Ignition Point (FLASH EVENT)

[Cloudbat]

Meadow Flash Event
OOC: Joinee notes

Flash Event: An event planned and executed quickly, with no planned direction or ending.

Instigating incident: A fire of unknown cause is ablaze in MeadowClan territory – it has just reached the camp at the end of dusk and Cedarstar is yowling the alarm. Can you get out in time?

Guidelines:

- This is an event you can drop in and out of at will. You could post once and disappear, and the thread will continue without you. There's no obligation at any point to stay involved. PERFECT FOR BUSY RPERS!

- ANYONE CAN JOIN AT ANY TIME! There is never too many cats!
- There is only one rule – if you want your cat to die or receive a serious injury, PM me to let me know in advance. Other than that, there is absolutely, 100% no direction for this. Just post and see where it leads

- No post order! Ever.

- Include every joinee, early or late.

Other notes
All right people, let’s pump some life into this plot…Clan…thing! This is specifically designed so anyone (yes, anyone) can join. The more the merrier! We want chaos here.
[/size]

[bg=3b5839][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] The cause of the fire was never known to those whose lives it irrevocably changed. It simply appeared, blazing, right near the home of MeadowClan and quickly made its way toward it in the fading light. There had not been any rain for a long while – this aided the scorching of the earth as insects, mice, and rabbits fled the hungry flames. As the first crackling noises and sudden increase in heat neared the stronghold of cats, a thickly furred brown tom was the first to notice and wake, his yellow eyes first opening blearily and then with alarm as he realized the cause of the abnormalities his senses perceived. “Fire!” He yowled, scrambling up and racing out of his tangled-root den, as the old tree caught alight. “Everyone, out of the tunnels! DO NOT LET YOURSELF GET TRAPPED!” He bellowed in his deep mew. “Follow the sound of my voice! We are evacuating to the river. STOP FOR NOTHING.”

[Pyro]

There he was, young again: Longpaw ran faithfully by his side as they followed Cedarstar into battle. That fox had troubled them for the last time...it had nearly killed Brackenheart, and with the damn thing venturing closer and closer to the camp by the day, it wouldn't be long before the kits were in danger. The white tom could see the flash of a red pelt just beyond Cedarstar's large bounding form, and he knew that it wouldn't be long now before the fox stopped running and turned around to face-

"FIRE!"

Lichenheart's yellow eyes were wide and alert the moment Cedarstar's call touched his ears. The scent of smoke was overpowering, so much so that the elder wondered why it look a yell from his leader to stir him from his sleep. Ha. He must really be getting up there in moons....but now was not the time to think about that. The elder rose, somewhat stiffly, and limped his way over to his comrade-in-retirement, nudging her roughly in the side with a paw.

"Flamestorm-" wait, didn't she prefer Ria, er no Rhea? "Rhea. Get up, there's a fire, and if I have to drag your ass out so help me woman I will."

The elder turned a worried eye toward the entrance of the den. The smoke he smelled when he awoke was starting to filter in. How could the fire have crept up on them? Thank starclan Cedarstar had been awake, or at least had been a light sleeper. Of course....until they were at the river, they were no where close to being out of the woods yet.

[megasaffe]

Shadepaw was resting in the apprentice den when he heard Cedarstar's yowl. FIRE!

Funnily enough, his first thought was not for his own safety, but for that of the elders in camp. He pelted towards the elder's den, and found Lichenheart stumbling out of the den. "Lichenheart, I am here to help you if you'll let me, no cat deserves to be left behind in times such as this..." Shadepaw looked on, waiting for the cat to reply.

[RiiRii]

"Oak! Come join us, eat this delicious food. It smells so good."
Oak? Of course, that was her name. The tawny she-cat stood up, the send of the bell attached to the collar around her neck ringing. Where did this come from? Just a few seconds ago she was in Meadowclan camp, now she was here... Was that all a dream?
"Come on Oak! Lets play after?" /Oak/ stared around the house, everything was there and rich looking too. There she was, her siblings, mother and father... Everybody was reunited.

Next thing she knew, she was curled up near the fire. Her siblings were staring at her in sheer terror, looking around she realized that she was asleep in bracken near the fire and it had set on fire. Running away, as fast as she could she still could feel the heat cling to her fur. Fire!

Fire? Her ears twitched, staring around. The whole place was ablaze and there were many cats corpses. Oh no! The clan was dying because of this fire! She stared in terror at Shadepaw, dead. All were, yowling she sat up.

Looking around the place, she felt relief. It was just a dream. Sniffing the air, she smelt burning. Looking around, she finally realized where she was. The den was burning down! Standing up just in time for flames to touch her nest, she burst into a run and dashed towards the exit of the den. Weaving away from bits of fire and leaping out of the burrow as some fire landed on the ground. Everybody was running about in panic. Her green gaze caught hold of Cedarstar and she knew what to do. Be calm, he needs you Sparrowclaw... He needs you.

The deputy's head whipped around, taking a slow deep breath she lifted her head up. "Everybody, try and get towards Cedarstar as fast as you can! You'll be safe if you remain calm!" she was terrified herself, but she couldn't show it. Too much was at stake. Running towards Cedarstar and standing by his side, she watched. "be quick too, the scent of everything burning will confuse you if you're not too careful!"

[ambird]

"But she's his mate!" "--who's Forestclan, too!" "We can't trust her!" Gingerstripe whirled her head around, looking at cats she considered her friends. Hate and hurt were found in their eyes. What...what were the blaming her for? Cedarstar's...choices? They were a bunch of daft mouse-brains! But no matter what she told them, they kept coming at her, with hair raised and claws out. She shook her head in bewilderment. "This isn't real...this isn't real...this can't be real!" she murmured as they closed in around her, and she screeched before everything faded to black. Curled up in her nest of moss, Gingerstripe tucked her tail from out from under her nose, and re-positioned herself, paying not attention to her violently twitching whiskers. Not even half awake she felt everyone hustling around her, and she sat up, startled. Just then she heard the call by Cedarstar to evacuate the camp. Now somewhat awake, she meandered out of the exit of the warrior's den. Clumsy is as clumsy does, and she repeatedly mutters apologies for stepping on others who, if not already awake, now were thanks to Gingerstripe. Outside the den, she got her first good look at what had caused the alarm to sound. Her green eyes widened at the sight of the fire burning closer and closer still to the camp. Her senses having been woken up by the stench of smoke and fear throughout the fear, she gazed around, seeing who else had ran out thus far. From what she could see, they didn't have too long before the fire reached the barrier of the camp. Gulping, she ran to check to see how many of the apprentices had ran out to meet at the river. Knowing those furballs, half of them could still be fast asleep. [bg=b97335][atrb=width,469,true] [atrb=border,0,true]

[Glowy]

The stench of smoke took a while to reach the underground, but it was so heady that it woke her before Cedarstar's terrified yowl split the air. It was entirely foreign to her, and that combined with her sleep-stupor made it difficult to process what exactly was going on. Weird smell. Slightly choking, as a matter of fact. Her eyes were beginning to sting. The earth felt hot for some reason. And then Cedarstar's words finally absorbed into her mind and she understood. She saw it all. The world was on fire. It had likely been caused by some careless twolegs having a bit of sport in the woods nearby. No matter. The world was burning. Ravenous teeth of orange and yellow, red, blue, and white, were rasping themselves across MeadowClan's homeland, and there was nothing she could do except watch. The destruction would be complete, she could tell, for the heat was nearly unbearable already, and it was moving swiftly. She poked her head out of the den and melted, wishing for all the world that she could steel herself instead of crumbling beneath something she had not felt since the badger attack that had resulted in her naming: absolute horror. This is how I die, she thought to herself, witnessing a tree fall in the distance. StarClan, please take me. But no. She couldn't die. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't run either. She had to face this. Cedarstar had named her for her loyalty. Heart. Hawkheart, for it was her heart that made her worthy of being a MeadowClan warrior. As a few of her denmates muttered crossly about having been woken up by Gingerstripe's paws, Hawkheart rolled her eyes. "Would you rather become scorched, bubbling lumps of fur and flesh? I didn't think so. Get your sorry tails out of here and shut up before you get left behind. Come on, up and at 'em!"

[/b]

As soon as she herself exited the den, she retched, leaving a wonderful pile of fun and magic by the entry. Her stomach was writhing in her gut and her breathing was short and erratic, both products of her fear. It was consuming, like fire. The world was burning. But she couldn't leave yet. Shrewstorm and Foxpaw and Elkstep were nowhere to be seen. She could not leave them. They were outcasts, all, and therefore had to stick together. Maybe Elkstep was with that new friend of his, Ice-whatever-her-face-was, but maybe not. And until she had confirmed their locations, all, she would not leave.

"Foxpaw? Elkstep? Shrewstorm? Where are you guys?"[/b] Her cry let a rather large amount of smoke into her lunch, and set her to a coughing fit. Eyes stinging, she collapsed and let her body do its work, cursing the foul stuff. The undulating wall of prismatic heat reflected in her eyes, filling her anew with terror and adrenaline. She had to find them. She had to. Keeping her head low, she made her way over to Cedarstar and the deputy.

"Have you seen Foxpaw? Or Shrewstorm? Elkstep? Bearclaw?"[/b] StarClan, Bearclaw! She'd nearly forgotten about him. Thinking about how worried he probably was about her made her worry about him even more. Oh goodness. If he died in the fire... his sister... things would not be pleasant for MeadowClan. Shika would likely blame the clan, and nobody wanted to get on Shika's bad side.

"On that note, why are either of you still here? You should get to the river yourselves. The clan needs its leaders to survive. I'll stay behind and direct the remaining cats over there."[/b] She shifted her attention to Cedarstar, meeting his eyes, despite the burning in her own. "Remember why you named me what you did. I might like a laugh now and again, but I can be trusted. Please, save yourself. Take Gingerstripe and Sparrowclaw and get yourselves away. You're no use to anybody burnt to crisps."[/b] She truly did feel an overwhelming loyalty to Cedarstar and the need to see him and his clan to safety.

The world was burning, and the burning grew ever closer, driven by wind and given life by the dry, crackling grass that lived in waves. The world was burning. If she was going to go to StarClan this night, she would go up in glory, spreading fire across the sky as a comet! She would not flee. Not until her clanmates had left. Not even if Cedarstar ordered her to.

speaking


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[nightfall]

"Rhea. Get up, there's a fire, and if I have to drag your ass out so help me woman I will."

Rhea groaned, rolling over to face her den mate. "What, you damn bas-"

The smell hit her before the words sank in.

She scrambled up in an instant, much faster than her old bones would usually allow. Cindertail. Does he know? Has he already gotten out? Is he going to come for her first? Oh, god. He couldn't come. He would get himself killed.

However, as if on cue, Cindertail came running into the elders' den. His pelt stank of smoke, and his eyes were wide with fear. Rhea limped over to him as quickly as she could, burying her face in his shoulder. He pushed her away, body indicating emergency. She looked up at his face.

"Is it bad?"

He nodded. He jerked his head. We have to leave now.

Rhea turned towards Lichenheart. "Lichenheart, get your insane ass over here now. We are about to be the most daring and most badass elders this clan has ever seen."

Without waiting for an answer, she turned and limped out of the den into the smoke.

[megasaffe]

Shadepaw was waiting quietly outside for the three elders, tail curled over his paws and his eyes wide. The only thing betraying his fear was his ears, constantly swivelling back and forth, and his nose. He reckoned the smell of Fire would never be removed from his sensitive nose.

"I... I was wondering if you needed any help."

Shadepaw waited for one of the elders to respond.

[Cloudbat]

[bg=3b5839][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,500,true] Already he was panting from the heat yet unable to breathe too deeply because of the smoke beginning to fill his lungs. Looking around wildly, he saw that the flames seemed to be spreading across the camp in a rough diagonal. He blessed the sound of his deputy's yowl, blindingly obvious though it was and added "Get as high as you can, up to the highrock if need be, jump and flee to the river! Aid the young and elderly if possible, but getting out yourself is most important! Better one life safe than none!" He jumped slightly as Sparrowclaw seemed to materialize at his side. "Do a check of all the dens." He growled. "I'm going to lead those that are already coming out to the Highrock to jump." A tongue of flame snapped at the side of his face, burning his whiskers. He resisted the urge to howl with pain and instead grimly forged forward, dodging sparks that flew into his path and ignoring the ones that landed to burn briefly on his back. A flash of orange fur went by him and in the clarity that sometimes comes to those in times of disaster he immediately knew it was his mate, checking on the apprentices. A sharp longing to make her leave before anyone else was strong in him, but he knew his first responsibility was to the Clan. Keep her safe, StarClan, he prayed. More than me, keep her safe, he prayed as he got the warriors who were already coming out and opened his mouth to speak - but before he could was interrupted by Hawkheart. Furious with impatience, he nevertheless answered her. “My mate is taking care of the apprentices, and I have not seen them. And I have seven lives to lose, Hawkheart, my Clan does not! If you want to prove your loyalty, GET THE OTHER WARRIORS HERE HOWEVER YOU CAN and lead them to highrock to jump. I will keep the path open.” White fur this time, white fur and ginger together from the hollow tree of the elders’ den, already crumbling to ash, half devoured by flames. He caught a snatch of words from Flamestorm and hissed, calling over to her: “THIS IS NO TIME FOR HEROICS, RHEA! YOU ARE OLD, SLOW, GOING TO BE AIDED BY WARRIORS, IF YOU DO NOT ENJOY IT I DO NOT CARE.” A sudden flare of orange and gold began to snarl as it ate away at the weeds between his den and the stony warriors’ one. The stones might keep out the flames for a while, but they would also trap the heat and smoke much more efficiently. “And Shadepaw! Do not just STAND THERE, HELP THE ELDERS TO A HIGH POINT SO THEY CAN JUMP! NOW!”

[megasaffe]

"Sorry, Cedarstar! I'll do it now!"

He began to nose the elders to the highest point of the camp, where they could jump. His movements reflected the urgency of the situation, they were fast, yet sure.

OOC: I know this is short, tiredness is beginning to set in.

[RiiRii]

Sparrowclaw nodded and with that bounded off through the smoke, her eyes focused on in front of her and the scent of smoke choking her.
NO! I will not lose to this! she pushed into Shadepaw's side. It was forceful, yes, but it was to give him a reality check. Rushing into the dens and crying out, even jumping inside to awaken any sleeping cats and screamed about the fire, rushing in and out of every den before eventually leaping up onto the camp area with her fur covered in soot.
"Nobody will die, not if I can help it." Her eyes blazed with anger and she had completely forgotten about her fear. As she entered the Elders Den, rushing in and watching one of the elders leave her gaze moved to Lichenheart.

"Now isn't the time to be staring off into space, Lichenheart. Get your head in gear and move out of this den now before you burn to death!"her voice was cold, ears pinned back and her eyes filled with anger. She was not going to mess around, she was more or less worried about Shadepaw than anybody else. Her dear apprentice could die if he wasn't too careful. Her gaze shifted towards him and she looked back to Lichenheart. She would rather /die/ than let an elder.

Moving over towards him, wrapping her tail around his flank and tail and proceeded forward. She didn't care if she seemed desperate, it was an attempt to save the cats. "If you go, who will tell the kits those wise stories they love so much? The apprentices too." Sure enough, she hoped that he would realize. "Shadepaw, take his other side and lets move out as fast as we can. I can hear fire crackling on the roof so it's about to concave anytime soon!"

[megasaffe]

Shadepaw scrambled away from the other elders, and took the elder's other side, propping him up as he saw his mentor do.

"Sparrowclaw... why is this happening?"

He waited for her reply.

[RiiRii]

The older warriors eyes snapped towards her apprentice with a did-you-seriously-just-ask-me-that face.
Guess she would have to explain to her dimwitted apprentice just what was happening, even if it was fairly obvious by the surrounding area.

"Well, the whole place is on fire. What do you think?" the reply came cold, her eyes shifted with anger and then she turned her head around in case any falling inferno debris came and landed beside them or worse, ontop of them. She needed to get not only her apprentice out, but a loved elder out too and fast! Just one question loomed through her mind. Will they get out on time or will there be three brand new crisp cats for the ground to cover and the insects to eat.

[nightfall]

Cindertail pushed his way out of the elders' den, only to hear a very, very enraged Cedarstar.

“THIS IS NO TIME FOR HEROICS, RHEA! YOU ARE OLD, SLOW, GOING TO BE AIDED BY WARRIORS, IF YOU DO NOT ENJOY IT I DO NOT CARE.”

Oh, bless his mother. While still limping towards High Point, she took the chance to screech back, "CALM YOUR DAMN JETS. I KNOW PERFECTLY WELL THAT I AM OLD, AND YOU DO NOT NEED TO RUB IT IN MY FACE YOU SON OF A--"

Cindertail pushed his mother more urgently, cutting her off from what would become a full-blown rant. No time, no time.

[/i]

The smoke was burning his eyes. To his right he could feel the heat coming from the warriors' den as fire trapped itself inside the stone and began to heat up. He pushed his mother faster, then paused to check Lichenheart. He was being propped up by the deputy, Sparrowclaw, and an apprentice who's name he could not remember. They were fine, and could call for help if they needed to.

He turned back towards Rhea. She was already climbing up to the highest point. She turned and called to him. "Come on, you dummy!"

Did anyone check the warriors' den?

Crap, crap, crap...[/i] He turned back towards it. It was extremely hot, so he got down on his stomach and crawled towards it, squinting for any sign of any cats.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[Pyro]

Lichenheart smiled wolfishly at his companion. "Sounds like a-."

“THIS IS NO TIME FOR HEROICS, RHEA! YOU ARE OLD, SLOW, GOING TO BE AIDED BY WARRIORS, IF YOU DO NOT ENJOY IT I DO NOT CARE.”

-Plan. Well, maybe not. The elder's pelt bristled at Cedarstar's words, though they weren't directed at him, and he shot an irritated look in his leader's general direction. They may be old, but slow was a stretch, and they could both still kick some ass even at their 'advanced' age. He followed Rhea and the newly arrived Cindertail out of the den, only to be confronted by Sparrowclaw, who was yelling at him to get a move on even though...well...that was exactly what he was doing. One glance around told him the situation was fur-ripping horrible, but he'd be damned if a greenhorn deputy was going to take out her stress on him. He hissed, pushing the she-cat from his side.

"Help someone who needs it." he admonished gruffly before bounding away, hampered only slightly by his leg. It was easier to run across an open area than it was to shuffle around a tight-spaced underground den, and he found that the adrenaline that was beginning to run hot through his veins made it easy to ignore the pain in his leg. "Don't worry sweetheart, I'll be tellin' tales for years to come."

Well. Maybe not years ...How old was he now? Twelve? Thirteen? That was stretching it even for a kittypet, and he found himself remarkably out of breath by the time he made it to the highrock. The smoke was pouring into the camp now, and he couldn't help the fits of retching and coughing that began to overcome him. He did his best to ignore them though as he made the climb to join Rhea once more. He chanced a look behind him at he warriors that scrambled below, and caught Hawkheart's words on the hot wind. Well, if everyone spent their time running around looking for their friends no one would get out at all. He held his tongue though, quieted by the thought that if he were her, he'd be tearing the camp apart.