Burning Shadows

Hey, I'm Swiftfire of FireClan, the Clan of the Burning Forest. Don't worry, it's a metaphor for our Clan so no worries. Wait here on this patch of braken while I go and tell the Clan leader, Ravenstar, you're here. *A few minutes pass* Ah, Ravenstar gave me permission to tell my bloody history to give you an idea how lucky you are, compared to me. My story begins some time ago, when I was a kit. Then I was known as Flashkit and I was proudly living in RiverClan as the only son of the Clan deputy, Birchclaw, since my brother, Rockkit died two days after being born. Rockkit died horribly because he didn't come out of my mother right and as a result, had bad problems. He died with blood pouring out of him, and nothing our medicine cat, Feathersong, did, help him get better. After that horrible death, I began to feel that StarClan was punishing someone in the Clan for something that shouldn't have happened, something that was never meant to happen. That realization came to me in a dream from StarClan, as a warning, but I realized it could have gone both ways. The dream started normally enough. I was running around with Cedarkit when the StarClan cat appeared. I was alone in an unfamiliar part of the camp and my mother’s dead sister (Fernleaf) came to me. By the way, my mother’s name is Emberpool. Fernleaf told me to beware the shadow that looms over the moon, but stand tall near the sandy eye. It sounded eerily like a prophecy but I didn’t take notice.

A few moons passed with nothing out of the ordinary, until that fateful day when I became an apprentice. My sisters, Moonpaw and Cedarpaw, were waiting with their mentors, Hawkblaze (Moonpaw's mentor) and Swallowstorm (Cedarpaw's mentor) for me to become an apprentice and RiverClan's leader in those days, Dovestar, was on her last life. Dovestar named me an apprentice and gave me to Jaydawn, a senior warrior that I had respected when I was a `kit. As soon as I was given to Jaydawn, WindClan attacked with the intention of getting their vengeance from stolen prey that we didn’t steal. In the midst of the chaos, Dovestar was killed. My Clan was devastated, WindClan’s dirty work finished, and my father prepared to go to the Moonstone to get his nine lives and his leader name. I was proud of my father but troubled by the harsh death that WindClan dealt to my Clan.

A half-season passed after that horrible battle, and I was an excellent apprentice, the fastest of my Clan. I was faster than the ThunderClan warrior, Runningwind, who told me that being fast was a gift from StarClan and I should use it for the good of my Clan. I stuck by what he told me, even though I was a rival Clan apprentice. Finally, the moon came where I became a warrior. I had fought well in a recent rogue attack and Birchstar prepared to give me my warrior name along with my sisters who were also amazing in the battle. Cedarpaw became Cedarcloud and Moonpaw became Moonshade. Birchstar turned to me and looked down at me from the Tallstone and said the ceremonial words and named me Flashheart. When I was named, I saw a shadowy cat behind Moonshade, who twined its tail around her and I heard the dark whisper, “That one’s the cat with your rightful destiny. You must kill him to gain what you want, but it will be difficult. We will meet again in dreams.” The words terrified me and I realized my older sister was not who she appeared to be, not the cat I grew up with.