The Day the World Moved [November Gathering 2022]

Stormdance was so focused on the task of hand of getting Cloverpaw moving, he almost didn't see Rowanpaw until Rowanpaw crashed right into him. Stormdance froze for a moment, heart skipping a beat at the sight of his apprentice... no, the sight of the one he'd come to consider family, his little brother, so devastated. The relief that he felt the moment he caught sight of Rowanpaw's fox-like streak of red fur was drowned out immediately in the wake of his concern. He had seen Rowanpaw distressed a few times now, seen him terrified in the wake of the fox that had pinned them between it's paws, seen him horrified at the sight of Poppyshine collapsing in camp, but never had he witnessed such desperate, broken fear and horror wrack his brother's form. It shook him to his core, made his stomach twist with fear. He didn't know what Rowanpaw had seen, but he knew that something, beyond the way the world is falling out from beneath their paws, something had happened.

On pure instinct, Stormdance pressed his nose to the top of Rowanpaw's head, tail coming to wrap around Rowanpaw's side and pull him in closer, a protective hold. "Breathe, breathe, Rowan, I've got you," He whispered before anything else. His head snapped up at Hawkshriek's cry for Sprucebark, eyes searching for the danger immediately. He didn't even have time to be relieved at the sound of it when he heard Brookstone's voice seconds later, because she was screaming in terror, and Stormdance's chest tightened until he felt like he couldn't breathe as he finally caught sight of what she saw. He froze, unable to even muster up a cry in his throat.

The water had swelled past the walls of the camp, a flood that washed away everything in it's past, along with at least two of his clanmates that Stormdance could see. Somewhere in his mind Stormdance could recognize that Hawkshriek must've seen Sprucebark's predicament, must've gone in after him only to be washed away himself. Suddenly Stormdance understood what Rowanpaw must've seen. Stormdance wanted to go after them, wanted to help, but he knew that if he tried he would only end up swept away himself. Both Hawkshriek and Sprucebark were strong swimmers, stronger than Stormdance was, and he had to believe that they could survive this. Besides, he couldn't bear to pull himself from Rowanpaw's side, to leave his Rowanpaw without yet another brother. 'Please, please, Starclan watch over them, keep them alive!

Blue eyes met blue as Brookstone caught his gaze, and Stormdance ripped his eyes away from the rapidly disappearing figures of his clanmates. The sight of her made him breathe again, even just a little. He had to focus. He couldn't help them, he couldn't do anything except help the clanmates he still could and get them out of there. He had to protect Rowanpaw, had to watch over the cats that he still had. Gathering what remained of his fractured strength and steeling his gaze, Stormdance pushed that panic down yet again and returned Brookstone's jerky nod.

Brookstone approached them, pulled Rowanpaw into her chest in a hug, and whispered to him. Stormdance felt a surge of gratitude for her, as well as a tight, sympathetic feeling of pain. She loved Sprucebark like a brother, he knew that. He couldn't imagine the turmoil she was feeling. He leaned over, pressing Rowanpaw a little between them as he briefly joined the hug, licking her shoulder and pressing his head briefly against it, in the paltry, brief form of comfort they could afford right then. He pulled back when she did, meeting her eyes. His own were glazed over, tears that wouldn't fall rimming the edges, and he ached to see the pain reflected in hers. She dipped her head for a moment, and he knew what she meant. His tail tightened over Rowanpaw, but he leaned in and pressed his nose briefly to Brookstone's head before she pulled away completely. A silent plea. 'Stay safe. Please.'

Then he watched Brookstone go. He couldn't protect her, and he knew that she would be able to help more of their clanmates. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for Serpentpaw for her as well, but his first priority had to be getting Rowanpaw, shellshocked as his brother was, and anyone else he could help out. Stormdance took a shaky breath in, and he pressed against Rowanpaw's side once more and licked the top of his head. "Rowanpaw," He said. "I need you to try and calm down. I know. and I'm sorry. But we've got to get out of here. Just stay with me. That's all you have to focus on, is just staying right by my side, okay? I've got you. I'm not going anywhere, little fox."

Then he turned and gave one more nudge to Cloverpaw, hoping that all this has been enough to get her moving. "Go." He told her urgently, before beginning to guide Rowanpaw out and towards the rest of the evacuating camp. He looked around, scanning the rest of his clanmates without pulling away from Rowanpaw. Stormdance turned his head towards Woolywing's cry, swiftly looking his friend over for signs of injury.

When he noted with relief that Woolywing was uninjured, he scanned the crowd for signs of Blossompaw as well. He knew that Woolywing wouldn't go anywhere without his daughter. "Woolywing!" He called over. They weren't far, so Stormdance diverted his and Rowanpaw's course somewhat to move closer to the warrior's den where Woolywing stood outside. "This way," He said, nudging Woolywing lightly to let Woolywing know where he was. "I'll help look for her!" He had to hope Woolywing would listen and start moving. He was terrified of any of his clanmates getting left behind in this mess, especially knowing that at least two of their warriors had already been swept away, and he doubted that orienting himself right now would be easy for Woolywing when everything was so unstable.

Hawkshriek

(OOC: Hawkshriek had washed up at the same place as Sprucebark did.)

The sound of crashing water eventually died down, leaving the flow to return to a gentle hum. Sand intertwined and mixed within his fur, Hawkshriek coughed, his whole body feeling exhausted and cold. Squinting, the tom forced his eyes to open. The landscape wasn't home. In fact, it had no resemblance to RiverClan's camp, whatsoever. His chest heaving, he rose slowly to a crouch, his fur soaked wet from the unmerciful rapids. The memory flashed back into his mind. Sprucebark! He wanted to call out, spotting his brother not too far distanced from himself. His paws inched closer, and though his body desperately called for rest, Hawkshriek pushed himself up.

"S-Sprucebark! I'm... here!" He called out. Soon enough, the afternoon had faded to night. Inside the abandoned den, presumably an old vixen's den, was his brother, resting inside. Relief caused his whiskers to droop down, and slowly, he went inside the same den. Curling against his brother, the two would rely on each other for what little warmth they had. Until morning, when everything had settled down a bit more, they would begin to investigate. But for now, they both needed rest.

Twistpool

Twistpool rolled his eyes as he saw the panic ensuing with his clanmates around him. With how much they were yelling and locking up, you would think that this was the flood that hit ShadowClan a few moons ago. All of this panicked scrambling and only what, three? Four cats had left camp? He has an excuse with his arthritic joints, but what about the rest of his clan?

In a loud, yowling voice, he shouted to his clan, “Are you all RiverClan cats or blasted ThunderClan cats? Water up to your paws should be an easy greenleaf day for you! Now listen to your leader and get out of camp before you all work yourselves up into even more of a frenzy!”

He shared only a sparse glance with Stormdance as he gripped Cloverpaw by the back of her scruff to begin physically dragging her along with him through the shallow water and towards the exit of camp. Through muffled teeth, he grumbled, “Come now, kit. I know you still know how to use your paws. It isn’t the end of the world.”

Poppyshine

Poppyshine’s calls to her children were cut off by Perchstar’s harsh words in her ear. Poppyshine’s ears flattened, unused to such a tone from her best friend. She looked at Perchstar with wide, glassy eyes as the rest of her words tumbled from her maw. The thought of the water rising any higher than the couple of inches terrified Poppyshine, and she knew that if the situation did get any worse, it would result in even more damage to the camp’s structures. But…But…

She heard Twistpool’s yowl. Are you RiverClan cats or blasted ThunderClan cats? It made her whiskers twitch. She looked towards him and saw Rowanpaw pressed up against Stormdance…Right. Her children had more than just her. She did not have to protect all of them. They had their clanmates, who would look out for them just as Perchstar was looking out for her. The thought of Sleepycloud and Rainpaw, both already passed, made her paws tremble. But her children were not them. She had to have hope and the belief that Perchstar and the rest of her clan would look out for them. Was that not why she loved and trusted RiverClan with all of her heart in the first place?

Poppyshine took a shaky breath and stood a little taller. She didn’t weigh quite so heavily on Rushingpaw or Perchstar. In a voice that was admittedly more trembling than she hoped, she meowed, “Alright. I’ll go.” She took a deep breath and then began to move, step by step, heading towards the exit of camp. She could get to fourtrees. She didn’t have to burden Perchstar more than she already was right now.

Cloverpaw

Everything was too much. Cloverpaw didn't have a moment to stand still, to think, to process anything - the world was whirling around faster than her mind could handle it, cats were yowling and it didn't help, she wanted to sink down to the ground and press her paws over her ears and block all of the noise out --

-- but the ground wasn't there anymore. Not solidly, anyway; it was all dirt and sludge and murk. She lifted a paw, surprised with the effort that it took, to find it not white anymore. It was an ugly brown. Somehow, that rattled her the most out of it all.

Someone was talking to her, trying to get her to move. She should move. Perchstar said to move, and Perchstar was the leader. Cloverpaw was an apprentice. Apprentices followed orders their leaders gave them. Yet she wasn't following this one, because her paws were stuck in the mixture of silt and rainwater. Maybe she could move them if she really tried. She wasn't sure.

The she-cat's blurred world was swiftly snapped into sharp focus from a hasty tug at her scruff. She needed to do something about that. But it was somehow easier to let herself be dragged until words started to make sense again and she realized what was going on. Cloverpaw jerked back into reality and ducked out of Twistpool's grasp. "I'm fine," she gasped,

(she was not fine)
(her chest was heaving when it shouldn't have been)
(every breath took too much effort)

pulling herself forwards on shaky legs. I know where Fourtrees is. I can get there. The unsteadiness didn't stop, as if she was a newborn kit taking their first steps. Nor did the rattling of her heart against her ribcage, in tune with the slipping of her paws in mud and the trembling of her knees and ragged breaths. But she continued to move, following the rest of the Clan, and that was what counted.

Cloverpaw is finally!!!! heading to Fourtrees. yippee!!

「Rushingpaw ● RiverClan Camp ● Earthquake! ● [Topic No. 07] ● [OPEN] 」

◐ Rushing beamed at the thanks and nodded her head vigorously. "No prob! I'm always ready and able!" At Poppyshine's words, her expression instantly turned incredulous. She stayed silent as Perchstar tried to reassure the deputy. She was right. Poppy needed to skedaddle first since she wasn't at a hundred percent and she could make things worse by staying there. She nodded as solemnly as she could then gave the deputy a crooked grin. "Yeah, yeah! What she said!" She shrugged a shoulder. "Your kits will be fine. Just chill for a moment and let us take you."

Rushing still didn't see the issue of the whole situation. Hearing Twistpool's voice, she craned her neck to get a glimpse of the old-timer. She was still annoyed at the tom but he made a good point. She couldn't stop her snickers in time. "Yeah! This ain't so bad! Just play follow the leader and we'll be fine. If you guys keep this up, we'll have to rename our clan to ScaredyClan." she called out. She then turned back once she heard Poppyshine agree. "Cool! Alright, let's go, then! Let's show this water who's boss!"

As Perch and Rushingpaw began to lead the deputy out of the camp, the leader suddenly stopped. Rushing turned to look at her with a curious expression. She blinked then grumbled, "Alright, alright! Leave everything up to me why don'tcha..." She paused for a moment before calling out to Perch's retreating figure, "Where are you going, though? Like, I thought we were gonna team this through the whole way!"

She pouted when she received no response. She shook her head and turned to address Poppyshine. "Soooo, you're stuck with me! Let's get you to the Fourtrees place, wherever that is. Let me know if I make a wrong turn or something. Actually, just tell me how to get there. That's a much better idea. Also, you can lean on me as much as you need. I'm already strong like a warrior!" She then began to usher Poppy out of the camp and into the territory with an unusually cheery disposition. After a moment of silence, she grinned and then said, "So, can you make me the next deputy after you? It can be like a favor for a favor! Makes sense, right?"