Made it So Far

A young tom kit ran through the tall grass, laughing all the while. The kit - Duckkit - had sneaked out of camp, and now couldn't even see the place. He'd ran alongside the river all the while, laughing too. He watched it gurgle by, and stopped, wondering what the water was like. Waddling his way down to the bank, he stuck a paw in the river. The cold water rushed past his paw, sending a chill up his spine.
Can't RiverClan cats swim? the thought eagerly came to mind, and with a grin the small kit lowered himself into the swift current.
The water splashed over his head, submerging him in it's force and speed. Pumping his legs, he surfaced, gasping for breath. He tried to swim, but the current was holding him back. He was drifting farther and farther away from the bank...
Then something snagged his pelt. Twisting his head, he saw a bramble tendril that had coiled across the river and was now holding him up. Squirming so the branch swayed, he looked down. His paws were above the bank, now, and he squirmed more, trying to free himself. The bramble snapped, and the kit managed to shake the tendril off. But now he was on ThunderClan territory; not knowing this, he began to waddle alongside the river, watching it's fatal current. He turned his head to the thickening forests. He shuddered, and curled down on the soft grass. He hoped someone would find him now.

Lichenkit was only pretending he was asleep when he heard-more than saw- Duckkit sneak out of the nursery. His idiotic brother was not the smartest one in the clan, so Lichenkit decided to follow his brother. The larger, waddling kit had snuck out of the safety of camp just as Lichenkit caught up. The goody-two-shoes kit paused, his left front paw raised in panic. Should he follow? It could end bad if Duckkit was out there alone. Slowly with a small sigh, Lichenkit followed.

Lichenkit had just caught up when Duckkit stuck his paw in the cool water. Lichenkit opened his mouth to say something, but his brother plunged in, not surfacing for a while. Lichenkit squeaked in dispair, starting to run along side the river bank in panic. "Duckkit!" he shreiked, finally spotting his brother surface and be tugged away. "Somebody help!" he screamed, following his brother along side the river on the shore. Lichenkit skidded to a hault as his brother pulled himself on the shore. "Idiot!" he called across the border. "Mouse brain!"

Duckkit turned around, and he looked hurt.
"I just wanted to explore!" he wailed.

Reedheart had been out hunting, trying to take advantage of the abundance of prey Newleaf had brought RiverClan. A vole and fish dangled from his jaws, and he turned from the river bank and nearly disappeared back among the forest of reeds only to hear a distant but all too familiar voice. "Idiot! Mouse-brain!" He froze up, forgetting and dropping the prey as he spun around and began to wade into the river. "Lichenkit?!" he called, irritation and fear pricking at his mind. What was that stupid kit doing out here?! He hadn't imagined that, had he?

Duckkit sat, looking hurt as he watched his brother. He thought he saw the reeds tremble, and thought he could smell Reedheart, but insisted that he didn't.
We're both doomed for. I got us both into this mess. Trying to think of a way to get him or Lichenkit across, he looked up at his brother.
"Lichenkit, get in the river! I'll try and catch you!" he called, with forced enthusiasm.

Reedheart, with ears pricked, heard Duckkit's voice join Lichenkit's. What chilled him were the kit's words. He broke into a sprint, finally seeing Lichenkit on the RiverClan side of the border. Without thinking, he grabbed the kit by the scruff and dropped him unceremoniously on the grass, away from the river. "Mousebrain! Where is-?!" he stopped himself, realization striking him. He whirled around, seeing a small ball of fur on the ThunderClan side of the border.

The leaped into the water, beginning the long paddle to the other side of the river, paying no mind to all the fish he scattered away with every stroke. "Duckkit! Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?! Now get ready for another swim before some ThunderClan cat snatches you up!"

Duckkit bent his head, looking away from Reedheart. His amber gaze looked at the young warrior, and he crept down the bank, then ungracefully splashed into the chilling water. Paddling his short legs, he made it about half-way to Reedheart. Then his exhaustion mixed with the current and his head bobbed; sometimes it would take heartbeats that felt like seasons for his head to pop up.
I'm such a stupid kit! I never should've left camp! This is all my fault! he wailed inside his head, still trying to make it to the warrior.

Emerald eyes still burning into the kit, he finally reached him and grabbed him by the scruff as he began to swim back to the RiverClan shore, thankful to be away from the border. Still, the kit's weight was unprecedented, and it took all his strength not to let the kit's head go underwater. He panted, but it was muffled by the scruff of the kit's fur. Never. Bothering. With. Kits. Again. he thought to himself a bit bitterly as some of the icy water splashed into his mouth.

Duckkit let himself be carried by the warrior, and struggled to help keep himself afloat.
It'll be my fault if I die. I'm going to be a terrible warrior. the thoughts raced in his head, making it ache.

"Reedheart?" A deep voice sounded from the Thunderclan side. Lionstar padded out of the underbrush, though he didn't dare trespass into the river. Thunderclan cats couldn't swim anyways. "Something the matter? I smell Riverclan on this side." He huffed, amusement flashing in his amber eyes. "More like sneaky kits, though, and a warrior. Are you leading a kit patrol?"

Lichenkit fluffed out his even fluffier fur. "For your information, Reedheart is saving Duckkit." he almost sneered, taking up a defensive stance. Lichenkit hissed softly, snuffing. "Reedheart is strong and brave. He can do anything he wants!" he challenged the cat on the other side of the river, unaware of the repercussions.

Reedheart was just about to feel relieved as his paws hit the bank when he heard the mocking from the other side of the river. He just about cringed as Lichenkit shot back a retort. Shooting the kits one last venom-filled glance to hopefully shut them up, he turned around to look at the leader. The warrior bit back a stinging remark, trying to keep collected as he stared at the ThunderClan cat across the river. "I was just recovering some troublesome kits, Lionstar." he said, just loud enough to be heard above the endless stream of water. "Though, if you'd like to keep them, it'd be a load off my paws!"

That would have to do. Reedheart silently hoped that this little encounter would end soon, so he could hide in the den for a quarter-moon or two and forget the whole incident ever happened.

Duckkit's ears pulsed with heat, and he shuffled closer to Lichenkit, pressing his cold, wet fur against his brothers. He didn't say anything, just shivered and waited to go back home.

Lionstar chuckled lightly, paying no mind to the kit. "I think you have them under control. I was out for a little lone-hunting, and heard some yelling, that's all." He huffed, turning to leave. "See you at the next gathering." With that the large tom disappeared into the bushes, paying no mind to the troublesome crew. Was he angry or annoyed they had trespassed over the river to Thunderclan's side? Not nearly. He knew how mischievous kits could be, so why not let them off this one time. As long as it didn't become a regular thing, though according to the embarrassment in one of the kit's eyes, he assumed they wouldn't be trying to swim over like that any time soon. Still, he'd check back tomorrow in the morning to make sure the scent was gone, and they weren't coming back. Better to be safe than sorry, after all.

"Ah, uh... see you!" he said, struggling with his words. That could have gone a lot worse... he thought, nearly grumbling it out loud. They were on his territory after all, and he was glad that the leader had seemed to let them off easy for it.

Reedheart sighed with relief as Lionstar disappeared among the trees, his fur hot despite his wet fur. He felt bad for nearly insulting the leader, who seemed to be merely teasing and turned to Lichenkit. "That was the ThunderClan leader, Lichenkit." he hissed, tail lashing. "Even if he is a rival, you must give him respect as a warrior and a leader!" Irritation bubbled in his chest, but it began to subside at the sight of the two. Duckkit was thoroughly soaked. "That's enough..." he told himself as he began to walk back to camp.

"Come on, now. Let's talk to Froststar and get this over with."