[Justice]

SiLverStaR

49 Moons RainClan Tom

"Silverstar, the river has overflowed its banks! The water is creeping into camp and rising rapidly!" His mother gasped out her words as she slid to a stop in front of him, panting and sopping wet. The rains had been heavy this season, and now it seemed it had reached a crucial point. They couldn't stay here. The silver tom was also soaked through, though thankfully his pelt was made for water so he wasn't cold.

Silverstar didn't even bother to question the news, he'd been watching the waters as well as Lilygleam over the last few nights. They had to act quickly or the entire clan would be at risk. He took a breath and broke into a full run, coming back into camp and raising his voice to be heard over the heavy rains and wind. "Hear me, everyone! The river has passed the banks and the water isn't going to go back down. We're heading for higher ground." His tone was clear and strong, no sign of the hard knot of fear sitting in his gut as the water began lapping over his paws. It was coming too fast. "Float the nests in the nursery, put those kits too small to swim on the nests and push them. If your mate is a queen in the nursery or an expectant one swim with her, guard your family. They are your responsibility. If you have an apprentice as well send them to their mother and father. Stay to your families if you can, and if you are separated and not a strong swimmer go to whoever you can find. Apprentices you are given permission to grab the tail of any adult you can. Form a chain and don't let go, float if you get tired. A limp cat is easier to pull along than one that is struggling."

He could smell the fear going through the clan, water rushing faster and faster as he tried to get out instructions as quickly as possible. "Warriors pair off, stay two together and if you are a weaker swimmer partner with someone that is a stronger swimmer. We swim these tides, the water will not defeat us."

The silver pelted leader noticed Dewfrost frantically trying to get whatever herbs hadn't already been washed away out of her den and sighed. "Leave it Dewfrost. Our lives are more important than your herbs. Your life is more important than your herbs. Everyone help each other and stay together. Elders with a warrior, Apprentices either to your parents or mentor, kits in your nests and stay there. Don't panic and lets get going. Lilygleam, lead them on towards higher ground. I'll be along when everyone has made it out of camp."

He saw Echoshade helping to float the nests, pulling one along with her for any young kits still too small to swim the rushing tide of the river. She was also wading along to stay near Willowbreeze. A nest and a queen, and his best friend would guard whoever she had to. He sent a prayer up to StarClan to protect them all, to see every last cat safely to dry land.

The water was still rising.

The future lies before you, like freshly fallen snow
Be careful how you tread it, for every step will show
_{author unknown}

[Ginger]

"Little bug, get up."

He wasn't sleeping, he was just watching the rain fall outside of the apprentice's den. Maybe those crystalline blue eyes had been a little closed, but Wasp-paw was trying his best to reduce his nap-time so that he could be slightly more useful. Skychaser had set Wasp-paw down the right path towards being a productive warrior of Rainclan, but it was a process. 

So naturally, when Sparrowfoot told him to get up, the young bengal grumbled irritatedly. "I wasn't sleeping." He turned his head away from her, wishing that she would stop being so present. "I wish you would go away."

Her voice hardened, yet still had her signature warmth. "This is serious. Get up now." 

Wasp-paw sighed and took his time getting up, stretching and yawning. As he looked to his mother, he saw that her face was plastered with panic and worry. She rarely showed such emotions - something had to actually be wrong. The young tom walked to his mother, avoiding pressing up to her. He didn't want to show her that he had noticed her state of emotions.

As he exited his den, Wasp-paw realized just why his mother had been freaking out. Water was beginning to creep its way into the camp, and the hard rain was not helping either. His eyes widened in fear, and the tom felt frozen in place as the water continued to rise.

"Come, little bug. Silverstar told us to swim for higher ground. Stay with me." 

With a gulp, Wasp-paw nodded and turned to follow his mother, the water rising up from his paws to his legs. It was all happening so fast. Warriors were rushing about to get kits, elders, and each other from their dens and to the group that was swimming. Just focus on yourself. You're too small to help. It was not something he admitted to himself often, but it was a harsh reality that Wasp-paw was aware of. He was a very small cat, ineffective in helping others swim as he would only find himself getting pushed under. For now, all he could do was join the group of cats swimming up the stream to the dry ground.

As the apprentice and his doting mother swam beside each other in the group, Wasp-paw felt some of his confidence returning. This swim was not terrible, and everyone was doing well. Everything would be okay. 

Almost immediately after he thought that, a current began to pull at his legs. It was not strong yet, but the apprentice knew it would only get stronger. Sparrowfoot seemed to sense the current too, pushing on Wasp-paw as hard as possible to help him swim away from it. The young tom paddled more frantically, trying to get to the front of the group, almost forgetting about Sparrowfoot. Almost.

Wasp-paw looked side to side, then behind him for just long enough to see his mother's striped head disappear under the water. 

Everything seemed to slow down. 

He tried to scream for help, but a rush of water got in his mouth as he opened his mouth, causing the panicked tom to sputter. Turning around fully, Wasp-paw swam back to where his mother had gone under. I can't lose her. Not her. 

"Someone, help!" Wasp-paw barely croaked out the call for help before more water rushed down his throat. It was now or never. Forgetting everything he had learned about how small cats are not effective in rescuing drowning cats, Wasp-paw dived under the water and swam towards his sinking mother. As he reached her, he sank his teeth into her scruff, holding on for dear life. He attempted to swim back up, but he was too small and the current too strong. 

Darkness began to ever so slightly set in. Is this the end?

---

636 words
Justice , @ anyone who joins

[BlooRey DVD]

TEAR THE WHOLE WORLD DOWN

TEAR THE WHOLE WORLD DOWN

Everything just had to be wet. Massive paws splashed through the quickly rising water of camp, partially lidded pale green eyes flicking from evacuating cat to evacuating cat. Any intelligent being would be panicked just now; it wasn't that he wasn't intelligent. He knew that the situation was dangerous. But after checking on Echoshade, who was helping Willowbreeze load her newborn kits onto a floating nest, the big tom cat decided that being panicked was too... Inconvenient. Panic bred room for mistake. And there was little room for mistake when the river that bordered both sides of their island home had broken its banks and begun to consume all it could find.

Shoving through the reeds, the thick furred tom first looked right up river, then left down river. ...Just in time to see a head go beneath the waves, and a runt of an apprentice attempt to follow in what he presumed to be a rescue. Heaving a sigh, Gorgeleap launched himself into the current with little further thought, cold and powerful water crashing against his mottled brown fur. Wide paws splayed expertly in the water, churning the liquid with a power that could only belong to a tom of his size.

White water thrashed around him as he plowed through what distance remained after his leap, head pulled up as he peered downward into the near-black water. He couldn't have started drowning a little closer, could he. He thought flatly, casting a glance toward the bank when he saw movement. A fawn colored she-cat hopped along the bank, her green eyes wide and panicked. "O-Over th-there! He-He's over th-there!" She shrieked above the roaring current. His ears flattened against his skull at the sound, grunting in displeasure. I didn't know Minnowsplash could reach that octave. He deadpanned, albeit readjusted his course to where the warrioress had indicated.

With a gulp of air, the big tom ducked below the surface, immediately hating how river water flooded his ears. Mentally rolling his eyes, he kicked once, twice, pushing himself deeper into the river until he could lock his jaws over Wasp-paw's scruff. He wouldn't have long, since Sparrowfoot had gone beneath the surface first. Briefly, he wondered just how far he could throw Wasp-paw. Likely not far enough. He conceded disappointedly. Thrashing his massive paws, the tom thrust himself and the apprentice in his jaws back to the surface, breaking through the dark water and heaving the dead-weight apprentice into the open air too.

Navigating himself toward the bank, he intended to make for Minnowsplash's pacing form. Before he got too much further, however, another form pushed through the water. Pale green eyes observed the form of Skychaser, briefly recognizing that the warrior was this apprentice's mentor. "I'll take him!" Came the call over the river. With a shrug, the big tom pulled Wasp-paw as far out of the water as he could manage, allowing Skychaser to get a better hold. Once successfully delivered, he looked back toward Minnowsplash frantically bounding along the coast.

"H-Here! Sh-She is s-sinking f-fast!!" Letting the current sweep him further, he helped it along with expert churns of his paws. He felt fur hit his leg as he moved. Once again forced beneath the surface, Gorgeleap dove, grasping anything he could reach in his jaws. Only when he burst through the surface again did he work to readjust his grip, pulling the unconscious she-cat's face out of the water. He'd been swept quite far along, but somehow Minnowsplash had followed. She was calling for someone to help, though Gorgeleap didn't give it much thought. He just had to make it to the bank.

Hind claws scraped agains the rocks as he reared up, heaving Sparrowfoot's form into the air. His forepaws thudded against the earth, and Minnowsplash reached to grab the other she-cat. But without someone a little larger, he doubted they could get the still warrioress out, never mind his hulking form. Well, this is great. He thought with a sigh.

RAINCLAN || 49 MOONS || TOM

Sorry about him XD Ghost the Undead Goddess Ginger Justice ~650 words

[Fawn]

Brookfall

49 Moons Tom RainClan Warrior

Brookfall had watched his mother frantically rouse Silverstar, and he had listened as his brother’s words called for swiftness and calm - two things the Clan needed to get through this dark turn of events. They were RainClan, plain and simple, but Brookfall could not help but note with a kind of wretched humor that too much of their namesake was actually detrimental. That brief stab of humor vanished, replaced by what he supposed should be sympathy for the lives all around him.

Some were not going to make it out alive.

It would have to be a miracle for that to happen, and RainClan had never been particularly lucky in the past. There were a pawful of senior most warriors who had lost friends and kin to previous floods; he could sense them through the clenched jaws and stench of fear, something playing out behind their eyes that Brookfall was not privy to.

The large silver-white tom stalked the bank of the camp stream, watching the procession of cats grow sloppy as the water and the slink banks threatened to overcome many of them. He helped where he could - catching many by the scruff before they tumbled in, nudging a nest here or there as needed - he even flashed a gentleman’s smile to a frightened she-cat elder too afraid to enter the water by herself. The she-cat’s offspring came to her aid, just in time too, because Brookfall was needed elsewhere.

Minnowsplash was not a she-cat who shrieked. Brookfall wheeled around, pivoting on wide sturdy paws, the extra claw on each foot providing just a tad more traction than the average cat as he waded towards her. The scene he laid eyes upon was not a fortuitous one; a drenched Wasp-paw had been hauled out and passed to his mentor, and Gorgeleap - the begrudging rescuer - had a Clanmate’s scruff between his teeth and the river carrying him away. Brookfall’s heart jammed up like a log dam, and with a tightened expression, he outpaced Minnowsplash on the bank. Slipping into the water, he kicked powerful hind legs against the churning water until he was on Gorgeleap’s other side, and pushed the tom closer to the embankment, throwing his shoulder into the action.

“This is what you get,” said Brookfall with a wry, dry note as he heaved, “for being the greedy one in the family.”

The sodden Gorgeleap was going to require a herculean effort to get him onto shore, but Brookfall was already digging deep into the reservoirs of strength and endurance. RainClan cats spent much of their time on riverbanks, idly waiting for fish - but they were by no means soft or lazy.

We all eat lies when our hearts are hungry.

449 Words || BlooRey DVD || Notes

[Abyss]

Waterstep

28 moons | She-Cat | Rainclan

[smear:#deeeff]She hadn’t been there when it happened. She wasn’t at the edge of the waters with Lilygleam when the rain had forced the water out of its boundaries and towards camp. She had been there the day previous, watching over the slowly rising waters with the mother of the Leader and temporary Deputy, waiting for any major advancements. When the water had reached the very top of the banks and just began to flow over, she was sent back to camp to report it to Silverstar. She had been in camp since then, allowing herself to rest and eat before she would head back out again. But it seemed it was too late for that.

The uniquely-colored calico burst from the Warriors den at the call of Lilygleam and Silverstar. Her eyes locked onto the entrance of the camp, eyes widening at the water slowly making its way into the clearing. With the pace the water was rising at, the camp would be full of water in no time. Listening just briefly to Silverstar’s orders, she turned tail and went back into the Warriors den, lightly bumping purposefully into any cats who weren’t awake or weren’t sure what to do. When she reached the back of the den, she stopped at one nest in particular that contained a sleeping figure within it. She lightly nudged the sleeping dilute calico eagerly.

“Mother, you must wake up. We need to leave.” As Featherfall’s eyes slowly opened, a dazed expression on her face. “The camp is flooding. We have to evacuate.” At this, her eyes opened wide and her body quickly got up. The two calicos rushed back to the front of the Warriors den, looking out across the camp. Cats were already making their way quickly out of camp, some Warriors helping the Elders while others helped those that could not swim.

As Waterstep’s blue gaze found its way just near camp, she saw the same scene that only a few cats had already seen. A small group of cats within the rushing river, each attempting to get another cat or two out of the water. She couldn’t tell who it was, but it didn’t matter.

“Go help the Queens. I will meet up with you as soon as possible, ” she stated, giving her mother a quick nuzzle against the neck before she turned and ran towards what she had seen. She saw Skychaser pulling Wasp-paw from the river. She also saw both Gorgeleap and Brookfall pulling along another cat, though she couldn’t see who it was. Both of them were strong Warriors, as most Rainclan Warriors were, but she knew how hard fighting against rushing water could be. She could only imagine how difficult it was to also pull along another cat at the same time.

She bound towards the group, coming to a halt as she got just ahead of them. As soon as they were close enough, she placed her front two legs into the water and reached forward with her head as much as she could, managing to grab a hold of the limp figure’s scruff next to Gorgeleap’s own hold. She pushed her feet into the ground as hard as she could, pulling with all of her might.
[/smear:#7abaff]

541 || Ginger BlooRey DVD Fawn || I hope its ok that she tries to help!

S I L E N T P A W

What was he to do? What could he do? The large blue eyes of Silentpaw looked too and from many cats at once. Silverstar. Lilygleam. Waterstep. Brookfall. There was so much going on at once. The somewhat younger tom had never been in a flood before. He listened closely to Silverstar’s orders, looking to the Nursery first.There were multiple cats there now, helping with the kits and making sure that the nests floated and that the kits stayed within them. He looked to the Elder’s den next, noticing that there were already Warriors escorting the older cats out of the den. The Leader’s next order was to stay with your family or with your mentor.

His eyes darted around the camp, looking for Shellfur. He didn’t see her right away, which was concerning. He ran towards the Warriors den, hoping that his mentor was there, or was at least somewhere safe.

WORDS: 152 | Ghost the Undead Goddess | NOTES: -

By Cotton of Template HQ

[Taxx]

Sunkit

I'm gonna take this itty bitty world by storm

Sunkit had been watching the rain fall, stunned by the sheer volume of it. The days since his birth had been hot and dry, but lately it had been replaced by cloudy skies and downpours. It had been interesting at first, and he'd dared to go out and play in it. Right now, however, he was watching and hoping it would let up soon. He wanted the sun back so he could go out and play without getting absolutely drenched after taking two steps out of the nursery.

Silverstar's sudden warning had the ginger tom spinning to stare at the Clan's leader, confusion rising within him. The river was rising? They were heading for higher ground?

Blankly Sunkit was nudged along with his littermates, clambering into one nest and peering over the edge as it was slid onto the river. Rain churned the surface of the water, making him blink constantly as it splashed back into his eyes. He looked over to see Willowbreeze in another nest, her two little kits barely visible, and a sudden flash of indignation swept through him. He didn't need to be helped! He was a kit, but he wasn't tiny like those two were. He knew how to swim just fine! Nobody else was being helped; even the elders were swimming.

Glancing forward, Sunkit was just able to make out Silverstar and Lilygleam, leading the way. He just had to follow them, that was all. Sucking in a quick breath, Sunkit crouched and hopped out of the nest; almost as soon as his paws left the soft bottom several screeches rang out. He had no time to wonder why, however, as he plunged into the water in the next moment and the flow instantly snatched at him.

His body scraped past paddling legs; outstretched claws snagged at his left ear and the surface broke just in front as a warrior made a desperate grab for him. Too slow. He was out of reach before they managed to do more than glimpse him.

Suddenly frantic, Sunkit struggled. He could see which way was up, he just had to get there! This wasn't the calm camp stream he was used to; the water was freezing and the flow was so much faster. His legs churned, lungs beginning to ache as he tried to swim for the surface, and fear chilled him even more as he realized, for the first time, just how dangerous water could be.

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