Dripping Shadows (SC/TC Clan-wide)

As the waters died down, and Roseburn found she could stand again, she winced. Pain shot up her right foreleg, bloodied water trickling down. She must have hurt it at some point during the flood without realizing. But now that the adrenaline wore off, it was agony. She collapsed on the ground, dropping the kit from her jaws. She curled around it's limp form, distracted by the shock of the situation from what was right there. But she knew she at least needed to find her family.

"Pa! Harechaser! Echomist! Leafpaw! Swiftheart, Nightstalker! Anyone! Is anyone there?"

And, as it turned out, someone was there. She heard another voice calling out, although a fog in her brain, from weariness or shock she could not say, prevented her from determining who the voice belonged to. Still, it was someone, and that had to be good news.

"Hello? Hello! I'm here! I need help! Please!"

Nightstalker heaved, frothy water, his last meal, and bile expelling itself from his belly. A harsh cough quick to follow as spittle and dirty water continued to be rejected from his body. Nightstalker's eyes blinked open, his vision blurry as he lay motionless on the ground. Thank the stars he was alive. His throat felt dry and raw, every swallow or flex of his throat was excruciating... but he had to try. He could hear some of his clan-mates, barely, but he had to find them! Nightstalker tucked his paws under himself to only quickly collapse back into the mud, water, and bile with a sharp whine. Ouch! He must have done something to one of his front paws when he was whisked away, probably when the current was busy bashing him against every surface it could.

Straining himself, Nightstalker propped himself up, his front right paw tucked and away from the ground. The young tom took a moment to listen before he heard a young voice, one that had called his name. Roseburn? Forcing himself up, he hobbled weakly towards the noise. "Roseburn?" He rasped, immediately clamming back up before he could say much more. Pushing through thick brambles, tearing at his sodden fur, he managed to find his young sister. Breathing heavily at this point, he limped close to her and pressed his nose to her forehead, breathing in her scent before noticing a limp kitten at her paws.

Ah...

"I'm glad you're safe." The young deputy croaked, desperately trying to hide his wince. Leaning down, he pressed his nose to the little kittens head, silently wishing it off to their starry ancestors.

His lungs were on fire.

The bedraggled elder jerked awake with a series of hacking coughs, ears splayed back as he struggled to clear the foul water from his throat and other places such foul water wasn't meant to be. When Mistyfalcon had managed to (mostly) do so, he lay there panting for a few moments, trying to recollect his thoughts and what had happened. The surroundings he had found himself in were unfamiliar, but nearby he could hear the coughing of other cats as well. He wasn't the only one, then.

Mistyfalcon took a painful, rasping breath as he lifted his head, surveying the dense forests of his surroundings through narrowed eyes. He could smell Shadowclan, and could hear his clanmates nearby... But that wasn't the only thing he could smell, and if his fur wasn't completely waterlogged, his hackled would've lifted.

"Nightst-" He croaked, and his speech was quickly interrupted by another bout of coughing. Well, foxdung...

Snowfoot had somehow remained conscious, but she desperately wished she hadn’t. She felt she’d be having nightmares about this for moons to come, if not for the rest of her life. Coughing up water, Snowfoot shakily tried to get to her feet, only to be met with a burning pain in her right back paw. The outside to stuck out at an odd angle and hurt like crazy. “Of course, it’s my bad leg I hurt,” she muttered. In fact, the old injuries on that leg were acting up too, but her primary problem was the clearly broken toe. Soon, several voices reached her ears. Good. She wasn’t alone out here. Shivering like she never had before, the she-cat limped slowly and painfully towards the first voice she heard. Soon the cat came into view. “Icheart?” Snowfoot rasped, then winced as her toe bumped against a stick. She really needed to see a medicine cat about that.

Rain, it had appeared, was the common theme of the current Greenleaf. Mud and small puddles were a frequent scene in any patrols Foxglare would join; but the current day seemed even harsher than mornings previous. Water clinged to the ginger tabby's paws as if she were RiverClan. At least camp was dry with its well-sheltered dens-- she planned to rejoin the cover as soon as possible, though the patrol still needed to be completed. Foxglare blazed ahead, striding toward the direction of the Thunderpath. Of course, she made sure to stay within yelling distance of her clanmates- predators enjoyed hunting in the wake of a heavy rain, after all.

Foxglare tensed up- a strong scent immediately flooding her senses. It was fresh; anything older would've easily had its scent washed away by now. A brief moment was spent, tasting the air. The warrior was finally hit with a flash of recognition- ShadowClan.

Confusion came promptly after. ShadowClan? This deep inside the territory? They were somewhat close to the border, sure, but the smell was overwhelming- it wasn't simply a singular warrior chasing prey into ThunderClan land. Her chest sunk; was this an invasion of some sort..? And voices were slowly edging to the fringe of her hearing- indistinct, but still audible through the last coughs of the storm. Claws erupted from the warrior's paws; though Foxglare backpedaled some tail-lengths away. If her initial thought was true, she'd need her patrolmates. "ShadowClan cats are within our territory!"

Roseburn's eyes went back down to the kit as Nightstalker touched his nose to it, and realization dawned on her. Her reaction was not one to be expected, though, as she was still in shock from the events of the day. But it would hit eventually.

"I was too late again, wasn't I?" Had the kit even been alive when she found it? Or had she been too reckless and didn't hold it above water long enough? She let out a sigh, laying her head down. She was so tired. She just wanted to sleep now.

She barely registered the rest of the voices around her anymore. She just wanted to sleep.

Very few things bothered the deputy at this point of the year. Not to mention, it seemed nothing but joy had filled her mind since learning she was expecting more kits, and that Minnowstar had finally received his lives. But one thing had been bothering her, and that was the persistent rain that had pelted down on the forest. She knew there’d be rather muddy parts of the territory, perhaps even more predators as they got washed out of their homes that resided deeper in the ground. What she didn’t expect, though, was for what reached her senses next. There was a rather intense commotion that the molly heard as she had kept towards the back of a patrol, allowing her Clanmates to persuade her into taking things easier. It was one thing to be a pregnant warrior, it was another to be the deputy and pregnant. Not to mention with the first litter of kits that the Clan had seen in a bit of time.

Curiosity carried her towards the source of the sound, only for the smell of Shadowclan to hit her nose. That only pushed Mottlerose to go faster, a chill running down her back. Something wasn’t right.

”Look for any others!”

It was the voice of Eggpaw that really caught Mottlerose off guard. What was going on that had her directing her clanmates to help? Of course, that question would be soon answered at the scene in front of her: Many cats of Shadowclan, both young and old, appearing slicked with mud and soaked to the bone. ”Thunderclan, do not attack any cat you find - as Eggpaw said, help them as you can!” Motherly instincts kicked in rather fiercely at that moment, rushing to a familiar tom’s side. It took her some time to realize as she simply instinctively began grooming his pelt, but it was in fact Nightstalker, the deputy. She only then also saw the kitten that he had rested his head against to check on. Embarrassment momentarily flushed through the tortoiseshell’s fur, but still - something told her to simply keep grooming. To help whisk away the water that clung to him. ”A deputy can’t help his Clan without strength… let me help you.” She eventually said, only assuming what had happened to them all. ”Please, Nightstalker, tell me what happened.” Mottlerose spoke with another pause in her grooming session, her amber gaze also searching around to make sure the rest of Shadowclan didn’t seem too badly injured.