The aftermath of the storm was beyond comprehension.
The lake had swelled twice its size, engulfing former fishing spots and trails that have been used for years. What used to be little streams of runoff from the mountains were now miniature rivers, carrying debris as they cascaded down the land and emptying into the lake. Many had been toppled over by the powerful gale winds, crushing former nests within the camp grounds.
“Any injuries?” A small, drenched black cat was weaving her way through the mass of cats, checking each one for any problems. A few had some minor scratches and bruises, but no one was seriously hurt. Good thing too, since Nightgaze’s herbs had washed away with the flood.
In the middle of the crowd was a large tabby tom, who was missing an eye and a bore large scar across his back. He was muttering something to a concerned grey she-cat, her tail twitching frantically. Her belly was heavy with kits, due anytime. The tomcat seemed annoyed, opening his jaws to say something before being interrupted by another cat.
“Timberstar,” the cat meowed urgently. “What are we going to do about this mess?” Her amber eyes were flaring with intensity and her ginger tail was lashing behind her. “Where do we even go?”
Timberstar lifted his head, his expression calm and collected. “Aspenspark,” he addressed, his voice level. “Fetch Nightgaze and Kestrelwing. Then we’ll talk.” His deputy hesitated for a moment, before nodded and rushing to get the cats he asked for. Once she was gone, the leader turned and faced his mate again. Her green eyes was large with uncertainty. “Timberstar, what do we do about our kits? They could come anytime now.” Sighing, her mate nodded in agreement, but his yellow eyes were also unsure. “I.. I don’t know, Willowleaf. I’m sorry.”
Aspenspark returned quickly with the medicine cat and Kestrelwing. Timberstar ushered them away from the rest, leaving Willowleaf behind. “Have your thoughts together?” Aspenspark asked, voice cutting. Nightgaze sent the deputy a silencing glare as Timberstar thought for a moment. “Honestly, no, I don’t. This was all so sudden - I’m not sure what we’re supposed to do now. Our home - it’s destroyed - where else would we go?”
“The trees,” Kestrelwing blurted. “We’d be safe from the flooding - but still would have access to the mountains and lake. We could still fish, and hunt for land and air prey.”
Timberstar gave a slight nod, but was rather apprehensive about living in the trees. He wasn’t a very good climber and he would miss living next to the water.
“I say across the lake,” Aspenspark inserted, her gaze hard as amber. “Away from its swelling. Maybe in that hollow in the ground, it’d make a suitable camp. The Moongrove would also be nearby, closer than ever.” Nightgaze glanced at Aspenspark, seeing her reasoning in her proposal. She didn’t voice her own opinion, however; she wanted to hear what Timberstar had to say.
The large tabby leader raised himself up to speak, looking all around him before he began. “I say we stay.” Aspenspark opened her mouth to interrupt, but was once again silenced by a look from the black medicine cat. “We’ve lives here for years; what’s a little water?” Timberstar pressed. “We can rebuild, I’m sure this is not the first time this has happened around here. Also, I am a little biased; I want my kits to grow up in the same place I did.”
Now was the time for Nightgaze to step in. “Timberstar, I understand how you feel. Yes, we’ve been here for generations, but look around us! It’s more flooded than it’s ever been - it won’t be safe for any family to be raised here.” She looked over at Aspenspark, drawing in a breath. “I agree with Aspenspark. The hollow seems like the safest place to go. It’s further from the lake than the rest of the locations, and closer to the Moongrove.” The ginger deputy looked pleased with herself, having the medicine side with her suggestion. Though Timberstar and Kestrelwing did not look convinced.
“But the trees would provide more shelter than any of those places,” Kestrelwing argued. “And we would still be close to the water.” The white-and-brown tom glanced knowingly over at his leader.
“But some of can’t climb,” Timberstar growled. “Especially the young and old.”
“We can teach them how.”
“I can’t climb, Kestrelwing” Timberstar muttered, almost embarrassed. “Neither can Willowleaf or my kits.”
Kestrelwing fell silent, giving up arguing with his leader.
“I.. have a proposition,” Nightgaze murmured. “But it’s not an easy one.”
Timberstar pricked his ears. “Tell us,” he invited.
The medicine glanced timidly at the other cats before inhaling and laying out her idea. “We could split ways. Timberstar, you can stay here. Aspenspark, you could go to the hollow. Kestrelwing, you could live in the trees. We would be our own clans, with our own territory.”
A shocked silence fell over the group after Nightgaze finished speaking. The she-cat flattened her ears against her head; she’d known it was a bad idea.
“You could be onto something,” Aspenspark began, liking the idea of running her own Clan. Her ambitions were biased towards the plan, but it would also mean she could put those caves she’d found to use. She’d told no one of them, just in case something happened. Obviously, that had been a wise choice for her to make.
“Nightgaze, we only have one medicine cat,” Timberstar pointed out. “We can’t just share you if we decide to split.”
“You have a point,” Nightgaze agreed. “I could train cats. It’s not that big of a problem.”
“But that could take awhile,” Kestrelwing argued. “If we split now, who knows how long that would take?”
“Enough arguing,” Timberstar commanded, feeling worn out. “Let’s take this to the rest.. we’ll make our decision based on what they say.”
. . .
After a long and difficult meeting, the Clan had finally come to a conclusion. Aspenspark would take the hollow like she had said, and would became the new leader of HollowClan. Kestrelwing would lead the clan CherraClan in the forest. Timberstar would stay and rule his Clan, now called FloodClan.
Nightgaze made the decision to go with Aspenspark and be the medicine cat of HollowClan. Though she hadn’t yet brought it up with Timberstar.
Taking in a deep breath, the black she-cat headed over to Timberstar to share the news with him. To her dismay, his mate Willowleaf was with him. She didn’t want to have to tell this to both of them, when they were expecting kits.
“Timberstar,” she called as she approached. “I.. I’m sorry to tell you this, but I’m going with Aspenspark.”
Willowleaf’s green gaze grew wide and distressed. “But you can’t!” She wailed, pressing closer to her mate. “What about my kits?”
“Yeah, what about them,” Timberstar growled, clearly distraught. Nightgaze looked her paws and sighed before continuing. “I will stay until you have your litter,” she promised, trying to reassure the she-cat. “And I will select a cat for each clan to be trained to be a medicine cat. I will not leave until I know it’s ok to.” The grey queen relaxed a little, along with Timberstar, who’s anger faded. “See, everything will be fine!” The medicine cat said brightly, but didn’t feel so positive. She glanced behind her, saying she needed to tell Aspenspark her decision, and bade them goodbye.
“Don’t worry, Willowleaf,” Timberstar murmured while pressing his muzzle to her head. “Everything will be ok. FloodClan will forge on, and you will raise a new generation.” He looked at the horizon, watching Aspenspark leading her group of cats on the long trek to the hollow. Kestrelwing had left with his team almost as soon as the decision was made. “Everything will be just fine. Nothing more will happen to us.”
this is SUPER rough but here ya go! please help me edit :’)