebird hadn't suffered a traumatic head wound and Daisyheart hadn't been bitten by a rabid dog.

Then there was a second gunshot.

A howl came from behind me. I spun to see Fire on the ground, her eyes glazed over with pain. "Fire!"

"It's not me!" she panted raggedly, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head in agony. "It's not me! This is my power!"

Comprehension flowed over me in a sickening wave. I turned back to Daisyheart and saw the hideous scarlet flower blooming across her chest and ribcage.

The other cats came running. Ren was yowling, but I hardly heard him. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think.

My paw landed on Daisyheart's. "Please," I begged. "Stay with me."

A lone tear trickled down her cheek. "I can't. Tell Goldenburst... Ivyrose... I'm so sorry. I-" She coughed, blood bubbling from her mouth.

I looked down at her, my best friend, my sister, in immeasurable pain. I felt a yawning abyss open up just beneath my paws, threatening to drag me down with ten times the force of gravity. I knew that if I fell into the abyss of pain and loss, I wouldn't survive the descent.

Daisyheart tapped my paw desperately, her face pleading with me to understand. "I can't say what I want to... It hurts- Good bye..."

Her body seized and convulsed. A film glazed over her hazel-green eyes. Her head tipped back, her tongue flopped out in her own blood, and she was still.

Daisyheart was dead.

I felt myself fall into the abyss.

The End