Blaze

I remember it was a normal leaffall day when it happened. When WindClan was hit by the fire. I was a young warrior then, fit and strong, so I was able to escape the blaze. Others were not so lucky.

The horizon was veiled with ugly gray smoke, rising into the sky, tainting the beauty of the day. It was Rosemary who first alerted WindClan to the fire. Then panic spread through the Clan as fast as the soon would soon engulf the territory.

Dreamstar was leader then. The ash, the searing smoke and heat, I remember it all. I also recall the crushing despair and devastation of seeing the land after the fire ate it up. A blackened, charred wasteland, piles of ash everywhere, the moors ruined. No hope left.

The stars were cloaked in gray that night, and we all wondered if StarClan had abandoned us. After we evacuated to the Gorge, ThunderClan accepted us, let us stay with them. Two Clans in one territory was not comfortable. Leafbare came, and there was almost no prey to feed us all. Fortunately, ThunderClan and WindClan were not as big as they are today - not even close - so we managed to survive. Of course, cats died. But the survival of WindClan gave us hope.

And hope is all we needed to survive.