literature

Rushing Storms

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Literature Text

Aspenstar raised her head, gazing out of The Nursery in a train of thought. In all her moons she had never seen weather like this in Seaclan, it was about as far from the mellow sunny weather as she could possibly imagine.
The wind howled and the rain lashed like icy sheets against the side of the dens. Very few of her clan were out and braving the storm, although a few had traveled closer to the other clan's borders to see if they could find any food to bring back.

The kits in the Nursery mewed with fear, Sandbreeze's kits huddling against their mother looking for protection, while Aspenstar kept her tail wrapped around Reedkit, doing her best to comfort her.

From what she could gather, Sandsplash, Baitsnare and Oceansong had been the ones to go out hunting. She hoped they would get back soon, she didn't like the way this storm was going, and something told her that it was only going to get worse from here on.
As if to support her thoughts, a loud crash erupted from above their cove, followed by the sight of one of the pine trees from above crashing down in the centre of their camp. It was received with yowls of alarm from the various dens, and Aspenstar prayed to thank Starclan that nobody had been out at that moment because they surely would have been crushed.

She wished that there was something she could do, that she could go out and find her Warrior out on a hunt and drag them back here where it was safe, but there was no way Lilypool or Feathercloud were going to let her go anywhere this far into her pregnancy.

Bowing her head back onto her nest, Aspenstar closed her eyes, trying not to worry and get some sleep, hopefully it might help to calm Reedkit. But she was pulled back by a screech of alarm that sounded a lot like Oceansong.
Before anyone could stop her, Aspenstar shot out of the Nursery to see what was wrong, even managing to paddle out a few tail-lengths to meet her returning Warriors.
They didn't have any prey on them, but Oceansong and Sandsplash were supporting an injured Baitsnare between them. His leg was badly twisted and gashed, it looked a lot like he'd been thrown against something.
Oceansong and Sandsplash didn't look in the best condition either. Oceansong was limping, placing most of her weight on her left front paw, while Sandsplash had a streak of blood across her head, they'd probably only just managed to help Baitsnare home.

"Oh Starclan!" Lilypool rushed out of her den, Maplepaw close behind her, ready to help.

The storm roared loudly around them, pushing itself against Aspenstar's small body, as if it were purposefully trying to push her over. She tried to hide it, but Lilypool wasn't fooled, she gave her Leader a stern look.
"You need to keep yourself and your unborn kits undercover" she instructed, "we'll handle the problem here," Lilypool turned back to Maplepaw, "help Sandsplash get Baitsnare to the Medicine Den, then find the three of them a nest, I don't want them doing anything until I say its okay."
Maplepaw nodded and quickly hurried to Baitsnare's side, relieving his weight from Oceansong, helping him to hobble towards the Medicine Den, bracing her body against his to stop him from being knocked over by the wind.

Aspenstar could feel Lilypool watching her all the way back to the Nursery, before she put her own weight against Oceansong to help her follow after the other three.

Another loud crash, Aspenstar let out a cry of shock as a tree landed right in front of her, missing her front paws by mere mouse-whiskers. Ashamed, but driven by fear, she leaped over the tree burying herself in her nest, trembling, glad that only Sandbreeze and the kits could see her in this moment of weakness.

How long was this storm going to last?

That was when the worst happened.

The next crash was enormous, it all happened so fast, but suddenly a large proportion of the rock from the cliff above them gave way, coming down in a landslide on the Apprentice Den.
Maplepaw who had just gotten Sandsplash and Baitsnare to the Medicine Den let out a raking howl of fear as she rushed towards the Apprentice Den, leaping on top of the rubble, digging at it with her paws.

Fallowcreek, Palmbreeze and Ghostheart ran forwards to help, as everyone still sheltering in the Dens waited with baited breath, all fearing the worst until they heard a yell from the buried den from Finchpaw.
"We're okay!" She yelled out, her voice still sounding like a meager whisper against the sound of the storm.

Finchpaw appeared to be helping from her side, because the last rock was pushed away from the inside, then the front of Finchpaw's body as she scrabbled around at the rock around her to make a big enough exit before lifting Bronzepaw through, standing back to let Crowpaw out next before pulling herself free.

Unable to stay where she was any longer, Aspenstar picked up Reedkit, and indicated with her head that Sandbreeze should take her kits and follow her.
Ghostheart when he realised what was happening came to help Sandbreeze with her kits as Aspenstar led them all into the Warrior's Den.
Everyone followed, apart from the three injured Warriors who strained to listen from the Medicine Den to what was being said.

"We can't stay here, it's too dangerous" Aspenstar told everyone, raising her voice above the storm.
"But what about the water?" Sandbreeze asked in a panicked voice, looking out at the only exit to the Seaclan camp, "we'll surely drown?" She wrapped her tail comfortingly around her kits. The other exit had been covered in the same landslide that buried the Apprentice Den.
"Either that or we risk starving or being crushed in our own dens" Aspenstar reasoned, "we'll have to leave the territory, it doesn't look like the storm's as powerful further inland..." she paused, hesitating in her thoughts for a moment before announcing, "it'll be safe in Highclan, Talonstar is an ally of ours, I'm sure she'll let us stay."

Nobody looked to fond of the idea, but in the half glow cast out by the shadowed moon, Aspenstar could see that all the cats in here knew that there was no other choice.

"Right, Dolphinleap and Ghostheart you help Maplepaw and Lilypool to get our injured Warrior's out. Anybody who can, help to carry one of the kits, we're getting out right now!" She raised the level of her voice at her last words, inspiring sudden and quick movement in her clanmates.

Lilypool held back, "Aspenstar you do realise how dangerous this is, particularly in your condition?"

Aspenstar shook her head, "the safety of my clan must come first, besides I didn't become Leader for no reason, don't worry I'll be able to keep up."
That had been what she said, but she found herself closer to the back of the group with Bronzepaw and those helping the injured cats.
Bronzepaw had barely spent a moon as an Apprentice, she was still very small and the cliff collapse had obviously shaken her.

But once they were out of the water and back on dry land (figuratively speaking). The wind still thrashed at them, and the rain soaked them through, until they were wetter than even a Seaclan cat was used to.
The closer they got to Leafclan's territory the less severe the storm became, until it petered out into just heavy rainfall.

Nobody said very much on the journey, they were all too tired. Some were literally asleep on their feet, simply following procedure as they followed whoever was just ahead of them.
Aspenstar bit her lip, her feet were hurting and her swollen stomach was aching, she really hoped none of her kits had been injured.
She had injured clanmates, she didn't want Lilypool and Maplepaw to be fussing around her, besides they still had some way to go and a mountain to climb.

Emberkit let out a small wail from behind her, where she was being carried in Ghostheart's mouth.

Ghostheart, usually one of the smartest looking Warriors in the clan, now looked bedraggled, his fur hanging in messy clumps, legs bent as if he were trying to keep himself from collapsing.
He still offered her a reassuring smile though when he caught her looking at him, Aspenstar smiled back, feeling a little of her energy returning, it was funny what a smile could do.

Highclan was freezing, but that was to be predicted. Their walk had allowed them to dry a little, so that the freezing wind merely nipped rather than bit. Aspenstar only knew that the Highclan camp was in the mountains somewhere, she didn't know exactly where, all she could hope was that a Highclan patrol would find them soon.

Thankfully when they were halfway up they met with what looked like a hunting patrol. She recognised Shiningpaw, Mossblaze, Falconflight and a small sandy Apprentice that she was sure was called Solarpaw.
The party paused, unsure quite how to react to finding the whole of Seaclan standing in front of them, but Mossblaze recovered quickly, stepping to the head of the party.
"Aspenstar what is this?" He asked, taking in the sorry sight.

"I..." Before she could speak, she felt herself double over in pain, she felt sure she was burning in agony as she collapsed to the ground.

Everything around her seemed to be happening in a whirl as she felt Lilypool snap something at the Highclan cats, before helping her back to her feet, helping her to walk, although she wasn't quite sure where they were going.
She caught a flash of, "Wow she looks fat" from Shiningpaw, but he was quickly hushed by his party, who did not sound to happy about the remark.

Snow turned to ice and ice turned to stone.

When she regained enough of her conscious to process what was going on she was lying in a nest in what was most likely the Highclan Nursery, with Lilypool hovering over her with an intense look of worry.

"Where is she!?" That was a voice she recognised.

Aspenstar lifted her head painfully, focusing on the black blur that shot past Ghostheart who was standing by the entrance.
Shadowcliff was standing beside her, his tail touching hers, looking more terrified than she'd ever seen him look before.

"Hi" she whispered, managing a smile before the pain really kicked in.
This is written by me and requested by :devwhirlwind002: to foreshadow the upcoming Assignment which we hope you'll all enjoy~

Full Cast
Aspenstar and Fallowcreek whirlwind002
Feathercloud, Oceansong and Flightwind ScarFire11
Lilypool and Sandsplash playfulkittyartist
Maplepaw Maple467
Palmbreeze and Ghostheart Rawrmouse
Baitsnare catfishcard
Dolphinleap and Finchpaw RavenpuffWolf
Bronzepaw Evilpaw
Sandbreeze and Emberkit xDreamyWishesx
Reedkit Lazzea

Mossblaze askbrackenfur
Shiningpaw and Shadowcliff ~sparkeythehamster
Solarpaw cometheart637

© 2013 - 2024 sparkeythehamster
Comments25
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Hawkieface's avatar

Ahh! So great!~

If I may ask (for purposes of the assignment), who is the SeaClan med cat?