.midnight sun .Clan plot

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

The small black cat was motionless in his nest, although he did not sleep. His paws were tucked beneath his body and his long tail was wrapped about him so that his only distinguishable features were his pointed ears, which rose above the thin hump of his form. He was resting, in a sense, but it was a deliberate kind of inactivity in which he held himself, not the placid oblivion of sleep. Ravenstar liked to devote some of his time each day to blanking the cunning machinations that ruled his mind, giving himself some peace from both the restlessness of sleep and the active energy of wakefulness so that his thoughts could organize themselves in silence. It wasn't so much a pleasure as a refuge, as he saw it.

Although there was little to bother him at this time of night, Ravenstar deliberately separated himself from those sounds and scents that did weave their way into his den. So it was that it took him time to recognise the acrid smell that had begun to infiltrate the gloom, and moments more to place it. Ravenstar's eyes snapped open and stared, glowing green in the opaque dimness of his shelter. Something was not right in his world.

He rose fluidly, wound out of the hollow where he slept and leapt atop the Clan's speaking stone to survey the horizon. Black sky studded with stars glittered above, but in the distance a bright orange glow lit the moorlands. It flickered and flared, as the ever present wind brought warm, stinging air and the faint sound of crackling to the camp. With each second that passed, the sound grew stronger, fed closer by the encouraging push of the wind. Ravenstar did not wait to hear it better.

"WindClan!" he shouted, leaping from his perch. "Rouse yourselves! Fire approaches! All cats wake your neighbours and assemble!" This was no forest blaze, fierce but slow-moving. The flames would be upon them in mere minutes, spurred by the wind and the fields of tinder-dry grasses. Fires in the open moorlands spread with alarming speed, and could be deadly to weak or slow animals. He needed to get himself and his Clan to safety now, or it could be too late to evade the sweeping spread of the flames.

[Ki]

Thrushtail was dreaming of Birchnose. Again.

In her dream they were curled up in a nest together. He was licking her fur and she was purring, happy for his attention. She drank in his touch, his smell...like herbs and...smoke? Wait, no. Birchnose did not smell like smoke. He smelled like herbs and the summer wind. Not icky smoke. Her purr died in her throat, and her dream dissolved around her. When Thrushtail lifted her head, she discovered that she was not curled up with Birchnose. Instead she was lying in her usual nest in the warrior's den. What a disappointment. She frowned and set her head on her paws. Why did she have to wake up?

Thrushtail's ear twitched as she heard someone crying out to the Clan. Sounded like Ravenstar. Ugh. What did he want in the middle of night?! He'd interrupted her Birchnose dream! The she-cat hauled herself to her feet and padded out of the warrior's den. That's when she realized she smelled smoke again. That was odd...then she looked out at the fields. An orange glow could be seen, and black smoke rose up and obscured the stars from view. Thrushtail's eyes widened. She yowled, "FIRE!"

Smokepaw hadn't been asleep. His mind was far off, and his thoughts were of Mousepaw and their kits. Yes, their kits. Perhaps they weren't really his. But they might as well be. He'd told the Clan that he had fathered them himself. Not only that, he took the blame for this early pregnancy. Mousepaw had been happy to let him step into the role of father. So, in his mind, they were his. Little Brownkit and Squirrelkit. His kits. He thought about their little wriggling bodies, and how Mousepaw had managed to look beautiful even when she was exhausted from caring for the little ones. Smokepaw smiled slightly to himself. Sure, many of the older warriors gave him dirty looks...but that didn't matter. He had Mousepaw, and he had his kits...

A voice crying out in the night roused him from his thoughts. Smokepaw raised his ears and listened to Ravenstar's cry. Fire! The camp was in danger...Mousepaw and the kits were in danger! As Smokepaw got to his feet, another cry rang out. Thrushtail it sounded like, screaming in horror. Smokepaw didn't blame her. He slid out of the apprentices' den and got a glimpse of an orange glow in the distance. His namesake filled the air and choked the camp. Smokepaw rushed to the nursery, his mind only on getting Mousepaw and the kits to safety.

[Yoko]

Birchnose lay curled tight in his nest. His dreams were vague, slipping in and out of sight. Mostly it was feeling. He felt warm and safe against his love's fur, then she would vanish and he would feel the cold glare of starry eyes, then Thrushtail would brush by him and flit away. And then...a new feeling appeared..like lightning struck his heart with fear and thunder crashed within his ears.

His eyes shot open. That was not thunder, it was Ravenstar's voice. Then Thrushtail's yowl. FIRE?! And suddenly the bitter smoke of burning moor reached his nose. The WindClan Medicine Cat jumped to his paws and nearly bolted out the entrance of his den, but he remembered his apprentice.

Shoving the younger cat roughly, he mewed, "Crowpaw! Wake up!"

Sandtail had no dreams of sweet love, or bliss. She dreamed of nothing, so deep was her mind in rest that she might have been dead to the world. No scent or feeling roused her until she heard Ravenstar's shout. She stirred a little, but her tired mind failed to process the urgency of the situation. In the distance she heard another cat yowl, but she was dozing off again already.

Suddenly it felt as if a hundred tiny paws were battering against her side. Her kits were wailing-

"MOMMY! MOMMY! THERE'S A FIRE!" Creamkit wailed, startled from a peaceful slumber by Ravenstar's shout and then shocked into panic by Thrushtail's yowl.

Her fur was sticking out at all angles, and her eyes were as big as moons. Beside her, Violetkit had stirred too and was taking a much calmer approach to the situation. The sisters began beating their paws against their mother's side. Creamkit wondered how her sister could be so calm.

Before she knew what was happening, her "adopted" brother, Stormkit had moved to Sandtail's face and smacked her nose.

Creamkit sprang back as their mother leaped up.

Dizzy and trying to process what was happening, Sandtail scented the strong smoke. "Get into the clearing!" she ordered her three kits, and searched the nursery for any cat deaf enough to sleep through the commotion.

[spike]

Mousepaw was well asleep. It was no surprise. She often was kept up by the kits, annoyingly nosing and mewling and wanting to eat. She still found it hard to accept the idea that she was lying here a queen feeding two young kits. So when Squirrelkit and Brownkit finally fell asleep, she had drifted into dreamlessness, just catching up on some of the rest. It bugged her too much to be stuck around here so pacing around wore out her energy in the day. The tabby sighed contently, unaware that her sleep was about to be rudely awakened. It started with Ravenstar’s indistinguishable words, just his yell that was enough to get her to lift her head. She blinked slowly before standing up, causing her two kits to mewl pitifully in hopes of getting their warm mother back.

What was going on? The she-cat was about to poke her nose out (already having recognized the heaviness in the air) when suddenly she heard cats yowling and Creamkit screeching to her mother. It was the one word all cats feared the most.

Fire.

Mousepaw gasped and stumbled back to her two little ones, fear piercing itself through her heart. She couldn’t carry both kits alone! But she couldn’t leave them behind. She may not have been born a mother but she’d be damned before she’d be a bad one. “Smokepaw,” she breathed in a shivery breath. “Smokepaw- SMOKEPAW!” she cried as loud as she could. He could help her. In her panicked state, him and Smallnose were the only two cats she wanted to see right now and the only two she wanted to help her with Brownkit and Squirrelkit.

[Kitty]

Smallnose had been on night guard for the camp until moonhigh. The night sky was beautiful tonight, the whole of StarClan stretching out across the vast darkness. However, it was quite chilly. When moonhigh had arrived, the silver tabby had been relieved to be able to retire to the warriors den and curl up amongst her fellow WindClanners in her nice, warm nest. With the number of bodies that were stuffed into the warriors den, the air inside was warmer than the air outside. Smallnose had had a long day of assisting her apprentice with her kits, Brownkit and Squirrelkit, and had spent all morning hunting, with the night guard on top of that. She'd sunken gratefully into her nest and had fallen quickly into a deep, dreamless unconsciousness.

Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten a terribly large amount of sleep. When she was on night guard, the she-cat knew there was at least one thing she could rely on: she got to sleep in in the morning. However, with the sounding of her leader's yowl in the middle of the night, Smallnose was pulled from her sweet sleep. When she first sat up in her nest, her drowsiness overcame her curiosity, and she took a few heartbeats to unravel her thoughts. She hadn't heard Ravenstar's announcement, largely due to the fact that she was still half asleep. But an acrid scent filled her nose, jerking her awake instantly.

Fire! came the cries of her frightened comrades around her. Everybody wake up! Fear-filled shrieks filled the air of the WindClan camp, hanging as heavily as the smell of the smoke. Smallnose wasted no time in forcing herself out of the warriors den, certain none of her fellow warriors would be able to sleep through such a ruckus. The clearing was filling with cats of all ages evacuating the dens, and the scared calls of cats in search of loved ones or cats wondering where they were supposed to go dominated. Smallnose spotted Smokepaw and Mousepaw near the nursery and was confident that Mousepaw's two kits would be taken care of.

Briefly Smallnose considered hurrying over to the nursery, but instead she headed for the elders den. The queens would find cats to help them with their kits, but the elders would also need assistance in escaping the flaming territory.

"Wake up!" she yelled into the den for any of the old cats that might still be asleep. "Come along; Ravenstar wants us all in the clearing." She pushed her way inside the den to help out any of the retired warriors that might not be able to hurry about any longer. Everyone had to get out of camp, and Smallnose didn't plan on leaving even these cats behind.

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Leopardtail was roused from what had been a peaceful slumber by the cries of a she-cat just steps away from his nest. He blinked heavy eyes and squinted awake, recognising Smallnose and feeding her words through his sluggish brain. His eyes told him that it was still well before dawn, and he grumbled a little at having to leave his nest at such an hour.

"A cat can't get a decent night's sleep anymore. I'm up, I'm up," he continued when the warrior looked at him. That was when he smelled the smoke. "Oh dear, fire scare, is it? Best get into the clearing quickly, then. Don't you wait another moment, Smallnose. I'll make sure everyone in here is awake."

The little tom shooed the warrior back toward the den exit, which he couldn't go through if she was standing there anyway. Didn't she have an apprentice to help in the nursery? Yes, there were young lives to be shepherded to safety. The least he could do was take care of this den so that no younger cats need waste their time on them.

"Nightpelt, Mudpelt," he called, moving to each nest in turn and prodding the other elders. "The moor's on fire again. Ravenstar wants us to evacuate."

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Something wasn't right. The she-cat's dreams were not like her usual ones. Usually her dreams were nice and peaceful; she was either running across the open moorland chasing rabbits to her heart's content, or dozing peacefully under the shade of a thorn bush, or training her imaginary apprentice which she hoped she would have someday soon. However, her dreams weren't right for some reason. A foul, tangy smell invaded her nose and a bright, angry light was raging. It was familiar, and yet not welcomed at all, and just before she woke up from her very bad dream a terrifying yowl broke her sleep, pulling her roughly into the waking word. Heathertail woke with a start, her heart instantly racing and her ears swiveling around to find where the cry had come from. It didn't take her long to figure out what was going on.

"Fire! Everyone wake up, hurry! We have to get out of here!" The she-cat wailed, immediately turning to the nest next to her and nudging her larger brother, lightly at first but more roughly when he didn't wake up right away. "Dustfur! Stop dreaming and come on!" Her gray-furred brother grumbled at first, complaining, but seemed to realize what was going on as well and quickly started to get to his paws. "Okay, okay, I'm up." he simply said, much to Heathertail's relief. The younger sister then turned to where her other brother's nest was located, but was shocked to find it empty. She glanced toward the den's entrance just in time to see the tabby-striped tail of Harewhisker already disappearing outside. Heathertail gave an annoyed huff. So much for being worried about him.

Dustfur nudged her with his head, urgency quickly apparent by his actions. Heathertail glanced at him once more, saw the worry in his eyes, and she quickly shook her head. "Okay. Harewhisker is okay, so let's go." Dustfur nodded in response and the two littermates fled out of the den, ready to join the rest of their Clan mates and search for safety.


It took Longflower longer than the other warriors to evacuate the den. That was because she had roused from her nest as soon as she sensed the frightened movement from her den mates, then began to make rounds around the warriors' den and make sure every cat in it was up and moving or at least awake to be made aware of the situation, then left to get up on their own. None of them would be left behind as far as she could help it. Any cats that were somehow still sleeping or refusing to rise would not be left there without Longflower shooing them out of the den by any means necessary. "Go on, hurry! You can't stay here or you'll be in danger!" She urged one of the young frightened warriors, a small tom refusing to move from his nest. She butted him in order to get him to stand up and nudged him toward the entrance, then watched contently as he scurried outside. Once the warriors' den was almost evacuated, Longflower began heading out herself. Now all she had to do was rejoin her Clan mates and then-

"The kits!" She suddenly cried out, freezing in her tracks and letting her eyes fly wide open. Mousepaw's distressed call rang above the other terrified yowls of the Clan, calling her immediate attention and sending her running toward the nursery. Of all the cats in the Clan, the former queen felt the most need and urgency to make sure the kits and their mothers were alright, so she dashed straight toward the well protected den and dove inside, barely giving herself time to explain and immediately rounding up all of the kits that she could, curling around them protectively and guiding them toward the exit of the den. "Hush, kits, you'll be alright. Just stay calm and we'll get out of here, understand?" Her eyes fell on Stormkit and Silverkit, her grandkits, and she gave them both a quick sniff just to make sure they were alright. "You'll all be fine, just listen to your mothers and I."


Harewhisker remained calm among all the noise and panic. He couldn't remember the last time a fire had threatened to strike WindClan's camp, but that didn't matter to him; making sure as much order was kept as possible did. "Everyone remain calm!" He hissed, raising his voice in order to be heard over the other cats. "Stay together and help your Clan mates! Wait for Ravenstar's order before leaving camp!" The tom narrowed his eyes as he began moving through the crowd, occasionally jumping back and hissing as a panicking apprentice rushed past him, nearly knocking him over. The fire was still a ways away; they had plenty of time to evacuate the camp well before it reached them. There was no reason for there to be so much panic among the Clan, however he knew it would be useless trying to force them to calm down, so instead he headed toward the elders' den, determined to make sure the Clan's oldest would make it out of camp safely.

Upon entering the elders' den, however, he found that Smallnose was already there. And from the looks of it, Leopardtail was already up and moving as well. Moving further into the den and closer to the other two elders, he said, "Good, you all already know. Do you need my help? We need to get out of camp as quickly as possible." He turned to Smallnose, unsure of how quickly the old cats would be able to move and if he should assist them or find someone else who needed help. Chances were if anyone needed help getting out of camp it would be the elders, but he was also aware of Smallnose's capability to take care of something like this on her own.