Its Raining (Winterly)

[Laughing]

It was raining.

There were hints of Pouncingstar's coat sticking out from the reeds of her den. Her fur was heavy and thick, the leaf-bare season had taken its toll on her form. Her ribs were faintly seen beneath the silky quality of her form, their outlines faint shadows of hunger. Her coat was still soft, sleek, the fish had done well to her kind. Their Clan was thriving in this season, still. Leaf-bare was not destroying their ranks just yet. None had fallen so absolutely to the power of the chilled season. She hoped that none of her people would fall. Even if the other Clans suffered she wanted hers to be strong. There were scavengers in this season, Clan cats that fell to the absolute extreme of stealing from others borders. Pouncingstar's form shuddered, unlodging the reeds from her coat, the brittle branches breaking and floating to the ground. What could she do?

The feline felt her face slip, a frown crowning her expression like a dangerous weapon. Her frown, rarely seen, tipped her mood. She needed to get out of the camp. Her shelter felt suffocating. Perhaps her thoughts roamed to far for this reed bed, this cavern could not handle her suffering. She moved, jolted almost, out of her bedding. Her paws slipped over the sand of her den, her eyes tracing her footsteps over the surface before retreating to the area ahead of her. Outside of the den the faint drizzle coated the air, visible and cold. She blinked once, twice, trying to rid the frown that scorned her expression. She couldn't let her Clanmates see her like this. Her lips twitched, ridding her of a frown, but the replacement wasn't much better. Her expressionless face followed her outside, her eyes reading nothing.

When the rain dampened her fur, flattening it against her skin, she almost winced. Leaf-bare had gotten warm enough to allow rain over snow, but she felt a sick feeling twist up inside. She hated the rain, hated any kind of rain. But that frown, the one that had dared to creep upon her expression in her den, did not float upon her face now. She did not allow her straining visage to even slip once. But what was she going to do when she needed to communicate? When she needed to answer questions? A rain drop slipped off one inclined ear, landing beneath her eye. She blinked rapidly, brought back once more. Her gaze slipped from the fuzzy, unfocused thought world to the dulled world around her, a place where her Clanmates hid in their dens to keep from the rain. She saw no one come out to join her, only a nod of ones head in her direction. Where was her friendly smile to calm her? Her gaze flickered to the sky.

"Coldcurrent," her lips suddenly moved, her voice found the word. A Clanmate raised his head, but it wasn't him. Her eyes fleed from the sky, from the rain. Frantic, not really, but concerned. She needed someone to keep the memories away. Someone who knew of them, of not to touch them. She needed to get out of this camp. But not by herself. She knew that if she took one step out of this camp without someone by her side her paws were take her to the waves. "Coldcurrent." She didn't want to be approached against by those memories. She didn't want to find herself imagining Deweyes screams for River-run, or how the hungry waves took her away under their pull. Her eyes flashed again, waiting for him to appear. Her deputy, her friend. She wasn't afraid, no, not frantic. She just didn't want to be alone. She just...

"Coldcurrent."

[sunni bells]

It was cold.

Coldcurrent savored the last sweet breath of Green-leaf. The soft rain that shimmied down his cheeks wasn't, however, the warm sprinkles that summer showers brought. He watched blankly ahead of him, even though the tempratures dropped the clan was still in check. A low, throaty purr rumbld quietly in his midnight throat. His battered silk pelt still caught the small gleam that bounced off the raindrops.

He sighed and gazed forlornly down upon the small, skinny mouse that lay uneaten. He picked it up gently with his front fangs and tossed it into the air, standing quickly he caught it in his back jaw and replaced it on the foodpile for some more hungry clan cat. Tufts of on his left side stuck up or were smoothed down the wrong way from his waking slumber. He rotated his right shoulder forward, spinning to lick the side of his fur neat. Sometimes he wondered, that even though Pouncingstar and himself were some of the more youthful members of the clan they had climbed ranks so quickly.

He paused thoughtfully, Coldstar? It was well suited, and even offered at one time, but he could not picture himself as leader and Pouncingstar not. A pungent, and very familiar fear smell caught his jaw. His boyish smile faded as he quickly searched the clearing for a very close friend. He spotted her near the entrance, she looked almost terrified. He shivered and hurried toward her, he needed to help her, and besides, it didn't benifet the clan to see her this way. Pouncingstar?! He forced some cheeriness so not to catch glances of nearby cats.

As he neared her his tall frame shadowed her. Long legs brought him to her shoulder and he tried to smile comfortingly. Smooth blue-silver eyes searched her face. And they filled with warmth. He felt so helpless to his friends silent plea, a to some understanding of loss he couldn't quite reach. His parents had died as elders, peacfully in their sleep. In a way, Pouncingstar reminded him of Glowkit, the sister he had once had before she died. He had hardly known her, but she had always been strong. He rested his noble, strongly craven head on hers as a comforting gesture. Perhaps a walk? he suggested quietly as cats began to murmur. His long black tail wrapped itself over her torso as if to lead her away from her life.

It'll be alright.

[/size]

[Laughing]

Her eyes flashed to his form when he called her name, his cheeriness obviously a strain to keep them out of the inquiring eyes of their Clanmates. They were just deputy and leader, weren't they? Didn't her Clanmates understand that? Well, even she lied a bit when saying that. Coldcurrent was her most trusted advisor, her best friend, a brother of different blood. Their bond, platonic. There was no scandal to be whispering about. Nothing to be worrying about. So why did they gossip? Boredom? Fear of the normal existence of a leader and her deputy? Wasn't she supposed to like the cat she had as a second-in-command? Wasn't he supposed to be able to support her and she in turn protect him? Well? Her mind was turning the wheels, the rain was making her personality sketchy. Her head pulsed, a swaying feeling that made her feel even more sick. Her eyes sought out his silvery blue ones. What did they all want from her? What did their gossip do?

"Coldcurrent," her voice once more spoke his name. Relief? Perhaps. His form came closer, the rain did not hide him from her. When he was close enough, her deputy created a shadow over her form, his dark twin twining itself with her real form. He was there, nothing was going to be wrong. Her mother wouldn't haunt her tonight. Her father's form would not be seen at the edge of the lake, waiting to be found again. Because someone was with her she wouldn't go near the lake. They wouldn't even step near that water. The waves would be too high, they could be brought in. She didn't have to hear the wail of her father's name. "A walk would be nice," her voice escaped, stronger then before. Yet there still was an edge to her tone. Memories were floating somewhere in her mind.

She felt his head over hers, the comforting pressure of another body near her. She wasn't alone on this rainy day. She wasn't going to have to leave camp with only herself as company. Her deputy was here with her, her friend. She looked up at him though all she could see was the thick black pelt of his scruff, his head still lingering over her own in that gesture of warmth. She wondered if they were whispering. Her eyes fled the nape of his neck and flitted to the very edges of her vision, looking for her Clanmates. But none of them were looking at them, just minding their very own business. This didn't look bad at all, did it? The Clan knew that the deputy and the leader were close friends, didn't they? None of this matter. None of this contact. She breathed in deeply and released the breath, calming her form, her mind. Her muscles relaxed.

Her eyes moved back to Coldcurrent's form, his shoulder when she felt that long tail come around her torso, the comfort her friend exceeding her fear. "As long as we don't go by the lake," she murmured so soft that she almost doubted that she had said that. She slipped past her deputy, moving around his tall, jet-black form. She turned her eyes on him, jade irises beckoning. Her lips had twitched into a ghost of a frown, though the expression did not dare to reveal itself completely. She would not let it ruin anything. Nothing. The rain had dampened her coat to the point it now was beginning to stick against her form, the chocolates of her coat darkening as they grew wet. "Anywhere but the lake," she whispered finally, watching him.

[sunni bells]

Coldcurrent nodded, a small ghost-like smile licked at his lip, begging to be let on. Dare I deny my Leader's wishes? he asked softly, pointedly ignoring her pained glances at the clan. They could believe what they wanted, though the truth wapresented before them. He tilted his head questioningly to the side and just nodded again, patiently.

He understood why the lake bothered her, it bothered him to. But more often than not he was forced to put aside his past to do his clan duties. Today, He sighed greatfully, Would be an exception. He remembered all to vividly his mother weeping onto his flank as his father solomnly tossed the lip bodies into the depths of the lake, his father declared that none of his children would ever be put in the ground where cats walked.

He met her eyes cautiously and scuffled out of camp, only then picking up his paws on the muddy turf. His thick winter fur dampened turning the ebony into a gleaming pitch. How about the marshes? he suggested, flicking his long banner into the wind towards the sticky marshes that oozed with reeds and cat-tails.

[Laughing]

"No, you may not," Pouncingstar responded by teasing, her eyes brighter then they had been moments before. A few good jokes and the memories of the rain would be a distant memory, one could guess. The drizzle was steady, not failing to appear (as she wished it to) and not biting down on them like a thousand ice crystals. She could remain in this steady plummet for a while. Then she would come back and attend to Clan duties. Though she was leader she could have time to herself, time to walk through the marshes with her friend and enjoy some quiet time away from the camp, the lake, the world that she had to be powerful in. The world in which her past ghosts could not scare her and she could not call out her friends name in a shuddering whine, begging for comfort, for help away from the madness of her thoughts.

"Catch some frogs? They do seem to like the rain, though they're not so good for one's stomach," Pouncingstar joked fondly, her feet carrying her to the side of her friend. His lush winter coat was now an even shinier shade of onyx from the rain, the droplets jumping off his coat as they did with any Riverclan cat. Her looked him in the eye, her jade orbs lingering over his for a moment. She didn't know what to make of this situation, truthfully. She had been saved by him again. What could she do to repay him after all of these times? Her most trusted advisor had given her the chance to be the leader she was and he was constantly helping her out of her anxiety filled situations.

Her head was inclined down, eyes facing the ground. She needed to do something to repay him or she'd be filled with this feeling for life. Her tail twitched, a sign of life in her dulled figure. What could she do, what could she do? "Coldcurrent... what should I do to repay you?" her voice was louder then it had been before, pleading. She did not want to burden him and never do anything to help him. She knew that he had done it out of the goodness of his heart, but... she didn't like this. She didn't like being saved by him. She wanted to be able to do something in return. Wasn't that what all friends wanted?

[sunni bells]

He laughed good-nature to her small jibes. A smile was aloud to come out and play. It danced over his distinctive cheekbones and lit up his carefully gaurded eyes. It took mere seconds after his last words tickled his ears. His eyes narrowed, he swallowed and looked at her at the edge of his eye.

Don't take this harshly. You are my best friend and forever my leader. But I didn't request that you be leader for no reason. You were the be cat suited to lead this clans, no matter your inscurities or doubts. I have never doubted you. You think that I take my extra time for you, to help you. And I do, but that is my choice, I could have left you there, couldn't I have? It is my job to be there for you and support you. And just like our past leader, that was my job for him too. The rest of the clan doesn't understand, and now you do because of where you are. That is why it seems so different to you. But I am always there for you, please understand that. You owe me nothing.

He sighed, the boy that was behind those serious eyes seemed to be running for cover, he was no where in sight. His eyes were warm, but searching her face, trying to gage her reaction. Are you alright? he asked worriedly, wondering if perhaps, his explanation had gone to far. Forget it, let's just enjoy ourselves. He said finally, his glossy paw sank into the goo mud and he pulled back in disgust. Were here. he proclaimed.

[Laughing]

"I know, Coldcurrent, but..." her eyes trembled, their emotion fearful. She wanted to just let it go like he allowed it to, to just listen to him and understand his words. But what was this emotion then, knawing at her mind like a rat trying to get away? Why did she feel like this if his words were true? She felt like saying something more, to correct him, to tell him that she just couldn't accept that he was doing it of his own will, that she didn't need to help him. She wanted to accept it as simple as that and smile. But... the rain dropped on her head like a slowing heart beat. Her eyes were wide still, she didn't just want to accept it and end it there. But the tone he took was so dimissing, so... definite. She didn't want it like that. She didn't want it to be like that. She wanted to be able to help him as well. She didn't just want to nod her head and continue on the hunt. She wanted to do something to repay him. To do anything at all.

Her frightened gaze broke when he spoke again, the worry tainting his usually kind, comfortable tone. She was worrying him. Everything she did, everytime she made him crease his brow or even make his words touch with concern, she felt a jab. She was burdening him. She didn't want to burden him and yet here she was, making him even more worried, pressing more things on his mind. She felt her ear twitch. She hated to make worry. "I'm sorry for troubling you, Coldcurrent. I'm just... not myself on days like this," her tone shifted, chagrin making her cheeks heat up. She felt like an idiot. "Yeah, let's forget it and have a good hunt. I hope that this can clear the rain clouds in my head." She laughed sparingly, her eyes slightly more drab.

She moved and felt her paw sink into the mud, hissing and pulling back at the constricting wet dirt that she had plunged into. "Of course," she rolled her eyes, "we choose the marsh on the wettest day of the leaf-bare season." Her mouth twisted into a small smile, her eyes closing as she let loose the chuckle that her throat had been containing. A genuine laugh. She looked over at Coldcurrent, their conversation still lingered in her mind, but she ignored its tug at her mind. She wouldn't be worried about it. She could always get back to that at a later time, when the rain wasn't fighting her normal senses and the sound of the lake wave's lapping at the shore was not so close.

"Lets just enjoy this hunt, right?"

[sunni bells]

He saw her onslaught of concern. Maybe this, and no one knew of it, was because she was positive that each small tear set weight upon his heart. This was where he was different than all others. It made him happy to see your tears, that if you got it off your shoulders, he could take it. But just like the water that slid right off his pelt, the worries and problems did too. He kept each problem to himself, but only small mentions of them, the real woe was swept down the river and never to be heard of again. Maybe this was the key to his genuine concern, joy and success among his clanmates. The only doubted he had was ever convinsing them that there was nothing more than a friendship bond between him, and the girl at his side. Which he would openly admit was different, but he liked it that way. He watched happily the tears on her cheeks receded like the rain.

You don't trouble me, you rid bad feelings from yourself. he soothed. He faded away into silence for brief moments, nodding at her softly spoken words. He laughed appreciateingly and a displeased smile formed on the crooks of his maw. I wasn't thinking when I suggested this, We could go somewhere else if you would prefer. He meowed, examining the sticky dirt caught between his pads. He paused, Nevermind... I have an idea. He meowed, bright eyes lighting up. He led her along side the thick marshes until several sharp, jutting stones speared through the thick turf. But we'll have to use our claws to cling to the rocks since they aren't flat. We'll be able to walk after the rocks end. He meowed knowledgably as he skidded toward the edge and took a long flg leap to the first rock, the farthest away. His curved white claws scrapped against the hard, gray stone. Like this. Ready to try? He asked, his bright eyes scanning her face for any sign of doubt.

To make room his squirmed onto the next rock and held himself higher as the pointed end of the rock snapped at his soft underbelly. He cast her an encouraging look. You won't get hurt, promise! I use to do this all the time as an apprentice.He coaxed gently. His long tail wrapped around the solid point of the rock.

[/size]

[Laughing]

Pouncingstar listened to Coldcurrent with a simple smile, trying her best not to think again about her growing debt to him. A debt that he denied and she could not let go of. She did not display her emotions openly as she had at earlier moments, hiding them behind placent jade eyes, listening to her deputy with a slight incline of her head, one ear cocked. Listening? That appropriate word? No. She was only half paying attention to the words that he was spewing, the movement of his body as he lead her down to the path of the rocks. Her eyes were shadowed. Yes, she had said that she would just forget it. Yes, she said that they should just have a pleasent hunt. Yes, yes, yes. Then why was she still thinking about it? Why was she pretending to smile and listen and nod when Coldcurrent spoke? Her mouth twitched. Her body was reacting to her thoughts.

"To try...?" her mouth formed the words as if she knew what he was talking about, but the in the confines of her mind her thoughts had been incapable of grasping his words. What was he talking about? What did he do? Her green orbs sought out his form against the rain, their gaze landing on the black tom from where he stood against the dark stones beneath him. Her mouth formed into an o shaped, confusion reigning her expression for a couple of moments. When had he gotten over there? Hadn't her vision been trained on him? When lost in ones thought, it was hard to remember what was happening outside. Or so this was Pouncingstar's realization when she saw her deputy standing on the stones so far away, perplexed on how he had gotten over there. "How did you..." she blinked, her brows drawing together as she tried to come to a conclusion. Jumping...?

She looked at the stone to Coldcurrent, who had shuffled his way over to the other one. Was he expecting her to jump onto that rock? With her balance? Pouncingstar almost scoffed, but being determined to make this trip better, she took a couple of steps forward until she was near the stones that she was meant to jump on. She coiled back, her form pressing down onto her back legs which had some strength from swimming. She felt her brow furrow in concentration and then she rocketed forward, scrambling onto the stone before her with frantic claws. She didn't like heights. She settled on the rock, claws scraping the surface with a small smile on her face. She felt her breath leave her in relief. "I made it... now lets go before I lose the will to continue," Pouncingstar laughed, her heart racing at the dangerous rocks they were going to climb along on. She started forward, her steps cautious and careful. "How long do these rocks go on?" Pouncingstar asked, her movements had carried her closer to him.

[sunni bells]

Coldcurrent smiled to himself, understanding that she hadn't truely been paying attention to his endless babble. yammer, yammer. He could understand why she hadn't been listening, and truthfully i it were her talking her wouldn't have been listening either. But he was not her, things rolled off his shoulders. He tottered onto the next rock, his long tail aligning hs pect balence. He glanced back to look at her, You'll be fine. he assured her. The rocks are about six pawprints apart and there are about fifteen rocks, we only need to get to sven before the ground is sturdy enough or us to walk. he told her quickly.

He made his way quickly along the next three stones, Two left... he thought to himself. Quietly gloating about his perfect balence. He wasn't payin very close attention to the next rock and his paw slipped on the rock, slick from rain, he tumbled crashing and falling into the deep muck. His paws rooted in plpace as he struggled to stand, his whole ebon bod soaked with swirling chocolatey mud.

He grimaced. So much for perfect balence... he whined. He struggled some more, but that only sank him lower into the thick marshes. He craned his neck to grab at some reeds, but they dislodged from the terrain and whizzed through the air. Time seemed to creak by, when he looked to Pouncingstar who had been a rock or two behind him. Smiling weakly he asked, Little help?

[Laughing]

Pouncingstar listened this time, incapable of thinking of anything else except for the danger that she was facing because she decided to stick by his side. She knew that she hadn't experienced any sort of danger, adventure, or thrill in quite a while and this rock climbing was a sudden welcome back. Her mind carried through past adventures, things that she had done with her brothers at the age of an apprentice, how they used to see who could swim out into the lake the farthest and who could hold their breath under the water the longest. Her smile looked reminiscent as his words continued on, her lips which had acted a frown now arching into a smile, glad that she could be doing such a thing again. Everyone was always worrying over her lives, being that she was a leader and she had nine to cherish. She, however, had found herself skipping over memories with enthusiasm, and finally her wish came true.

"To seven. I think my poor balance can hold until then," Pouncingstar laughed, her vibrant jade eyes shining in the darkness of the rain clouds. Her eyes followed his paws as he continued along the uneven rocks, seeing where his claws hooked and his pads scraped. She silently followed, at a slower and cautious rate, her tail lashed behind her and waving in the leaf-bare wind. "Sheesh, this wind is going to knock me off my feet," the leader hissed beneath her breath, her eyes leaving her deputy for one moment as she tried to gain a better balance before continuing on after him. The wind had distracted her the moment that Coldcurrent needed her most, for when her eyes skipped back up to find his jet-black paws scaling the rock side, she saw nothing. "Coldcurrent..." Her eyes swept across the area until she spotted him down below, the grasping fingers of the marsh on him.

"Coldcurrent!" this time his name escaped in a rush of a gasp, her lungs contracting as she fought to breath against the intake of cold air. She carefully, though this time a bit more quickly, touched along the rock side, trying her best to get to her deputy faster. She was the leader, she had to make sure that her Clanmates, especially one as important as Coldcurrent, did not fall in her reign. She slid to the rock on which he fell, making sure to scrape carefully against the harsh ground with her claws as she leaned over the imposing ledge to reach to him. "You have to grab onto my paw, at least that can help my lift you enough so I can drag you over with my teeth," Pouncingstar meowed out, her voice tight and demanding. She didn't want to see Coldcurrent get sucked under, not at all. Her paw dangled in the air, hoping to catch onto his.

Then the wind came.

"Oh, foxdu--," her unfriendly hiss was cut short when her claws slid across the rock, losing their grip against the wet surface. Her eyes widened, another gust of wind shot from the north. She fell.

[sunni bells]

Coldcurrent gaped in horror as she plummetted straight towards him. His silvery eyes were wide in panic as he writhed and wormed his way against the jello-like substance, narrowly missing being hit by his falling leader. Pouncingstar! he yowled, sloshing toward her in what seemed like slow-motion. Are you alright? he demanded. His eyes searched her worriedly. You're okay right?

HIs heart thudded uncontroalably, Please be alright. to him she looked dazed, but what did he know, she could be loosing a life! It freaked him out, scaring him out of his wits to know that his freind could be in imense torture. He realized he had been holding his breath, waiting for her eyes to flicker open, and for her to start laughing at the joke she had pulled. He swallowed slowly. He took a step closer to her and sank into his neck. Gasping, he back-pedaled. So much for my clean coat.he commented wryly. He paced back and forth best he could. How are we going to get out of this one? he muttered to himself, his eyes were wide, livid, agitated. Were going to be fine, we just follow the rocks and we'll get to a place where we can walk, all will be fine.

Then it started, first the rain and then...

A soft glimmer of hope when he thought he saw her move, he spun. But only the rain had started again, hard and pounding. Small bits of ice bit into his pelt. Oh dear. he snapped, the mud had already started to rise. Pouncingstar! Pouncingstar! he tugged at her scruff before letting go helplessly. Breathing in the murky scent he tried to calm his panicy mood. Ahead a small hissing noise alerted his pointed hearers. And then a surging noise. His well-muscled shoulders tensed. The river is breaking it's banks!

[/b] his brain screamed. Pouncingstar! We have to get out of here! he roared over a flash of lightening and a long peel of thunder.

His heart thudded once, and seemingly stopped as it dropped mercilessly to the tip of his tail. It swelled like a gaping monster's jaw, swooping in to swallow them up. This. Would. Not. Go. Over. Well.

The Clan![/center][/size]

[Laughing]

Pouncingstar was not looking at her deputy when she was falling through the air for the couple of seconds it took her to get dropped into the marsh. No, she had her eyes closed tight, her breath ragged as she took the plummet and slammed into the marshland, immediately feeling the cold when she was dunked in. That was the first thing that she felt, almost the only thing that she felt. It seeped into her bones through the water, crawling over her form with its fingers tangling into her fur and dragging her deeper into the muck. She was stunned, growing numb. It was the suddenness of the impact, the outright ridiculous feeling of the icey cold water stinging against her skin. It hurt. Bad.

Coldcurrent's voice rose over the buzzing in her ears, the dull shudder of a heartbeat. She wanted to get closer, to share their warmth, but her paws fought helplessly against the mud, not finding land, not finding friction. She felt like she was drowning, but the slosh did not coat her face just yet. Her pushing paws had kept her up this far, the movement almost automatic as she made it. She wanted to just live, that was all. She did not want to lose a life to something silly like the marshland. And if she sunk under its muddy grip she might never even come out to spend the rest of her eight lives protecting the Clan. She could not afford to die here, in this place, in this ridiculously cold place. She had to keep moving, she had to keep her heart from ceasing its beat. And she had to save Coldcurrent as well. It was her duty as a leader, but more importantly as a friend. If she wasn't going to die, neither was he. She was going to make sure of that.

He kept on talking, as if it was the only way he could continue to exist. He kept his mouth chattering, to assure her, she assumed. Maybe to assure himself? She could not tell. She could not read the emotion in his voice over the pounding in her ears, the pounding of her heart begging to be on land, away from this mess. She didn't speak when Coldcurrent spoke, when he ceased to speak. Her lips were chattering, her sharp teeth gnashing into her gums as she tried to fight the chill away and gather her senses. His words kept coming, sharper, but still too unfocused for her to hear. She wanted to respond, saying herself that everything was going to be okay, to assure him, to assure herself. But she couldn't, her eyes were half-lidded, heavy gaze on his dull black form. The marsh had created that effect on everything.

Then fear, true, genuine fear. "The river... oh Starclan, no," she muttered, her paws kicking forward to find her deputy. She couldn't believe that Starclan would do this to her, to her Clanmates. To Coldcurrent. When one of her white paws touched his side she breathed a sigh of relief, yet still there was a sense of fear around her, strong and overpowering her gracious breath to be able to know that he was by her side. "Coldcurrent, what... how..." she struggled to find the words, struggled to find the breath on which the words would ride. "How do we warn the Clan? What can we do?" She forced the words out in a harsh sentance which only made the reality so much more true. She heard the hissing now, the lapping. Something was coming. She turned her head from Coldcurrent, her vision finally coming back to what it had been before her fall. The sleet that now felt stung her coat, but that was not what chilled her heart.

The wave was swooping towards them, like the ones on the lake that day. Closer, it was coming closer. She heard Coldcurrent scream for the Clan, about the Clan. She knew that they were in trouble and her leader-lead heart screeched for them as well. But the wave coming towards them road the sky like an expert and it so much reminded her of that day that she felt her feet forget how to kick for a couple of moments. She quickly remembered and her appendages moved against, keeping her head above the surface. But it was only instinctual, her mind had already clouded over with thoughts of that day, of her mother's scream, of her father's corpse.

"No, mother... no."

The wave came upon them, sweeping down on the marshland in a single swoop and flooding the terrain completely. Pouncingstar didn't know what was happening, her eyes had closed and she had stopped breathing to prevent water from entering her lungs. With her vision shut off she could not find Coldcurrent's black form in the swirling mess of marsh and river which was sweeping them further and further away from camp, away from the Clan, away from the lake area in general. The river was too powerful, the current with the wind of the storm shuddering their forms to one of the farthest edges of its path, depositing Pouncingstar onto the bank of the river, her lung finally able to retract and suck in air, her paws finally on land. But her pelt was soaked to the extreme, her head spun in reaction to the waves strength. Where was Coldcurrent? She searched for his form, hoping to see it on the same bank as she.

OOC: So, I got confused and just went along with what I thought the post was. Was the wave coming their way, was there even a wave? Laughing was utterly confused.

[sunni bells]

OOC: Yes, there was a wave coming toward them.

Coldcurrent's jaw snapped shut, barealy missing the oncoming slush. Panic flared in his eyes as the shut desprately. Then in hopes to stay with his leader he clamped his jaw onto her scruff, he was just a dead weight, but what did it matter, the current was carrying them. He shuddered involentarily as icy finger nails scrapped themselves along his fur. The muddy wave rose, lifting them higher into the air, the faltering and sending them crashing back into the murky surf. His ears were pressed in a small comfort over his closed eyes, his fur stuck to his pelt or sticking out in awkward directions. His bones were chilled, as if being dunked into ice.

If that was possible. He tried to secure his paws on her shoulders without hurting her, but failed. Again the wave dipped down, leaving them scrambling in thin air, they hit the mud with a hard thud!, his grip was ripped away form his leader. The two seperated forms were lleft to dirft with the dangerous tides.

His eyelid were heavy and leaden with gunk. His body was loosing strength, warmth long since gone. He gulped in the last breath of air before succumbing to darkness, unconciously his lungs burned at the lack of oxygen...

Writhing in mud splattered on the ground, parted jaws gave way to a rough pink tongue, spewing contents of past meals but mainly mud. He wasn't fully awake, but his silve-blue eyes were parted in a wild look, the fragile pupils dialated. Finally he managed to gasp out, Pouncing... the rest he didi not finish. Strained eyes swiveled around in search of his companion. To weak to continue his search his head fell back to the ground, eyes shutting. He did not move, and did not seemingly breath.

[/center]

[Laughing]

Pouncingstar's eyes found the form of her night-hued deputy in the next moment, her jade eyes growing wide as his form was made clear to her against the slick mud. Her paws faltered, so in shock at the appearence of her second hand. His form was shuddering against the earth, his fur stuck with mud and water against his broad form. He looked so weak. Pouncingstar didn't know what to do. Coldcurrent always seemed to be the strong one in their deputy-leader relationship, the one that calmed her and the one that helped her with the hard decisions on things she couldn't decide on herself. Now it was the opposite. Pouncingstar was standing, though her legs trembled slightly, and Coldcurrent was the one on the ground, in pain, waiting for her help. With the roles switched so suddenly she found her air passage constricting, tightening until she was breathing in painful gasps. It was his appearence, this role, that wave that made her throat sting so horribly. Her jade eyes were set large on her face, the shock not passing as it should.

Her numb paws moved forward in accordance in her thought to get closer. They seemed to float over the mud that had trapped them at an earlier time, the white fur already diry with splashses of what had consumed them before. Fear tickled her throat as she came to stand by his side, her vibrant green eyes staring down at him from above. Slowly them moved from his tail to his face, watching the affects of the swirling wave on his form. At the end of her journey she saw the mud and bits of an earlier consumed, later unearthed meal. Her face twisted at the wafting stench, at the sight that she saw before her. Her deputy was completely helpless. The black tom was weak...

And the one word he had to say when he could speak; her name.

"C-Coldcurrent.. no.." she wailed a bit, finding herself lost in this new role she was taking on. She had saved other cats before, hit them out of the way of enemies, taken hits for them, but she had never been the one to save her friend. He had always been the one doing the rescuing. Even earlier when she could have helped him back onto the rock face, missing this mess that they now were in, she had failed and ended having to be brought back by him. She was such an idiot. She wasn't cut out to be a leader. What could she do? Her jade eyes had shut as she felt her mind conflicting with itself, not allowing them to open even as Coldcurrent looked for her, missing her form completely with his gaze. She didn't know what to do now. She didn't know. When did this leader intuition kick in? Why couldn't she do anything?

"Coldcurrent... I'm going to take you out of this weather. I'm going to take you to those trees over there..." her voice escaped her like an empty shell, her wide eyes dulled down to a faint shimmer. Her gaze had fled to the shelter when she had first woke up, the empty branches would serve no help, but the great roots of the willow would serve some purpose of shelter. She bent her head down to grab him by the scruff, a gentle grip that was hard enough to pulling him. Her ivories did not pierce his skin, but gently scrapped it as she heaved him up and then began pedaling backwards in the muddy terrain, her paws slamming down hard as to not be sucked in. Her tail lashed behind her, waiting for the bark of the willow tree to hit against it. The work she had to bear through pulling him was hard. Her muscles screamed as she moved, but she continued. She would not let him suffer.

When her tail slid against the bark of a willow, she pushed back until her body came in contact. She let go of Coldcurrent gently, letting him down onto the rain-swollen ground with ease. There was a shadow stretching above them, they had somehow come to be beneath two roots of a willow tree. She sighed in greatfulness at the great trees existence and then sat down in exhaustion, from both the pulling and the fact that she had just been swept up by a great wave. She turned her eyes on Coldcurrent, the tom was still faintly breathing.

"Coldcurrent... Coldcurrent.. please be okay, that way everything will be okay. Because we'll get out of this together, right? Just... come back."