A storm's coming (NOT a death topic. Open to anyone)

A messy-furred ginger apprentice sat on the edge of the gorge, looking down into the rushing waters below. It was a steep and scary drop,  bone crushing and a fast death...if you didn't land in the water, that is. Emberpaw shivered and backed away, turning back to the parsley he was picking. They were running low of this plant in the medicine cat's den, so Emberpaw decided to gather some. As the sun reflected off his fur, the tom looked like he was on fire. He shined in the dimming light and smiled as he listened to the water roaring down at the bottom of the gorge. Emberpaw looked up to see a heavy and dark grey sky above him. Turning his gaze to a tree near-by, he saw that the leaves were turning upward and the air smelled damp and moist. A big storm was coming.

Emberpaw panicked as thunder roared in the distance and rain started showering down from the sky. The tom picked up the parsley in his jaws and jumped backwards as a bolt of lighting struck near-by. His back foot slipped off the edge of the gorge and he scrambled as he stumbled backwards, claws digging into the edge and his body hanging over the side. Emberpaw spit the herbs out of his mouth and they dropped down into the rushing river below. "Help," he screamed, back legs clawing the side of the gorge to push himself up. It was hopeless, he couldn't pull himself to safety and he slipped, falling into the deep water below. Starclan, send someone to save me! Please, I beg you! "Help me!"

Specklefur was exploring the charred territory of Thunderclan when she herself was freaked by a clash of thunder, the old she-cat had been rather jumpy since the fire and was very skeptical of every noise. Turning to look towards the noise of a scream, without second thought the heavy she-cat launched towards it until she was able to peer down into the gorge, eye flashing up and down it until her good eye rested on a lump of fur. 'This could be a Riverclan cat...' thought the she-cat as she looked down at the fleeing form, it took a few moments but she had started running towards it, the thought of the chance of this actually being a Thunderclan was too high for her to risk it dying.

"Grab on to anything I'm coming!" Screeched the she-cat, she won't be able to swim but if this cat lived at her own sacrifice than that was enough for her, she wasn't much use anymore due to her age. Unsheathing her claws to gain traction the long-furred feline sprinted after the form she wasn't fast that was her disadvantage right now but if she could just make it ahead then she had a chance of saving them, already huffing and puffing due to the damage the smoke dealt on her lungs the she-cat forced herself on-wards with a hiss.

Firing into the water as soon as she managed to get ahead the she-cat felt water swallow her hole, her lungs already screaming the she-cat fought to the surface before locating the lump of fur. Powerful but awkward paddles further into the water the she-cat plunged forwards and snatched the apprentices scruff and dragging their head above surface, forcing their body over hers for the best chance of air the she-cat felt herself go under, water rushing into her mouth as she struggled against the current, the waves forcing her further down-stream. Spluttering a bit as her head broke surface the she-cat forced against retching and coughing her brains out like usual.

"Are you alright? Can you cough up any water you've swallowed?" She asked through jutting waves that knocked against her head threatening to barrel her over but with burning muscles she managed to keep herself afloat the threat of the small cat falling into the water again keeping her going, she wasn't going to dive right back into the violent waves.

The whole thing was a blur; water filled his lungs as he thrashed around in the strong current of the river. He smashed into rocks and driftwood before something bit down on his scruff and pulled him above the water. He took in a deep breath, choking on the liquid and squirming awkwardly in the cat's mouth before they were pulled under again. He hadn't been picked up like this in a long time, so the position was quite uncomfortable, but it was saving his life so Emberpaw didn't care. 


The now soaked tom coughed up water, choking on the air he was trying to suck in. "I...I'm al...alright," he said between his panting breaths. "Y...you saved me," Emberpaw purred as he coughed up some more water. The rain was already falling down in big drops and the thunder was loud and booming. The ginger Windclan medicine cat could not smell the clan on the she-cat, for the water and rain masked her scent. "Starclan will honor you for saving a medicine cat. I must repay you for this," Emberpaw acknowledged as they stayed afloat in the less rapid part of the water. "Tell me anything and I'll do it for you." The tom was grateful for this...the stranger she-cat had saved his life and she wasn't even in his clan.

Paws finding some ground the she-cat stifled a yowl of joy as she managed to heave herself onto a bank, water still soaked her feet as she took a small rest not minding the water splashing her still. "You repaying me is not necessary." She growled, that was until a thought had popped up, the fire's damage and the lack of herbs and prey was still threatening lives of her clan, plus her own health. "Actually.. mind giving my clan a few herbs and maybe some prey? My clan may be too prideful too accept straight from you but your own deeds will be remembered." She requested, trying not to say it through gritted teeth. She just hoped this apprentice wasn't from Riverclan.

Standing up again with the apprentice still on her back she gripped a little too harshly on their leg as she clambered up a small hill that was too steep for her liking, then again it was away from the gorge and they got out of the threat of getting washed away if she were to decide to move further down. Once up and over onto charred land the she-cat bent down and lightly pushed the medicine cat apprentice off of her back, a exasperated sigh was a almost immediate response as she felt herself fall to the ground, "Go to whichever clan you came from after this rain stops, find shelter though there isn't much of it and go talk to your leader or whatever, if you go through with it talk to your leader." She ordered, forcing herself back onto her haunches to look at the apprentice to make sure that her order got across to the tom.

Emberpaw was relieved when they made it to land. As the she-cat lightly pushed him off her back, he rolled onto the ground and onto his own back, waving his paws in the air for no reason. He laughed, then made his grey eyes focus on the stranger. She talked about her clan being prideful...must be from Thunderclan. The tom smiled at his little joke before saying; "Sounds like a deal. I'm Emberpaw from Windclan by the way, and I'll go share with my leader what you have done and ask him if we can give you some herbs and prey." The tom twitched his whiskers in an odd way and his fur stood up everywhere while his wild eyes jolted around, taking in the area around him. He looked like he had gone mad, but if you talked to him, you would see that he was completely sane.

Emberpaw then rolled onto his feet, accidentally getting all muddy from the ground. He shook his fur like a dog, getting most of the mud and water off. He made sure that none went onto his hero. "May I have your name?" he asked. Before Emberpaw left, he wanted to know who this girl was that saved him.

Stifling a tch at the messy apprentice the she-cat gave a bow of her head in respect towards the medicine cat apprentice. "Specklefur of Thunderclan, and may Starclan light your path." She meowed. "You can meet me here again tomorrow at sunrise, that is if the rain stops by then... Now go further downstream before crossing alright? I don't want to go swimming yet again." She warned with a bit of a hiss before finding herself on her paws again, again holding back a fit of coughing.

"I best be off before my leader worries." She meowed with another dip of her head and trudging off, long fur pitifully sticking to every bone and muscle as the rain continued to refuse her fur drying out.

The red-furred Emberpaw nodded. "Will do." And with that, he watched the she-cat walk away before he turned around and padded away, tail swooshing behind him and ears perked up. "Oh, and may Starclan guide your path as well," he said over his shoulder as he walked downstream to cross the flowing river. Lightning cracked as he made his way back to camp.