❂► T H E   U N T O L D ◄❂

V I T R I F I C A T I O N

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S E V E N

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WATCHING FIREHEART pad back into the clearing with his fur matted down confirmed my suspicions that he had been somewhere or doing something he wasn't supposed to. His paws were dusted with pine needles,  and he avoided my gaze just a heartbeat too long for comfort.

But there were still a few cats milling around the entrance to the gorse tunnel, so I decided to save him the embarrassment of being questioned in front of everyone. "Been hunting?" I asked casually, twitching an ear as if I hadn't noticed his guilty expression.

"Looking for Greystripe, honestly." His eyes flickered with the gleam of someone who was telling half-truths, and the twitch of his tail gave him away. I would ask him about it later, when no one else was around to overhear.

"So I don't suppose you've seen Cloudpaw at all?" I pressed instead.

Cloudpaw had left camp early in the day, and he hadn't returned since then, even though it was nearly sun-high. The sun-high patrol had mentioned that they would keep an eye out for him, but information now would be better. The last thing I wanted was Bluestar scolding Fireheart—or me—for letting an apprentice slip too far beyond the camp's watch.

Obviously, I wasn't that worried about Cloudpaw getting hurt. Cloudpaw was quite a large apprentice and could probably hold his own against a small fox. As stubborn as he was, he was Fireheart's apprentice, and a great fighter like him too.

But I was worried about something else.

"He's not in camp?" Fireheart's ears pricked, his voice sharpening.

"He announced that he was going out hunting first thing this morning."

Fireheart's tail lashed once in frustration. He shared my worry without needing to say it: Cloudpaw was probably paying another visit to the Twolegs.

"What should I do?" Fireheart muttered, more to himself than me.

Fireheart had talked to Cloudpaw before about his visits, but it seemed that the white tom hadn't heeded any of Fireheart's warnings. It was eating away at him, I could tell—his shoulders were tense, his claws half-unsheathed as if he wanted to rake the earth.

"Why don't we go find him together?" I suggested gently. "Maybe if we both talk to him, we can make him see some sense."

Fireheart looked at me gratefully, his eyes briefly softening. "It's worth a try," he agreed.

He led the way through Tallpines, neither of us speaking as we ran lightly over the ground. The air was still, heavy with the resinous tang of pine sap, and the needles felt soft and cool beneath our paws. Fireheart seemed oddly familiar with the area, slipping between the trees with practiced ease, although I was wary of every unfamiliar sound. The silence pressed in on me, broken only by the occasional caw of a crow.

As we padded out from the pine forest and into the woods, my shoulders tightened.

"Are you sure this is the way he would have come?" I whispered, looking nervously from side to side. A dog barked suddenly in the distance, sharp and grating, and my fur bristled until every hair stood on end.

"It's okay, the dog won't leave its garden," Fireheart assured me, though his tone carried more reluctance than certainty.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I think Fireheart was wary of explaining that to me, since I had made fun of his kittypet roots before. He was careful with his words now, as though stepping on thorns.

"Don't the Twolegs bring their dogs out here?" I pressed, unwilling to let it go.

"Sometimes," Fireheart admitted with a shrug. "But we'll have plenty of warning. Twoleg dogs don't exactly sneak through the woods. You'll hear them before you smell them, and their stench isn't subtle."

I appreciated his attempt at humor, but I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling clawing at my belly.

"Come on," he urged suddenly. "Cloudpaw's scent is here." He rubbed his cheek against a bramble stem, whiskers quivering. "Does it smell fresh to you?"

I leaned forward and sniffed the bramble, nose twitching. "Yeah, it does." The scent was sharp, recent—he had passed through not long ago.

We picked up our pace toward the Twolegplace, following Cloudpaw's trail until it thickened around a large nest. The scent of Twolegs burned my nose, sour and unnatural.

Fireheart leapt up next to some sort of see-through wall and peered into the Twoleg nest. His ears flattened. "Something's not right," he warned. "The nest is empty. Follow me, but stay low. I'm going to take a closer look."

Just then, the loud rumble of a monster started up, rattling through the ground and making my heart lurch into my throat. Fireheart slipped down the passage that skirted one side of the nest. His fur bristled with fear, but his paws didn't falter until he had reached the end of the pathway. He peered out around the corner of the Twoleg nest, and I followed in a similar manner, my belly brushing the earth.

The roar of the monster drowned everything. My ears rang, my tail lashed in panic.

"Help! Don't let them take me!" I barely caught a yowl over the thunder of the monster's engine.

Cloudpaw!

I felt Fireheart's body bunch up next to me. "No! Wait!"

But it was too late—Fireheart jumped out from our hiding spot and tore after the monster as it pulled away.

He pounded after it with desperate strides, but he stood no chance. The monster only gained distance, wheels spitting dust, until it roared around a corner and was gone.

"Fireheart! Come back!" I called, fear tightening my throat.

He skidded to a stop, his sides heaving, and glanced in despair at the empty Thunderpath where the monster had vanished. Slowly, stiffly, he turned and hurried back to me.

Neither of us spoke as I led him away from the Twolegplace, back past the nest and over the fence that surrounded the garden. My paws felt heavy, each step dragging with dread.

"Fireheart..." I finally ventured when we landed on the forest floor. "Are you okay?"

He didn't respond for a long time. Instead, he stared at the blank fence behind him as though willing Cloudpaw to come running back. He no doubt was thinking about how he had failed to save his only kin, and how he would get him back.

I mean, I was thinking the same thing.

"Your pads are bleeding," I murmured at last.

Fireheart lifted his foreleg and looked at it. Seeing him just stare, I tentatively leaned over and began to clean the wound, thankful that he didn't shy away from the contact.

"He's gone," Fireheart finally rasped.

I stopped my cleaning and stood back up. "He'll find his way home." Fireheart looked deep into my eyes, and it seemed to calm him a little. "If he wants to. Cloudpaw may be happier where he's going. You want him to be happy, don't you?"

Looking back, those may not have been the best words to say—not the ones Fireheart needed to hear. It was like I was telling him we might be better off forgetting about Cloudpaw.

Despite this, he still nodded slowly in response.

"Come on then," I continued briskly. "Let's get back to camp."

"It's easy for you!" he suddenly snapped, voice cracking. "You share Clan blood with the rest of them. Cloudpaw was my only kin. Now there's no one in the Clan that's close to me!"

I flinched as if his words had struck me like claws. "How can you say that? You have me!" I spat. "I've done nothing but try to help you! Doesn't that mean anything? I thought our friendship was important to you, but clearly I was wrong!"

Not wanting to see how my jealousy impacted him, I spun around and raced back toward camp, not caring if he chased after me. Sparse tears flew with the wind as I ran, dampening my fur.

And it's not just me! Greystripe might be in RiverClan right now, but they're still close! And Bluestar surely still cares for him. And Cinderpaw too! Why couldn't Fireheart see that?

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I decided to eat later that day next to Runningwind, who had always been a calm cat. I needed that steadiness while my thoughts whirled like a storm about Fireheart and what he was thinking of right now. How mad he was.

I shared most of the story of the day with Runningwind, leaving out where Fireheart and I really went. That was Fireheart's story to tell.

But eventually, no matter how much I wanted to avoid him, Fireheart came padding over to us with a mouse dangling from his jaws.

I looked away as he approached, entertaining myself by tearing the wings off of my swallow.

"Hi there," Runningwind greeted. "I thought you were going to miss mealtime."

Fireheart dropped his mouse and tried to purr a friendly reply, but his answer came out hoarsely. "Busy day." Runningwind glanced at me, but I still ignored Fireheart. His whiskers twitched in amusement though, and I flicked my tail across his flank in warning.

"Sorry about earlier," Fireheart whispered.

"So you should be," I muttered, not looking up.

"You've been a good friend," Fireheart persisted. "I'm sorry I made you think I don't appreciate you."

"Yeah, well, next time try thinking beyond your own whiskers."

There was a long pause, Fireheart not responding, and myself not caring to say anything else.

Runningwind sat there incredibly awkwardly, caught between us. Finally he excused himself, "I'm gonna go see if the queens need anything."

Fireheart and I both watched him scramble away toward the nursery, clearly desperate to escape the tension.

"Just saying sorry doesn't make me feel any better. I'm still hurt that you wouldn't consider me close to you," I said finally once Runningwind was out of earshot.

"I know," Fireheart admitted, voice low. "But I really do appreciate you, Sandstorm. I was just so caught up in losing Cloudpaw that I wasn't thinking straight. I hope you can eventually forgive me."

"I forgive you now, but I'm still upset."

Hesitantly, Fireheart offered, "We can go hunting later, if that'll make it up to you?"

"It's a start." I meowed curtly.

Another short pause took place, this one more comfortable than the last.

"Are we friends again?" Fireheart meowed.

I looked up at him, feigning confusion. "What are you talking about? We always were," I replied simply.

Fireheart laid down slowly next to me, nervous as if I might spring up and sprint away. Seeing that I didn't, he relaxed and dug into his mouse.

I watched him eat, tail flicking. Toms are all so confusing. Incredibly short-sighted, yet as apologetic as a squirrel caught stealing nuts.

Hard not to love.

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Word count - 1763

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Author's Note

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Thank you to  for giving me the idea for this chapter! I hope you enjoy how it came out!

If you would like one of your ideas to become a chapter, message me on discord! You can find my username in my bio.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

Anyways I have no new ideas for other chapters so if you have any please let me know! I'll ask some of my friends (one friend) too if they have any, but I'd love to hear from you guys!

No promises on new chapters, but I'll let you know when I get an idea on my message board!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

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- Maple -

- 9 ▫ 10 ▫ 2025 -