I jolted upright as a particularly loud clap of thunder boomed through my ears. I realized with a start that I had been sleeping in a puddle of water, and the fur of my flank and belly was now thoroughly soaked.

OoOoOoO

The first thing I did was shiver. Great Starclan, this water was freezing! The second thing i did was make sure the exit was safe. Seeing that the little tunnel was almost full of water, I decided to just risk it. I held my breath and ran towards my escape.

The water filled my ears, making them ache and twitch. Every bit of my body was freezing, and going numb quickly. As soon as it had started, though, I was out of the tunnel and my head was above the water. I gasped for air, quickly running out of the deep river that had become of the camp. I scrambled up the little ravine and dared to take a glance over my shoulder.

The entire camp was flooded, and had become a deep river that was quickly rising from the rain, which still hadn't let up. the sky was dark, lightning flashing every few seconds to illuminate the scene eerily before everything was once again cast in darkness.

I was panting, still trying to catch my breath from my swim. It hadn't been that much work, but the cold had knocked the air out of me, not to mention I had never swam before in my life-Most of the energy was spent on panicking as realization set in that I had no clue how to swim.

But I wouldn't be alive if I didn't know how to adapt and learn on the fly. I was thankful for those skills, but I didn't have time to pray because right then, a loud clap echoed through the forest as lightning struck a tree about two fox-lenghts away from me. I jumped backwards, colliding with the furry being that had been behind me.

"Idiot!" I heard a familiar voice hiss. I turned to see Tigress, her bright fur plastered to her body, looking angry but lovely as ever.

"Oh, hello," I said, shooting her a quick smile.

"Come on, follow me. Quickly!" She snarled, and turned before I got a chance to reply. She sprinted off in the opposite direction of the tree that had been struck, and with one last glance at it, I ran after her.

I am not jesting when I say that that she-cat can run. She was incredible fast, her long legs being able to carry her along quicker than mine. I lagged a fox-length behind her, and fallen limbs or roots that she would nimble leap over, I tripped and had to run faster to try and catch up with her. (Which always failed, of course)

My breath was ragged and uneven by the time she started to slow down, but my heart continued to race even as we were both now just trotting along.

The terrain had changed. We were no longer in the woody area near her camp, surrounded by trees. Here, it was all grassy hills. Rain ran off my fur, and I shivered. Now that we had slowed down, the cold was settling in again, chilling me to the bone. I was envious of Tigress, with her thick fur, she showed no signs of discomfort from the rain or the cold.

The grass was soaked, and the soil underneath it sloshy and muddy. For every step I took, there was a clear 'squish' sound where my paw had landed. I couldn't help but notice that Tigress's pawsteps were silent. I pondered how that was even possible as we neared a small cluster of trees, on the top of a tall, rocky hill.

Tigress leaped gracefully from rock to rock, up the hill. I followed a bit clumsily, tripping more than a couple times. When I reached the top, I just barely saw the tip of an orange tail disappearing into the trees. I hurried in after it, Slowly once I had caught sight of Tigress. She had slowed to a walk, thankfully, and she was following a soft dirt path instead of running wildly through the trees.

I caught up with her, so that I could walk beside her. she cast a sideways glance at me, but other than that didn't react.

"Some storm, huh?" I said, hoping to start a conversation. It was still pouring, but the thunder had quieted, and the lightning seemed less frequent. The trees also added a bit of protecting; not as much rain was able to filter through the thick canopy.

Tigress rolled her eyes, then slowed to a stop in front of an oddly shaped bush. It kind of looked like a flower, for some reason. It had dark green leaves, and lots of them. It was pretty big, too, and reminded me of one of the dens I saw when I had visited Thunderclan's camp. Tigress walked in, and I followed.

I was surprised by two things: One, it was warm and dry in the bush, and two, the inside looked more like a cave of sticks rather than a bush.

Sticks and twigs of all sizes had been weaved around the inside of the bush, insulating it and keeping the natural elements at bay. The floor was soft, dry soil, with a couple small nests lined with plush green moss. It looked like a great place to live...A lot better than my place, considering it looked flood-proof.

Tigress gestured to one of the nests. "You can sleep there." She mewed, before turning to leave.

"Wait!" I called. She froze, then turned to look me in the eye. Her eyes were so beautiful...the amber such a rich shade, like honey. I didn't have time to stare, though. She'd probably leave if I didn't say something soon.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked.

The pupils in those golden orbs went wide, obviously surprised by my inquiry.

"I...I don't know." She said, casting her eyes downwards. She looked...embarrassed. "But let's get one thing straight."

Now it was my turn to be surprised. I was silent, though, waiting for her to finish.

"If anycat asks, this never happened." As soon as she said it, she was gone, disappearing out of the bush.

I ran and looked out, but all I could see was her figure retreating quickly into the trees. I sighed, pulling my head back inside the den and glancing around.

Better get some sleep. I hope she doesn't attack me while I'm out cold. I thought, curling up in the little mossy nest. I was asleep within seconds, exhaustion taking over my being until everything faded to black.

A/N: WELL THAT TOOK A WHILE. Sorry. I was going to just do my usual, 'Oh, I'll do it later.' But then I went and checked and HOYL CRAP, OVER LIKE FOUR HUNDRED VIEWS. So I wrote it.

However, I do have a request...I've noticed something. 400-something views and, like, 16 reviews. now, don't get me wrong, i love views. and the reviews I've been getting are awesomesauce epicness. but if like, four hundred people have read this (which isn't the case, because one person could probably view it like ten times, but that isn't the point) but I have less than twenty reviews...So, here's my request. Those of you who read this and then think, 'Oh, she knows this is awesome, I don't need to tell her.' or, 'This is bad, but I don't want to have to tell her that.' DO IT, OKAY? EVEN CRITISM IS SO VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. I /LOVE/ REVIEWS. THEY'RE EPIC NO MATTER WHAT. SO PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE, PLEEEEEEEEASE REVIEW, OKAY? :D -HUGS-