Rise of the Fall
word limit - unlimited
points earned - 8

Sickness was in the air. A sweet, suffocating, stench filled the musky air with is poisonous reek. The large redwood trees were shrouded in the morning's misty veils; their roots weaving in and out of the damp soil. The lazy sun threw is drenching waves onto the forest, making the fog dappled and bright. Remnants of charred grass and burned spruce sacking littered the ground with its waste. Circling the air was dozens of small, winged bugs, making their business hidden in the covers of the smog.

Heavy panting sliced through the silence. A large red, marbled tabby with lemon-yellow eyes limped through the piles of leaves, weeping with pain. Her frail body was slanted against a small, striped tom-cat. Both of them had numerous abrasions on their body, yet the tabby seemed more hurt. The syrupy smell of infection surrounded the pair, completely masking the metallic blood trail behind them. The lined tom-cat's shoulders slumped and his legs wobbled, then gave out. With a soft thud, the two cats tumbled into the spongy mud.

Winded, the red she-cat gasped in agony. Her collapse revealed two tender punctures in her flank, both oozing yellow pus. Tiny inflamed pockets on her skin surrounded the marks, they cherry blood bet heath them held a wildcat's greatest fear: infection. "Beepaw," she wheezed in agony "we need to get to the camp. How f-far away are we?" Her breathy voice was laced with desperation as she saw her companion fall to the ground with her. "I-I don't know. We a-are probably a d-days walk in o-our condition." A small moan flared from the marbled she-cat. She had failed, she couldn't find the clan.

The pair sank into silence, the emotion of sorrow filled their hearts. Failure and grief sliced into them like a badger's claw. The molly slowly lowered her head into the dirt and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, son. Puddlestalk should have known that we weren't capable of passing the dangers." She sighed, her face contorting a look of pain. "Thanks for trying. You should have gotten your warrior name. I'm regretful that never happened." There was no noise, even the little annoying bugs had stopped making their quiet hum. Then, there was a small sob, then another. Everyone had different means of expressing misery, yet none of them ever affected the tabby, until now. A heartfelt emotion crept up her parched throat, urging her to do the same response in the desperate situation.

Was this situation so hopeless? A days walk in their condition, that's was the apprentice said. She let out a gasp and opened her eyes. This couldn't be the end, and she had to do something. She twitched her nose and inhaled the musky forest scents, along with others. Opening her dry mouth, the she-cat summoned every bit of energy she had left and yowled. The feline's voice rang throughout the trees, signaling their location. It was only a few minutes later when a group of five cats came into sight. Her plan had worked. "B-Beepaw?!" Exclaimed a young calico. Her cerulean eyes lit up with hope. "Koipaw!" whispered the striped apprentice. The resemblance was faint, yet clear. They were siblings, evident by their identical broad shoulders and medium length fur, as well as their unusually large paws. A slight smirk lit up the red she-cat's face. She had succeeded. Knowing all was well, she let the tendrils of darkness pull her into the void.

~

The cool night's air sent a gentle zephyr, making the trees sway in a dance. Stale rain from last night's storm still clung its residue to the earthy ground. The half moon's rats could not penetrate the camp's leafy roof, the redwood trees successfully keeping the dens good from the night light. "Koipaw!" Shouted Scrubstar. His commanding tone sent shivers down the calico's spine, making her fur stand up. It had been only a few short sunrises since the return of her brother, and the newcomer. In-between feverish nightmares and restless nights, the pair had relayed their story to her and a few of the higher ranked cats. Beepaw, her only littermate, was driven into the river by the fire, and the she-cat had rescued him from drowning. After resting for nearly two moons, the tabby had nursed him back to health and they both headed to the Clan in an attempt to join. On the way, the pair encountered a sinkhole and fell down, severally injuring themselves. They managed to get out by climbing on a fallen tree but were found on the borders, too injured to move. If it wasn't for the red she-cat's loud voice, Koipaw would have been alone.

While the leader had fully believed the story, both Koipaw and Lynxpaw had their doubts. After Lynxpaw had become the Clan's newest medicine cat, the pair had surprisingly bonded and became more aware of the holes in the newcomer's story. It was too vague, and the vivid dreams of the rival clan and a hostage the apprentice had confirmed that Beepaw and his companion were lying. Even worse, Lynxpaw had confided in his tri-colour friend that his mentor had an omen after finding that the clan's main water source was poisoned.

The details were disturbing; the pool was split into three, one part was rough, tiny walks hitting the dirt shore, the next third was steaming, rolls of mist rising from the water's surface. The last part of the post disturbed her the most; the water was completely calm, yet a yew leaf floated on the water. That was the day Scrubstar became leader as the old one was poisoned from the pond.

"I'm coming." The apprentice meowed at the leader. She shot a wary glance at the sandy apprentice, who returned it with apprehension. Shoulders slumped with tiredness, Koipaw trudged through the camp and leaped clumsily onto a large mound of granite: the highledge. Standing on the white rock was a lean, mousy brown tom-cat with irregular fur patches and orange eyes. "Great of you to join me, Koipaw. If I am correct, you are awaiting your Warrior ceremony." The apprentice nodded frantically. Was it time that she'd finally become a Warrior?! "I have one more task for you before you earn your Warrior name. You are excellent at reading cats, and I know that you have a certain... affinity... for analyzing cats and their personalities. I want, no, need you to tell me the newcomer's personality. We know almost nothing about her."

The temperature seemed to drop. A wave of frost hit Koipaw. It was no secret that the fluffy calico knew exactly how to read someone using their emotions and actions, but she never been asked to use this special gift. "O-okay, I'll try." She stammered in surprise. "We know almost nothing about her. She refuses to say her name. She's a good liar. Her story if flawed at best, but she does not waiver. It is my brother who gives that away. She's also quite smart. There's no way in StarClan that my brother came up with the idea to get out of that sinkhole. She also helped save her and Beepaw's life by effectively calculating the distance from our old camp and managing to correctly project her yowl to the passing patrol by smelling them."

Koipaw thought back to the day that she met the cat. The poor she-cat's body was riddled with infection and numerous unhealed wounds. According to Lynxpaw, it was a miracle that she had managed to push through and fight the infections as fast as she did. "She's also lying about her age. I believe she told you that she was what, fifteen moons? Judging by her recollection of past events and her general body and physique, she'd be closer to thirty. One last thing, when her and my littermate were recounting their story, Beepaw almost always twitched his nose at her comments, a sign that he knows that it's only a partial truth. Although, he did not do anything when she told us about the sinkholes. Many cats have also found small holes that were not present last moon." The multicolour calico took a final deep breath. "In conclusion, the tabby she-cat is smart, crafty, calculating, headstrong, unwavering and cunning. She would make a good Warrior, yet I cannot say if she is loyal. She is almost healthy again, despite the short amount of time passed."

A flash of disbelief passed in Scrubstar's eyes. It was clear that the slim leader had underestimated the apprentice. A small chuckle escaped the leader's lips as he smiled at Koipaw. "Good job. I suppose it is time to make you a Warrior." He turned his head to the dens and shouted for the clan to gather. Shaking the wariness off her pelt, the soon-to-be-Warrior hurdled down the highledge and hurried over to a group of current apprentices who had gathered. Inclining her head to the cluster and touching noses with her sandy coloured medicine cat friend, Koipaw waited patiently for the ceremony to start.

"As you a know, Beepaw has returned with a she-cat companion. Although Beepaw has not completed his training, I ask his companion to join the Clan. Please come here. Koipaw, please ask come here." The marbled tabby slunk from the mouth of the medicine cat den and sat in front of the highledge. The mottled apprentice beamed with excitement, her muscles rippling with anticipation. "I, Scrubstar, leader of this clan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in their turn. Do you two promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" The words were caught in Koipaw's throat. "I-I do." She stammered at the same time as the other she-cat.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Koipaw, from this moment you will be known as Koisplash. StarClan honours your courage and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of this clan. Also, Beepaw's companion, from this moment you will be known as Cherryspark. StarClan honours your cunningness and creativity, and we welcome you as a full warrior of this clan."

Roars echoing the pair's name filled the redwood camp with clamor. Koipaw, no, Koisplash's sapphire eyes gleamed with joy. Her eyes gazed over her old apprentice friends, her striped littermate, and her old mentor and current deputy, Grizzlyfang. Caught in a moment of euphoria, the new Warrior almost didn't notice the slight rumble in the ground. All of a sudden, the cheering died instantly. Dozens of wary feline eyes scanned the camp unsure of what had happened. "Oh no. The pond." Koisplash heard Lynxpaw hiss in anxiety. After a few moments of calm, there was one more rumble, but unlike last time, the rumble was much stronger.

Thrown to the ground, the tri-colour calico let out a shrill yelp. The creaking of falling redwood and spruce trees deafened her, and the panicked yowls of her clanmates alarmed her senses. Startled cries of distant songbirds had put her into a trance. Loose parties and rocks were thrown into the air, one particularly large granite stone was hurled into the Medicine Cat apprentice's head, making him instantly collapse. Snapping out of the daze, Koisplash forced her muscles to get up and go over to her wounded friend. "Run! Get to the mountains!" howled the Warrior's former mentor, Grizzlyfang. "Go to our mountain camp!" The thunderous vibrations of paws running filled the calico's sensitive ears with white noise. She sprinted to her sandy-pelted friend, narrowly missing a falling trunk. The splotched she-cat heard an ear splitting crunch, a yelp, and then a pause. Daring to look behind her, Koisplash saw the mangled body of an apprentice that she had befriended. Under an auburn trunk, the fallen cat lay at an unnatural angle, his face frozen with shock. Stifling a sob, the Warrior turned back around and grabbed her friend by the scruff, dashing to the only camp exit.

Once more, a giant roar came from the earth. It sounded like thousands of lions had synchronized an entire orchestra of howls. Koisplash, along with Lynxpaw, was yet again thrown to the mossy ground. Inky spots invaded the pair's vision, obstructing their sight. Two more crashes followed as two ancient redwood trees had simultaneously plummeted into the entrance of the camp, blocking any hope of exiting. A large weight gripped Koisplash's scruff, dragging her to a cave on the edge of the camp. The Medicine Cat den. Stupefied by the recent events, the broad-shouldered she-cat made no attempt to fight back. The Warrior was suddenly dropped in the inside of the den. Her eyes darted to the clearing, her eyes widening to slits in horror. Several large cracks had appeared in the ground, debris was everywhere, dens were in tatters, and trees littered the ground, pinning down the fragmented bodies of the unlucky.

As if the situation could not get any worse, a large scraping sound filled the den, and then a wide trunked tree fell in front of the cave, blocking nearly every ounce of light. Slowly removing from her daze, Koisplash's feline eyes adjusted to the abrupt darkness of the cave. She spotted the motionless body of Lynxpaw, along with her brother, Grizzlyfang, Cherryspark, a senior Warrior named Canarycry and a young queen named Honeydapple. "W-what happened?! Whats w-wrong with Lynx?!" The she-cat shouted in panic. Everything happened so fast, Koisplash's brain could not fully process the fiasco in its entirety. Labored breaths came from the whole group. "It seems like the ground had shaken. It was like an earth... quake. Canarycry and I dragged you and your friend in here after he was knocked out. This is the only den that's survived the ordeal." Grizzlyfang spoke with a serious tone. "Lynxpaw will awake soon, but we have bigger problems on our paws." The Scottish For deputy didn't have to say what the problem was. All eyes hovered over the massive tree trunk in front of the entrance.

"We're trapped in our own camp."