[Fawn]

It stormed late into the night, but it had not been so loud that sleep was just out of their grasp. Everyone had been working so hard lately, trying to get through the last few bitter, freezing days of winter before Newleaf began to make itself known, that many warriors and apprentices alike all collapsed on their nests and were asleep within the hour.

Russetpaw was no exception. Muscles weary from another sparring session with Razorfang, even his dreams were filled with strenuous activities, the tom this time dismantling a beaver's den, which proved to be very hard, monotonous work. The beavers weren't there - they were just...gone. It was strange, but not so strange that he was constantly worrying about it. Utterly absorbed in his task, Russetpaw grunted, a thick branch clutched in his strong ruddy jaws as he pulled with all his strength, growling.
C'mon c'mon c'mon!
With a massive groan, the branch snapped somewhere in the middle, releasing a huge flood of water right over the unsuspecting apprentices' head. Sputtering, Russetpaw awoke with a start, his drowsiness dissipating as he realized the wet feeling in his paws wasn't imaginary.

Having slept near the entrance to let the younger apprentices get the warmer back of the den, Russetpaw was the first to feel the muddy, puddling den floor, and his fur fluffed out in surprise.
Flood!
His first instinct was to get Razorfang, as he could not see yet how serious this was, but flooded dens were never a good thing. However, as he stepped out into camp and felt the earth slope downwards just slightly, it occurred to the ruddy tom that the nursery would be even wetter than the apprentices' den.

Abandoning any proper plans, Russetpaw shoved his head back into the apprentices' den, hissing as loudly as he dared;
"Wake up! The camp is getting flooded - don't start panicking like mice, I'm checking on the nursery, someone go get Razorfang!" After lingering long enough to spot a few bodies stir, Russetpaw took off into the dark, fleet of foot and pounding heart as he approached the den of reeds and brambles.
"Hello? Is everyone alright in here? The camp's flooding. If anyone is hurt or needs help, tell me!" Russetpaw was no healer, but he was determined to make a potentially chaotic situation go as smoothly as possible, his brilliantly emerald eyes narrowing through the darkness of morning, the first few rays of sunlight beginning to peek at them through what sparse trees RainClan's territory had.

[Deleted]

I C E K I T

A strange new sensation awoke the kit from his night-sleep. It was... damp, like when snow went away on your fur and the stuff remaining made your fur clump together. Blue eyes opened slowly (he was still a bit drowsy) and looked around. His mother was right there, and his siblings were still sleeping... The white kit stood up and looked at his coat where the sensation was focused, only to find that his white fur was no longer white. Instead, it was brown, like some of the other cats' fur, except it was clumped together like melted snow. Curiosity overwhelming, a little pink tongue flitted out and licked the brown stuff. Instantly, the kit made a face. Euch! Gross! At least he knew what it was now. The question was, why was ground sticking to his fur?

The leaf-bare kit had never encountered mud before, and it was one of the many things never explained to him. The deaf tomkit ended up having to discover most of how the world worked on his own, and little did he know, today would be a large and unwelcome learning experience. The three-moon-old kit didn't understand what a flood was; honestly, this was his first time encountering water on its own, and not the result of snow melting from body heat. Curious about the new ground covering in the nursery, Icekit stood up and pawed at the muddy water. It seemed to move when he poked it, but it didn't try to hit him back, so he poked it again and watched it ripple. Since the all-white kit had to figure out most of the world on his own, he always had a hard time trying to figure out what was living and what wasn't, like reeds and seashells, and what had been alive but wasn't, like prey. Blue eyes watched the ground-melted-snow carefully, trying to figure out if it moved without his paw. All things moved if you moved them, but living things moved on their own. Usually, living things had faces and eyes and ears, but he discovered bugs recently, and they didn't have faces or eyes or ears but were still alive.

Movement at the entrance of the den caught the white kit's blue eyes. Turning to look who it was, Icekit was pleasantly surprised to see Russetpaw, whose name he didn't know but whose scent and appearance was easily recognized. The not-quite-adult cat was well-liked by his littermates, and was always nice to Icekit himself. "~!!" the kit meowed a shade too loudly, walking over to the older tom. He didn't notice if any of the other queens or kits were awakened, by either Russetpaw's words or his own meow, but he did notice that the brown ticked cat was upset for some reason. "??" the deaf kit meowed, tilting his head quizzically. What was wrong? Why was the older cat upset?

[Deleted]

Lilypaw had been enjoying a rather pleasant dream until she was rather abruptly awoken. It had been one of her usual dreams, in which she was being made a warrior.
It had been a warm, sunny day in her dreams and waking up in the Apprentices’ Den, the weather was quite the opposite. Blinking open tired pale green eyes, her fur felt rather damp.
Frowning, she stared down to find that it wasn’t in fact her imagination. The calico she-cat immediately snapped to, jumping to her paws.
It’s flooding!
Looking up, she spotted Russetpaw disappearing out of the Apprentices’ Den, in the direction of the nursery. Heart beating fast, she scrambled towards the entrance to main camp, quickly glancing over her shoulder before bounding out into the clearing.
”Get Razorfang, get Razorfang,” she muttered to herself through gritted teeth, remembering what Russetpaw had said before disappearing off. The calico apprentice reached the Warriors’ Den, usually a no-go zone for an apprentice like this and stuck her head inside.
”Everybody, wake up! Razorfang! There’s a flood!”

[Deleted]

. : p e a c h p a w : .

Peachpaw had been in a surprisingly peaceful, dreamless sleep. The cream pointed white apprentice had been laying on her back, paws up in the air, but tucked close to her body. She first stirred at the sensation of wetness against her back, and she sleepily rolled to her side. Ice blue orbits opened wide, however, at Russetpaw's yowl.

Taking in the soaked floor of the den, Peachpaw hopped to her paws. Flood. Peachpaw took note of Lilypaw exiting the den, murmuring to herself to get Razorfang. Peachpaw cast her gaze around the den, moving to prod any still sleeping apprentices. Her next thought was Icekit. Her little brother would have a tough time with the imminent evacuation, with his deafness. Peachpaw darted out of the apprentices' den, casting a glance around the waking camp. Rain drenched her short fur as she bounded across the camp to the nursery.

The slender apprentice slipped into the den, seeing Icekit approach Russetpaw. Peachpaw nodded to Russetpaw before assessing the situation in the den. "We need to get the kits out of here." Peachpaw fixed her gaze to Icekit, swiping her paw downwards in front of her, hoping he remembered the sign. They needed to act quickly, and the sooner she could make him understand, the better.

[Insidious]

Sleep was, often, not to be disturbed until the sun beckoned for the first signs of clan activity: more frequently referred to as the dawn patrol. The deputy of RainClan had aspired to partake on the morning's dawn patrol, however, his plans had been foiled by an unexpected turn of events for the worse. A flood.
At first, the tom-cat hadn't noticed the wetting floor beneath his slumbering stance. He had been completely dazed by his lack of sleep the past few nights, and therefore, wasn't likely to be disturbed from his sleep. That was, until the high-pitched vocals of a RainClan apprentice boomed inside of the warrior's den with a tone of utmost urgency. “Everybody, wake up! Razorfang! There's a flood!”
The first part of Razorfang's body to shift was his ears, perking upward upon recognition of detecting his name. It took a moment for him to register the urgency, however, once it was registered, his eyelids snapped open. Gray-green irises blinked away the sleep, quickly scrambling to all fours before he cast a thankful nod in the direction of Lilypaw, momentarily distracting himself by the inconvenient wetness at his paws before raising his head to its full extent to address the rest of the warriors. Surely, they had been subconsciously aware of Lilypaw's words. However, being an apprentice as she was, it was expected that he would be able to deliver the message with a far louder, controlled tone. “Rise and shine, warriors! Evacuate the camp; a flood is taking over, fast!”

[/i][/b]

The tom-cat spared one last glance toward all of the arising warriors, assuring none were remaining in their slumbers before he pivoted on his heels and began to elegantly stride across the camp clearing with a quick initiative in each step, his sights set on the den of Sandstar. For a moment, he found himself dumbfounded as to why the apprentices had came to Razorfang before their clan leader. However, it wasn't long before Razorfang considered that Russetpaw would have had something to do with that.
Besides, it was a good move to announce the flood to the large population of warriors first so a majority of lives could be saved. That way, while the rest evacuated, Razorfang could assure that Sandstar – and any other cats remaining in camp after rising the clan leader – could be pushed to safety.

The hazelnut masked deputy pushed forward into the leader's den without any announcement of entering. Normally, this would have been considered an act of disrespect. However, Razorfang was certain that Sandstar would overlook this particular case when familiarized with the reasoning behind his unexpected visit. “Sandstar, the camp is flooding! The apprentices and warriors have been informed and should be evacuating as we speak. I'll check the Nursery to make sure no kits have been left behind!”

With that, the tom-cat pivoted once again, paws maneuvering with quick, yet cautious strides. With the nursery a few moments away, he allowed himself to spare a glance around the camp. So far, everything seemed in order – an exception of the flood. Cats were evacuating as told to do so, and all that was left to check was the Nursery and any other unmentioned locations before he allowed himself to evacuate as well.

Entering the Nursery, the tom-cat immediately fixated his sights on the familiar apprentices: Russetpaw and Peachpaw. “You two should be evacuating with the rest!” Of course, Razorfang was able to understand that the safety of the RainClan kits had obviously entered the minds of the two apprentices before him now. Regardless, he still found himself aggravated that they had dwindled behind in such urgency. However, it was likely just his 'caught off guard by the sudden flood' mood still heavily weighing on his mind.
Lifting his gaze away from Peachpaw and Russetpaw, he scanned the Nursery for any signs of straggling kits. He took recognition of Icekit, the deaf white tom; Peachpaw's brother. He suspected Peachpaw would take responsibility of him and assure he got out of camp alongside her, so he glanced over thoroughly muscled shoulder blades toward the female apprentice. “Take Icekit with you, Peachpaw. Russetpaw and I will gather any other kits still present.” With the dismissive flick of his ebony tail, gray-green irises fixated upon the almost-warrior with a reddish brown coat of fur. “Has anyone checked the Elders den, yet?” The deputy asked, perseverance emitting from his urgent stance.[/size][/blockquote]

[Deleted]

Mistheart was laying on her back with her legs out in the warm sunlight, a purr escaping her lips as she stretched out and turned onto her side. It was the middle of green-leaf and the sun felt good on her blue-grey pelt, her tail waving side to side over the grass, her ear twitching as a breeze rolled over her body. Se had her eyes closed so she did not realize water was rising to where she was laying on a small green hill. When the water reached her tail she simply thought it was another breeze but as it rose and started to surround her she suddenly jumped.

The warrior's eyes snapped open, quickly pushing herself up with her front legs and coughing, water had gotten into her mouth. She coughed a few times, taking in deep breathes just as Lilypaw stood in the den entrance saying there was a flood. Flood?! The warrior finally looked down, water slowly rising up her legs, her eyes going wide. Not a second later she heard Razorfang speak, giving a nod of her head and pushing herself up, shaking the other warriors awake then bounding out of the den.

The warrior would have ran to the nursery first but she already saw two apprentices run in there, then Razorfang, glancing around the camp she bounced on her pups as she tried figuring out what to do. An ear flicked towards the nursery, asking the apprentices if anyone checked the Elder's den. "Razorfang!" She meowed, quickly running over, rain drenching her fur. "I'll check the Elder's, somebody should run to Swanfeather." She mewed just before turning and running over to the Elder's den.

Mistheart stood in the Elder's den entrance, sticking her head in. "Wake up! The camp is flooding! We need to get moving." She meowed, moving into the den and shaking the Elder's awake.

[Phoenix]

Despite the storm raging outside his den, the golden tom had managed to fall into a somewhat restful slumber. Until his dreams were rudely interrupted by a familiar, brisk voice. Yellow eyes immediately snapped open, and upon comprehending the spoken words, he wiped any lingering effects of sleep from his being. Flood. On the most pleasant day, the word alone caused a shiver of fear to run down his spine and chill him to the bone, as it would to any cat who had survived one. Or perhaps that was just him. Even as he strode from his den, he worked to quell his rising panic. In an attempt to soothe himself and clear his mind, he reason that, at most, the water was hardly up to his paws and therefore not nearly enough to kill him yet. His breaths came shallow and rapid as he directed his paws toward Swanfeather's den, trusting Razorfang to take care of the cats in the nursery for now.

Since it was more sheltered than some of the other dens, the water had yet to reach a particularly alarming level in this area, though he knew that there was the additional need to save as many of the precious herbs as possible. However, he placed both the lives of his medicine cat and any others before the price of herbs; where the plants were replacable, cats were not. "Flood, Swanfeather," He stated boldly, voice loud enough to hear over the sound of rising water. "Save what you can carry but do not do so at the cost of either your life or another's. Then get out of here." It was blunt, short and bordering on rude, but there was no time to weave polite words to describe the situation. He stayed only long enough to hear confirmation that his words had been heard before disappearing back into the main camp. Swanfeather was more than fully capable of taking care of herself.

When he arrived at the elder's den a moment later, legs wet and working increasingly hard to remain the relatively calm, composed leader RainClan needed to get through this, he was met with the sight of Mistheart with a drowsy Grasswind and disoriented Snowstream. "There's a flood," He explained briefly, flicking his tail as he herded them out to the camp. "The water's rising fast. Everybody out now. Mistheart, help Snowstream." Though she had the heart and spirit of a younger feline, the old she-cat had the tired bones that belonged to an elder of her 112 moons. "Quickly." Grasswind was hardly better off, and he took it upon himself to provide the tom with a shoulder to lean on - albeit a rather impatient one - until they reached the edge of camp. "Go with them, Mistheart. Help those that are already ahead of you." Without waiting to see if the she-cat had followed his directions, Sandstar turned, and ignoring the very strong pull to get out of there and save his own skin, he headed straight for the nursery to check up, and help out, with the progress there.

[Fawn]

Just as the amount of water soaking into the ground was beginning to quicken, so too did the adrenaline running through the almost-warrior's veins, his ruddy ears swiveling to catch word of Peachpaw, who had entered shortly after him, Russetpaw grateful that Icekit's older sister was here to handle her younger brother. Russetpaw had absolutely nothing against the little deaf, mute kitten - he was rather fond of him, in a sense - but he wasn't patient or skilled enough to possibly try and explain the situation to Icekit, and would have likely sent him into a confused panic by sheer accident. Reaching forward, Russetpaw rasped his tongue quickly but comfortingly over Icekit's ears, feeling his spirits lift at the sight of Razorfang arriving to keep calm and control over a situation that could oh so quickly escalate into panic.
"Everyone wake up please, don't be alarmed and keep sight of your little ones. The camp is flooding, we're going to get everyone out in an orderly fashion, understand?"

Chest swelling as he inhaled deeply, the ruddy tom's bright green eyes flickered and filled with fire, a burning desire to ensure the safety of his Clan above all else. Brookrun, his mother, stirred immediately, her body looking disproportionate for how swollen she was with kits - Russetpaw's younger brothers and sisters, he was happy to note. "It's alright mother, we'll get you out safely. Dad'll be here soon."

The only reason he had not answered Razorfang's question about the elders was because Mistheart had arrived and swore to check on them herself, something he was grateful for. It was interesting for him, a tom who was more used to action and reaction as opposed to stopping and getting pensive over things, that he was getting his first sliver of a taste of Clan leadership. He was quickly realizing that no matter how much he wanted to be, he couldn't be everywhere at once.

There was a part of him that longed to be near Lilypaw, helping her get to safety, and he wanted to be here with his parents, ensuring that they get out too, and then he wanted to be circling the whole camp like a dog to a flock of sheep, making sure no one fell behind and that Razorfang's instructions were able to be heard by all. The time for contemplation abruptly ended, however, as a dark tabby tom - one of the birdkits, as they were infamously known as - bolted right through the gap between Russetpaw and Razorfang like a barracuda sighting a young trout.
"Crowkit wait!" He shouted, but the almost-apprentice had already bolted to the center of camp, where he nearly got himself stepped on by the evacuating elders, Crowkit squeaking and balking in sudden alarm.

Brushing past Snoweye - his father - on his way out, Russetpaw weaved through the streams of evacuating cats in his efforts to reach the panicking tom-kit.
"Crowkit stay there! Don't move, I'm telling you!"

In the midst of all the confusion, a silver leopard-spotted she-cat made her way through the swampy campsite to Swanfeather's den. "I've come to help you, what do you need me to do?" While the apprentices and Razorfang were busy evacuating the elders and the cats in the nursery, Violetclaw had taken it upon herself to be at Swanfeather's side during this potentially herb-obliterating situation. The more they could save, the more they could use down the road when one of their Clanmates fell ill or needed help. Giving Sandstar a respectful dip of the head (she may have still been upset with him for picking Razorfang over her, but now was not the time nor the place for petty grudges), Violetclaw fixed her gleaming amber gaze upon the beautiful pointed Medicine Cat.

[Deleted]

I C E K I T

The kit purred when the older dark-red apprentice licked his ear, but blue eyes widened when a black and orange adult tom walked up to them. Icekit had seen the RainClan deputy before, but not often; what concerned him more now was how worried the adult cat looked. Adults never seemed to get upset, and the fact that both older toms were upset upset the youngest one. It wasn't only those two: beyond the nursery entrance, he could see other cats running around. What's happening? White ears flattened nervously, as from what Icekit could see, something big was happening. But what? The only thing different tonight from the other nights was waking up with the snow-melt-ground on his fur.

When Peachpaw walked up to them, Icekit purred happily. He didn't exactly know that she was his older sister, but she smelled like family and played with him and his littermates often enough. But she looked nervous, too... When the cream colored cat fixed her ice blue eyes on Icekit's own, his ears perked up. 'Pay attention'. The deaf kit tilted his head in confusion; pay attention to what? The arrival of a sand-colored adult tom distracted the kit from whatever his older sister might have tried to say. So many cats running around, all looking nervous, and all these cats showing up at the nursery, all in the middle of the night, overwhelmed the confused kit. "?!?!?" he meowed anxiously, accidentally far-too-loud.

[Fate Admin]

Rushkit was none too happy when all the commotion started and woke him from a very nice dream… which he couldn’t even remember now, great! Pale green eyes blinking open, he looked down at himself with a wrinkled nose. His fur was plastered to his body, muddy and wet, and he didn’t like it at all. How had it even happened? He looked around from where he was curled with his sister and mother. Icekit was already up, it seemed. He stood and looked around further as other cats started coming into the nursery.

The camp is flooding? What does that mean? As Russetpaw entered and explained to everyone what was going on, Rushkit simply wondered what the word ‘flood’ meant. He hadn’t yet been born when the last flooding of the camp happened, it had actually been about a moon or two before his birth, so he had nothing to relate the word to since it was about the first time he’d ever heard it. Apparently it wasn’t a good thing.

He padded over to his brother just as the white tom kit let out a ridiculously loud meow, causing Rushkit’s ears to flatten against his head. He prodded his brother’s shoulder, somewhat annoyed, “Hey, stop that!” He’d learned so far that Icekit seemed to pay more attention to you if you touched him first. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t pay attention to you normally when you simply SPOKE to him. He gave him a light shove in the direction every other cat in the camp seemed to be going as Eelpebble joined them with Askit, “C’mon, we’re leaving. THAT way!” He pointed with one outstretched paw, toward the cats filing out of camp.

After a moment of annoyance with his brother, he realized… they were leaving camp! For the first time ever they were leaving camp! This was going to be awesome! His fur fluffed up at the realization and he took a few excited steps forward before his father blocked the way, giving him a lick over the ear before murmuring with Eelpebble and finally picking Ashkit up by the scruff and carrying her away. Why did she get to go first?

[Deleted]

. : p e a c h p a w : .

As soon as Peachpaw got Icekit's attention, the mostly white apprentice began trying to explain. She stomped a forepaw down into the snow/mud/water mixture covering the floor of the nursery, then lifted her paw slowly, as if to signal the rising water. Before she could get her point across, though, Icekit became distracted by the arrival of Razorfang, the RainClan deputy. "Take Icekit with you, Peachpaw." Peachpaw nodded, noting the rising water levels.

Icekit meowed, many shades too loudly, and his littermate, Rushkit, prodded him rather forcefully. Peachpaw gave the kit a hard gaze, not quite a glare, and spoke to the young tom. "Rushkit, wait. Eelpebble can carry you out." Peachpaw offered her mother a smile before turning her attention back to Icekit.

Not knowing what else to do, Peachpaw moved closer to her younger brother. Though worried, she pushed aside the current situation and began purring, moving to crouch over Icekit. She rasped her tongue over his ears and touched her throat to his body, so he could feel the rumbling of her purr. After a few moments of purring and swiping her tongue over the all-white kit, Peachpaw moved. Teeth gently grabbed Icekit by the scruff, hoisting him into the air as she stood.

Peachpaw slid out of the nursery, Icekit in her jaws, whether he liked it or not. It was for his own good, and that's what kept her from dropping the bundle of fur as he squirmed. Peach-tipped paws splashed through the murky water rising in the camp, kicking up mud as she followed the stream of cats trying to escape the camp.

[Insidious]

Razorfang of RainClan

Peachpaw was quick to put the RainClan deputy's instructions into action, nodding his head approvingly in the direction of the apprenticed she-cat as she gathered the scruff of Icekit's neck into her jaws and began to work her way over to the nursery's exit, from where she would likely find a placement amongst the rest of the evacuating clan cats to assure her brother and, of course, herself, reached safety.

As a tiny bundle of black fur bolted passed Razorfang, the deputy snorted – slightly caught off guard by the kit's rashness – whirling around in a timely manner to fixate a stone-cold gaze upon the young kit as it scrambled to reach safety. His tail flicked in minor distaste, not desiring to waste any more time than necessary with herding frightened kits. The large tom-cat didn't even have to request that his apprentice, Russetpaw, handle young Crowkit. Before he could turn his head toward the reddish brown feline, he was already reacting to Crowkit's rambunctious frolicking by following his path; Razorfang had enough faith in Russetpaw to trust that he would be able to handle Crowkit for the time being.

A final shoulder-check was performed, gray-green irises skimming the nursery with an in depth analysis to assure no other kits still remained inside. Mumbling some form of jibberish beneath his breath, Razorfang began to maneuver toward the exit – with where he nearly collided with the sandy brown body of RainClan's leader. Normally, a surge of shock would have transported itself through the deputy's muscled figure upon a near impact with Sandstar. However, there was surely no time to waste with pitiful surprise. Besides, he had a clear idea as to why Sandstar's presence had reached the nursery: likely checking up to assure all was being handled efficiently. “All of the kits have been successfully evacuated from the nursery.” His report upon the nursery situation was brief and delivered with quick, precise speech. He didn't suspect that Sandstar required a thorough report on all of the details. All that mattered was that the basics were known: in this case, the basics being that the nursery had been handled and was no longer a priority.

Razorfang's gaze traveled passed the leader's body, falling upon the medicine den. A flash of white fur was detected entering the den, with whom he registered as Violetclaw. Suspecting that the RainClan warrior would be able to care for Swanfeather, he returned his attention to Sandstar. Momentarily, his mind wandered to Roselight. For what reason? He wasn't entirely certain. A small hope within him wanted to go off and assure the cream-furred she-cat was safe. Although, he couldn't pester his mind with the security of one cat when there was an entire clan in need of aid.

The hazelnut-masked deputy traveled passed Sandstar with brisk strides, halting abruptly to spare a glance over his shoulders toward the leader. “Is there anywhere else that needs to be checked in camp before I tend to the evacuating cats?” The group of departing RainClan felines was beginning to diminish, this providing a glisten of reassurance for the deputy. However, a lessening group was the last thing to provide him with a sense of satisfaction. He wouldn't be fully satisfied until he knew that they had not only successfully fled camp, but reached safety without facing potential harm along the way.

[Phoenix]

He barely had time to slightly alter his path - and avoid a rather unnecessary collision - when the familiar figure of his deputy came into sight. Golden eyes immediately locked on Razorfang's face, not even having to ask for a report to receive one in the other tom's concise, to-the-point manner. Inclining his head, he replied briefly, "Good," before his eyes wandered from the black features to the den behind him. Not that he had truly doubted his deputy's words, but a sense of duty dictated that he had to make sure for himself. "I cleared the elder's den," He relayed the information as brisk and short as Razorfang had been with him. In his mind, the kits and the elders were the two main groups that required the most assistance and attention in an evacuation situation. The elders warranted the help not because of an unawareness but due to their aging, and consequently failing, bodies. "No. I trust that you can assist the evacuating cats," Sandstar stated, turning slightly to face his deputy. "Bring them toward the StoneClan border." He trusted that Razorfang knew the territory well enough to recognize the meeting point. It was one of the few areas in Rainclan were rivers were scarce, and the proximity to StoneClan's territory indicated higher - therefore drier - ground.

Instructions delivered, he turned and set off to begin the final trip around camp to make sure that no stragglers were left behind. Golden eyes noted Peachpaw and a struggling Icekit joining the flood of cats as they stumbled by him, and he mentally checked off two cats. A cursory look told him that, true to Razorfang's word, no cat had been left behind in the nursery. Leaving the empty den behind him, he set off toward the others.

On the other side of camp, Bravepaw was busy gathering up as many herbs as he could reach, ignoring the odd taste that filled his mouth due to combinations of herbs. They tasted no better together than they did apart, he found himself noting as he added a bundle of something - really, he should probably know more than he did about herbs because of his close relationship with the resident medicine cat - to the pile. At least he knew enough to not grab the deathberries. The apprentice looked up at the sound of Violetclaw's voice, and glancing toward Swanfeather, he decided that he would let his mother continue working. "Could you grab those, please?" He asked, voice muffled by the plants clamped in his jaws. The tom gestured with his tail to an untouched pile of herbs resting dangerously close to the rising water level. "Watch for the deathberres, though. They're red. You'll see them." He felt obligated to add, just in case. Though he knew his way around Swanfeather's den pretty well - even if he could only identify a few of the herbs - that did not mean that other cats did.

Every other den was empty when Sandstar finally reached Swanfeather's to find that this one was not as deserted as the others. The water was nearing a danger zone for the cats, particularly for Bravepaw, who was at least a head shorter than the rest of him. "Time's up," He meowed shortly, gesturing for the group to leave. It looked like they had managed to save a decent amount of herbs, though he had never really taken inventory of Swanfeather's supply. Moving forward, he picked up some left over leaves in his own maw, waiting until the cats exited before falling in line beside and slightly behind them. "Follow the others and head toward the StoneClan border."

[Fawn]

What had once been a docile, if not sluggish little stream that surrounded the camp had turned into a churning brook that flowed faster than any RainClan cat would've thought possible. It had never been this bad, Roselight noted with narrowed cerulean eyes, the water soaking into her belly fur as she stood, gently but briskly helping some of the cats across. "Come on Gingertail, you're almost to the other side," she mewed, voice breaking down into a light rasp from overuse; it felt as if the creamy furred feline had been standing in this stream forever, when really it had hardly been that long at all.

Having found the rest of camp to be very active and crowded with so many cats all trying their damnedest to be useful, Roselight had made a beeline for the camp stream, realizing just in time that it was going to be a bit difficult to cross - the waters murky with mood and dead plants and whatever else had been pulled from it's banks, making it difficult to see just where exactly you were putting your paws. Having located the shallowest part and thus the safest place to cross, when the cats had started coming - mainly elders and queens carrying their kits - Roselight had made herself busy, turning eagle-eyed and rather like a mother grizzly in her protective, all-seeing gaze as she became a shoulder to lean on or an extra mouth to carry the odd kit or two across herself.

For a few fleeting moments, her thoughts turned to the RainClan deputy. He's probably got his paws full making sure everyone's evacuated safely. Having already seen Russetpaw, who seemed to be in several different places at once, it made sense for her thoughts to turn to Razorfang, right? He was the deputy, of course she'd want to know what he was up to. But, despite her losses, Roselight could sense but would not admit that her thoughts borderlined more on concern rather than curiosity, the she-cat finding herself throwing a glance over a pale shoulder just in case he might suddenly appear and calm that tiny disturbance at the back of her mind.

~*~

Just as Russetpaw had been about to descend upon the startled tom-kit, an enormous mottled shape entered the russet feline's peripherals, and he instinctively knew him to be Vultureback, recognizing him through sheer size alone rather than smell. Vultureback made a noncommittal grunt and scooped up the squealing Crowkit, dipping his head in silent thanks to the apprentice. Russetpaw scarcely had time to return the nod before Vultureback had surged on ahead, his flank pressed to a pretty tabby, the former StoneClan deputy as she herded their two other kits towards out of the flooding camp.

With that little problem sorted, Russetpaw pivoted around to see Sandstar having reached the nursery. Not about to interrupt the deputy and the leader conversing, Russetpaw shook water from his whiskers and glanced around, attempting to zero in on where he could best make himself useful. Where's Bravepaw? Wanting to look out for his friends as well as his family, the ruddy tom raised his head and called out for the light-hued cat amidst the flocking warriors.
"Bravepaw! Where are you? I'm by the River Stone!" Hoping the tom could hear him above the din and possibly the sound of his own panicking, Russetpaw shifted on uneasy paws. At last he spotted Bravepaw exiting Swanfeather's den alongside Violetclaw, both cats having their jaws full of precious herbs. He was quick to join them, offering any help he could give to make everything run that much easier.

~*~

Apricotpaw bolted towards the nursery like a ginger and white streak of lightning, her good ear swiveling to catch the sound of the deputy and the leader conversing nearby, Apricotpaw barely slowing down to dip her head in respectful acknowledgment of them both - not that they were looking. Icekit! Rushkit! A relieved purr burst through her chest and Apricotpaw gave her sister Peachpaw a brief nuzzle, realizing she would have her paws full with the wriggling, squealing Icekit, before she turned pretty golden eyes upon the impatient and annoyed Rushkit. Not having the time to really explain what was going on, Apricotpaw gave him a comforting lick on the ear. "Let's go, Rushkit - I'm going to carry you, the camp stream is too high to cross on your own." Picking him up gently by the scruff, Apricotpaw moved quickly so that she might join her sister, good ear on full alert, glad that things seemed to be going smoothly for the rest of the camp as well, not that that did anything to lessen the adrenaline surge she was feeling.

[Insidious]

Razorfang of RainClan

Razorfang made a mental note of Sandstar's final instructions, a subtle nod being performed before the deputy pivoted and began to approach the large group of fleeing, RainClan felines. His strides were stretched; purposeful. The black furred tom-cat reached the outer flank of the crowd, protruding his neck to skim the familiar faces before he began to maneuver his way toward the frontal region of the group. Sandstar had directly requested that he assure the group was heading in StoneClan's direction. Therefore, he considered it urgent that he reach the front of the RainClan cats and assure nobody was straggling in a direction they weren't supposed to.

Gray-green eyes flickered from face-to-face with quick precision as he passed those of his clan. A small nod of reassurance being offered to those he made eye contact with, until his gaze fixated upon the cream-furred features of Roselight he had inwardly been desiring to see amongst the group. Her head was turned over pale shoulders, though, it didn't seem as if her cerulean eyes had quite been able to pick him out amongst the crowd – if she even was searching for him.

It's probably Russetpaw she's looking for. It was this thought alone that briskly cleared the tom's thoughts. With a quick shake of his ebony head, Razorfang averted his attention back to the flooding landscape directly before his large paws. He was still intent on reaching the front of the crowd, however, he assured to pass by the flank of Roselight – ever so slightly brushing against it – just in case his assumption toward her search for his reddish brown apprentice over him had been false. He offered the she-cat a quick half-grin, the slightest trace of affection held within his icy gaze – so small it could have easily passed over her head undetected; so small that Razorfang himself had hardly noticed it at all.

At last, the RainClan deputy had reached his desired positioning at the crowd's front. Quickly, he twisted his head over broad, thinly furred shoulders, eyes bold with a mixture of concern and responsibility as he skimmed the RainClan felines present in the group traveling toward... who knew if they even knew where. “Our destination is the StoneClan border! They're located on higher ground, therefore, it'll be drier. Everyone stay together!” His voice boomed with the loudness of rumbling thunder, overwhelming any mild conversation possibly being exchanged between felines present in the crowd. He desired for each set of cat ears to detect his words, and he was sure this had been accomplished.

With the purposeful flick of his ebony tail, the tom-cat spun his body frontward and began his StoneClan angled march, a variety of RainClan warriors, apprentices, kits and elders all following close behind.