The Pond Party Pals [closed]

Swanpaw awkwardly faced the other apprentices, not long after waking.
"Tonight... If you want to do some extra training, or swimming... I'll be just outside the camp."
She gracefully walked away without another word, mentally smacking herself for sounding so awkward and... Cryptic.
~
That night, Swanpaw was near a body of water not far from camp, waiting for the other apprentices - if they were even coming.
She watched the fish in the stream pass her by as she waited, wondering if she could swim like that if she tried.
Maybe, but then again maybe she would just look stupid.
Maybe another cat knew a different swimming technique, she mused. She would have to ask, and hope they were willing to share it if they did.

Asterpaw definitely wasn't lonely. Nope. Maybe she felt a pang every time she saw other cats laughing with each other, cats with their siblings and friends living their lives to the fullest, but she wasn't lonely, dammit. No, it was just curiosity that had lead her to take up the light-grey apprentice's offer. That's it. Plus, she probably needed the extra training time. Yeah.

That's why she was the first apprentice to reach Swanpaw. Padding into the meeting spot with a neutral smile, she picked a nice patch of grass near Swanpaw and sat down."Good evening." She said, dipping her head.

Foampaw listened to his sister from the entrance to the apprentices' den, musing whether it wouod be a good idea. Slipping out at night... oh well, who cares.

~~

The gray and white tomcat bounded fast through the territory as soon as he was far enough from camp to not be heard. His eyes accustomed to the dark soon enough as he continued to speed until he recognized his sister besides another apprentice. Foampaw launched himself with a large jump and dove into the pool, emerging with a victorious grin. "Yo."

Nutpaw padded over to the other apprentices quietly, almost as if she wasn't even there. Her brown pelt blended in with the mud well, so though she wasn't even trying to, she ended up sneaking her way over. Earlier, Swanpaw had been talking about extra training, and she needed some of that if she ever wanted to become a warrior. So that was why she was accidentally sneaking over to the place where they were gathered. It wasn't until she was there that she revealed herself.
"So hello. Are we going to do some training or what?" she asked, placing her front paws into the water and letting a calming chill st over them. Droplets if water from Foampaw's leap hit her fur, and she instinctively recoiled, before letting her body relax again. She remebered playing here with Finchstream, when she had still been Finchpaw. That had been fun, but her friend was a warrior now. The best thing she could do was work to join her. Honestly, it was her battle technique that needed the most work. She could now hunt, fish or land prey, pretty easily. But it was battle training that she needed.
"Would anyone like to battle train of something?"

Lilypaw had always wanted to train. She already learned how to swim and hunt. She was also willing to make new friends. Lilypaw was on her way to where Swanpaw had mentioned. She saw a couple of apprentices there already. She bounded over with excitement in her eyes. "Hello! I'm here to do some training!" she exclaimed to the other apprentices. The white she-cat was hyper and really playful at this time of day.

Rushpaw had followed his sister because.... well... she was his sister. He wasn't personally intrigued by this invitation to swim or train, but he was interested to see who'd showed up. Being laid back and reserved, he was on good terms with most of his fellow apprentices, but none of them really knew him. He wanted that to change. Being lonely was harder on him than he thought it would be.

As he sat there, watching the apprentices begin to swim and talk, he felt less lonely. The coon tom didn't want to interfere however. He was fine with watching.

Of course the older apprentice wanted some extra training done. She was already good at swimming and hunting, now was the battle training which she sucked at. She wanted to be a warrior as soon as possible, for Jaystream and Echopaw. And for the other kits that doesnt have somebody to care for them. Her calico pelt padded through the territory with a excited smile, she wanted to meet some more of her den mates. Slipping into the meeting spot she smiled as she saw the others chat but she noticed one was in the back so she padded over and sat next to him. "Good evening."

Swanpaw was somewhat nervous, surrounded by other apprentices, but the presence of her brothers put her slightly more at ease. She nodded to Asterpaw. "Good evening," she repeated, nodding in return, and in a rare moment of kindness she sounded friendly. She gracefully dove into the water after Foampaw, splashing anyone nearby, and she laughed, a rare sound typically reserved for her family alone.

Foampaw brushed his wet body to his sister's affectionately as he tilted his head towards the other apprentices. "Let minnow when you bunch are going to drop those pleasantries and have some fun." he grinned, the warm water lapping at his short fur.

Echopaw noticed Cinderpaw approaching a small group of apprentices. "What's going on?" Echopaw asked the calico she-cat.

Lilypaw rolled her eyes and chuckled at Foampaw's sense of humor. She noticed another apprentice heading their way. 'Apprentices sure do like this idea.' the pure white she-cat thought to herself. She turned to Swanpaw. "What will we do first?" she asked.

The hang-out area they'd picked had filled out nicely. Asterpaw snorted at the pun and slipped into the water after Swanpaw, making a small 'plop' noise. She poked her head up after a moment, grinning, and turned her ears towards Lilypaw. "Well, I heard somebody propose battle training. Perhaps we could start with that?"

Echopaw nodded silently to Asterpaw, a slight smile on his jaw. He joined the apprentice in the water, letting it cool his paws.

Nutpaw stood up when Lilyaw walked in, also wanting to do some training. Perfect. She rolled her eyes at Foampaw's attemt a humor, let out an amused snort. When cats starting asking what to do, she was about to propose battle training when Asterpaw beat her to it. Well, at least now she knew someone agreed with her.
"Yeah, let's do some battle training," she agrreed, looking around at the cats as if trying to size them up.