𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 ༄ؘ 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐜

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 ༄ؘ

Panicked was too weak a word to describe the current state of the CoveClan camp. It was all-out chaos.

     Above the screaming wind and roaring ocean, Coralfang could hear the queens Pebbleshore and Shimmerfish wailing, Fallensky shouting orders, and the elders yowling various despondent predictions.

     "We'll all drown! Oh, my kits, my kits!" Pebbleshore's cry rose above the din. Her mate, Driftwater rushed over to her and cuffed her around the ears.

     "Stop wailing and gather the kits!" he snapped.

     Splashpaw stumbled past Coralfang hyperventilating. Personally, Coralfang felt quite close to hyperventilating herself. Cats raced to and fro, no one with any real direction. The terrified caterwauls of her clanmates mingled with the screaming of the wind which battered the camp. Stonegaze stood stock still and growled loudly that they all ought to have listened to him about the hurricane, but no one paid him any heed. Someone knocked into Coralfang as they rushed past her. Stumbling sideways, Coralfang regained her balance and crouched, wishing she could shut all the noise out. What do I do? What do I do? Frozen in place, her wide yellow eyes took in the panicked flurrying of her clanmates. It seemed an eternity of this frenzied, wild scrambling before anything happened.

     "QUIET!" Fallensky's powerful yowl echoed throughout the camp, and shocked, CoveClan obeyed. Coralfang's petrified gaze flicked to where the tom stood; the shadows of the cave turned his golden pelt gray. "I want everyone to listen to me!" Fallensky's glowing green gaze surveyed his cats, waiting until each one of them had focused on him and stopped mumbling and gasping. "Speed and order are imperative to the safety of our clan right now," the leader began loudly, "so listen carefully. Mentors! Find your apprentices and stick by them. I need two warriors to help the elders up the cliff path—who will volunteer?"

     "I—I will," Warblerspring stood up and waved her tail. Close by her, Railwing copied her movements.

     "Thank you." Fallensky took a deep breath before continuing. "Now, we have two litters of kits that will need carrying. I need my strongest, steadiest warriors to help the queens with their young! Anyone else, grab some prey from the fresh-kill pile and gather by me when you are ready to depart! We will leave in an orderly fashion—has everybody got that?" Murmurs of assent rose, and cats stirred back to life again, a new purpose in their pawsteps. Warblerspring and Railwing gathered the elders close to them, and mentors and apprentices swarmed the clearing, trying to find the way to their partners. Fallensky bent and picked up Conchkit, and others aided the queens as well. Urchinsting hurried over to Coralfang, mewed something urgently, then disappeared into the shadows once more.

     But Coralfang could not move. Seapaw is still gone ... what do I do? Pearlmoon suddenly halted in front of her and seemed to be saying something, but Coralfang could only catch certain words.

     "I need ... herbs ... can't carry enough ..." Then those wide blue eyes looked expectantly at Coralfang, but all she could do was blink dumbly. After a moment, Pearlmoon muttered something and brushed past Coralfang in an irritated manner.

         Fallensky was now standing along with a crowd of cats ready to depart at the back of the cave, where the escape tunnel was.

     Almost time to go. Almost all of CoveClan is ready. I ... must ... move. Must ... go ... Somewhere in Coralfang's consciousness she knew she was in shock, or panicking—but she just couldn't move.

     Seapaw is still out there ... Suddenly, a pair of paws stumbled over Coralfang's immobile body, and a familiar voice cursed, "Gull-dung! Sorry! Oh, Coralfang, it's you! Come on, we've got to go now."