Chapter XXI
Blazeflight treaded through the undergrowth, feeling tired with the extra weight of Brindlepaw. The two medicine cats had decided to find rest far away from the territories - they were medicine cats, after all, and allowed to journey past their own borders.
Goldenfern carried a large bundle of herbs in her jaws, motioning with her big golden head every so often to direct her apprentice as to where they were going. The medicine cats did have it tough, but not as tough as it soon would be for everyone.
#-#-#
Smokekit's paws pattered loudly on the rocky ground of the leader's den. It wasn't that he was anxious, or scared like his sisters, but he felt something. There was a stirring in the bottom of his stomach. A buzzing in his fur. A tingle in his paws.
"Smokekit, darling, come lie down with your sisters." Snowhaze meowed, raising her head. The smoky kit dutifully came to his mother, his whiskers twitching. Without knowing it, Leafkit snuggled up to her brother, eyes wide with fear. "I hope we'll be all right."
#-#-#
Rosestar led Cinderpaw into the Twoleg nest. "Candy?" She called out in a hushed mew. A tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat padded out of a walled part of the nest, blinking disbelievingly. "Tigerlily?" She meowed, surprised.
"I'm Rosestar now." Rosestar replied hastily, flickering her eyes in Cinderpaw's direction, "Listen, there's a disaster coming, and we need to shelter in your housefolk's den for a few days. Will you let us?" The tortoiseshell cat - Candy - considered this for a moment, then nodded. "I can tell my housefolk indirectly, then it'll be easier."
Cinderpaw was secretly surprised at how thoughtful (and slightly wise) this house-cat was. "Just wait." Candy disappeared back into the walled part, then brought two kindly-looking Twolegs out. Surprisingly, they lifted the two cats up in their spindly arms and carried them to the second floor (as Rosestar had said).
Cinderpaw was sure she'd be safe here.
#-#-#
"The flood is coming!" A wail swept through the territories. Smokekit was actually sure that all the cats in the forest had frozen, terrified of the flood. Snowhaze stood up, blocking the entranceway with her bushed-out pelt and her body.
"Don't worry, kits. The leader's den is so high up, the flood won't get to us." Snowhaze assured hastily over her shoulder. "I sure hope so." Breezekit muttered under her breath. Smokekit mustered up all his courage to pad behind his mother, peeking out just as a wave of water, tipped with white froth swept into the camp.
Falconkit yowled loudly, twitching away from the entrance as far as she could. "Like I said, don't worry." Snowhaze looked sternly at her kits. "We will all be fine." But Smokekit doubted that, just a little bit, as floodwater swept into the camp, making his sisters yowl.
It started raining so hard, just then that everything went white and foggy and it was hard to see. "Oh dear." Snowhaze cried over the sound of the sloshing waves, "It seems like-" She was cut off by the force of the water pounding into the den and hitting her - hard.
"Mother!" Mintkit screeched as Snowhaze was swept away, unconscious. "We're on our own now." Smokekit told his sisters, feeling like he was in charge. "I want you all to hold on to each other and when we get washed out of camp - run, run straight to the Twolegplace." Falconkit, Breezekit, Mintkit and Leafkit nodded in fright as they held on to each other, the level of the floodwater getting higher and higher.
Soon enough, they were all swept away, only their heads bobbing out of the water.
A/N: Hi! Sorry for the long wait :0 I was busy with end-of-term stuff and whatnot. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter!
~kay