"Yarrowbreeze!" a voice called from above the void, swirling torrent. She felt compelled to follow the voice, swimming up against the current. Just a little further... she willed herself on, her lungs felt as if they would burst into a thousand mini forest fires.
"Yarrowbreeze!" the voice called again, this time much clearer. Yarrowbreeze thought the voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it quite yet with the muffling of the running river.
"Yarrowbreeze!"
Yarrowbreeze woke with a start, her eyes bewildered and her lungs gasping for air. She twisted her head around wildly "Bearstrike, I'm sorry! Where are you?" she agonized.
"Yarrowbreeze what in The Great Pool is wrong?" the voice from her dream chastised.
She turned her head to find Beetlespots staring at her with huge concerned eyes. Yarrowbreeze's breathing slowed, and tears welled up in her eyes as she came back to reality- she was safe and so was her cynn, including Bearstrike.
"We have to do something about this flood," Yarrowbreeze began, shaking off the imagined water that clung to her coat. "Cats are going to die if we don't do something."
"Feel free to tell the flood to leave Whispering Brook alone." Beetlespots said flatly.
Yarrowbreeze was taken aback by Beetlespots' apparent indifference to the risk the flood posed.
"Don't you care?" she asked, her tone hurt.
Beetlespots' tail flicked in annoyance. "Of course I care!" she hissed. "There's just nothing we could possibly do to avoid this. I've shared tongues with The Great Pool, and they said that the river must run its course. This is the way nature works, I'm sorry."
Yarrowbreeze's ears flattened against her head. How could such a headstrong cat be so complacent to the will of the cynns' ancestors? They were, after all, just dead cats, not gods who could foresee the future.
"If you want to let your cynnmates die instead of actually finding a way to help, fine. I'm going to talk to Fernstar." the she-cat growled, stalking out of the mending den.
"Stupid fish brain thinks she knows more than a Gazer!" Beetlespots mumbled as Yarrowbreeze left.
Yarrowbreeze looked out onto the cynn she loved so much. How could she stand by and just watch it be swept away?
Heavy rain continued to pour from the sky, leaving camp muddy and spotted with small pools of water. Yarrowbreeze looked across to the makeshift nursery with the Tellers that Bearstrike had helped to create. Mossjaw peered out, her green eyes glittered with worry. Yarrowbreeze's heart lurched as she imagined for a moment Mossjaw's kits being swept far far away from the cats who loved them so.
Anger and fear churned in Yarrowbreeze's stomach. She knew something needed to be done, but what? What could one cat, barely a warrior, do to stop the destruction of her cynn, her home?
"Yarrowbreeze, you're joining our border patrol." Called Leapfoot. Maybe now I can get a better look at the river... She padded over to where the rest of the patrol sat beneath an overhang of the Great Boulder. Mintbranch and Rookstep made up the other half of the patrol. So much for talking to Fernstar...
"If we wait around any longer we'll be swimming by the time we get back to camp, let's get going." Mintbranch complained.
The group of cats murmured their unenthusiastic agreement, and trudged out of camp with soaked through paws. Despite the rain, the air was hot, and Yarrowbreeze found it to be suffocating. As the patrol continued on, Yarrowbreeze pondered what hunting would look like as a result of the heavy downpour.
"Everyone, quiet!" Rookstep hissed. The other cats paused, the overwhelming sound of rain was deafening.
"Is that...?" Rookstep began again, but this time Mintbranch interjected, fear rattling her voice. "Kits!"
Rookstep and Mintbranch raced forward, nearing the edge of the monstrous river that tumbled forward. Yarrowbreeze and Leapfoot scrambled after their classmates, both unsure of what was to come. Suddenly the earth fell out from beneath her feet, and Yarrowbreeze let out a fearful screech as she tripped on the edge of the small pit and rolled forward in a tangle of legs and paws. Leapfoot turned her head quickly and began racing towards her. "No!" Yarrowbreeze shouted, wincing in pain, "Follow them! They need your help more than I do."
Leapfoot gave the young warrior a concerned glance, before turning back and chasing after her cynnmates. Yarrowbreeze gasped for breath, the wind had been completely knocked out of her as she hurled into the ground. Her front paws ached with pain, and she could feel blood trickling into her eye. Maybe I hit a rock or something... She thought to herself, still reeling. She slowly turned her neck to see what she had tripped on. Her vision was hazy, but she could see a free tree root that had not been there before. The mud must have... released.. She tried to put the pieces together, but before she could, the sky went dark.
When she woke, she felt warmer than usual. Her eyes were bleary, and as she tried to roll from her side to sit up, she realized something small next to her belly was preventing her from doing so. Now distressed whimpers came from the fuzzy shapes, and she aggressively blinked the sleepiness away to see what lay beside her. Two small kits curled up against her belly. One, big and strong with whisps of long orange fur emanating from his pelt like brilliant flames. The second kit looked smaller, though it could have been the way it's pelt laid, opposite of its sibling. They mewled at her belly, surely no more than a moon or two old. Yarrowbreeze's heart began to race.
She looked up frantically and realized she was back in the mending den. The shock of seeing kits by her belly subsided, and the adrenaline rush faded to reveal how painful her body felt. Her shoulder felt as if it had been twisted backwards, her forepaws felt full of fire, and her head felt as if a woodpecker had tried to drill through it.
"You're awake!" Bearstrike purred happily as he entered the den. "What in The Great Pool is going on?" Yarrowbreeze groaned, irritated.
"Do you remember the patrol you were on?" He asked excitedly, not stopping long enough for Yarrowbreeze to form a response, "Well, Mintbranch and Rookstep found these kits. We sent out another search party for their mother, but we haven't had any luck."
Yarrowbreeze looked down at the bundles of fluff, the pain in her heart for the kits deeper than the pain she felt from her fall. She knew too well how it felt to be motherless. "So.. is Mossjaw going to look after them?" Yarrowbreeze asked, suddenly self conscious of how large she was compared to the two whimpering kits.
"Well-" Bearstrike began, but he was cut off by Beetlespots.
"Great Pool, no! Mossjaw has four kits of her own; she might go crazy if she had to take care of any more. These kits are big enough that they've already been off of their mother's milk. But they still need care." She explained.
Yarrowbreeze felt a pit forming in her stomach. She knew what that meant. Bearstrike could hardly contain himself, so much so that his tail was quivering with excitement.
"I figured we could look after them! You know... like the Tellers did for us." He said sheepishly, digging a claw line into the soft earth of the den.
"You know how I feel about kits." Yarrowbreeze complained. But she did feel a bit of compassion towards these two helpless little ones. Still, she thought to herself, there are so many other cats in the cynn that have actually raised kits. Why in all of The Great Pool would he volunteer us?
Bearstrike stepped closer to the nest, pawing at the biggest kit and rolling him onto his belly. "This is Sunkit." He announced. "Doesn't his fur look like the blazing sun?"
Yarrowbreeze snorted. Of course her brother would choose such a strong name. "And what about this one?" Yarrowbreeze asked, pointing at the gray kitten with her nose.
"Fernstar decided that each of you should name one, that is, if you are willing to accept." Beetlespots explained, choosing her words carefully. "She knows you two are young, but you know more than most cats in the cynn what it feels like to depend on your cynn rather than a mother. You'll be recovering in here anyways, so it isn't like you'll be doing much else."
Yarrowbreeze pondered for a moment. She knew how uncomfortable being around kits felt, but she could admit, older kits weren't as bad as newborns. They were even a little charming. She looked back down at the two kits, completely unaware of the life that lay before them. The grey kit opened its eyes, and reflected back Yarrowbreeze's own curiosity in two pools of pale green. "Willowkit." She decided. "Your name is Willowkit."
Bearstrike purred so loudly Yarrowbreeze was almost certain he'd burst. "Thank you Yarrowbreeze!" He exclaimed, pressing his head against his sister's.
"You will, of course, be staying in the mending den for a few more days," Beetlespots added. "You've had quite the fall, and I want to be sure that any lasting effects are entirely gone before you're cleared for any duties."
Yarrowbreeze grumbled with disdain. She suddenly realized how suddenly she became a glorified kit-sitter, and how long she'd have to share a den with the cat she had no desire to spend time with any longer.
"Until then, I'll take the kits out when I'm done with my duties so you get some quiet time. They'll grow on you, I promise!" Bearstrike said warmly.
"Alright, alright. I get it. But can some cat please get me some fresh-kill? I feel like I haven't eaten in moons." Yarrowbreeze snipped. Her body and head still ached badly, her headache now sharper than before.
Beetlespots padded across to the back of the den where she stored her herbs. She walked back over to where Yarrowbreeze rested and pawed out two small seeds. "Lick these up," she directed. "They'll dull the pain, and can hopefully help you rest a bit longer. Sleep and time heal all things." the pretty Gazer promised.
As upset as Yarrowbreeze was at Beetlespots for her complacency to The Great Pool, she couldn't deny what a beautiful she-cat the Gazer was. Her paw pads were a soft pink, as if she'd been picking the plump raspberries that grew in leaf-fall. Her patchy tabby fur looked dazzling, and Yarrowbreeze was enamored by how many different pelt types she could see. Even her eyes are hypnotizing, Yarrowbreeze thought to herself. The Gazer's eyes were a brilliant shade of yellow, as if the moon itself had been pulled from the sky and put in its proper place, reflecting unabashed compassion and love to the cats of Whispering Brook.
"Are you feeling alright?" Beetlespots pressed, a flash of concern growing.
Yarrowbreeze felt her pelt grow hot. "Just a little overwhelmed." she confessed, which was true. She lapped up the seeds in Beetlespots' paw and readjusted in her nest. Sunkit and Willowkit squirmed next to her, curling back up against her side.
The pain slowly ebbed away, like the sun slowly setting over the mountains. Its sharpness grew gentle, and the fear of the future became just as dull. Yarrowbreeze felt herself drifting in and out of consciousness as the rain pattered on outside, repeating the same ominous chant it had for days on end.