Trees fell all around the fleeing cats. Dogs barked and chased after them, hungry for blood.

A lone red and brown shape raced through the forest, searching for the one who's choice would hold their fate. She jumped a fallen log and saw the cat she sought under a rock hang over, surrounded by three other cats. She approached them.

"What should we do?"

"We can't survive like this for long!"

"What about the other Clans? Are they going through this too?"

"Stop asking me so many questions at once!" the silver she-cat in the middle of the hoard blurted out, then she saw the red and brown she-cat join the group of terrified cats.

"What is it, Cherrydust?" the addressed cat look at her with a look of horror on her face.

"We must leave! MistClan is having the same problem!" the cat named Cherrydust said.

Before Silverstar could answer, another cat came bursting through the brambles, panting heavily.

"What is it, Blackfrost? What have you found?"

"They're breaking the water wall!" the pure black tom said. All of the cats around him gasped.

"The water wall?! But that will flood the forest!" a black and brown cat said.

"How long do we have?" Silverstar asked Blackfrost.

"Not long. It will be broken by sunset." he said, looking up at the sky, which was already turning grey.

"Then we must act now!" Silversong said. "Cherrydust, run back to the camp now and warn the other cats! Tell Moonfrost only to take what she can, and assign an apprentice or two to assist her."

The red and brown cat nodded before sprinting into the undergrowth. She arrived at the camp, and cats swarmed out of their dens to meet her.

"What news is there?"

"What are they doing now?"

She ignored them, jumping onto a pile of rocks instead and turning to address her Clan.

"Cats of RockClan, Blackfrost has reported that the two-legs are breaking through the water wall!" she said, panting.

Gasps of shock and mews of worry filled the clearing, but she pushed on.

"We must be as far away from this forest as possible by then! Silverstar and the rest of the patrol are in the forest, discussing our few options. Whatever they are, we must still evacuate the camp by sunset!"

More gasps came from below, and a bold cat called out, "How are we supposed to leave our camp? We have almost no hope of returning, and few places to go. And what about the other Clans? Surely their land will be flooded also?"

Though Cherrydust didn't know the answers to most of the cat's questions, she said, "Would you rather leave the camp, or die? Would you have all of your Clanmates perish, just because you didn't want to leave the camp?"

At this, the cat sat down, looking ashamed. Cherrydust pushed her advantage.

"We will find a place to start again, and the other Clans shall join us. I have seen myself that MistClan are suffering the same as we are, and CreekClan and NightClan are not mouse-brained enough to stay when there is almost no hope of surviving. We must get moving as quickly as possible. Moonfrost, Silverstar asks that you only take what we need. Poppypaw and Birchpaw, you will help her. Do what she asks, and stay near her. Brackenpaw, you are to stay near the elders, even if they do not need help. Now everyone, find a cat, and stay near them! We will not leave any cat behind!" At that, Cherrydust lept down from the pile of rocks, making sure her clanmates followed orders.

"What should we do with the little food in the fresh kill pile?" A silver and black she-cat came up to Cherrydust.

"Well, I guess that we can't just waste it. Give it to those who are in most need of it." Cherrydust instructed, looking around at the skinny cats.

Cherrydust helped wherever she could, and when everyone was ready to leave she looked up at the sky and gasped. The sun was already below the treetops, and the last glimpes' of light were fading. She signaled with her tail for her clanmates to follow, then took off towards where Silverstar and the patrol was.

When they arrived there, Cherrydust saw that only her leader and a fellow warrior remained.

"Good. Is this every cat?" Silverstar asked, and Cherrydust nodded. She had made sure that every cat was keeping up on the way.

"Blackfrost, Lilyfrost, and Redstripe have gone to tell the other three Clans the devastating news, and to try and convince them to join us before they are destroyed. We will meet them on the hill that overlooks all four territories, and any Clan that joins us will meet us there, also. We must leave now, or we won't make it out in time." Silverstar addressed her Clan, who all nodded, and followed her as she sped off into the forest.

Cherrydust was at her leader's side, and pelted through the forest as though her life depended on it, which it very well might. She scented CreekClan as they crossed the border, but did not slow down. She could hear her clanmates behind her, knowing that they would not leave a single cat behind.

They didn't slow or stop until they reached their destination, and when they got there they saw that others had been waiting for them.

Silverstar approached a black and grey tom and said, "Shadowstar! I am glad that you decided that NightClan would join us. I fear that those who do not shall perish."

"Indeed. This is a dark day for all of the Clans, though not completely unexpected. First the dogs were let loose across all territories, then the two-legs started to show up, then they started to cut down trees. Now they are destroying the bridge that holds the water from the river in place, and when it floods, it will drown all land that we called our homes." The NightClan leader nodded solemnly.

Before Silverstar could agree, there came a yowl from below, and cats from both Clans looked down the hill to see MistClan pelting towards them. When they joined the two waiting Clans, a dark blue-grey tom stepped towards the other leaders, not taking the time to nod his greeting.

"They have started to break down the wall! Half of our territory was flooded by the time we crossed over your scent markers, Shadowstar!" the tom meowed, still panting. At his words, every cat on the hill looked across the territories to watch, in horror, the lose of their terrirory. RockClan and MistClan were already completely covered in water, and NightClan and CreekClan were half drowned.

Then glimpses of different colors caught their eyes. They all watched as CreekClan raced through the forest, and as the last of the water wall crumbled, letting all of the river flow into the huge valley.

"CreekClan will drown!" Cries of terror rose from every waiting Clan, and the leaders held their breath as their recent rivals pelted as quick as possible through the forest, with the river water right at their paws.

Then gasps of distress came from the three Clans as the water reached the end of the line of cats, sweeping one or two into its grasp.

"No!"

"Come on! You can do it!"

Yells filled the crowded hilltop as the first cat reached the bottom of the hill, followed by its clanmates. Finally, to every cats relief, and right in time, the last CreekClan cat joined the Clans.

The waves of the river crashed into the hill then, spraying every cat with mist.

Out of no where, a yowl sounded from the crowd, and a blue-grey she-cat rushed forward and down the hillside to where the water lapped at it. She then dove into it, barely straying from the grassy land. A moment later, she broke through the surface with a black shape in her mouth. Cries of pain arose when the Clan cats saw what the tattered mass was, and two other CreekClan cats raced down the hill to help her. One of them waded out to her and grasped the drowned cat by the tail, and together, the two wet cats swam back to the hill where the waiting cat took the black, limp shape and laid it down.

All the cats held their breaths as the medicine cat exaimined the drowned warrior. Then the cat nodded and blinked slowly at the blue-grey cat, who wailed into the wind.

The black cat was dead.

"That is it, then." A silver tom with green eyes spoke softly, his voice carried to the Clans by the strong breeze. "Littlenight is dead, along with Herringtail. The river has destroyed our home, and our Clans. We will never again eat the prey now now dwells under its waters." He nodded to the other leaders, who returned the gesture. Then, tails down, they went to the front of the four Clans.

"We must find a new home." Shadowstar said, raising his voice for all of the cats to hear.

"One that fits all of our needs." Pondstar added, nodding.

"No cat will be left behind-"Silverstar started.

"-and no cat shall be put before others. We are all in this together now. We have no home, which means no terriories to separate us. We must all work together as one, and find a new place to live." Sagestar finished.

"This place will be better than the last! Don't look so downcast!" Shadowstar said, encouraging the solemn cats.

"That's right! StarClan has a better life for us to live, and has blessed us with the opportunity to provide the needs for the generations of cats to come. Think how great it will feel when we find a place for our kit's kit's; our kin, to live happily, with less problems!" Silverstar meowed.

Now all of the cats looked happier, and with a nod to each other, the four leaders turned around, walking away from the place they had called home for so many seasons for the last time.

Cherrydust followed at the endof the hoard of cats, making sure every one of them stayed in the group, but when she looked back for the last time, even after the leaders' encouraging words, she couldn't help but want to wail into the wind; over the hills, how broken she was to leave the only home she had ever known.