Zodiac (warrior cats)

Chapter 10

Charredpaw sat atop the rocky ledge, staring out across the gritty cloud infested sky. A flock of crows rose flew away swiftly from the trees they perched in, as thunder rumbled across the forest.
But the apprentice barely heard their caws as he leapt from stone to stone, keeping his balance as he made it back to the bottom.
"You know you aren't a squirrel right?" he turned to see a red-brown furred tom, smirking with his amber stare. It was Redlion, the youngest warrior in ThunderClan, as well as Charredpaw's mentor.
"Can we go hunting?" the ginger apprentice asked hopefully, all the prey must have been scared out of their nests, it was the best time to hunt!
Redlion nodded, "Alright, let me just ask Dovestar one thing before we go. Why don't you get a piece of fresh-kill?".
Charredpaw agreed to his mentors terms, and as a light rain began to fall from the clouded sky, he padded over to the fresh-kill pile.
"Hi Charredpaw!" the oldest apprentice Alderpaw greeted him.
"Hi" he bowed his head to the brown she-cat, next to her sat Snowpaw and Mossypaw, two of the senior apprentices.
"Come eat with us" Mossypaw offered, pushing a magpie towards him with a tortoiseshell paw.
"Thanks" Charredpaw meowed as he began to devour the bird.
Magpie's weren't his particular favorite choice of food, Charredpaw much preferred mice or shrew. As he finished the last of his meal, the apprentice scanned the clearing for any signs of Sandpaw.
He must be off training, Charredpaw barely ever got to see his brother now that they were apprentices, although that was bound to happen eventually.
As he began talking with the three apprentices, Charredpaw noticed Bluepaw sitting towards the nursery, her ears drooped like a sad rabbit.
"What's wrong with Bluepaw?" he asked Heatherpaw who just joined the conversation.
The she-cats sister looked up and sighed, "She's mad because she wants to become Starlingsong's apprentice, but Jayfeather won't retire."
The old Medicine Cat had become quite a nuisance to ThunderClan in the recent days, not only did he refuse to retire, but often Jayfeather wandered off into the forest in the middle of the night.
And Dovestar of course being kin to the old Medicine Cat, always ordered a warrior to watch over him, which in turn aggravated the warriors.
It was all a vicious circle, that all would be ended if Jayfeather would just join his brother and become an elder.
And not only was Jayfeather kin to Dovestar, but kin to Charredpaw as well. Burntpelt his father was the son of Lionblaze, which somehow made Jayfeather his Great-Uncle.
"You know" Snowpaw meowed as he stretched on the grass, "My Grandfather Foxleap says Jayfeather is half WindClan, his father was a WindClan warrior."
Charredpaw spat out the food he was chewing on, "What? That's nonsense!".
If Jayfeather was half WindClan, then so was Lionblaze! And that meant that a very small part of Charredpaw was WindClan as well.
As the apprentices continued to argue if the information Snowpaw said was accurate or not, Charredpaw spotted Redlion beckoning him towards the Thorn-Tunnel.
"Got to go" he meowed while getting up, "Bye!".
"Bye Charredpaw" a loud goodbye came from Mossypaw who was staring at him with lustrous green eyes, she didn't like him did she? Shaking the peculiar she-cat from his mind, Charredpaw met Redlion at the Thorn-Tunnel.
"Ready to go?" his mentor asked while gazing up at the storm above his head.
"Yup" Charredpaw padded past his mentor, and into the darkening forest.
Rain began to fall through the leaves and branches, falling onto Charredpaw's dark red pelt. He gazed through the trees before him, there was no sign of life whatsoever.
"Maybe we should head back" Redlion meowed cautiously, sounding more like the apprentice then the mentor.
But Charredpaw didn't want to go back yet, he wanted to hunt and provide for his clan! Even though there was enough prey caught for the day, Charredpaw still wanted to prove himself.
A jagged lightning bolt cut through the sky, lighting up the path before Charredpaw for a short moment. Any prey stupid enough to be out here in a storm like this would have hidden by now, maybe Redlion was right.
"Do you smell that?" the young warrior asked suddenly, pausing next to an oak tree.
"Smell what?" Charredpaw turned and opened his mouth to let in the scents of the air.
At first he smelled nothing but the fresh scents of rain and the forest around him, but then a scent that choked his throat wreathed through the air.
"Smoke" he breathed the word with disgust, "It's coming from the camp!".
Instantly exchanging a horrified look with his mentor, both red-furred cats raced back to camp. In the distance an orange light flickered near the thorn tunnel, it was a fire!
Images of his mother and siblings appeared in Charredpaw's mind, all of them were back at camp. In the distance he could see cats exiting the Thorn-Tunnel swiftly, maybe all of them would make it out!
Catching up to the remaining ThunderClan cats, Charredpaw spotted his brother Sandpaw.
"Are you okay?" he asked nuzzling his brothers fur, "Where's Scorchcloud?".
Sandpaw began coughing and flicked his tail back to camp, "She was with the queens, thats where the lightning struck. Elders....trapped."
Charredpaw gasped and immediately without a second thought pushed through the ThunderClan cats to enter his camp.
The fire raged like an angry badger, its burning edges lapping at the rocky wall angrily. Charredpaw searched the burning clearing for any signs of life, and then spotted the queens with their kits trapped in between a ring of fire.
No, his eyes grew round with horror, they'll die!
Stepping forward to look at the fire, Charredpaw's amber eyes soon became mesmerized by the scorching mass. Its different shades flickered a fox-length in front of Charredpaw, and for a moment he thought it was calling his name.
The apprentice stepped closer to the flames, as if feeling some sort of bond to the fire, like he wouldn't get hurt.
I won't get hurt, he told himself, stepping forward so his paw was in the fire. Expecting it to catch the flames, Charredpaw drew it back with a sharp hiss. But not only did his paw not catch on fire, it didn't hurt one bit!
"I won't get hurt" he whispered with a gasp, "I'm immune".
Stepping his full body into the inferno, Charredpaw looked at the flames all around him. He noticed the queens yowling in terror, huddling their kits close to their bellies.
Focusing his mind on a small breach in the fire, Charredpaw could feel himself becoming connected with the inferno. And then all at once, it separated, forming a large enough exit so the queens and kits could make it out.
I can control fire, he gasped with a realization, maybe I can destroy it too! Focusing his mind once more on the burning inferno, Charredpaw directed it towards the rock wall surrounding the camp.
The fire soon began to move past the apprentice, and in no time the only thing it could burn was rock. Soon the once massive inferno was nothing more than a small flame, extinguishing its smoke into the sky.
Knowing he held great power, the only thing Charredpaw could do at this moment was look at the symbol on the tip of his tail.
And it was at that point that the young apprentice realized, the symbol was swirling flames