Laurader sorted through the embers slowly. They burnt her paws, which were black from soot over the years of sorting. Her old white fur had turned a dirty gray with her paws singed from charcoal. Patches of black spotted her gray fur. She glanced at her flower. Laurader had a little vine necklace with a pale pink flower at the end of it. "Keep working! Graze wants this done by nightfall. They've aimed for Queen Rosietta's palace in the next moon." A dusty brown she-cat growled at her. Her black paws covered with soot Kaalin threw a black rock aside, which taking a glowing orange ember and setting it in a rock bucket. Laurader sighed. She had been raised by Kaalin, who was a coal sorter for the Flame army. The war had been going on for decades. The Flame Kingdom was lacking land, being pushed out by the Ice Kingdom, so they were started burning down the Floral Kingdom, starting the war between the three kingdoms. The Wind Kingdom still resided in the tall mountains, untouched by the countless battles. Mysterious silver cats that were rumored to be able to summon tornadoes and galewinds and be able to fly straight through them. She had been caught in a raid as a little kitten, Kaalin had told her. Her mother had fled with her kitten from the Flame Kingdom and had suffocated in the smoke caused by the fire. Leaving little Laurader with nobody but her foster parents, who were absolute grumps. All Kaalin felt like doing was sorting through coals, while Graze was too preocupied with the war to take care of her properly. And it wasn't as if she could fly away either. Her wings still had'nt grown in fully. She peeked at the little purpur feathers. "Wad did I say! Stop mooning over your 'wings' and get back to work!" Kaalin snapped. Laurader got back to work, wincing at the heat of the coals and embers. The volcano that towered in front of them shook the ground, then spewed a fresh wave of lava. She saw a few soldiers flying up around in the black sky. The burnt trees slouched over, and the charred, black ground didn't show much life. It was miserable there. The lake that they drank from was usually unsafe, so instead they had taken the Floral Kingdoms lake by force. Laurader looked at the sky as a dark gray cat approched, huge wings outstreched. He landed on the ground and looked on as Laurader, Kaalin and some other cats sorter the coals. "Laurader, I need to talk to you." he said at last.
