Event Camp Get in the water or I'll raise the tide so high, all of Ithaca will die || Jaypaw, Merrystalk

[Jaypaw ⏾]

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ Jaypaw ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽⋆⁺₊⋆-

Jaypaw was fully awake, aware of the water flowing everywhere around him. He was at the back of the tunnel, rushing his clanmates out - he was older, almost warrior age, the younger apprentices needed to get out first, and he was doing everything in his power to help.

The water was up to his stomach, rising higher and higher, soon he would need to start swimming. His long legs were strong, but still his body had a limit and he wasn't sure how long he would manage to swim for - if at all, in this weather, cold, his body shivering. He could hear the hammering of the raindrops outside, above him, everywhere around, deafening most of the cries from outside the camp. How was the rest of the clan doing? Was everyone safe? The medicine cats, the elders...the kits? Jaypaw prayed to StarClan that all the kits were safe. There was nothing else he could do right now but help the apprentices get out.

At long last, the last of his denmates managed to get out. The water reached up to his chin now, he had to stand on his toes, head held high at an odd angle, to not breathe in the muddy water. He paddled towards the entrance, making sure to breathe through his nose, aware of the dangers of inhaling the liquid. He was almost out when... no!

Jaypaw's hind leg would not move - it must have gotten stuck in one of the roots protruding from the tunnel's walls. He trashed and trashed, trying to get free, but he was cold and tired, his muscles weak and numb. A familiar face appeared at the entrance of the den, a gale guard, looking for others to help. "Merrystalk!" Jaypaw cried out to the warrior, unsure of what he was hoping to accomplish. "I.. I can't move. I'm stuck."

Tears welled in his eyes, making it even harder to see. His trashing brought him nothing, just muddy water filling up his stomach and lungs, and more exhaustion. Was he going to drown here after all? The tunnel's ceiling was getting soaked, dangerously muddy, Jaypaw feared it would collapse on him any moment.

"Please..." he whispered faintly, inaudible through the rain and screams of other cats. "Please, help me..."

OOC: @Merrystalk ​

 

[Merrystalk Merrystalk]

—————————————— Dreaming along in a pace you'll understand. ✦

Merrystalk worked tirelessly; the apprentices weren't small fellows, but that didn't mean he wouldn't stop until every last one was safe. One after another, apprentice after apprentice. The gale guard could feel his heart hammering in his chest, thundering like the storm overhead, driving an ache through his entire being as the water rose higher and higher. A suffocating pressure as the water writhed about him, freezing tendrils that sapped the warmth from beneath his pelt.

For a moment, as he guided another youngster out of the den, he thought they would all be okay. At this point, he was barely walking, stumbling into low points in the den. There was still one apprentice left, then they would be

Jaypaw's shrill panic made his stomach turn; he was... Stuck? His breath hitched, Merry was already dazed, the dizzying sensation of churning water all around them made it nearly impossible to focus. But Merry was no coward; the gale guard swallowed hard as he dove back into the flooding den.

The world seemed more and more muffled as he desperately tried to reach Jaypaw, chest heaving as he spoke over the roar of the water. "Hey, yer okay, I ain't leavin'- leavin' without'cha." He spluttered over every word, bitter cloudy water seeping into his nose and lips, the rainwater picking up loose earth from the camp. Even in the dark of the night, as the water rose higher, what remained of the night outside the den began to dim. Soon enough, the water would cover the maw of the den itself.

Merry grimaced at the thought, but he couldn't panic now, not. They were so close to being okay, it was just Jaypaw now. The gale guard had to frantically paddle towards the apprentice at the other end of the den, the deepest section made for the deadliest possibilities. "I gotcha, Jay, don't ya' worry now." He took a second to press a reassuring forehead to the apprentice, no matter how abrasive these kids could be, how angry or scared at the world, he would always reassure them to his very last breath if he needed to.

He hoped his first plan would go well, or else this would end up more dire than he thought. Merrystalk took hold of Jaypaw's scruff and tried with his might to pull him free, pressing his back paws to the wall of the den for some desperate leverage. For a moment, a sickening moment, his mind wandered to that night, the barn fire, freeing Cherrie from beneath the crumbling rubble. Merrystalk blinked hard. They would be okay, they had to be.

— And it's harder than you think,

Telling dreams from one another. —

• 
  Merrystalk
  ✦—Windclan Gale Guard | 32 Moons
  ✦—He/Him
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A skinny, tortoiseshell cat with bright green eyes and pelt speckled with hay.
  #9D6E46

 

[Jaypaw ⏾]

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ Jaypaw ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽⋆⁺₊⋆-

Oh, thank StarClan, Jaypaw blinked at Merrystalk who rushed to his rescue. The water was filling up the tunnel rapidly, Jaypaw wasn't sure how much of his breathing was just swallowed water anymore, and he wanted to be out, he wanted to be out of the tunnel so badly. The water pressed against his pelt, the cold threating to drag him downward. He could barely hear Merrystalk's voice, just faint traces through the roar of the flood.

Merrystalk grabbed him by the scruff and pulled. Jaypaw hissed softly with pain, his body jerked, his leg... No... his leg did not budge, still stuck in the root. It must have been lodged in there at a weird angle, in such a way Jaypaw wasn't able to free it by tugging. But what else could he do? He kicked uselessly - WindClan cats were supposed to be fast, and he was, but here, speed meant nothing.

"I'm sorry, Merrystalk..." he gasped through mouthfuls of water, his lungs burning with every breath. "I don't think I can do this." Jaypaw was tired, sore and freezing, slowly losing the last bits of hope he still held desperately. The cold pierced his limbs, making them all but numb. Not even Merrystalk could save him, could he? He was going to drown here, without a fight, without anyone to tell him goodbye.

At least I got them all out...right? They all made it, please, let them have made it. His mind clung to that thought as he slowly lost the will to swim. If he wasn't freed soon - and Jaypaw couldn't see a way for that to happen - he was going to sink to the bottom of the flooded tunnel, lungs filled with water, drowned long before he hit the floor. His chest burned, vision flickering in and out as the cold seeped to his bones. I'm sorry, he thought dimly. I tried.