Glass shattered in the abandoned barn. Cats inside screamed and ran out as the dusty windows began to glow. “Fire!” One cat screamed as the jumped out of the barn. What seemed like hundreds of other cats leapt out from the barn, their tails touching the noses of other cats behind them. Formerly, the barn that was home to the rogues who had colonized there moons ago was called Rogue’s Grave. Nobody knows why they gave it such a menacing name, considering it was actually a place where the rogues thrived and lived happy and long lives. Soon, the cats of Rogue’s Grave had all gathered outside their burning home. Unlike the clans, they had no leader. They lead themselves and each other, having an organized meeting together every new moon. Now the sky was choked with smoke, just because the Endless Fire had broken. Queens checked every kit for their own. Suddenly, a queen screamed, “My kits! They’re inside the barn!” Nebula, a pearly white shecat heard the queen. She leapt forward and burst into the flaming barn. “Nebby, NO!” A tom exclaimed. Everyone was silent. Had Nebula died with the kits? Nobody dared check. The fire crackled evilly in the silence of the night. Suddenly, an almost furless body touched by smoke, ash, and burns stumbled out of the fire with three small bundles of smoky fur in her jaws. She dropped the kits, who were coughing and gasping for air, wriggled on the ground. Everyone was glad the kits were returned, but they were more concerned about the beautiful shecat, who was stumbling. “You meant more to me than the sky... and the earth beneath our paws... because that's what you were and more...” She gasped. Then, she collapsed, and her shallow breathing came to an end. The crowd rose to an uproar only a moment after she had died. “Where do we go?” “The barn was destroyed!” “Do we have everyone?” “What do we do?” Cats all around screamed. But one wasn’t worried about the barn. He was worried about his beloved Nebula. He walked to the burnt body and whispered, “May StarClan light your path...” Even though she never was a clan cat.
