Post by Silver on Feb 25, 2018 1:10:23 GMT -5
Medicine Cat of StoneClan
Sandblaze
There's a spark inside us, That we can all ignite
Pain. White-hot pain and heat scorched against his fur and all he knew was pain and fear and he needed to run. He couldn't breathe and the blaze was everywhere. Then suddenly there was a feminine voice calling to him from the distance. It was painfully familiar, and he knew he should recognize it but he just couldn't think passed the pain and terror of the blaze that chased him. He was afraid, and as he looked down the paws that ran were small and the world was so much bigger than he knew it should be. It was like...the world as it had seemed when he'd been a kit. And then he finally recognized the voice calling to him, and it seemed another warm voice was encouraging him to go, to run and face the fear that had chased him for far too long now.
Sandblaze jolted upright suddenly from his nest. His entire frame shook with fear and the sudden awareness of just what the dream he'd been having for so long had meant. He had to go, StarClan had been warning him all along and now he understood. Dark green eyes scanned the horizon and he scented smoke on the wind. He didn't think about where he was going, he just ran. Passed those that sought to stop him and out of StoneClan territory and on and on he ran. Despite his name, fire had always been something that had frightened him. It had taken his father from him, and his siblings as well. And now, it was time for him to face it once more because he knew who had been calling him. The dream from StarClan, his mother was in danger!
He ran hard and fast, not stopping even as his lungs burned from the lack of oxygen and his body ached from being pushed too far. He didn't stop until a blaze of fire barred his path as a large tree fell before him. It hadn't rained recently and the dry leaves had caused a fire. Terror hit the young tom in a wave and he froze solid. Then, slowly, he started to breathe again. He couldn't be afraid, even though he was. This monster he had to defeat. And then he picked up the sight of a familiar silvery pelt and he panicked. 'Mother!' He wouldn't be deterred now, he couldn't afford to be afraid. If he did nothing, she would die and that was unacceptable.
Silverglade was trapped under what seemed to be a fallen log and Sandblaze had to fight his way through the flames to reach her side. Pain hit him as fire licked at his pelt but he paid it no mind as it was nothing he couldn't fix. Burns he could heal, but the death of his mother wasn't something he felt he could ever survive. With more strength than he realized he possessed, Sandblaze charged through flame and the danger of falling branches to finally reach the side of his unconscious mother. Silverglade was knocked out, and had minor burns on her side, but otherwise she was well. Worrying now about her inhaling too much of the smoke that clogged his own senses and not seeing her young Apprentice anywhere, Sandblaze knew what he had to do.
Pushing his tired body onward, he gripped his mother with his teeth and pulled hard. Her body was held fast and he cursed quietly before shoving his full weight into the log that trapped her. Pain again, because the log was beginning to catch fire, but he didn't care. She was more important, she couldn't die! Once he had her freed, he pulled at her prone form again and this time she moved. Dragging her heavy frame as quickly as he could, Sandblaze still had to stop more than once to clear the path so he could safely remove his mother. Soon he found shallow water and pulled her into it; grateful the fire was contained to a small crop of trees among many stones so it wouldn't spread back to the clans again.
Helping this was the fact that it had finally begun to rain. He coughed and sneezed, but kept his lean body protectively held over his mother. Kestrelpaw would be worried about her, he knew, but he didn't know where she'd sent the Apprentice. He could only hope the young tom listened so he'd be safe, because Sandblaze felt his strength was nearly spent. He kept nuzzling his mother in hopes that she would wake, and as the fire burned itself out the sun began to go down and he worried about remaining in the water as the last warmth of day began to chill. He was having to keep his mother's head above the water so she didn't drown but now he also had to make certain she didn't get sick from the cold. This was why he held so close above her; offering her his warmth and watching the flames die down in the rain.
He wasn't certain how long he stood there like a silent sentinel against the flames, but eventually he heard his mother's breathing change and felt her shift beneath him. He was quick to move as startlingly blue eyes that he loved so much finally came open and she coughed from the smoke that yet lingered. She was confused, he could tell, but the relief in her eyes was also clear. She slowly got back to her feet, not bothered by being wet even if she was a bit cold. She was safe, and that was all that mattered. As the pair watched the dying flames, Silverglade admitted to forcibly removing her poor Apprentice to higher grounds before she'd been trapped down below. She still had a ways to go to her destination, but she urged Sandblaze to return to the clan. She'd be back, but she did wonder how he'd known.
Sandblaze could only shrugged and offer her the only answer he had. "Thank StarClan."
And all that's dark inside us, Will flicker into light