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.

 

[Merrystalk Merrystalk]

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

The tortie's chest heaved as panic started to wrap its claws around his throat. No matter how hard he pulled at the apprentice, he just wouldn't budge. The damned root wouldn't let the poor thing go. But as Jaypaw spoke, Merry's brow furrowed. "Don'tcha talk like that, yer gettin' outta here if it's the last thing I do." The gale guard didn't quite realise the irony in his words. He took another deep breath before looking squarely at the apprentice.

"I ain't so sure if it's gonna work, but 'm gonna try free yer paw myself. But you do not wait for me, okay?" Merry swallowed hard, the water rising further up in the den, soon the air pockets would be filled too... "Yer gonna get yerself outta here 'nd I'll follow ya'. Just don't turn back, okay, I'll be right behind ya'." He gave Jaypaw a watery smile; it was just as much a reassurance to himself as it was to the apprentice.

He steadied his breath, before bracing himself to dive fully beneath the cold, murky water.

Merry had never swum before, never needed to. The most water he had ever dealt with was the ponds around the farm yard, and even those Goldy always warned him to be wary of. And that was one of the few warnings he had heeded.

Beneath the muddy water, it was nearly impossible to see, but Jaypaw was nearby and, reaching out a paw, Merry found the wall of the den. It took some fumbling, and his paw hit the damned root that had caught the apprentice tight in its grasp.

In that moment, the moor runner wished he had spent more time with the tunnelers, listened to Molewhiskers' advice about digging. But even so, he wouldn't give in. Unsheathing claws as he bobbed beneath the surface, feeling the water ripple all around both of them as the apprentice writhed in panic. He clawed at the dirt walls, trying to keep his paws firm and steady. The walls were soft; that was one small grace in all of this. He was able to pry his claws into the sodden earth and lug away chunks to try and free Jay's paw.

With every clump of earth flung into the water, visibility only grew poorer and poorer. Merry's chest screamed in pain; he never quite realised how poor his breathing ended up after the barn fire until he found himself holding his breath for dear life. It was like a fire alight in his lungs as he dug fervently to free the apprentice.

Merry's senses began to cloud; his mind had already been a haze, but this made his every strike at the wall feel less and less like his own actions. Even as the last stubborn clump finally fell away, the scrambling paws of the apprentice kicking away, the gale guard found everything almost like a faint memory rather than what was unfolding all around him.

Even so, the tortoiseshell gave Jaypaw a shove away from the wall, trying to get him closer to what remained of the exit. But, as Merry put his paw to the den wall to try and surface, cease this incessant burning in his lungs, his blood ran cold.

Maybe he dug too far, maybe the rain had softened the den walls too much, but it just kept crumbling beneath his paws. Desperation turned to panic; the burning was too much. Even as the gale guard tried to swim upwards, his sense of direction was too disorganised; disorientation clouded his mind as dark tendrils tugged at the side of his vision.

'No, no I have to get out...' He tried to reason with himself, he had survived a lot, worse even, right? It wasn't too late. 'This isn't the end, I need to... I have to...' Finally, his lungs gave out, gasping desperately, and where there should have been air, his lungs began to fill with murky water. He tried to splutter, but it was no use.

Panic turned to terror. He couldn't die, not like this. What about Harefoot and Dimmingsun, Goldenroar and Sunnyspring, Meadow, Talon and Jay... But as the ripples overhead turned to something more thunderous, his vision growing darker as he scrambled desperately for the exit, Merrystalk just hoped Jaypaw wouldn't blame himself... This wasn't his fault...

— 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 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽⋆⁺₊⋆-

What was the Gale Guard up to? Jaypaw wondered wearily as the other cat's head dissapeared under water. Soon, his questions were answered as he felt claws and teeth around where his leg was, stuck in the root. Was Merrystalk attempting to free him, despite everything?

Jaypaw felt claws graze his leg and he winced in pain, inhaling water and coughing it right out. Soon, there would be no air left. He breathed deep, as much as he could, preparing for the inevitable - and just in time, for Jaypaw could no longer breathe, he was fully submerged. Just in time, Merrystalk's efforts proved successful and Jaypaw felt himself be pushed away, his limbs finally freed. He did it! Jaypaw swam, swam as fast as he could to the entrance, feeling Merrystalk's movements behind him.

Jaypaw could see light - not daylight, but anything was bright compared to the dark walls of the submerged tunnel. When he finally breached the surface, he half-inhaled, half-coughed out water, so, so much water. They were out! They did it! Merrystalk saved him! Merrysta...- Merrystalk?

Jaypaw didn't hear any coughing nor raspy breaths behind him. Next to him. Anywhere. Everything was suddenly so quiet, just the drum drum drumming of the rain all around him. WHERE WAS MERRYSTALK? Jaypaw turned around, thrashing his paws in the water for Merrystalk - maybe he was too weak to get up! Jaypaw had to get him up into the air!

But no matter how hard Jaypaw tried, Merrystalk's body was nowhere to be found. Okay, okay, breathe. Jaypaw retraced his steps. The water. The tunnel. The... The tunnel? Where was the tunnel? Where moments ago the two cats were trapped with only one way out, was nothing. There was nothing, just mud, that damn mud! But Jaypaw felt him, Merrystalk was right behind him! No... Jaypaw's fur was covered in mud, and he gasped out in horror as he realised that what he felt was merely the tunnel collapsing behind him, not the Gale Guard following.

"Merrystalk!" Jaypaw dug into the mud, desperate to get to his savior. But what was once dirt was too soaked for one small cat to dig through. The mud kept seeping back where he had clawed at it, only burrying his paws deeper. "Merrystalk!" Jaypaw breathed hard, his exhaustion all but gone, though his limbs were still numb. It didn't matter now, it didn't matter! "Merrystalk!" stones dug into his skin, scratching against him, clawing at him, tearing his skin, but Jaypaw didn't care. He needed to dig. "Merrystalk!" it was no use. he had dug no deeper than he had started. he couldn't do this by himself.

"Dustystar! Goldenroar!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping someone would hear him through the storm. but he barely heard himself, how could anyone hear him? "Dimmingsun! Meadowpaw! Anyone...." he sobbed, pelt soaked, legs bruised, eyes red. "merrystalk..."

it was his fault. his own damn fault! he shouldn't have called out to the gale guard. he shouldn't have cried. he shouldn't have allowed merrystalk to help him.

it was his fault. merrystalk was gone because of him. merrystalk was gone instead of him. it should have been him.

it should have been him...

it should have been him...

it should have been...

it should have...

it...

"Dimmingsun?"

 

[DIMMINGSUN]

Dimmingsun lingers by the camp entrance. He watches the others file out beside him, soaked to the bone and terrified out of their minds. He ought to stop looking and just follow the Clan, especially since the sorry sight of it all only drags his heart further down, but something keeps him rooted. Perhaps his mind is just adamant about burning this image into the back of his eyelid. Something to remember—something to avoid for the future. His home.. his new home. It's all in shambles, and who knows when they will even be able to repair it?

He doesn't know how long he spends standing idly by, the little medicine he and the others had salvaged piling by his feet, and the rain continuing to soak him, as if to taunt him. Panicked shouting alerts him, and he is on the way to investigate before he can even think about it. He feels like he's floating; like this isn't actually happening, and he is merely observing. At least this saves him from the pain of feeling.

That numbness doesn't last. He watches Merrystalk plunge into water, eventually freeing Jaypaw... but Merrystalk doesn't break the surface again.

That's precisely when Dimmingsun snaps back into reality.

"Merrystalk?"

he tries, though he knows it's obsolete. There is no way sound carries through the thick, muddy water—only in distant echoes, too distorted to be actually understood. Dimmingsun is beside Jaypaw, and he knows he will have to look after the apprentice in time, but this... this is urgent. This is a life or death situation.

His heart jumps into overdrive at the realization.

"Merrystalk!"

Despite how much time he had spent wading through the waters already, Dimmingsun doesn't hesitate to jump straight in, no doubt spraying Jaypaw with the speed and intensity of which he does it with. Merrystalk cannot die; not on his watch, like a permanent stain on his record. The gale guard has just managed to free an apprentice from certain death. It cannot be replacement... he can't allow it.

The world underneath the surface is dark, muddy, and terror-inducing. Dimmingsun wouldn't say he knows how to swim, but he knows how to trash upward and onto safety, so he doesn't allow himself to fret over it. The water level has risen so much at this point that despite his size, his legs no longer reach the ground. In a blind panic, Dimmingsun strikes out, his movements slow and languid due to the dirty liquid. It works; one swipe reveals to him the undeniable weight and warm of a fellow feline. Not being able to waste any more time for the both of their sakes, he braces against the wall behind him, using it to throw himself towards Merrystalk with momentum.

The two of them are a tangle of fur and limbs. Dimmingsun paws over the now-limp body of Merrystalk, attempting to sink claws or teeth into literally any part of him. Lungs now burning, Dimmingsun knows he cannot be picky. His hindlegs find ground somewhere to the side again—a perfect opportunity to launch himself and Merrystalk upwards, now that he is even slower with additional weight.

Finally, the real world returns to him. Dimmingsun exhales heavily through his nose, not allowing himself to breathe through his mouth despite how his body aches with the need. That would mean letting Merrystalk float downwards again. With all his might, Dimmingsun splashes through the water until he eventually makes it to the "shore" that used to be simply the apprentice den's entrance. Now that he can place Merrystalk on the ground, Dimmingsun can take a moment to recollect himself, his sides heaving as he sips air into his lungs again.

"I need to..."

he gasps,

"I need... to get him to cough."

Jaypaw is still here. He will need to be the one doing the dirty work—he is bigger and arguably stronger than the apprentice—, but at least he isn't alone in this. None of them are.

 

[Jaypaw ⏾]

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ Jaypaw ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽⋆⁺₊⋆-

it should have been him...
it should have been him...
it should have been...
it should have...
it...


"Dimmingsun?"

Jaypaw watches in disbelief as the large tom plunges into the water - where Jaypaw thought was nothing but mud, Dimmingsun has found a way in. How had he not seen it? His mind tunnel-visioned on what was in front of him, he did not see a way in. Now it could cost Merrystalk his life, and it would, once again, be his fault.

Now he can do nothing but watch as the massive figure of Dimmingsun emerges from the water, carrying Merrystalk's limp body. "What... What can I do?" he asks helplessly through tears mixed with rain. Get him to cough. Jaypaw isn't strong enough for anything of the sorts at this moment, his legs shaking uncontrollably, frozen to the bone. What he can do, however, is clear out the mud, blocking Merrystalk's airways, so that Dimmingsun can work on getting him to cough out the water flooding his lungs.

Jaypaw gently pries Merrystalk's mouth open, taking bits of mud out of there with his teeth, spitting them out next to them. He works as fast as he can, he knows Merrystalk doesn't have much time, if any, but he also doesn't want to hurt the Gale Guard. He knows nothing about medicine or helping cats, but this seems the logical step. The mud tastes awful on his tongue, sticking to his teeth, but he doesn't care about any of that right now - all he focuses on is the task.

When he thinks he created enough room for water to get out and air to get in, Jaypaw leaves the rest to Dimmingsun. "Please... I'm sorry." the guilt is too heavy to bear. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You must help him! Please..." Jaypaw all but pleads for a miracle, with the state of Merrystalk's body. The Gale Guard is cold, like a dead cat, his chest doesn't rise and fall with breaths, his eyes don't flutter... were they too late? "Merrystalk, please, wake up!"

Cold. His body is cold and heavy with the weight of the water. Jaypaw remembers this feeling, from when he was a kitten, soaked from jumping in puddles. He got scolded, worrying others that he would catch a cold or a cough. His mother would groom him, her licks ruffling his fur, making it stand on end. Stop trying to straighten it out. It helps you dry and warm up quicker, Jaykit. He recalls how cozy he felt afterwards, his pelt fluffy once dry.

Jaypaw lays down next to the unmoving body of Merrystalk, letting Dimmingsun do his thing, and starts to groom the Gale Guard. Merrystalk's body is stiff, unresponsive to his touches. But Jaypaw doesn't worry about whether Merrystalk is dead or not anymore. He does what he can, hoping it's enough, but unable to think of anything else. His own body is numb, he doubts he could get up on his paws anymore. All he can force himself to do is sort through the Gale Guard's pelt, grooming against the flow of the fur, hoping if there is any life left at all in the cat, his efforts will warm up the last bits of strength burried inside Merrystalk's chest.

 

[DIMMINGSUN]

Dimmingsun is infinitely thankful for Jaypaw's assistance while he regains full control over himself. Time is off the essence, after all, and the more of it he wastes by composing himself, the worse Merrystalk's condition becomes—but Dimmingsun knows that he will be little to no help while he, himself, gasps for breath. The gale guard needs his full attention.

"I will,"

he promises, nudging Jaypaw gently aside so that he can focus solely on Merrystalk. That dappled hide doesn't move; even though his throat is now free from mud, Dimmingsun is certain that water has seeped too deep into his lungs. In retrospect, the time spent underwater had not felt too long... but it had been more than enough to nearly drown a cat. Dimmingsun doesn't have the time to look for Meadowpaw and ask if she had encountered a situation like this before—he needs to rely on his instincts here, and those tell him only one solution.

Dimmingsun towers over Merrystalk, and rolls his Clanmate onto his spine. With the chest area now fully exposed, Dimmingsun can get to work, planting two giant paws onto the soft fur there.

With another sharp inhale, Dimmingsun pushes.

And pushes again.

Soon enough, he gets into a rhythm; one that he scarcely dares to interrupt, lest his move is right about to extract the excess water from Merrystalk. With his jaws set agape and his head purposefully tilted to the side, it's only a matter of time before Dimmingsun's method begins to work. It has to. Merrystalk can't die on him, not like this. Not when the newly renowned medicine cat is present and on the case. His movements are confident and calculated, and he doesn't even particularly worry about the possibility of putting too much pressure on a rib or two. That can be mended; lack of oxygen to the brain cannot.

"Come on, Merrystalk,"

Dimmingsun hisses, willing the tom under him to stir.

 

[Merrystalk Merrystalk]

"'m not ready to die, ya' gotta send me back. My clan- My mate 'nd family they- They need me."

" ˚ ✦ . ˚ ✦⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙ ˚ . ★ ⋆. . ˚✦ ⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙ .✦ ˚ ⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙ .˚ ✦ ˚ . "

"Ya' will? Oh, thank Starclan- Thank you. I-I'll find a way to make up for it- I-"

" ˚ ✦ . ˚ ✦⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙ ˚ ˚✦ ⋆˙‧₊✩₊‧˙ .✦ ˚ ⋆˙‧₊˙ .˚ ˚ . "

"I- I Will. 've course I will."

.


.


.

.
.
.​

A rush of burning in his chest shoved him to consciousness as Merrystalk jolted up, a cascade of water erupted from his maw, and an awful choking noise disrupted through hacking up mouthfuls of water. Merrystalk didn't feel it yet, but he was alive.

From a place of stars, one Merrystalk had thought for just a moment was a kitten's tale. Especially after his run-in with Deadwood, he feared that all that came after death was that place of no stars, or worse, even nothing. But he had seen the stars for himself. He had been in Starclan.

He had been dead.

The gale guard wasn't lucid enough to realise that quite yet, he barely even felt conscious yet. A pile of heaving bones and pelt as everything burned. Lungs as they burst alive with gasping breaths, wheezing with remnants of water he still needed to dislodge. Chest in agony, like something had collapsed atop of him and buried him alive. Maybe he had been. All he could recall was the suffocation of water and the burst of darkness.

Through bleary eyes, teared mixed with water and mud, silhouettes hung over him. Was he still dead? Was Jaypaw alive? Where was he...

He reached out, trying to find some kind of solid ground, something to prove he was alive. Desperately, he tried to blink through whatever was covering his eyes. "Where am I..." His voice a painful croak, it didn't sound his own. Something awful and crackly. He could only bear those three words before his chest seized again, doubling over, coughing up more water that leaked down his chin as he desperately tried to catch his breath.

​

MERRYSTALK He/Him, Windclan Gale Guard, 32 moons.
A lithe, tortoiseshell cat with green eyes and pelt speckled with rye grass.
mentored by none // mentoring Talonpaw
sibling to Goldenroar and Sunnyspring
NPC x NPC / parent to no one / mated to Harefoot
"SPEECH" // "THOUGHTS" // ATTACK
penned by Pheo ↛ phoenixwashere on discord, feel free to dm for plots.