A fire rages in the forest.
...
Pant, pant...
...
"Wait, Tigersun! I can't.... keep up.. anymore!" She struggled to shout ahead of her, feeling her lungs starting to fail her. It aches... it's burning me alive! She thought with despair, coughing out the little air that remained in her body to expel gray ashes. I'll suffocate!The tom had suddenly halted, an alarmed expression filled his tired eyes. Now Lynxshade noticed how much of his Tigersun's pelt had been scorched by the flames. The she-cat couldn't have known, but his brother's body had shielded hers from the hot air by letting her behind.
"Lynxshade, we can't stop! They are closing us in!"
Pant, pant...Minutes passed, and something about the ground told Tigersun that they had already crossed their borders and were now in unknown territory. Trees fell in the grasp of the fire, huge trunks cutting their way once, twice before they reached the depth of a dead forest.
"We are trapped!" Lynxshade yowled in despair, hopelessness in her weak voice. She turned right and left, back and forward, but everywhere looked the same....Will we die here?
The huge black tom raised his head to the sky, amber eyes widening as he understood what was going on above them. They are... geese! I can hear them! And they brought hope.
Now Tigersun had a plan, and he was determined to make it out alive. I'll save you, my little sister. Please hold on a little more.
"Lynxshade, follow me!"
The birds know! They know where to go, so we just need to follow them! Why hadn't he thought of it before?Pant, pant..."Come on, Tigersun, we've almost made it! There's a river!" We've basically made it! She thought with a new wave of exhilaration coming out of her. Adrenaline filled her body and hid the pain that came out of her scorched pelt and pads.
They had almost reached the shore when the trees around them started to collapse.
...
"Tigersun!"
A burning, tearing sensation brought Lynxshade awake.
...
"Tigersun!!!" She yowled with horror, realizing her brother had been crushed entirely by the dying tree. The black she-cat tried to push the huge tree away without any result. Despair filled her whole body as she came to the conclusion that her brother couldn't be alive anymore.
...
It's my fault... my fault... my fault...! She thought with gritted teeth, head bent down as silver tears fell down on the charred grass.A shriek of pain left her mouth as a blaze hit her back violently, pushing her away from Tigersun's death place.With a huge effort, Lynxshade dragged herself beyond the tree that had just destroyed her brother's life and let her body collapse into the water of the river. She was too tired to try and swim, so she let her body float on the filthy water while the current took her away.
Half-closed eyes stared at the last ashes that followed her in the wind. This must surely be the end.
I can't... continue.I am... sorry, brother....
..."Goodbye, my brother. I will never forget what you did for me."