Quiet Moon and Mau in the fire

   Quiet Moon followed his father as he led them out of the amphitheatre, the drumming of paws on the earth behind them as they ran together. Bright, flickering shapes surrounded them, creeping up the dried greenery and devouring it instantly. Confusion whirled in his mind, he had never seen fire before, as Towering Fir had called it. He looked up, and saw the last light of the moon before black smoke consumed it.

   Quiet Moon felt the ground start to slope upward as they ran, he was disoriented, and couldn't tell where in the city they were. He turned around, and realized nobody was following them now. Where had everyone gone? He turned back to Mau, calling out to him frightfully, but his father didn't stop. Together they ran, like two white blurs in the burning night.

   Mau followed the cats, but the shapes he saw were not familiar in the way he was use to. The black bodies of cats running amongst the flames, their mouths open in a deafening roar as they closed in on them. Suddenly the air opened up in front of him, and the soil beneath his paws turned to stone as the cliff led to the roof of a ruined building. The only way forward was down, plummeting into the streets below.

   The newly graduated tom coughed harshly, coming up beside his father as they stood on the ledge together. "We have to go back." Quiet Moon wheezed, looking around dazed. He looked across the city, realizing with horror that the image was suddenly familiar. His dream, where he saw himself looking out at the sun swallowing him. It wasn't the sun, and it wasn't him. He was looking at his father, the sun was the fire creeping across their home. And it was going to swallow them both.

   Mau gritted his teeth, and turned sharply back, but froze as an old tree suddenly creaked, and began splitting as it fell towards them. Mau looked at his son with horror, and with all his speed and strength he barreled into him, pushing him back as the tree crashed between them, sending a burst of sparks into the air with a hiss.

   Quiet Moon fell hard, his cape catching on the edge of the branches, and jerking his head to the ground. He shook his head, and stood slowly as the world spun around him. He realized with a start that his father wasn't with him anymore. "Mau? Mau!" He called out in panic. A yowl answered him, and he gazed through the flames of the burning tree to see his father, trapped on the ledge behind it.

   The black shapes of faces seemed to writhe in the fire in front of Mau, mocking and screaming at him. But the only face he looked at was that of his son, staring back at him with horror between the flames. "Quiet Moon!" He yelled, and coughed, "Run!"

   "I can't leave you!" Quiet Moon cried, and tugged on his grassy pelt, trying to loosen it from the branches that it was snagged on. "I just got you back!"

   Mau closed his eyes, and dipped his head, feeling the heat of the fire begin to singe his whiskers. "You must! please, find your mother. Find your brothers, and sisters." He took a pawstep back, opening his pale eyes wide. The heat warped his shape, making him look more ghostly than he ever had. "Tell them I love them!"

   The building began to crumble from the weight of the tree, and suddenly it caved beneath them. Quiet Moon tugged his pelt free just as the stone roof broke, and his father fell with it, disappearing into the blinding light below.

   Quiet Moon turned and ran, his eyes too dried out to cry. But the fire was upon him now too. He turned, and saw his cape was singed and smoldering from where it had been caught. It was too late to take it off now, he could only run helplessly as he was doomed to be engulfed. Father...I’m sorry… He stopped as he reached another building, seemingly a dead end. He was completely surrounded by fire on all sides, and his own fur was burning now. I won’t be able to tell them.

   And the sun swallowed him whole.