ALLEIGENCES

SUNCLAN
Talonstar
Huge golden tomcat with a tooth poking from each side of the jaw
Petalsplash
Jet black she-cat with ginger paws and a ginger flick across the ear
Sedgepool
Brown tabby tom
Crowcall
Striking black tomcat with a tooth poking from each side of the jaw
Eaglefang
Large golden tom-cat
Willowpaw

RIVERCLAN
Stemstar
Heatherbird
Gingerspot
Bulkfur

THORNCLAN
Echostar
Cometcloud
Honeyflower
Ryepelt
Aspenclaw
Spiderpaw
Briartail
Heronkit
Dustkit

CEDARCLAN
Muskstar
Rocktail
Oceanfur
Jaggedclaw
Mothspring
Longfoot
Pinepelt
Ashpaw
Blackpaw

Spiderpaw was trudging along a path worn down by two-legs many seasons ago, hurling along a long leafy wad of juniper berries and feverfew. With every step he took he was picking up his pace, disturbed by the increasing gusts of air that blustered across his face. He was near the ThornClan camp now, and if he wasn't to run into any distractions, Spiderpaw was certain he would reach the medicine cat den before his herbs had been taken away by the wind. He had spent the whole afternoon sniffing around for the largest batches of herbs, but whenever he had set some down to collect more, the wind had carried them along. He had lost three entire batches of herbs just by setting them down for a second when the level of wind was low, with the ambition of collecting just one or two stalks.
He noticed how the air was filled with thick, foul smelling fog, which made the night darker around him and his vision much cloudier. He heard the thick clouds above him grumble with fury, a clear indication that he had to rush faster back to camp before the rain splattered down on him, ruining his herbs. He was fully aware of the coming storm.
Spiderpaw continued to make his way quickly through the dusty path below him, kicking back mud with his back paws. Every few seconds the sky roared again, louder and louder, as if warning the entire world to flee into shelter.
Spiderpaw felt his entire body shudder as he witnessed a thin spark of light crash down from the sky ahead of him. He stopped frozen in his paw prints, lowering himself down, suddenly petrified of the strike of fury the sky had brought upon the land. The clouds rumbled above him again, and before he could find the bravery to continue his race back to the ThornClan camp, he saw another huge light smash down from the clouds, making a sound of pure anger as the clouds departed.
Too shocked to stand still, Spiderpaw leaped to his feet and pushed himself towards the camp, his herbs held clenched between his jaws. He was just outside the thorn tunnel now. He felt his lungs gasping for new and fresh air, and he felt his heart begging for rest. He couldn't go a few paw steps without hearing the clouds rage again and again. But then he saw something.
He skidded to a halt, leaving thin slits from his claws in the mud as he stopped himself from running further. His eyes widened with panic as he realised that the furious beams of crashing light had erupted the trees - and the thorn tunnel to turn evil too.
His ears slammed back onto the back of his head as he realised he was engulfed by raging flames. The cracking, burning blaze had ignited the thin sticks of the thorn tunnel, and the flare was spreading as fast as a rabbit could run.
Barely above the petrifying sound of the crackling flames did Spiderpaw hear a very faint sound, a voice, calling out above the sparks. He flicked his ears up, desperate to hear the wailing. Who was that?
He felt as if he was burning alive with every second he stayed still. He knew that any second the flames would feel his pelt and move across to his skin, taking chunks out of him bite by bite. But the voice sounded so desperate, and he knew he wouldn't be able to leave if there was a cat trapped in camp.
"Help!"
The voice was so faint that Spiderpaw could barely make out the word. Without a pause or flicker of doubt, he sent himself sprinting through the thorn tunnel, his tail wafting behind him like a single flare. He felt a burn in his head as he heard a singe hit the stash of herbs he had collected in his jaws. He turned his eyes to his side, still racing through the clearing to see that glistening sparks were spreading across the stalks towards his face. Frantically, he began whizzing his head side to side to put out the flickers, but nothing seemed to work. "Where are you?" Spiderpaw called through the burning herbs. His mind felt blank, and he was growing dizzy by the second. "Where are you?"
No response. Spiderpaw couldn't even make out the individual scent of the cat beneath the flames that soared around every angle. His body begged him to flee from the flames and save himself from the burning camp and find his scattered Clan, but he knew with every hair on his pelt that his duty in his Clan was to protect every single one of his Clan members - even with the cost of his life.
He wanted to believe he would be able to find the cat, however weak they were and no matter where in the camp they were stuck. But with every second Spiderpaw raced, his vision grew more and more clouded, and he became more and more intoxicated by the flames.
I have to keep going.
Spiderpaw had refused to become a victim of the burning forest around him, but in his heart he knew that there was nothing more he could do - for himself or for the cat who was trapped. He could no longer smell fresh air, in fact no air at all. He took a deep breath in through his nose, only to lead to a fit of choking on the polluted air around him. The heaviness in his lungs pulled him down like a boulder, and even though Spiderpaw was desperate to have one more minute to find the cat, he knew he no longer had a chance.
StarClan, spare us!
Just as the pleading thought whipped in and out through his head, he barely saw the ashes joining around him. At least he saw the faint figure of a cat ahead of him - but not a weak cat, not the pleading cat he had heard before. A million thoughts surged through his head at once. Has someone come to take me to StarClan, or am I just too intoxicated that I'm not even seeing this?
He was too exhausted to process the thoughts anymore. He knew within him that now was time to let go.
He forced his eyes shut, pushing out the ashes that invaded him through his eyelids. He felt his weakened paws collapse beneath him, and the world finally gave way to blackness and dust.
Just as his body gave way, his eyes jerked back open. Spiderpaw's body let out a sudden shake of dismay as the ashes formed around him. There he was.
Spiderpaw knew his time was coming to and end, and there was nothing he could do. He was the one who decided to run back to the flaming camp. Yet the cat in front of him was not who he had been searching for. A voice rang in his ears, and Spiderpaw choked on the smoke one more time before his eyes slammed shut and his breath was taken from his body.
"Only one can prevent the ash from bringing back the darkest flame."