Rise of Our Clans: Book 1: Parting Gift

6

  "I can't believe we're actually leaving the mountains." Valley River gulped. The ground evened out under her paws, there were hardly any bare rocks, the mountains were now behind them.
  The group was at a steppe near the base of the mountains, it was pouring sheets of rain, but the pioneering cats kept going anyway. All nine of them were soaked to the skin and tired. "Think maybe this rain will flush all the rabbits out of their burrows?" White River asked jokingly.
  "Yeah, we could have a feast of rabbits!" Hawk Dive licked his lips. Valley River let out a small laugh. Mossy Oak gave Valley River a concerned look when she stopped momentarily. So far, only he knew of her pregnancy, she wanted to wait to tell the rest of the group until they got to their home, if they managed to get there before it became obvious.
  It'd been two days since they left not just the Tribe of Whistling Wind, but also the mountains as a whole, and Valley River was warming up to the idea of living outside of the mountains now that they were actually gone. But she worried that outside the mountains, the Tribe of Endless Hunting would no longer be their guide.
   "Is this our place? Are we done traveling?" Eagle Flight asked hopefully, blinking the rain out of his eyes.
B"Not yet. I want to go further. We came out to explore, and we've barely left the mountains." Mossy Oak explained. "We should go scout out the area at least, and hunt something to eat." Narrow Cliff advised. Valley River hoped that Mossy Oak wouldn't get angry at Narrow Cliff challenging his authority.
  "You're right. Go hunting then, Narrow Cliff." Mossy Oak had a cool anger in his eyes. "Who will go with me?" Narrow Cliff's orange eyes scanned her tribemates. "You'll go by yourself. You said you wanted to hunt, so go hunt."
  Narrow Cliff scowled at Mossy Oak. "Excuse me?" She curled her lip. "You heard me. Go hunt, hunt enough for all of us to eat." He shooed her off with a wave of his tail. "Fine! I'll go hunt!" Narrow Cliff darted through the tall grass.
  "You didn't have to be so mean you know." Valley River pressed against her mate. "Well, maybe she shouldn't have challenged me?" Mossy Oak glared at the spot Narrow Cliff had just been standing.
  The test of the former tribe cats began setting up camp by a cluster of rocks near the river, and soon Narrow Cliff returned with two rabbits and a mouse. By the time she returned, it had stopped raining. But every cat was still drenched. Narrow Cliff took the mouse for herself and ate by herself. Rabbit Scar, Starry Night, Eagle Flight, and Little Pool took one of the rabbits.
  "Let's eat, Valley River. Ignore Narrow Cliff, she's a nuisance." Mossy Oak tried to lead her to where Hawk Dive and White River were starting on the other rabbit. "I'm just going to talk to her, I think she needs someone to talk to." Valley River took a step towards Narrow Cliff. "Fine, but I warned you." Mossy Oak went to the rabbit.
  Valley River crouched beside Narrow Cliff, and the black she cat looked up. "What do you want?" She asked accusingly. "I just wanted to see how you were doing." Valley River told her. "Well, I've been doing just great since your boy toy made me hunt for the entire group!" She spat.
  It was clear that Narrow Cliff was not in a great mood. "I'm sorry about that, but you did undermine him." Valley River pointed out. "I don't care. He could at least of had someone help me." Narrow Cliff glared at her paws. "You did good at hunting, those are some of the fattest rabbits I've ever seen!" Valley River decided to see if a compliment would help calm Narrow Cliff.
  But she remained as stiff as a boulder. "Leave me alone."
  "But-"
  "I said leave me alone!" Narrow Cliff snapped at her. Valley River slunk back to Mossy Oak, her tail and head low. She slumped against his side and took a bite of the rabbit. "I told you. Narrow Cliff only hurts others."
  Valley River lay by Mossy Oak's side, breathing in his musky scent. She loved him. Did she? Yes. She had to. Who else was she going to love? Hawk Dive? Her whole life Mossy Oak was her only option. Mossy Oak was handsome, he was strong, he was a leader, their parents were good friends, Mossy Oak was always going to be mates with Valley River. Beside, even if he was mean to other cats, he was never mean to her.
  By the next evening, they reached a fork in the river. "Which way do we go?" Starry Night asked. "We just keep walking on the same side of the river," while Mossy Oak was talking, Starry Night edged closer to the rushing water, and her paws skidded in the muddy bank and she slipped in. "After all, none of us can swim." Mossy Oak cut off at the shrieks of Rabbit Scar as she chased Starry Night down the river.
  Valley River watched the black she cat flailing in the water. "What do we do?" She asked desperately. Before anybody else had any idea what to do, Little Pool dove into the water after Starry Night. Instead of flailing around and struggling to keep his head up, he paddled on with ease, his head only dipped under a few times.
  "My daughter!" Rabbit Scar shrieked again. Valley River stood by the brown she cat's side as Little Pool grabbed her by the scruff. Instead of fighting the current, Little Pool swam towards the bank. He dropped Starry Night momentarily to shout, "Get me a branch," before he quickly took her limp scruff in his jaws again. How Little Pool held up Starry Night when they were roughly the same size was unknown to Valley River.
  But she didn't waste time questioning his orders. "I'll get it!" Valley River darted into the woods, Mossy Oak and Eagle Flight darted after her. "Found one!" Eagle Flight meowed soon, and Valley River saw he found a long slender branch. "It's perfect!"
  The two dragged it back to the river bank, where Little Pool was struggling to keep both himself and Starry Night above water. Rabbit Scar tried to reach down and pull them up by the scruff, but the river was too far down. Eagle Flight lowered the stick and Little Pool dug his claws in. He tried to drag himself up, and managed to do so just far enough for Rabbit Scar to grab Starry Night and drag her onto the bank. Little Pool managed to drag himself the rest of the way.
  Valley River's body fizzed with adrenaline from the rush of the situation. "Is she okay?" Mossy Oak approached Rabbit Scar. She licked Starry Night's wet cheek, but she didn't respond. The young cat didn't seem to be breathing. Rabbit Scar let out a wail of sadness. Little Pool placed a paw on her chest. "I tried. I'm sorry Rabbit Scar, I tried." Valley River was sure the river wasn't the only reason his face was wet.
  "I know you did." Rabbit Scar shook with grief. "Maybe we can still save her?" Hawk Dive asked. "She's gone, can't you see? She isn't breathing!" Eagle Flight glared at the reddish tom. "But what if the water is just stuck in her chest?" Hawk Dive suggested.
  Narrow Cliff was apparently roused by this statement, and pushed her way to Starry Night. She turned Starry Night onto her chest and began to rub her back roughly. When that did not work, the black she-cat licked Starry Night's nose. Water trickled from the black to-be's jaws. "What are you doing? She's already dead!" Rabbit Scar hissed.
  "No, I think it's working!" Little Pool's ears perked. Suddenly a large amount of water spewed from Starry Night's mouth. The black cat let out a few sputtering coughs. She didn't wake up, but at least she was breathing. "She's alive! Oh thank you Narrow Cliff!" Rabbit Scar tried to nuzzle Narrow Cliff, but the black and gray cat backed away.
  "Don't mention it." She grumbled. Why won't she take credit for saving Starry Night's life? Valley River wondered. "We should build camp and stay here for a few days so that Starry Night can rebuild her strength." Mossy Oak said, she knew there was more than one reason for him wanting to stay and rest. "Of course. I should," Valley River tried to suggest something, but Mossy Oak interrupted her. "You've done enough. Hawk Dive and I will set up camp. Everyone else should rest."
  Valley River didn't argue, now that the rush of Starry Night falling in the river was gone, the silver tabby felt exhausted. She dropped down into the wet grass and rested while Mossy Oak and Hawk Dive went to go find somewhere to shelter them.