Smoke and Fire

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

Smoke and Fire

It was the strangest dream Ryan had ever had.

For one, he couldn't see anything. It was pitch-black, a pressing darkness that threatened to crush his body with its weight.

All that seemed to exist was him... and the voice. It was a deep, rumbling sound, and it made him feel hollow somewhere deep within. It was unnerving.

SHE WILL DIE. 

"That's a bit vague," he called bravely. "Could you be more specific? Who? How? Am I going crazy?"

FATAL LOVE.

"Again, vague," he repeated, feeling like an idiot. 

YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. THINK ABOUT IT. THINK ABOUT LOSING HER. NOT LEAVING HER. LOSING HER. SHE WILL BE GONE FOREVER. HER FATE IS ALREADY SEALED.

"That's not possible. You're lying."

FIND A WAY TO BRING HER BACK, BECAUSE SHE'S AS GOOD AS GONE.

Ryan's eyes flew open, and the nightmarish voice faded away--though it was still ringing as a memory in his ears. 

"Breezeflight," he whispered into the night, his flanks heaving and soaked with sweat. "Breezeflight is going to die..."

- - - - 

"BREEZEFLIGHT, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" 

Groggily raising my head, I peered up as Chamomile burst into the warriors' den, showering me in loose leaves. "Snorget inff line if yous snooze..."

Chuckling, Daisyheart patted me on the head condescendingly and said in a snooty tone, "I apologize for whatever it is she's done. You can complain to me if you'd like; I'm in charge of dealing with the shenanigans and idiocies of my friend here."

Still half-asleep, I lifted a paw and tried to hit Daisyheart on the cheek, missing and getting her hindleg instead. 

Dryly, she said, "Nice try, honey."

Heaving a sigh as I realized I wasn't going to get another wink of precious sleep, I hoisted myself up and glanced at Cammy. "So what is it I've done, exactly?"

The three of us stepped outside the warriors' den, into the bright sunlight. "What a beautiful day," Daisyheart said enthusiastically.

I covered my eyes. "It burns," I groaned.

Uninterested in our comments about the weather--which was, admittedly, delightful, and I was being an absolute grouch to complain--Cammy turned to me and said, "It was you, wasn't it? You who told Dewfrost that I'm an 'ferocious fighter' and an 'amazing hunter'. Why would you do that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" I challenged.

"Because you made it sound like I want to stay in SpringClan and become a warrior or something," Cammy said, flicking her tail in agitation.

Raising her eyebrows, Daisyheart said, "Is that far from the truth?"

I could see Cammy wasn't ready to face the answer to that question, so I cut in. "Anyway, you woke me up for nothing, because it wasn't me who told Dewfrost that."

Baffled, Cammy said, "It wasn't?"

"No. I agree with those statements, but it wasn't me who went to Dewfrost about you. I do have a feeling I know who it was, though. Specklenose seems to forever be singing yours and Ryan's praises..."

Scoffingly, Daisyheart said, "It's you who sings Ryan's praises, Breezeflight."

I shot her a glare. "Hush, he's right over there. He might hear you."

Cammy, whose fur was ruffled and who was looking rather flustered, mumbled something about going over to eat breakfast with Lily, and padded away.

Daisyheart and I joined Ryan, who was sitting with Nighthawk, Bluebird, Minkears, and a couple of other young warriors.

"Nice to see you're finally up and joining the world of the living and functioning, Breezeflight," Minkears said by way of greeting.

"She says that now, but in reality she woke up only a few minutes earlier," said Bluebird.

Shooting him one of her signature glares, Minkears said, "Well, at least I don't look like it. You look like you spent last night rolling in your nest instead of sleeping in it."

Tone easygoing, Bluebird said, "Couldn't sleep. Not with nightmares of your ugly face."

While Minkears sassed Bluebird within an inch of his life, I turned to Ryan and said, "How about you? Slept well?"

Right after I asked that question, I began to gather the answer for myself. His eyes were bloodshot and weary-looking, and his fur was rumpled. A small lock of black was sticking up on his forehead, and it took all my self-control not to lean forward and gently lick it down. 

I could understand why Mintwhisker was going around looking like someone had thrown a rock straight into her chest, but why was Ryan?

In an attempt at humor, I teased, "Don't tell me you had nightmares of my face and they kept you up too."

Instead of laughing, Ryan's expression turned to one of absolute horror. He stumbled slowly away, muttering incoherently to himself. "I... Yeah... Haha... I'm going to go hunt with my sisters! Promised them, they're probably waiting for me!" he suddenly, most randomly exclaimed, and raced off, running into about three cats and four objects as he did so.

Suspiciously, I glanced across the camp to where Lily and Cammy, his sisters, were continuing to eat their morning meal with apparently no idea that they were supposedly waiting for their brother. Weird.

"I didn't think my joke was that bad," I mumbled with half-hearted resentment.

With a sympathetic sigh, Minkears said, "I've told you time and time again. You're not funny."

Ryan wasn't the only one who seemed distracted today. Though Daisyheart had been all bubbly and full of laughter just a few minutes ago, she had lapsed into a vacant-eyed trance, staring off at nothing in particular. "Earth to Daisyheart? You okay? You look a million worlds away."

Giving her head a brief shake, she gave me a small smile. "I'm fine, sorry. Just spaced."

"Are you sure-"

A tugging on my pelt interrupted me. Turning, I saw a slender, pretty tortoiseshell she-cat. "Oh, hey Blossompaw. Is there something you need?"

Modestly glancing down at her paws, she said, "Actually, now that we're able to share tongues with StarClan again... I was given my medicine cat name. Lionpatch gave it to me, but a lot of other StarClan medicine cats were there. It was the best experience I've ever had, aside from my apprentice ceremony."

"Seriously? Nice!" I exclaimed. "So all of us that were denmates have gotten our new names now. What is it?"

"Blossomleaf," she said shyly, ducking her head.

I smiled. "That's beautiful."

Purring warmly, Daisyheart touched her nose to Blossomleaf's ear. "We're so proud of you."

For a moment, Blossomleaf's eyes shone as she responded, "Thank you! It's so wonderful to see all of you as warriors as well, because you all deserve it so much." Then some of the joy faded. "But I... I have to ask you a favor. Can we go somewhere private?"

Nodding, Daisyheart and I followed her just outside of the camp. Blossomleaf had always been a bit timid, but she seemed really nervous today. She kept shifting from one paw to another, and jumping at the light crackle of a squirrel's pawsteps.

"Blossomleaf, are you okay?" asked Daisyheart curiously.

"Y-yes. I mean, no. Before I ask the favor of you, I need to confess something to you guys. Please, please, don't... don't hate me."

Exchanging worried glances with Daisyheart, I could tell my best friend was wondering the same thing as I was: what kind of wrongdoing could a cat as sweet and kind as Blossomleaf have committed?

Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Blossomleaf began, "As you know, Duskwatcher has spiraled into a whirlwind of instability. It started when Shinecloud died, but time hasn't healed him. Despite Bluebird's best efforts to help him, he hasn't changed. Even your friend, Minkears, tried counseling him. It seemed to work for a bit, but then he went and killed that rogue, Cinnamon, and got Oakstar taken hostage. He's reckless, lashes out without warning, and is downright cruel."

"Oakstar recognized that, but as you know, he would never turn his back on a Clanmate. He was determined to protect and rehabilitate Duskwatcher, even handing himself over to Claron to avoid a battle over Duskwatcher's killing of Cinnamon. But Quailstar... Quailstar doesn't feel the same way."

"The day she became leader, she told Lionpatch and I to keep an eye on Duskwatcher. We told her that we did that anyway. She said no, what she meant was... keep him in our den. Lock him up. Imprison him so he couldn't hurt anyone or cause anymore trouble."

"It was a twisted, perverse logic. Both of us knew it, but Lionpatch was at his wits' end with Duskwatcher. The tom just wouldn't listen. He acted like a crazed thing whenever we tried to reason with him after he had one of his fits. Watching his brother like this was destroying Bluebird. So... we did something cruel, something absolutely horrible. We obeyed Quailstar. We moved him to our den, bringing him prey twice a day and water-soaked moss. He fought it at first, so Lionpatch... Lionpatch gave him herbs to make him sleep..."

"You drugged him?" said Daisyheart incredulously.

Tears welled in Blossomleaf's eyes as she nodded hopelessly. "But we stopped after that time, I swear. And he- he must've... he escaped." She bowed her head. "He's gone. Not in the camp... maybe not even in the territory. That's the favor I'm asking. I need you to find him. Quickly, before he does any more damage and before Quailstar and the rest of SpringClan realizes what happened." Finished with her tale, she lifted desperate eyes towards us.

Neither Daisyheart or I knew what to say. I couldn't believe that our two medicine cats, sworn to protect and care for all SpringClanners, had kept one of our own warriors captive, even if it was only for a short amount of time. The thought made me sick.

Not that I had a great affection for Duskwatcher, but still. No cat deserved to be caged and bound like that.

Then I looked at Blossomleaf, and saw how sorry she was. I thought of how many mistakes I'd made myself. Resolve flowed through me. I wouldn't be the one to point paws and criticize, not now. "We'll find him," I promised her.

"We will?" squeaked Daisyheart uncertainly.

I nodded. "Let's start in the medicine cat's den, so we can pick up Duskwatcher's scent." I lead the way back into the camp. Blossomleaf was hot on my heels, babbling tearfully about how grateful she was, and Daisyheart brought up the rear, not looking anywhere near as happy to be roped into this mission. 

We were almost to Lionpatch's den when an argument brought out nearby. It was between Lily and Minkears, both of whom looked furious. 

"Would you please get over it? I stepped on your paw. I didn't slit your throat," said Minkears exasperatedly, her ears flat against her head.

Lily was clearly in a bad mood, even for her. She was itching for a fight, and was purposefully baiting Minkears into it. I longed to warn Minkears not to fall for it, but I knew there was nothing I could do that wouldn't make things worse.

"You really do think you're clever, don't you?" Lily sneered. "Just because you're a warrior. Well, I know the truth about you too, you know. You're not even Clanborn. You were taken in when your parents died-"

Oh, that was it. I leaped in front of Minkears. Daisyheart grabbed at my tail to stop me, but it was too late. Since my early apprentice days, I had matured and learned to somewhat control my fiery temper (it had gotten me in a lot of trouble when I was younger)--but this was too far for me to take. 

The funny thing is, one of my worst fights previously had been with Minkears herself, back when she was Minkpaw. Now I was getting into another fight to defend her. Things had come full circle.

And I was still in the thick of things, getting myself in trouble.

"Lily, I am so sick and tired of your constant prattling and rudeness. You know what? Claron is gone! So why aren't you, if you hate this Clan so much? You criticize SpringClan for our code, which supposedly restricts and manipulates a cat's actions--but you do the same thing to your sibling. You refuse to let them entertain the possibility of finding life and love here, because of your own selfish reasons. You have brought nothing but spite into our Clan and you have the nerve to pretend that we-"

"Breezeflight!" Ryan's shocked voice snapped me right out of my tirade. He was standing at my shoulder, but I hadn't even seen him approach.

Lily turned to her brother. "You see? See what she's really like? They're all like that, yet you would choose them over your own sister!" With a noise of disgust, she stomped out of the camp. Cammy bolted after her, calling her name. Ryan followed without sparing even another glance at me. I supposed that was a good thing; I don't think I could've bore to see his expression.

There was no sign of Quailstar, which was good. The rest of the Clan was already staring; Goldenburst and Ivyrose's expressions of disappointment were particularly piercing. Being publicly punished by Quailstar would've broken me.

Not that Quailstar's that much better herself, I realized, suddenly remembering the mission Daisyheart and I were supposed to be on. The mission we were on because Quailstar gave the order to lock up Duskwatcher. Ears still burning with humiliation, I motioned to my friend and slunk towards the medicine cat's den.

We were able to pick up Duskwatcher's scent and follow it out of the camp. I sped along so fast, determined to put distance between myself and the camp fiasco, that Daisyheart had to remind me to slow down in case we made a mistake in our tracking.

"Are you okay?" Daisyheart asked softly as we leaped a holly bush side-by-side.

Paws hitting the soft earth, I hesitated only a fraction of a second before murmuring, "That's not important right now."

I skirted a tree trunk. Daisyheart ducked beneath a low-sweeping vine. Huffing slightly, she said, "It's important to me."

"What about you? Are you okay?" I changed the subject. "You seem distracted. Sad."

"It's nothing."

"Don't say that. I know you better than that."

"I'm fine, okay? Just drop it," she snapped in a harsher tone.

I dropped it. 

A few minutes later, I noticed something odd about the trail we were following. By now, we were on the far western front of SpringClan territory, past the clearing, nearing the final borders. The air didn't even smell like SpringClan, since patrols rarely went out here; we mostly focused on the eastern side, by High-Rock, especially since it was that side that had been threatened by the League.

Anyway, back to the trail. The odd thing that I noticed was that it wasn't just Duskwatcher's scent we were following. I could distinctly identify the scents of two other cats. They weren't SpringClan, but they didn't really smell like they belonged to the League either. There was something strange about their traces...

"There," Daisyheart whispered, nudging me.

Up ahead, I made out the silhouettes of two cats, crouched in the tall grass. At the same time, an acrid stench hit my nostrils. "Fire," Daisyheart whispered fearfully. "We shouldn't go there."

"But Duskwatcher's trail..." Ignoring Daisyheart's protests, I began crawling on my belly towards the hill where the two cats sat.

Swearing under her breath, she followed me.

When I came up to sit beside the two unfamiliar cats, neither of them looked surprised. "Hey," one of them mewed, as if this was an arranged meet-up between friends.

I would've commented on that, but that was far from the most shocking part. What was really shocking was the scene in front of us.

The hill sloped down into a shallow valley. It was littered with these strange creatures--wait, I knew what they were-

"Twolegs," Daisyheart breathed.

Puzzled, one of the other cats said, "Humans."

"What are they doing?" I demanded. The Twolegs were clustered around odd, rectangular dark gray contraptions that were belching smoke into the sky. They were taking good, perfectly raw meat and burning it over the contraptions, then putting it on small, flat white stones and eating the now disgusting, charred meat.

"Barbecue," said the same rogue.

"Excuse me?" said Daisyheart in an offended tone.

"Relax," he said, turning to face us. "It's not a fancy insult or curse word. It's what that's called. They use the grills to cook the meat-"

"Cook it? Ruin it, more like. That's awful. Why would you dip food in fire?"

"Fire," Daisyheart said nervously. "Really don't like the idea of Duskwatcher and fire near each other."

Duskwatcher. I glanced at the two rogues. "Hey, you guys-"

"Ren," said the tom. "I'm Ren. This is my sister, Saori."

The siblings were like inverses of each other. Ren was dark gray, with yellow-gold eyes, while Saori had a sunny tabby pelt and stone-colored eyes. Both of them smelled strange, a mixture of rotten crow-food, smoke, and dust. "That smell?" Saori said, as if reading my mind. "That's the smell of the city."

"She means Twolegplace," whispered Daisyheart.

"Uh... you know what you said a few seconds ago? About Duskwatcher? Who is he, exactly?" Ren said.

"He's a Clanmate," said Daisyheart. "We need to find him before-"

"He wanders into a gathering of humans?" guessed Saori.

Both Daisyheart and I turned back to the barbecue in time to see a familiar, scruffy tom leap onto one of the wooden stands where humans were clustered to eat ("Tables," explained Ren, as if anyone had asked him). The humans reacted to Duskwatcher like he was a lion instead of a cat one-fifth their size. The smaller ones were all yowling and grabbing for him.

I tensed, prepared to go running down the hill and launch a rescue, but Duskwatcher panicked before I could do anything. He raced along the table and launched himself into the air.

For a fleeting moment, I dreamed he would be fine, that he would hit the ground running and make it back to us safely.

But Duskwatcher wasn't thinking straight. He hit one of the cooking-places, one of the "grills", and knocked it into the grass.

"NO!" screamed Daisyheart. She made for him, but Ren stopped her, shouting, "Are you insane?"

Frozen in horror, I watched as coals tumbled out of the grill, smoke pouring into the sky. Twolegs ran this way and that, waving their long, awkward forelegs and screeching at the top of their lungs. 

It wasn't hard to see what it was they feared. The coals hit the grass. Cue ignition. The grass, along with Duskwatcher, went up in flames.

The End