The Lost One

Chapter Three

Blaze was the first and one of the only ones to realize Starlight was missing. It was almost sunset, and she's never late for dinner. Where is she? Is she hurt? Why did she sound worried when she talked to me? And why did she dash in to camp and leave like a muddy skunk? All those questions, unanswered. He saw Stream nearby and asked, "Have you seen Starlight today?"

Stream glanced halfheartedly at Blaze. She looked worried, and it was the exact expression that Starlight had when she was answering Blaze. He had to ask.

"What's wrong? Everybody seems worried! Why was Starlight worried and why did she disappear?

"So it was correct." Stream murmured. Her eyes clouded over.

"What was correct?" Blaze was starting to think everybody was mad.

Stream looked at Blaze.

"What was correct? Why are you speaking in a hushed tone?"

"I knew you would find out. Was Starlight packing a bundle of herbs?"

"Yes. And when can you answer my questions?

"Starlight, of course, would do that..."

"What that?! Stream shook herself, and she looked apologetically at Blaze. "Sorry."

"Now can you tell me what you're talking about?"

Stream murmured to herself again. "Is wind there yet? I have to trust him to get there correctly."

"What wind and what trust him correctly?" Blaze was getting very annoyed.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew some droplets out of a nearby puddle. Then, the hot breeze blew straight at Blaze, and blew east.

"Go east, track Starlight's scent, and follow them. Once you find them, stay with them. Tell them I sent you there and tell you the secret and everything they know."

"What do you mean by 'they'?"

"I can't tell you anything else. Find out for yourself."

With that, Blaze sprinted to the herb place and packed the useful herbs for a few days' trip. He repeated the steps Starlight had done. First, he rolled herbs into a bundle. Secondly, he tied the bundle around his waist. And then, he rolled in mud and left.

Stream was waiting for Blaze when he got there.

"What will you tell Pebble?" Blaze asked, worrying that he would find out.

"Don't worry," Stream wrapped her tail around him and squeezed, "I told him you and Starlight had a friend and went to their den and decided to camp there for a moon."

"So, basically we have a month to do this?"

"You have a month." Stream squeezed harder, "Good luck."

"Okay, okay! Don't suffocate me!" Blaze squeaked, running out of air.

Stream let go and Blaze melted down onto the ground.

"Can I go now?" Blaze anxiously asked, pawing the ground.

"Yes, go now." with one last wave of a tail, Blaze took off.

The next hours passed quickly. He found Starlight's scent, followed it into unclaimed land, and sprinted across the Loudtrail with a Growler right around the corner. Then he trotted half a mile to the forest and saw a glob of water near a cliff. Weird, he thought. And then saw some blood and turned a corner. He was getting worried. A tree had fallen, and cats' fur was on it! He saw that the damage of the tree wasn't the only thing broken. In front of him stood a barren wasteland, and at the far side, Blaze could just make out two figures standing in the distance. By now it was getting dark, so he sprinted forward, trying to save the daylight. As he got closer, he realized that the figures weren't cats. They were the two-pawed things!

He froze, hoping they didn't turn around. Just then, he spotted another pair of figures. He definitely could make out a tail, so they were cats! He snook closer to the lush, green forest, and dove straight into the bushes. The pair of cats didn't seem to have heard or seen him, so he crept closer. One was blocked by the other. He smelled nothing; the wind was blowing towards the cats. The pale, sand colored cats' nose twitched. He whispered something to the other, just to make a little bit of the other cats' fur visible. Gray-blue, speckled, was it Starlight? The sand colored cat turned back around. He decided this moment to show himself.

"Uhh.. hi?" he emerged.

The sand colored cat hissed with surprise. "Who are you?"

The other cat turned. It was Starlight! "Blaze?"

"Yep. It's-" a loud boom echoed behind the mystery cat.

"We have to run now. The CAT is coming." mystery cat meowed nervously, just as an explosion of debris flew towards them.