Rising River

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Huge storm clouds rolled above Riverclan territory for the hundredth time it seemed. A golden colored pelt gleamed through the forest though as it wandered towards the river. It had gotten a lot farther into their territory and Suncloud was beginning to worry. The initial flood had already caused enough trouble and she didn't want the water to do anything more.

Her delicate paws trod on the grass that was mixed with twigs and mud that the flood had brought up. The river came just in sight as the sun was finally covered up by the thunderheads. Amber eyes looked up into the sky in dismay as she saw lightening flashes above.

Just as she was as close as she dared to go to the river, big plops of rain hit her pelt a she stood there. Why does this have to happen. Riverclan had too many problems already, what with the old leader gone and Hailstar coming into power. She figured all the clans were messed up , but Suncloud didn't like hers to have them. This she-cat was sensitive about her clanmates and having another storm hit her clan wasn't good at all for her mood. Unfortunately, this was the hundredth time to much for the river. Unbeknown Suncloud, this storm was going to make the river rise too far into Riverclan territory, making it impossible for the cats to live in it.

She stood there, watching the river as her fur got soaked by the rain, in utter misery.

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[atrb=background,http://i1029.photobucket.com/albums/y353/shockwavesyndrome/hailmid.png] The snow white she-cat gritted her teeth in frustration, her claws digging up more damp earth with every step. The she-cat had chosen the worst time to leave camp, raindrops pelting her fur only moments after entering the forest. Another storm? Was StarClan determined to send the clan of water lovers to an ironic watery death? She growled quietly at a volume that the noise would only be heard by her own ears. This was certainly no way the she-cat wanted to live... If she knew this was what he life would be like, she would have run away long ago. Hailstar had attempted to escape the loud, irritating noises of the camp by taking refuge in what was left of RiverClan's territory. After the series of storms, the rising river was almost to the point of washing over their camp. And with their camp gone... What were they going to do? The white leader felt as though she were stuck between a rock and a hard place, and the rock was pressing harder and harder against her. She never wanted this positions-she actually loathed her position. But she knew better then to complain aloud. Nothing she could say would take away her job, expecially now since the clan was still lacking a deputy. But there seemed to be no one to choose from-no one seemed fit for the position. "As if StarClan hadn't tortured me enough..." she moaned aloud, almost instantly regreting her complaints. Life was what it was, and no words would change that. 'Unfortunately...' It was then that she spotted golden fur not far away and the powerful scent of one of her clanmates smacked her directly in her scent glands. Without exactly meaning to, while she spoke, her paws had carried her farther and farther away from the camp and closer to the every rising water's edge. Suncloud, a warrior-one of her warriors-was not far from where the odd eyed she-cat stood. Perhaps she was assessing the level of the river? Or maybe she was just taking a swim. Fishing for a meal? 'It doesn't matter to me... Let the warriors do what they want.' Padding up slowly and sitting beside her clanmate, she meowed, "Good morning, Suncloud. Mother Nature certainly enjoys taunting us, does she not?" She was, of course, hinting the repeated storms that plagued their clan. What would she do when the water grew to high to handle? Siding with an enemy clan... It was out of the question. Her feirce independance prevented her from even thinking about relying on someone else, expecially not the enemy. 428 Words.

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The filthy water was rising as she watched and it disgusted her. Water was falling harder causing her to shake her fur. It seemed as if Riverclan was cursed more than the other clans. Their territory was lower in sea level because of their vicinity near the river. All the other clans had a better position in these situations. Being so close to water was only natural for Riverclan, but right now this wasn't the kind of swim she wanted to jump into.

A sudden noise a couple of lengths from her made her turn her head around as her fur lightly puffed up in it's soaked state. She opened her mouth to take in the scent of one of her clanmates. Her body relaxed as she realized exactly who it was. Hailstar was here. The white she-cat could easily be seen padding towards the golden warrior. Suncloud's amber eyes took in the leader and dipped her head as she neared.

Hailstar then sat down next to her standing form as the rain cascaded down it's wretched load. What she heard come from the she-cat's mouth made her flick her ears. Basically she felt the exact same and it irritated her. She was defenseless to help her clan as the river rose to meet it's dens. Even now as the rain was swallowed up by the river, she could see that it was rising. Her paws were now only a few feet from the water when they had been a bound a minute ago. This wasn't a good sign in the least.

"You're right about that, Hailstar. Even now, this rain is causing the river to rise after it had just begun to sink back down to where it once had been," she meowed with a hint of anger. That's what she had been doing down here, checking on the river to make sure he clan was safe. She'd been doing so every day, but today was different. There was rain at the moment and a whole lot more seemed to be coming due to the dark clouds wafting towards their territory.

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((No table for this one. Boo.))

The she-cat watched in silence as Suncloud dipped her head in respect towards her as she approached. Not meeting her clanmate's gaze, she shook her head and mewed, "There's absolutely no need to bow your head, be it in greeting or otherwise. I don't suppose you do that whenever you approach a friend, or the other waay around?" For a few moments after she spoke, the long furred leader sat in silence, listening to the soothing hum of rain battering at the ground, trees, and the surface of the river. Or, at least, it would be soothing had it not been such a nuisence.

"You're right about that, Hailstar," Suncloud replied to her statement. "Even now, the rain is causing the river to rise after it had just begun to sink back down to where it once had been." Hailstar could catch a hint of irritation and anger in the golden colored female's words. The two apparently had much in common when it came to their thoughts of this situation they had been forced into. 'But it's not thoughts that make changes. It's actions. But I don't know what actions to make...' she thought sourerly, suddenly realising that her claws had been digging into the earth that entire time.

Sheathing her claws, which she had unintentionally let slide out, she let out a deep sigh. "It's so sad... From how it's looking, if we don't come up with something soon, what we've been raised by will be the death of us." Gritting her teeth, yet letting out a crooked smirk, she growled, "Ah, the irony... A watery death to a watery clan... But it's my duty to keep my clan safe, no matter what opponent we face. Whether it be another clan or nature, it's still my job."

Her smile fading, and the smaller she-cat looked into her clanmate's amber eyes. "I won't lie... I honestly have npthing when it comes to ideas of what to do at a time like this. Even all of the knowledge in the world would do little in reversing this catastrophy... You wouldn't have any ideas as to what we can do... would you?"

She hated having to ask another for help in such a matter. It was like showing utter and complete weakness and stupidity. Her blue and amber gaze strayed to the high hills of WindClan, hardly touched by the ever rising waters. They probably had just as good hunting as ever, which woul be as much, if not more prey then the other clans. But they were used to being hungry. RiverClan wasn't. In fact, they'd probably caught more prey then any of the other clans.

'If your listening, StarClan, please... Give me the strength to pull through these terrible times!'

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Suncloud's ears sank a bit at Hailstar's retort at her dipping her head. Well what could she say, she was just showing respect. Either way, the she-cat nodded her head in understanding. From now on, she wouldn't dip her head towards her leader, unless they were in front of other leaders. That was something she couldn't give up in that situation. But right now wasn't the time to mull over the respecting issue. They had a crisis at hand as the rain made the river continue to swell up. Why was Starclan so cruel? Actually, thinking about it Suncloud was pretty sure they weren't the ones to blame. They could however offer support and help and she was sure they would do so pretty soon with Riverclan in such a dangerous problem.

Suncloud tipped her head and looked at Hailstar as the leader spoke. All the words were basically what she had been thinking about. The question towards her though, if she had any ideas to solve this problem, made her blink in shock. the leader was actually asking for her help with this. She quickly shook off the feeling though because she was pretty sure that if it were her she'd ask just the same. No one living had dealt with this issue in Riverclan.

With Hailstar's eyes on hers, Suncloud blinked and looked at the slowly rising river and then back at her leader as she gazed at the moors. Well... the leader might just claw her face off for producing such an idea to diminish Riverclan pride, but it was worth it. "Umm, well... Riverclan has low elevation because of the river which risks us being flooded by our own river. We either have to learn how to live in trees like squirrles or find territory that has higher elavation," she mused while taking a quick glance towards Windclan territory to enforce her meaning before looking at Hailstar again. She was pretty sure the she-cat wasn't going to like that kind of talk, but Suncloud was only thinking realistically. This she-cat wasn't one to go knocking on different clan's doors easily. Of course she hated the idea too, but it was probably the only solution to this predicament unless they had a huge heat wave surge through their territory for a couple of weeks.