"The Dream"

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-- no more passing out, waking up. again, follow my lead. this is where it gets interesting--

It seemed like only moments, but it could have been hours since he had passed out. Waking up, Shadestar's head felt sore, perhaps where he hit it? He felt groggy as well. Wondering what even happened, he stood up shakily, putting one foot on the rock one by one and standing up. What met his eyes scared him to his core.

The wolves were all collapsed as if they were dead. Every single wolf. What could have even caused this? But that wasn't what alarmed him the most. All the trees, all the foliage, everything.... Was burnt to ash. Gone, like that. He couldn't have been out that long could he? Stepping down from the rock, he trotted to the edge of the clearing. Something didn't feel right here, as though it was a dream, though it felt real enough certainly. It was just something didn't fit right in his mind. Perhaps he was just attempting to cope with what happened. All of his home, everyones home, gone in the course of a second. What the heck was going on? Confused, he ran back to the rock and stood there, his golden gaze protectively watching the rest of the collapsed wolves, especially the ShadowClan ones. They would have to come together, whether they wanted to or not.

The clan leader kept going, till she could finally see the river. "Overthere!" Lilystar tried to yell through muffled fur. Now using her legs to push them so she could run faster, the leader ended up at the river.

I let out a deep breath " I think I will be fine." As she moved her legs quickly taking deep breaths and keeping her head up. She was getting used of this, but she still was a bit tired.

Apache smiled gratefully at Coathonor, "No thank you ma'am." he said, stumbling yet again before getting to his feet," I do not want to put you out, plus, " Once again the apprentice ate ash and he hit the ground, again he got to his feet and ran spitting ash out of his mouth," plus I need to fight this, I can't do it if I do not move. If I fall behind, feel free to do something about it. But I promise it won't happen."

With that the pup fell silent focusing on his footing and fighting the dizziness, as he continued to awkwardly run/stumble along.

"Come on, it's just ahead," she encouraged the wolves behind her in pure sincerity. A brisk gait she slowed down to, but this was so no one was left behind.

The apprentice assured her he was fine, so she took it as honest and continued on. If he was in terrible pain, he would ask for help.

Once she heard her leaders voice she picked her pace bounding towards the water. Until she hit the shallow waters. Her paws felt refreshed and cool after her dip. Then she rolled in the flowing water. Sure that she wouldn't go too deep.

Apache managed to put in a burst of speed to keep up with the others, and as they arrived to the river he fell to the earth, his fight with the dizziness thoroughly exhausting him. What ever had made him fall asleep was still in his system, it still had a hold of his body, and he was struggling to fight it. And so his body did what it knew how to do when it needed to recover, it slept, forcing the apprentice to fall into a deep sleep as his body tried to get rid of what ever poison had entered it.

The leader reached the river as well as the others. Carefully dropping the pup, Lilystar sighed in relief and quickly made her way carefully into the river.

Skypup felt the pressure on her scruff leave her and her body hit the ground. The rocks on the shore of the river felt smooth to her skin beyond her pelt and she sighed in relief. She opened her eyes slowly. Everything was starting to focus and it was less dizzy. But the fae knew she wouldn't be able to stand on her own for a few minutes.

Silverpup trudged onto the shore with a soaking wet pelt. She shook her body releasing cold water droplets. Then she padded over to the male apprentice and placed a paw on him wishing him well and peace.

The leader watched as a Riverclan pup walked out of the river and beside Apachepaw. Seeing as he was now asleep on the ground, the fact that he made it out alive was what made her worry less. Now wading out, the female shook her pelt once and walked over to a side where there was water, and where the fire was not effecting and sat down.

Skypup looked around and saw Lilystar in the river and a RiverClan pup walking out of it. She slightly started to panic. Where was Apachepaw? That panic died as she saw the pup walked over to her sleeping Clan mate.

Silverpup padded over to the frantic female (skypup) and reassured her he was ok. Then I padded over to a small shady area. It was little shade but just enough to keep her cool. She began to gnaw on her wet tail.

Skypup relaxed a great deal when the RiverClan pup told her Apache was okay. He had seemed greatly affected by the.....whatever that was back there. She would guess it would have been a fire if all the wolves had been injured or near death, but no one was physically hurt, to her knowledge. And everyone passed out before anything happened. And what were those strange figures?

Silverpup replayed the sight of the tall figures. They were most likely the cause of they're sudden deep sleep. Whatever they did was horrible. But she wondered why they didn't physically hurt them. But instead their homes.

Dustypup had finally managed to catch up with the others - and his appearance didn't seem that great as well. Mud was all over the poor puny pup's body! Seeming even more nervous than usually, he spotted the river - and due to his great fear of water, the pup widened his eyes and took a couple of steps backwards.

Cherryblossom woke up slowly, she coughed and struggled to sit up, she was alone on the rock, and everything was ash... She opened her eyes so wide you could see her eye-whites. The deputy stood up shakily and jumped down from the rock. She followed the scents of Riverclan and Shadowclan wolves toward a river. She blinked and looked at them "What...happened" she said slowly, she still felt slightly dizzy from having just woken like that.

(too much to catch up on!)

Lightningpaw, being the slightly anti-social creature she was, simply sat near the Shadowclan corner of Fourtrees, closest to the territory, as she awaited the meeting to start. Her eyes roamed the area. She watched as a conflict began to spark up then listened as the leaders spoke. When it came time for her leader to speak, something didn't feel right as he spoke. She stood and padded closer to the others then suddenly she saw her leader topple over. More and more began to pass out. She herself was growing sleepy. The last thing she saw was the wolf closest to her dropping to the ground before she herself slipped into sleep.
It seemed only moments passed before she awoke to find Shadestar and a few others waking up. She sat up, a bit dizzy, and looked at the bodies that lie still as if they were dead. However soon it seemed everyone was waking up and conversing about the forest and the trees. She hadn't focused on it yet. Then it hit her. She stood and looked around, every last tree was black as her own fur, destroyed as if by fire. She stared around in disbelief but was even more surprised when she heard that some were saying a fire probably caused this. /No fire could have done damage like this in such a short amount of time, without even touching us or leaving smoke./ she thought as she began to follow some of the others, closest near Apachepaw though she wasn't sure how she had gotten near him. Lightningpaw nudged the other apprentice. "Hey Apachepaw. You don't think this was actually caused by a fire do you?" She asked him, her voice low and her muzzle near his ear so the others, hopefully, wouldn't hear.

Some kind of realization suddenly hit Shadestar. It was something no one had thought of before. Would they have, anyway? He jumped down from the rock, seeing Lillystar gone, Cherryblossom awake, and Stonestar off to who knew where. He looked pre-occupied though, even that Shadestar could tell. Once again he grimaced in realization.

Watching the wolves leave for the river, he snorted in annoyance in how quick they all were to leave the others behind. It was obviously safe here, at least for now. The Fourtrees were sacred, weren't they? He looked up at the sky. Of course, the full moon was no longer with them, same with the truce. This could never end well. Four clans were never meant to become one, ever since their ancestors walked this land.

Shadestar walked slowly to the river and the others, his gaze hard and unreadable. He couldn't trust them, now.

Silverpup turned to face the dark male. She saw the untrusted gaze he carried and she shivered. What was it that he was so suspicious about?? What had they done?

She sighed and sat down, tapping at the water with a paw. She wasnt answered, so she was left confused. She noticed the shadowclan leader come over, obviously he wasnt in a good mood, by his expression. She looked at her reflection, her red brown fur was slightly messy this morning, so she began to groom herself quietly.

Skypup looked up in time to see her own leader walking towards them. Her ears pinned back instinctively. She had left without Shadestar's permission. But it wasn't like she could have stayed at Fourtrees! Sky knew she would have passed out if she had stayed any longer.

Silverpup looked at the shadowclan female (skypup) and watched as her ears ears pinned back. She raised herself out of the shady area. Her pelt was now only a little damp. So she shook softly and padded closer to Lilystar for comfort and safety.

Owlfrost wasn't sure leaving was the best choice. Phantom fires that burned while wolves slept? Could water really protect them from that? Did they even need protection? Whatever had transpired, what or whoever was the cause, the wolves had been left safely alone. If it had been meant to harm them, it would have. Still, while she wasn't sure water would protect them, it couldn't be argued that wolves needed water to drink and survive. The group began to leave, but some wolves were still asleep. Owlfrost hung back, waiting for Stonestar. She, at least, would not leave this place without her leader's guidance. She might respect the opinions of the other wolves (leaders and warriors alike), but she heeded the guidance of her Clan leader above all others.

His gaze softened for a moment at the small ShadowClan apprentice but then turned hard again. Right now, he didn't care that his Apprentice left his side. It didn't matter. His eyes roamed the land, memorizing everything. Every small crack in the earth and every tree or landmark. Something wasn't right here, and Shadestar was well on his way from figuring it out.

Shadestar's gaze landed on those at the river. They weren't all of the same Clan obviously. He saw Lilystar amongst him and he turned away. This was going to be difficult. Still, he did not address any of them, only remained in silence. "Look for things that don't fit." he said finally.

Cherryblossom was currently the only one from Thunderclan awake, she was wondering where Jaystreak and Jetpup were, and why they were here, and she still wanted to know what was going on. The Deputy gazed around her at the wolves from Shadowclan and Riverclan, and she sighed.