Deep Blue Eyes-- a warriors fanfic (completed story!)

Chapter 37

“Flowerblaze!”

Poppyleaf’s horrified screech made Nightclaw stop in her tracks. “Flameheart! Come back!” She called. She began to run back into the tunnel where Poppyleaf sat scraping at a boulder.

“What happened?” Nightclaw demanded.

Poppyleaf stared up with big, sad deep blue eyes. “We were running out of the cave, when out of nowhere a huge boulder came towards me! Flowerblaze pushed me out of the way, but she got stuck behind there.”

“How do you know she’s not crushed behind there?” Nightclaw asked.

“She called to me. She told me to leave. Oh Nightclaw, we can’t just leave her! There has to be some way we can get her out!” Poppyleaf stared at Nightclaw with pleading eyes. “Please?”

Nightclaw surveyed the boulder. “It’s too dark to see if there’s an opening, and besides Flowerblaze told us to leave. Poppyleaf, I know it’s hard, but we have to leave her now.”

Flameheart was beside Nightclaw, studying the boulder. She didn’t say a word.

“But we’re a team! There’s a prophecy! We need to get her out!” Poppyleaf protested. “Maybe if we all worked together, we could dig a hole through the boulder!”

“Doubt it. It would take us too long. Before we could make a dent we’d be dead.” Nightclaw told her. There was a huge crack, and a boulder behind the other boulder began to teeter.

“We can climb!” Poppyleaf yowled. She tried to get a grip on the smooth stone but slipped and fell.

“Forget it, Poppyleaf! We can’t save her! We need to go now!” Nightclaw yowled. She grabbed Poppyleaf’s scruff and began to drag her away. “Come on, Flameheart,” Nightclaw called through Poppyleaf’s fur.

Flameheart looked away from the boulder. She stared at Nightclaw and Poppyleaf with eyes so sorrowful and calm that Nightclaw stopped in her tracks. “I know what I must do, my friends,” Flameheart whispered, just enough so that Nightclaw and Poppyleaf could hear. “Take care.” Before Nightclaw could stop her, Flameheart ducked behind the boulder, in a cave no other cat had seen.

Nightclaw was frozen in shock as the boulder began to fall. There was a loud shriek as Flowerblaze was flung out from behind the boulder. There was an earth-shattering rumble as the boulder hit the ground, dirt and pebbles flying everywhere. Nightclaw let go of Poppyleaf and clenched her teeth, closing her eyes as the disaster died down as fast as it had happened.

Flowerblaze was trying to peer around the side of the boulder, frantically scrambling with her paws. The rumble that rang throughout the collapsing of the cave had stopped. Nightclaw knew that the cave had finally settled.

“Flameheart!” Flowerblaze was calling softly. “Flameheart!”

Nightclaw padded up to her and brushed her tail against Flowerblaze’s ear softly. “Flowerblaze,” she murmured.

Flowerblaze turned to Nightclaw, eyes filled with sorrow.

“Flowerblaze,” Nightclaw whispered, as though talking to a shocked kit. She recalled when Blossomkit had died, and she had been unable to save her. She was in shock, and no one had come to comfort her. When she was alone with her thoughts was when she began to hate, and when she began to hate nothing could stop her until the ice clouded her veins and she became the cat she was now. “Flowerblaze, Flameheart is dead.”

“She can’t be…” Flowerblaze trailed off. “No, no, no…”

“Flowerblaze. She was crushed by the rock. You couldn’t have saved her,” Nightclaw soothed.

“It was my destiny to die, not Flameheart’s! StarClan told me themselves! They told me…” Flowerblaze let out a sob. “They told me I was going to die. But now Flameheart… Flameheart shouldn’t have died!”

“She gave her life to what matters most. She gave her life for you. She knows you still have a prophecy to fulfil, Flowerblaze.” Nightclaw comforted.

Flowerblaze blinked. “I don’t! ThunderClan was destroyed! There’s no hope left! StarClan told me so! Flameheart was supposed to save her clan, but ThunderClan was just supposed to die. Nightclaw, it was my destiny to die. I know that. But Flameheart… Flameheart shouldn’t have died! What destiny do I have left? If ThunderClan is destroyed…”

Nightclaw stared into Flowerblaze’s depressed eyes. “Maybe your destiny is to save it.”