Chapter One: The Aftermath

The quiet breathing of the RiverClan warriors said nothing of their ordeal. It spoke of a calmness that did not exist in their ranks, a calmness that did not befit the disaster that had occurred. If not for the stark panic present in their eyes, one could call the RiverClanners either insane or severely conditioned to deal with panicky, life-ending situations such as this one.

As they crested the hill, they made a long line of feline shapes. The weary bodies of the cats stiffened with shock as they looked at the land before them. Had they once called it their territory, their home? Was this truly where they had lived for generation after generation, continuing on as the other Clans left for better hunting? This was where they had stayed, proud as ever, the only Clan that was not suffering from lack of prey. The twolegs had disturbed the territories of ThunderClan, WindClan and ShadowClan; left with no choice, the Clans had chosen to leave, and had tried to get RiverClan to go with them. But proud as ever, RiverClan rejected the invitation. The river ran not only on their territory but in their blood and sang in their souls; there was no other place where they could feel as complete. And they had had no problems; as far as any cat was concerned, they had made the right decision. But the disaster of the night before now left many quaking in doubt, both in their decision and in their faith in StarClan.

A quiet wail of protest came from one of the tiny bundles clamped in a warrior's jaws. It was a kit, one of the five that the Clan had worked so hard to save. The sad, mournful sound reverberated in every cat's heart and made them think about what they had lost. Quiet despair and grief settled over the warriors like a fog.

The first cat to break the silence was, of course, Leopardstar. Their leader for many seasons forced herself to shake off the weariness that dragged her down. Out of sheer iron will she forced herself to speak.

"We will go down together, as one," she meowed commandingly, but there was an uncharacteristic note of softness in the usually imperious leader's voice. She understood how her cats would be taking the sight of their new territory; she had led them for seasons, after all, and had been deputy before that. So now she took the lead, striding confidently and as powerfully as she could at the head of her straggled Clan, sending out a silent message of strength.

Her Clanmates did not respond to her words; they were too shell-shocked to absorb much of anything right now. Before them, it looked as though a giant claw had come and uprooted all the trees. They lay downed, some of them piled up where they had caught and stopped moving into natural barriers. The ground itself was moist and spongy, with puddles of water in the deeper depressions. There were no signs of life; all was quiet, as though the world itself had frozen in shock.

A giant wave of water had come through the land and swept through as though the animals it crushed did not matter, as though it did not take notice of them and never would. It had chased the RiverClan cats with merciless fervor, and crushed everything in its path. The sheer force of the wave had uprooted trees; that in itself was enough to terrify and haunt the minds of RiverClan forever.

And worst of all, StarClan had not warned them.

As the cats took their first steps into their somehow familiar but at the same time unfamiliar territory, a gray she-cat with blue eyes lengthened her stride and caught up to her leader. She was Mistyfoot, deputy of RiverClan, and she was very worried right now. Like her leader, she was being as strong as possible; if she wasn't capable of handling stress in situations like this, she wouldn't have been picked for the job.

If she had been younger, or less experienced, she would have been questioning Leopardstar about what she planned to do – how were they going to feed the Clan and find the bodies of the cats that they had lost in the escape? Should they send some warriors to scout ahead? But no; she knew that the former could be asked at camp, and the latter would be a bad idea. The shock of seeing their beloved territory defiled by natural forces that were stronger than they had ever seen was easier to take together rather than alone. If Mistyfoot had learned anything through her life as a RiverClan warrior, it was that her Clan was strongest when they rose up together to confront a threat. Thus, she simply padded at the head for added support, to bolster her Clanmates' feelings and silently reassure her leader.

Leopardstar showed no sign of noticing Mistyfoot, but Mistyfoot didn't need a sign to know that her leader approved of her decision. The spotted golden tabby she-cat increased the length of her stride, picking up the pace. Mistyfoot followed, and behind them RiverClan went faster as well. All cats were dreading to see what their territory had become, but also eager to see what they had to live with now.

The ground evened out as they approached their island camp on the river. The pace was a quick run now; the warriors leaped over debris, the strength in their limbs returning as they focused on reaching camp rather than their suffering. But as they approached camp, all stopped once more.

Their beloved river was swollen, their camp much reduced in size. It was nothing more than a small floating patch of land, with rivulets of harsh flowing water around it. The thorn barrier that they had worked so hard to create to protect their camp had been washed away, as well as all the seemingly sturdy dens that had been painstakingly constructed for moons and moons. The Mossrock, where the leader of RiverClan had stood for generations to address his or her cats, was gone. Seeing the Mossrock, the icon of the Clan's leader and guiding voice, seemed to finally do the proud RiverClan warriors in.

The more emotional warriors wailed and yowled; the less emotional ones hissed in fury and loss. The younger kits set up a racking cry, wiggling in their savior's mouths. The older kits were silent with shock. The warriors carrying them set them down, and instantly RiverClan's two queens gathered around their respective progeny, inspecting them for hurt and nodding their thanks to the warriors that had carried them.

It took a lot of effort, but some cats managed to restrain their cries and remain strong. They were Leopardstar, Mistyfoot, Blackclaw and Reedwhisker. From the strength of these four cats, shocked silence eventually returned to the Clan. Grief abated as quickly as it had come; the surviving spirit of RiverClan filled every cat, making them feel as though they could get through this disaster.

In the echoing silence, a final wail punctuated the air. It came from Mothwing; the pretty golden dappled she-cat had spotted a dark tabby body in the nearby debris and had gone racing over to see if it was indeed who she thought it was.

"Hawkfrost…no," she half-whispered, half wailed. Her eyes contorted with even more shock and grief, as she stood facing the dead body of her brother. He was on top of another cat, a thickset tabby tom whom the Clan recognized as Heavystep. Hawkfrost had gone down fighting to save the elder.

Mistyfoot quietly padded to Mothwing's side, lending silent support to the RiverClan medicine cat. She stood by her side, and bowed her head in respect of Hawkfrost's sacrifice. At the same time as feeling quiet grief for the brave warrior in front of her, she also felt secretly shocked. Here she had banked on Hawkfrost being an ambitious murderer like his father; through his last act in life, he had proven that he was his own cat, and loyal and selfless in the end.

A brown tabby she-cat with green eyes padded to Mothwing's side as well. She was Willowpaw, the medicine cat's apprentice, and she, too, looked troubled. But the truly admirable thing about the apprentice was how she hid her sorrow; she calmly looked in her mentor's distressed voice and declared in a calm voice "Mothwing, we must tend to the Clan. They're in shock."

The voice of her apprentice seemed to reach Mothwing; the medicine cat stiffened, and then relaxed, swinging her head from side to side as though shaking off the thoughts of grief invading her. "You're right Willowpaw. Which cat needs the most help?" she meowed, her tone brisk but tainted with grief.

Mistyfoot padded away from the medicine cats, sensing that her support was not needed. She looked inquiringly at Leopardstar, who nodded and then turned to face her Clan.

"We will camp here tonight. I know that we are tired, and that we have just gone through a horrible ordeal, but we must take care of ourselves and the Clan first. If anybody is injured, see Mothwing or Willowpaw for treatment immediately. Blackclaw, if you could take two cats and go hunting that'd be great. Reedwhisker, I'd like you to take two cats and go hunting as well. If at all possible, see what you can hunt up in terms of nest material, herbs and prey."

The named cats nodded, and set about getting some cats to go with them. Leopardstar watched them with approval, and then continued giving out instructions. "Pebblepaw, Minnowpaw, help out the medicine cats and the queens," she meowed. The brother and sister barely managed to nod, still overcome by shock. Leopardstar knew that the familiarity of regular Clan duties would help soothe them.

What the leader did not mention, though, was searching for more bodies. RiverClan had lost not only Hawkfrost and Heavystep, but Swallowtail as well. Leopardstar thanked StarClan that they had not lost more, but still grieved for the ones that were now with her ancestors. She counted herself lucky that she had not lost more, especially the kits, but what could they do now? The golden tabby realized that a discussion with her deputy was seriously in order, and summoned Mistyfoot with a flick of her tail.

"We need to investigate the other territories and Fourtrees," she meowed, straight down to business. Mistyfoot nodded in agreement. Her blue eyes shone with determination.

"We're more likely to run into prey if we search a larger area, anyway," she pointed out. "Besides, it will be interesting to see how the…wave affected the other Clan's territories. Prey will be somewhere; if we managed to get away, they must have managed it somehow as well."

Leopardstar nodded in agreement. She already felt reassured of her Clan's survival by her deputy's words. "We also need to check Mothermouth," she meowed quietly. "If we lose our connection to StarClan…then we become nothing more than a band of rogues who live by a code that hardly matters without the other Clans anyway." The last part was said harshly, and Mistyfoot's eyes darkened with worry. Was her leader regretting one of her decisions? Arguably it would be the first time Mistyfoot had seen it occur; Leopardstar hadn't even regretted her former alliance with Tigerstar, or at least she hadn't shown it. Where was her leader's RiverClan spirit? Had it been clawed away along with the wave?

"We can check that out after we see what the other territories look like," meowed Mistyfoot as soothingly as she could. "We will reestablish our connection with StarClan, Leopardstar. I know that we will."

The leader didn't seem to hear her deputy's words; her eyes seemed clouded, far away. Mistyfoot wondered if she was reliving the previous night's disaster, feeling personally responsible for every death that had occurred even if there had been no way to prevent it.

"It's not your fault, you know," Mistyfoot meowed to her leader, feeling a bit uncomfortable as she did so. Her relationship to Leopardstar was deputy to leader, not friend to friend. The few times Mistyfoot had attempted to make contact, the proud RiverClan leader had turned her away, acting as though she didn't need the support that a closer relationship would provide. But maybe, just maybe, the she-cat was in denial, and actually needed that support that she had rejected for so many years. Many after this disaster, she would begin to develop more as a cat and become loved by her Clanmates not only for her strength, but for the loyalty of her friendship.

Maybe it wasn't too late for Leopardstar to change and become not just a good leader, but a great leader.

"Why didn't StarClan warn us?" the leader meowed, almost in despair.

Mistyfoot's mind filled with shock. She had never heard Leopardstar speak in such a depressed tone before.

"Have we lost StarClan's favor because we did not go with the other Clans? Are we doomed?" continued the leader, as though not noticing her deputy's shock. Mistyfoot's mind raced, looking for an argument that would combat Leopardstar's thoughts.

"Remember when ThunderClan's territory was set on fire? Their territory burnt away, and they received no warning from StarClan, but they still had their favor," meowed Mistyfoot, choosing her words carefully. "Be strong, Leopardstar, for our Clan needs us, and StarClan has not abandoned us, but is simply letting us grow."

Her leader did not reply; Mistyfoot thought that she was not going to, until she meowed "You are correct, Mistyfoot. You have become wise."

Her eyes when they looked at Mistyfoot now were full of quiet pride. Mistyfoot blinked, surprised. She hadn't known that her leader could look at her like that. To Mistyfoot, what she did was duty and love for her Clan; to be recognized had never crossed her mind. But here Leopardstar was, the proud leader recognizing her. Mistyfoot could do no more than meow "Thank you, Leopardstar," and be dismissed from her leader. She padded away, still shocked, and saw that the first hunting patrol was returning.

No cat held prey, and their eyes were glum, but they did carry plenty of material for nests. "At least RiverClan will sleep comfortably tonight, even though our bellies will be empty," thought Mistyfoot dryly. Her attention returned to the work at paw, though the memory of Leopardstar's recognition of her remained like a pawprint on her heart.

Next chapter - a flashback to what actually occurred during the disaster that changed these cats' lives forever.