Thunder rumbled up ahead, flashes of lightning flickering across the sky as the rain poured heavily onto the moor. Water levels had already risen beyond the river bank, engulfing the land in its path. The tribe, soaking wet and huddled close together against the biting wind, watched as their home was beginning to slowly wash away.

"Stone Song! Stone Song!" cried out Broken Shadow urgently, her paws splashing in the water as she made her way through "Have you seen Snow Flight? No one has seen him since we evacuated!"

"What?" he growled in disbelief. Grimacing against the howling winds, he carefully set River Breeze down from his jaws "I'll go and look, you stay here with the tribe."

"Are you both crazy?" shrieked Feather Wind, another queen from the tribe "The water is too high to go back and look! We have to leave now!"

"I am not leaving my kit behind!" snarled Broken Shadow, her wet fur bristling.

"Enough!" Running Flame announced "Now is not the time to be quarreling!"

"Running Flame, my kit is missing!" Broken Shadow pleaded "Please allow Stone Song to go back and find him!"

"The tribe cannot wait, the lives of others are at stake if we continue to stay here."

"Then go." Stone Song mewed "Go. I'll meet back with you all at the hilltop."

"Stone Song are you sure-"

"Go." he purred softly, nuzzling his nose into Broken Shadow's soft fur "I'll be back...we'll both be back. I promise."

With one last flick of his tail he dived back into the water, his dark gray fur soon vanishing underneath as he began his attempt to swim through.

"Let's go." Running Flame commanded, brushing past the others to take the lead.

The queen watched yet didn't move, conflicting emotions rising in the pit of her stomach as she watched both her mate and tribe begin to drift away.

"Mother?" came a soft mew.

Broken Shadow looked down to see River Breeze's pool of bright blue eyes.

"Is Snow Flight going to be alright?"

She had no answer. Yet the only thing she could do was nod, nod and cling to hope. Bending down she picked up her shivering kit by the scruff, wading through the murky waters to rejoin the tribe.

He could hear it. It bounced off the walls, vibrating and shaking the caves and echoing loudly like thunder. He could feel it. The rumble that made the ground quake and tremble. He could sense it. A deep, lurking feeling of danger and fear.

But why couldn't he see it?

Fallen Leaves continued his way through the tunnels, following the direction of what the mysterious cat called Rock told him to go. By now, his body was scrunched up against a wall, his heart pounding as he fought to escape the narrow passageway to somewhere more open. He scrabbled through finally, his whiskers twitching with satisfaction. Yet it was short-lived.

He stared in disbelief at what lay before him. Three different openings.

"Which one is it?" he wailed, frustrated that all this time led up to this.

He padded forward to each one, peering into the darkness that seemed to stretch forever in all of them.

He scratched his claws against the smooth stone underneath, trying to decided which one to travel through. Eventually, he concluded that he would go through the middle one first, deciding that if he ended up in a dead end, he could always go back and try again.

As he walked he stared at the strange markings on the walls. Deep gashes into the stone that seemed close to claw marks, yet not quite. His fur prickled at what that could possibly mean, so he quickened his pace, forcing his mind to think of something else.

With time stretching longer and longer than normal, Fallen Leaves grew more worried, thinking if he should go back.

Just about to turn around, he heard it. The sound of crashing waves, the spluttering whoosh of water. It was coming.

Before he knew it, water began to flood through the tunnel, immediately crashing and sweeping him off his feet as he was engulfed into its current.

His legs flailing, he fought his way to the surface as he was being pulled away, gasping for breath before being dragged under once more. His body was shaken with fear and frigid cold water as he screamed and wailed for help, his head bobbing to the surface. The water leaked into his lungs, filling his mouth with disgusting water mixed with dirt. He spluttered and coughed, attempting to fight through the ever growing current. He scraped his claws against the walls in hope that it'll stop him from being carried away, but to no avail. The water churned, mercilessly dragging him and tossing him to and fro as he was slammed against the walls repeatedly.

He wondered, if this was the end.