The River is dead [RC Flood Topic]

Swanpetal woke to the feeling of water, and was half-convinced she was still dreaming even as she stood. Looking around her to see her denmates still mostly asleep, and to the water that was slowly rising, she set about attempting to wake them. "Everyone, get up," she called out, nudging each of them once before moving on to the next. There were too many cats to pause and wake each individually, so she was moving as quickly as she could.

Once she was at least mostly convinced that they would be getting up on their own in the next few minutes, she moved to the apprentice's den with a single thought in her mind: What about Wasppaw? Was she alright? Thankfully, she found her daughter still asleep, and breathed a sigh of relief even as she prodded her with a paw. "Wasppaw, wake up! Something's wrong, the camp is flooded."

Yarrowpaw could hear the frantic calling of her denmate as she groggy woke from sleep only to blink in confusion as she felt her paws and nest soaked.  Surely she didn't go for a swim at any point in time.  Blinking her water blue eyes she looked to her paws finding water surrounding her and she blinked eyes widening in alarm as she caught bits and prices of what her clan mates said.  She got up a bit clumsily as the water dragged at her semi thick fur not yet sleek from eating fish.  She scrambled out to the warriors den in a panic to see her mother. It felt like as if it was only two days ago she was snuggled at her mothers side in the nursery "mom mom wake up " She mewed nudging her mother quickly with one wet paw. "It's flooding you need to get up" She mewed before she proceeded to go to her father Wolfsong  before back out to find her half brother her mind whirling as she didn't know what to do.

Little stream had felt a soaked paw prod her side but she ignored it until she heard her daughters voice say something about a flood.  This is where it confused the former queen for a moment causing her to open her eyes.

Lilytail's blue eyes widened when she heard her friend Swanpetal's voice call out that there was a flood. A flood?! It had been raining recently but she didn't think it was that intense to cause flooding. She quickly got up and made her way to the nursery. Despite their clan being great swimmers, flood waters were rapid and dangerous. Even the most expert of swimmers could drown. She entered the den and began to awake the queens. "There's a flood! We need to evacuate. Grab as many kits as you can and get them to safer ground!"

Gingerstripe was snuggled up to his mate, face buried in her fur, half-asleep but enjoying every second of her presence. After all the pain he'd endured, and despite the chaos of Gatherings and leaders and betrayals, nighttime was always peaceful. Or so he thought. Drowsily, the tom realized there were cats screaming... why? Was the camp under attack? He was so tired... Yawning, the tom stood up and started to stretch, but shock woke up his brain when he saw that the river had come to them. They were screaming for everyone to get out.

His eyes widened, then adrenaline kicked in and he took immediate action in shaking his mate awake. "Dewshine! Dewshine, get up, there's a flood! Get up get up get up!" Panic filled his tone as the water level rose, but he wouldn't leave until she did. She had to be safe... Then they would go find Blossomstream and get out.

"Blossomstream!" Stormstrike woke with a start, his yellow eyes scanning the den desperately for the she-cat. "Lightstep!" He floundered around the den, searching for them. They were the only cats that mattered to him now- all the others could wind up in the Dark Forest for all he cared.
His ears pricked as he heard wails from outside. Casting one last, fruitless gaze around the den, he turned and splashed through the entrance. There was one more cat... "Pantherpaw! Pantherpaw, where are you?" He cried, stumbling around the camp in a sodden daze. How did this happen?

Goldeneye emerged from the... elders den, while she still did not have any grey furs and was still youthful, but was recently denounced of her position as a medicine cat. Which was fine, it was all good, the gods could watch Riverclan crash and burn without her experienced guidance. Just for having a couple of bastard kits while her ex-mate only got a reprimand, pathetic. Goldeneye looked around with no degree of urgency, their lives were no longer in her paws after all. Moving smoothly through the water towards the medicine cat den, she peered in. "Fallowlight! Get up and get collecting what measly herbs we have." She called snappishly but did not move to help. She was an elder, Riverclan and Starclan had turned their backs on her, so she was going to turn her back on them. Pushing past the reeds she submerged herself as she crossed where the water normally surrounded their camp, heading towards Windclan, perhaps even past it and towards highstones. Not sparing her panicking clan-mates a glance.

"There's a flood! We need to evacuate. Grab as many kits as you can and get them to safer ground!"

Finchstream awoke instantly at the sound of Lilytail's voice to find her words were true, and already the water was tugging away at her nest, where Ospreykit still slept.  Even though all but one of her kittens had moved on to the apprentice's den, she refused to leave her son in the care of another queen and thus still slept in the nursery, but she was just as capable as any other warrior.  Nodding at Lilytail, she quickly awoke her son and grabbed his scruff in her jaws, ignoring any protests as she hissed "It's okay honey, I got you.  We're gonna go find your siblings."  Wading out into the camp, her long fur drifting like a fish's tail, she strained her eyes to try and catch sight of any of her kits in the darkness, but there was no need.

---

"Mama, MAMA!"  Magpiepaw came rocketing out of the watery gloom, his face distorted by terror.  He had been awoken by a cold wave of water washing over him as he slept, and thanks to being such a light sleeper he had been instantly alerted.  That fact though was no comfort as pure panic had set in, and the small bi-colored tom had bolted outside, looking for the one cat he trusted most in the world to get him through this.  Skidding to a halt, the water came half-way up his legs as he tried to curl into Finchstream's side, his voice shrill and terrified.  "Mama, w-what's happening?  Why is the river a-attacking the camp?!"  "We don't have time to ask questions dear, follow me!"  Confused and panicked, Magpiepaw followed his mother blindly as she headed towards the medicine cat's den.

---

"Sparkfrost, wake up honey!  We need to leave the camp, it's flooding!"  She knew that he couldn't remember her, or even his name, but as she prodded her adopted son she didn't care.  They needed to get out, and...she still needed to make sure Cloudstone was okay.  Glancing back for a moment at Magpiepaw, she blinked comfortingly, though on the inside her heart was racing.  Oh StarClan, how can you let this happen?

Blossomstream was sound asleep. Her body had been curled comfortably next to Stormstrike's as she purred in her dreams of a hunt. One where she was deep in the river, but oddly able to breathe. There, she could catch any fish she wanted without fear. Her soft fur felt weightless in the gentle flow of the river bed. Until a sudden rush of cold water touched her body. She woke with a start, shaking her head of water droplets as she blinked blearily and looked around to see... chaos. Her green eyes looked at Stormstrike as he looked around frantically for cats. She leapt out of the den, her heart racing as she nudged him.
"I'm right here! My parents!" She called out as she raced towards the nursery. Her mother was expecting a litter, but as she got there she hissed to see water already beginning to flood in. "MOM! DAD!" She yowled as she began to wade in. The water already uncomfortably far up her legs. A flash of ginger and silver fur told her her parents were still there.



As the rains kept falling, Dewshine worried silently over the thoughts of flood. Once, she had warned silverfang that they needed to teach Flickerpaw to swim in case such a thing ever happened. In her dream... it was the very scenario she feared. Flamewish, as Flickerpaw, trapped in flooding waters. Unable to swim, to keep up. That this never happened was a soft comfort, but as she woke to piercing cold... to her mate frantically nudging her, she could see the grim reality of her prediction.
"GIngerstripe!" She meowed as she pressed close to him. Her ears twitched as a familiar voice called for her, spotting her daughter on the edge of the den. "Blossomstream!" She paddled fiercly against the current beneath her. Getting out of the den as the reeds creaked ominously. She paused for a moment to breath. Dread ticked away in her mind as she feared for the unborn kits as well as her daughter. "We need to go with the others!"

Wolfsong scrambled up onto his feet, his long fur soaked in water and he blinked a few times before he realized what was happening. He looked at Littlestream and Yarrowpaw before he looked around at the other cats around him "Everyone leave camp now and get to higher grounds!!" he barked out, everyone was just running around trying to find each other and neither Jaystar or Scorchclaw was anywere to be seen "We don't have time for all of you to run around and panic, get the kits and leave, now!". He rushed up to his mate and nuzzled her quickly "Everythings gonna be okay Littlestream, I love you and Yarrowpaw. Get her and get to safety, I need to find Brookpaw before I leave, I'll meet you two and the rest of the clan later." he told his beloved mate before pushed out of the den, he licked Yarrowpaw behind the ear as he passed her on his way to the apprentice den "Dad loves you Yarrowpaw." he called out to his daughter. He jolted into the apprentice den and looked around for his apprentice, he felt that it was his responsibility to make sure that his apprentice survived this.

Flurryshine awoke abruptly to all the screaming and screeching in camp, drowsiness making her morbidly curious as to what was going on. Once she registered the feeling of freezing cold water underpaw, however, she understood exactly what was happening. The camp was flooding!

The queen rose up to her paws and stumbled in the rising water out of the den. She looked around to find all the cats rushing around, trying to evacuate. With a yelp, she rushed back into the den to her nest, frantically searching around in it. There! The beautifully colorful stone Dewshine had helped her retrieve during the first day of training when she had been an apprentice. This stone meant so very much to her; she couldn’t possibly think about living it behind.

Wading back out, she spotted her former mentor with Gingerstripe, and she practically swam over to her to help the two of them out of camp. She had lost so many kits, so many friends, so many loved ones throughout the course of her life. She was not going to lose Dewshine, too! Not if she had anything to say about it!

That was when Flurryshine found her conflict. Dewshine needed help staying afloat; she looked so terribly tired already. But she was holding her stone in her mouth already, and there was no safe place to put it down. Shutting her eyes tightly, she sacrificed her cherished position, letting go of it and letting it fall into the flooding water to be forever lost. Then she reached out to grip Dewshine’s scruff, tugging up to keep her head above the current. ”Keeph swim’n’!” she yowled through a mouthful of fur.

Hawkpaw looked around the busy camp, frozen with shock. The waters had mysteriously risen while all the cats were asleep, so it had taken every cat by surprise. He shook his head finally focusing on the problem. He watched as more surges of water entered through the camp entrance. Starting to panic, He ran around the camp, yowling for his mother. "Hailsong?!" He screeched, looking for the familiar, calico pelt. "Hailsong!? Where are you?!" Where was his grandfather, and leader, Jaystar? Shaking his head once more, he rushed towards the entrance, following the streaming crowd of cats who were to flee the territory. His eyes caught on Flurryshine, his mentor. He saw that she was trying to help another cat, Dewshine, he soon recognized. He waded through the rising water, grabbing onto Dewshines scruff beside Flurryshine, pulling with all his strength. What was happening?

(OOC: Yoshachu tell me on discord if u don't want me to help Dewshine lol ;D)

The leader woke up with the water filling his den quickly. The small cave soon started to fill with the incoming water and Jaystar was in just a few seconds surrounded by the flood which reached now his belly. Panicked, he forced his way to the exit before it was too late and outside, everything was chaos. He did not have a second to process all that happened around him. He quickly jumped on the top of the willow branch, not thinking about how dangerous it would be for him. "Every warrior who is abke to swim take a kit, an elder, a queen or an apprentice who can't swim with you and go to the Beech Copse! We will all meet there! Queens! Take the kits out the nursery as fast as you can! Those who have apprentices go and find them!" He yowled as loud as he could.

The leader swam away from the branch and met Finchstream who was next to Sparkfrost. He was still recovering from his wounds and it would be hard for him to travel alone with no memories. "Leavr him to me an go and help your other kits! You can't stay here, Finchstream" With no other word, the large tom grabbed his son by the scruff and forced him to stand up before the water started reaching their chins. With all the strength he had left, the tom carried him against the current, giving him indications about how he should move his paws.

---

Hailsong opened her eyes in fear when the water touched her paws, flooding the warriors' den quickly. The dilute calico soon rushed to exit the den and the rain mixed with the flood soaked her short fur. The senior warrior looked around not sure about what to do. Adrenaline was taking control over her too fast and she needed to react. Thanks to Starclan, her father was able to escape from his den to guide the clan the best he could do. And a few seconds after, he heard her son. Hailsong quickly spotted him with Flurryshine and Dewshine. Despite her short legs, the concerned mother swam against the current to meet her boy. "I am here, sweetie. Follow Jaystar's orders and swim to the beech copse. I'll go to find your little brother, Cinderpaw." The dilute calico gave her son one last lick on the shoulder as comfort and then swam back to the apprentice den, searching for her younger kit.

Pantherpaw awoke to yowling, and water soaking through his thick pelt. What? Stormstrike's voice made its way through his ear fur, and he struck out, cursing his bulky, young frame for not being taller. "Stormstrike! He called. "I'm here! We have to get out!" As the water began to lift him off of his paws, he was grateful once again for Sotrmstrikes occasionally harsh training, as he had built his strength and stamina to a point where, at least for a little while, he was in no danger of drowning. Swimming to his mentor's side, he let out a relieved sigh, resuming his normal breathing. Don't panic, let the water carry you, and spend less energy fighting currents. This was an excellent opportunity to exercise what his mentor had taught him. "We need to get ourselves out of here. There's no point in helping cats too weak to fend for themselves, right? Unless they'll be useful in the future." He smiled and searched his mentor's face for a sign of approval, moving his legs just enough to keep himself afloat. He paused in surprise at just how calm he was, considering the situation. All that matters is Stormstrike. My mother and father are dead, I have no siblings. My job is to help my mentor. Having so few cares is surprisingly relaxing.