The Raging Storm

CHAPTER 24

As they crested the hill, Violetshine narrowed her eyes against the rain. It swept up from the lake, carried on a wind that seemed hungry for fresh bones to chill. She thought of her kits, warm and safe inside her, and felt protective. She was happy to bear the brunt of the storm if it sheltered them from its fury.

Tree was at her side. He hadn’t left her as they’d trekked back from the cave. Last night, SkyClan had decided to approach the lake through RiverClan territory, staying clear of the flood and making straight for ShadowClan’s camp. Tigerstar was the only leader left to convince. Leafstar had already dispatched messengers to WindClan and ThunderClan territory, begging them to send patrols to support them as they faced the ShadowClan leader.

“Go to WindClan,” Leafstar had told Macgyver and Plumwillow. “Ask Mistystar and Harestar to send cats to ShadowClan. We don’t intend to fight, but we need voices to support our claim.” She’d told Nettlesplash and Sandynose the same as she’d sent them to ThunderClan.

Now, as they headed down the slope into RiverClan territory, Violetshine’s heart pricked with hope. Perhaps, at last, the question of land for SkyClan could be settled. Tigerstar couldn’t hold out against four Clans, could he?

Hawkwing followed them, Leafstar at his side. Frecklewish and Fidgetflake trailed behind with their Clanmates. Nectarpaw was limping. A clumsy jump had twisted her paw. Sandynose and Bellaleaf pressed beside her, helping her to walk.

Tree led the group toward the river, which tumbled downhill. It was swollen by rainwater but still narrow here. As it flowed to the lake, it grew wider. Where once it had gently encircled RiverClan’s camp and spread idle streams through their land, now it churned angrily. The camp had disappeared beneath the muddy torrent.

Violetshine halted. She stared down at the shore, shocked by how high the lake had risen. “The rain must stop soon, or every camp will be lost!”

“The five Clans are together,” Tree reminded her. “We will survive this storm.”

“We’re not together yet.” Doubt pricked at her pelt.

Leafstar padded to her side. “Have faith,” she mewed gently. “We didn’t come this far to fail.”

Violetshine met the SkyClan leader’s gaze, relieved to see her so determined.

Tree stopped at the river’s edge. He nodded to the fallen tree that bridged the water. “Let’s cross here.”

“Okay.” Leafstar went first, Hawkwing and Sparrowpelt at her tail. Violetshine waited for Bellaleaf and Sagenose to guide Nectarpaw over. She held her breath as the injured apprentice limped haltingly over the slippery wood, relieved as she stumbled onto the far shore. Frecklewish followed.

Twigbranch stopped beside Violetshine. “You go next.” She nosed Violetshine toward the branch.

Violetshine resisted. “Let’s make sure Flypaw gets safely across first.” She nodded toward the young she-cat.

Flypaw was staring round-eyed at the tree-bridge. Muddy water frothed beneath. “After this journey,” she mewed, “I’ll never be anxious about crossing the tree-bridge to the island again.”

“Don’t worry, Flypaw.” Twigbranch blinked sympathetically at her apprentice and nudged her forward with her nose. “This will be the last river we cross for a while.”

Flypaw climbed onto the bridge and Twigbranch followed. Gingerly, the young she-cat crept along it. Her wet fur prickled with fear.

Finleap jumped up after them. “Stay close to each other,” he warned. “Watch where you’re putting your paws.”

“We’ll be okay,” Twigbranch told him.

Violetshine stifled a shudder as she watched them cross, then relaxed as first Flypaw and then Twigbranch and Finleap jumped down the other side.

“Come on.” Tree hopped onto the log and looked back at Violetshine. “Stay close to my tail.”

Violetshine blinked, relieved he was with her, and climbed after him. Her heart lurched as her pads slipped on the wet bark. She wobbled. Having a bellyful of kits is throwing off my balance, she realized. Digging her claws in, she steadied herself. She fixed her gaze on Tree and began to follow. Her heart lurched again as the bridge trembled. Lizardtail and Hootwhisker had leaped on behind. Violetshine stopped and looked back, bracing herself against the wind, as she checked to see if they’d found their footing. In single file, they padded after her, their whiskers stiff with concentration. She looked forward once more, swallowing as she glimpsed white water thundering beneath her.

Tree had already reached the other side. He watched her from the far bank, his eyes wide with worry. “Be careful.”

She blinked at him reassuringly. “I’ll be okay—”

A sudden roar made her freeze. Thunder seemed to rumble upstream. She jerked her muzzle around. A wall of water and debris crashed toward her. She stared at it, terror shrilling through every hair on her pelt. It slammed into the bridge, knocking Hootwhisker and Lizardtail away before sweeping her downstream with such force she thought it would smash her to pieces. A moment later, she was swirling. Water churned around her. It filled her nose and her ears and pressed its way into her mouth. Something hard hit her hind leg. Something else thumped the side of her head. Blinded by water and terrified, she flailed against the torrent. As the water lifted her up, she threw out her forepaws, hope flashing as they hit something hard. She dug in her claws, clinging on for dear life as the deluge surged past her. It dragged at her limbs, trying to haul her downstream. The sudden flood subsided and her head emerged. She took a desperate gulp of air and blinked water from her eyes.

She was gripping a root that jutted from the bank. She struggled to drag herself along it to the safety of the shore, but the force of the water held her in place. She felt as though the lake was sucking her toward it and clung on harder. She wouldn’t let it swallow her into its crow-black depths.

Staring upstream, her heart flashed with relief as she glimpsed Hootwhisker and Lizardtail clinging like wet rats to a rock in the middle. They were stranded, but she could see them hauling themselves clear of the water. She looked past them, fear gripping her once more as she wondered if a second wall of water might sweep down and knock them all away.

“Violetshine!” Tree slewed to halt on the bank beside her. He strained to reach her, but she was too far away, streaming like a weed in the powerful current. The root was sinewy, too thin to walk along, but strong enough to hold her for as long as she had strength to cling on.

I won’t let go, she promised her kits. The muscles in her forelegs screamed with the strain. She ignored the pain. She was going to save her kits.

On the other bank, Lionblaze and Gorsetail leaned over the edge, calling out to Lizardtail and Hootwhisker.

“We’ll find a way to get you off!” Lionblaze yowled.

Gorsetail looked around frantically, as though searching for something they could use to reach the stranded cats. Cherryfall, Nightcloud, and Willowshine clustered around her, their eyes wide with panic. Dewspring and Quailpaw stared in horror toward Violetshine.

She tried again to haul herself along the root. If only the current would let up for a moment, she’d have the strength to pull herself to safety. She tried to ignore Tree’s terrified face. Leafstar and Hawkwing had caught up to him now, Twigbranch and Flypaw at their heels. Violetshine steadied her breathing and hung on. The flood will ease in a moment, she told herself. I can get to safety then.

Something small and dark bobbed in the water upstream. It slid past the rock where Hootwhisker and Lizardtail shivered. Violetshine knew at once that it wasn’t debris. As it swirled closer, she made out the shape of a head. Ears twitched as it spun. A kit! She stared at it. There was no kit that young in SkyClan. Had a kit been left behind when RiverClan fled their camp? It spun closer and she recognized the gray pelt. Shadowkit! Why was he in RiverClan territory? His eyes were wild with fear and his paws flailed uselessly in the torrent. Tree followed her gaze, his eyes sparking with horror as he saw the kit. On the far bank, Willowshine and Dewspring were staring at Shadowkit, their fur spiked.

“StarClan, help him!” Willowshine raced to the edge, wailing frantically. Shadowkit glanced at her desperately as he spun past, out of reach.

I have to save him! Violetshine let go with one paw and prepared to lunge toward him.

“Don’t let go!” Tree shrieked in panic. His gaze flicked toward Shadowkit once more. He’d guessed what she was planning.

Shadowkit hurtled closer. He would be within reach any moment. She would have to let go. She’d grab him and try to swim. If she could just keep their heads above the surface for long enough, she’d get them to shore. She had to. As she bunched her muscles, timing her dive, shadow flashed at the edge of her vision. A black tom leaped from the other bank. Diving into the rapid water, he grabbed Shadowkit and swirled past.

Juniperclaw! Violetshine’s heart seemed to stop as she recognized him. What was the ShadowClan tom doing here? Water washed her muzzle. Spluttering, she flung both paws around the root once more and looked behind her.

Juniperclaw was swirling in an eddy of calmer water behind her. Shadowkit dangled by his scruff from the tom’s teeth, water streaming around him. He churned at the water and whimpered with terror. Juniperclaw’s face was twisted with determination as he swam. The backwash from the eddy carried him a little way upstream. Violetshine stuck out her hind legs, felt him grasp them, and braced herself as he hauled himself closer. With a desperate growl, he dragged himself along the length of her flank and reached out for the root. He grabbed it and clung on; then, grunting with the effort, he pushed Shadowkit onto the root with his muzzle.

Gasping, the kit scrabbled onto the gnarled bark. He was trembling, his eyes screwed shut. Tree leaned out. “I can reach him!” Leafstar and Finleap gripped his pelt as, gingerly, he grasped Shadowkit’s tail in his teeth and, with a jerk, snatched him onto the bank.

Violetshine turned her head. Juniperclaw clung on between her and the bank. “You saved him,” she gasped.

He stared at her, his eyes glazed with shock.

“Juniperclaw!” Tree yowled to him from the bank. “Can you help Violetshine get to the bank?”

“Climb over me,” Juniperclaw grunted. Water streamed into his mouth and he spluttered.

“No!” Violetshine stared at him, horrified. She couldn’t risk knocking him away. “What if you lose your grip?”

“I can hold on,” he promised.

“Do what he says!” Tree strained at the edge of the water. “He’s stronger than you! And he’s not carrying kits!”

Juniperclaw’s eyes widened. “Kits?” His gaze grew more urgent. “Climb over me! You mustn’t die.” More water filled his mouth. She saw him stiffen as he tightened his grip on the root. His eyes pleaded with her frantically.

Her heart in her mouth, Violetshine let go one of her paws and gripped onto Juniperclaw’s shoulder. He grimaced as she dug her claws in. She reached her hind legs around him and clung on like a tick as she let go her other paw and eased herself over his back. The water dragged at her. She heard him growling as he fought to cling on. Reaching up on his other side, Violetshine caught hold of the root again. She was closer to the bank now. The current softened here. Released from its grip, she managed to work her paws along the root until she was only a muzzle-length from land. As she reached for the bank, she felt teeth in her scruff. Tree had lunged down and grabbed her. He hauled her from the water and pulled her, dripping, onto the shore.

She collapsed. “Save Juniperclaw.” She lifted her head, straining to see the black tom.

He was hanging on to the root by his claw tips. “Tell Tigerstar I’m sorry.” He glanced up at her, relief in his eyes, and then he slid away. The water carried him down into the churning straits below, and he disappeared from view.

“No!” Rage surged through Violetshine. StarClan couldn’t let him die! He saved Shadowkit. Tree was nuzzling her, but she could barely feel it. She was numb with shock and grief.

“Look! Look!” Shadowkit yowled beside them. He was staring upstream.

On the far shore, Willowshine had plunged into the water. Lionblaze held on to her, grasping her flanks with his claws. Gorsetail and Nightcloud gripped Lionblaze from behind. SkyClan clustered at their backs, each cat gripping the one in front until they formed a long chain that stretched out into the flood. At the tip, Willowshine swam toward the rock, where Hootwhisker and Lizardtail stared with wide, frightened eyes. With a final push, she reached them and pulled herself onto the stone.

Violetshine’s breath slowly eased. Calm seeped into her. She felt suddenly exhausted. She had to sleep.

“Keep her warm.” Frecklewish’s mew sounded far away. “She’s in shock.”

She was vaguely aware of Tree and Twigbranch pressing against her. They were warm. She could feel their hearts beating beside hers.

“Violetshine.” Hawkwing’s mew reached through the haze that enfolded her. “Wake up. You need to wake up. For your kits.”

Alarm flashed beneath her pelt. Her kits! She couldn’t sleep now. She shook herself awake. “Hootwhisker! Lizardtail!” She remembered Willowshine’s desperate swim.

Tree blinked at her. “It’s okay. They’re safe now.”

She looked upstream. Lizardtail and Hootwhisker were shivering on the far bank as Gorsetail and Leafstar hauled Lionblaze and Willowshine from the water.

She gazed into Tree’s eyes. “You saved me.” Love flooded her heart, and she reached her muzzle to his.

As his warm breath touched hers, Shadowkit fluffed out his pelt beside them. “I did it!” he yowled, triumphantly. “I did what my vision told me and I brought the Clans together!”

She pulled away and stared at him. “What exactly did your vision tell you to do?”

“I had to drown to make the Clans help one another.” The kit’s eyes shone excitedly.

“You threw yourself in on purpose?” Violetshine pricked her ears. “Do you have bees in your brain?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” Shadowkit looked proudly around at the cats. Violetshine followed his gaze and realized that cats from every Clan had come to help them. Could the kit be right?

He must have been touched by StarClan. She drew him close and looked up. The clouds were beginning to lighten. Excitement fluttered in her belly as the wind dropped. The landscape around them seemed to quiet, and she pricked her ears, her heart quickening as suddenly the rain stopped.