FSE

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Chapter 2

Scarlet awoke beneath the great oak they'd chosen to stop for the night at, the forest glittered with morning sun, the dew sparkled in the trees, it hadn't made its way to the forest floor yet. Archer lay curled up beside her. She scrambled to her paws, sitting down to wash her ruffled fur, pulling an assortment of grass, leaves, and moss out in the process.

Archer stirred, gathered his paws beneath him, and giving himself a quick groom, padded after Scarlet who'd already begun to pad away. "Where to now?" Archer asked, noticing the pricked ears and tense muscles of the alert she-cat he was following.

"We're headed in the right direction," She replied, glancing at him over her shoulder, "We just need to keep a look out, we're close to the landmark."

They'd been traveling for three sunrises, We should stop and rest soon, Scarlet realized, as the forest passed around them. She was about to suggest they stop and rest when Archer meowed, "What's that smell? It's making my fur stand on end." Almost as soon as it reached Scarlet a fox leaped from the bushes landing on her, it lunged for a killing bite. Scarlet closed her eyes, waiting for teeth in her neck, but it never came.

Scarlet opened her eyes, and saw Archer griping the foxes back, Scarlet leaped at the fox's muzzle, claws extended. She slashed the fox's muzzle and the fox howled In pain, barked in anger.

At that moment Archer leaped off, rolling, but then landing on his paws he took off. Scarlet dodged the claws of the fox and pelted after him, the trees whipped by so fast that she felt like she was floating above the ground. Scarlet put on an extra burst of speed over taking Archer, she flicked her tail back to front, meaning "follow me!"

Archer followed suit, as Scarlet dodged trees, leaped bushes, veering left and right. Scarlet slowed a little, then in one quick motion, she snatched his scruff in her jaws and whipped him and herself around a tree and rolled them both into a ditch. The fox appeared soon after whipping around the tree and racing off parallel to their hiding spot.

"That was close!" Scarlet meowed, dragging the trembling tom out beside her. "Come on we should keep moving." She set off into the forest once again with Archer behind her. As they traveled the trees began to grow farther and farther apart, the grass grew courser, hard underpaw. Suddenly Scarlet noticed a jagged line cutting through the horizon. Mountains, Scarlet though, Mom told me about them and how they were dangerous. Probably the landmark! Scarlet thought with excitement.

"The mountains, that's where we're going." Scarlet meowed, looking up at the horizon.

"Are you crazy?" Archer exclaimed, staring after her, "It's dangerous!" He stoped and Scarlet stopped as well, turning to face him. "I know, that's why we're going there." She replied.

"Oh, you want to be in danger." Archer meowed, confused.

"You can stay here." Scarlet replied, getting to her paws, "either way I'm going." She then began to trot away.

"I didn't say that, you can't get rid of me that easily." Archer replied bounding to catch up. As the mountains grew with the closing distance the ground grew less grassy, more and more rocks appeared. Soon they were leaping from boulder to boulder.

"Be careful, some of these rocks may crumble, wouldn't want to fall." Archer called from behind, Scarlet could here his paws landing on the rocks seconds after she left them. Before long the ground became smoother, rocky still, but smoother.

"Finally, we can stop risking our lives on the rocks of death!" Archer meowed playfully, as they climbed a sloping incline wrapping around a tall mountain.

"Oh no!" Scarlet meowed, as snow began to fall, "We should find somewhere sheltered soon." She picked up the pace, and in turn so did Archer, paying little attention to the wide expanse of land visible from their height, the massive, clear, pale blue sky. The snowy crags surrounded them, tall and menacing.

Suddenly Scarlet stopped, a section of the path had crumbled, they'd have to jump it, Archer didn't see Scarlet stop. Scarlet felt Archer bump into her and then the world was spinning as she fell, I'm going to die, she thought. Suddenly claws sunk into her paw.

"Didn't I say it was hard to lose me?" Archer grunted through gritted teeth as he gripped her scruff in his Jaws and lifted her back onto the ledge.

"Thank you." Scarlet gasped, panting, "We're going to need to jump that." She scrambled wobbly to her paws.

"Ok, but I'm going first." Archer replied, leaping across, landing with a skid on the other side. "Come on, if you miss I'll catch you." Scarlet nodded backing up, she took a running leap, but it wasn't enough she was going to fall again. Good thing Archer was there to catch her, she thought as she felt his teeth in her scruff.

"Come on, we need to find somewhere to shelter before this storm get's worse." Scarlet meowed, as she continued their trek through the mountains. Suddenly the path they were walking began to even out, widening to a snow-covered plateau, the clear sky had filled with angry looking clouds.

"This looks promising." Archer meowed, Scarlet wasn't listening though, to busy trying to keep her eyes open.

"Archer, I think we sho-" She wasn't able to finish her sentence, as darkness enveloped her like a wave, and she passed out.

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Chapter 3

Scarlet opened her eyes, a loud roaring was sounding in the background, and the place she was lying in was very dark. She scrambled to her paws, the air was damp, strange, she thought, where am I? Scarlet looked around as her eyes adjusted to the light, I'm in a cave! She scrambled to her paws.

"Hello?" Scarlet meowed, looking around for any sign of life.

"Oh good, you're awake." A large, muscular, dark gray tom with amber eyes meowed, appearing like a ghost in front of her, "My name is Stormfur."

"Hi, my name is Scarlet," She replied, only a little intimidated by this large cat, "I'm looking for my grandfather, Scourge."

"I know of a Scourge." Stormfur replied, his eyes clouded with longing, "he lives with Thunderclan, in the forest by the lake, Oh Stoneteller wants to see you." Stormfur flicked his tail in a motion that meant, follow me, Scarlet got up and followed him through the cave, to another cave that branched off from the first.

"In there." Stormfur meowed, before he left her. Scarlet padded through the entrance.

"Bloodclan, are ya." a gruff voice accused.

"No, my father was, but I'm not." Scarlet replied, picking her way around the various puddles to where a long wiry, dark stone-gray tom with amber eyes sat waiting.

"Ah, young one, you have a long, hard path ahead." Stoneteller meowed glancing at a puddle, "Come, watch the water with me."

"Ok." Scarlet meowed, padding up to the puddle Stoneteller sat beside. She looked down into the puddle and saw herself, then behind her rose Hawkfrost, Scourge, and the Legendary Firestar. Scourge was bloodied, he and Hawkfrost locked in a heated battle, While Firestar sat watching, a look of pleading in his eyes. Then the two fighting cats exploded into blood that washed itself away, leaving Firestar sitting alone.

"I have a prophecy for you young one." The flame colored tom meowed, "Shadow are shrinking, Thunder is falling, Winds are ceasing, and Rivers are stopping. The cause is invisible to all but one, and if that one were to become blind all would fall." Then Firestar Faded. Leaving a quite confused Scarlet.

She looked up, Stoneteller had disappeared, she was alone. Scarlet padded out of the cave, and soon found Archer.

"There you are." Archer meowed, padding up to her. She pushed past him, "Come on, we must go to Thunderclan!" She noticed for the first time what the roar was, a wall of water cut of the exit. Scarlet made her way to it, finding the path around it without much trouble. It had stopped snowing, that was good. Scarlet looked up into the sky, It was perfectly clear. "We should be able to make our way out of the mountains tonight." Scarlet replied, as they left the waterfall cave behind, the endless white caused an illusion of nothing ever getting closer. Eventually, though, the snow in the horizon grew an edge and the mountains began to shrink, the end of this icy wilderness, Scarlet thought, finally.