Gotta Make Some Friends... I Guess...

Shadekit grumbled rather moodily. It had been a few sunrises since Smokewish saved him from drowning in the river, and since then he had been confined in camp. But he didn't want to be in this stale old place anymore! He wanted to try again to swim across the river and explore RiverClan territory.

He knew he couldn't with cats watching his every move, though. He knew Sweetheart was keeping a very careful eye on him; it seemed even in her sleep she knew exactly where he was now. How frustrating!

Well, no one would object if he left the nursery to get some fresh air at least. No one had better get in his way of that. He stood up and shook out the moss from his pelt, then padded outside into the crisp cold predawn air. It was still dark outside, and he strangely took great comfort in the darkness.

"Hi!" Petalkit squeaked, bounding out of the nursery after the brown kit. "My name is Petalkit! I don't think we've met before! My name is Petalkit. And you are..?" The she-kit paused, looking at him a bit closer. "Wait. You're Shadekit, right? Aren't you the kit that almost drowned a few sunrises ago?"

Shadekit turned to Petalkit as she approached and introduced herself, and he had to struggle not to roll his eyes in annoyance. At her question, however, his short fur fluffed up aggressively. "I was not about to drown! I would've been just fine on my own! That dumb Smokewish just over exaggerated to Sweetheart, that's all. Besides, that isn't any of your business."

Petalkit blinked in surprise at his aggression, then frowned. "Ah, but it is my business! Because of you, they're much more strict on us kits not to leave the camp." The she-kit shrugged the argument off. "Anyway. How did you even sneak out? I've always wanted to try, but I've been afraid that I would get caught."

Shadekit snorted. Now he rolled his eyes. He pointed to the dirtplace with his tail. "There's a secret exit in there that leads out of the camp. It's pretty smelly in there, but it's totally worth it once you're out."

"Hmm..." Petalkit looked deep in thought, then beamed. "Welp, that settles it! Since you know how to sneak out, and I'm a really good swimmer, we're just gonna have to work together to cross the river!" Petalkit hopped closer to the other kit, excitement running through her. "I mean, you kinda owe me; you are the reason the adults are so strict on us now." She teased.

"Thanks, I guess, but I don't need any help," the little tom growled. "Like I said, Smokewish only saved me because she thought I was drowning when I really wasn't. You can come if you want, but you'd better not expect me to help you if you get into any trouble." Turning up his tail, he padded off to the dirtplace, looking from left to right to make sure no older cats spotted him before slipping into the tunnel and out the secret exit into the territory.

Petalkit followed him, her soft paws making little noise in the snow. "Ooooh, this is so exciting!" She whispered. Once they had left the camp, Petalkit turned to Shadekit. "Okay then! Since you've been out here before... lead the way!"

Shadekit padded through the snow away from the camp to the river that stood between the camp and the rest of the territory. He wasn't about to admit that he was very nervous about trying to swim across again after what happened last time, especially considering there would be little chance for anyone to save him this time, but he couldn't show any weakness, especially after all he had said to Petalkit. "Here's the river. Hmm... Perhaps there are some stepping stones we can use to cross over to the other side. I-I mean because the river's very cold during leaf-bare, that's all." He stammered that last part quickly, trying to recover from possibly sounding nervous.

Before Shadekit had even finished his sentence, Petalkit had hopped into the river, forgoing looking for any stepping stones. "Nah, the water's a bit chilly, but it's not too bad!" She called out to him, already making her way across the river. Thanks to her thick fur, she didn't feel the chill of the water, and her fur was oily enough that the water didn't seep into her pelt and weigh her down. She struggled a bit at the middle of the river, especially when she hit the strong current. But instead of fighting it, her instincts told her to go with it. So she did, swimming diagonally across the river until she reached the other side. A bit downriver due to the current, Petalkit called out to Shadekit. "Come on, you can do it!" She giggled, shaking her fur and throwing water droplets everywhere.

He gulped nervously, looking down at the dark rushing water. How was he supposed to make it across? He couldn't do it the last time. If he ended up drowning this time, or even worse, showed Petalkit how afraid he really was... No, he had to do this. No warrior was afraid of anything!

He waded into the river and began pedaling his paws through the water, pushing himself out into the middle of the river. The current caught him again, and though he tried pushing himself through in a straight line his head ended up submerged again for a few moments. He was able to gasp for breath once his head broke the surface, and panic started coursing through him. Great StarClan, it was happening all over again! And no one was there to save him this time! "Help me!"

"Shadekit!" Petalkit cried in horror, watching her new "friend" sink beneath the water. She ran to the edge of the riverbank and leapt, hitting the water hard before paddling her way over to the struggling kit. She grabbed hold of his scruff, but he was the same size as her and she was unable to pull him to safety. So instead, she tried to guide him through it. "Shadekit, listen to me! You need to go with the current, not against it!" Petalkit said urgently, swimming at an angle towards the riverbank as she had done before. "Follow me! I know you can do it, Shadekit!"

Shadekit desperately coughed and sputtered as water filled his mouth and nose. He listened to the she-kit's instructions and worked his legs and paws as best he could to follow her. Go with the current... He would be just fine if he just went with the current...

All of a sudden, he felt loose pebbles brush against his paws. He had reached the other side of the river! He hauled himself out of the water and collapsed on the riverbank, coughing up water and raspily panting from his struggles in the water.

Petalkit climbed onto the bank next to Shadekit, gasping heavily but otherwise pleased. "See? Told ya you could do it." She panted, nudging his flank affectionately. She hesitantly licked his fur, knowing he likely wouldn't appreciate the contact but knowing from her mother that licking against the fur is a quick way to warm up. Shadekit didn't have the thick fur that Petalkit did, and even she had felt the chill of the river in leafbare... so she couldn't imagine how cold the tom must be.

The moment he felt her tongue touch him, he instinctively leaped back up and thwacked a clawed paw on her muzzle, hissing. "Ew, gross, don't do that!"

Shadekit used Front Paw Blow on Petalkit, dealing 2 damage and costing 5 stamina.

Shadekit
5/5 HP
10/15 SP

Petalkit
3/5 HP
15/15 SP

(OOC: Shade's got a tiny bit of battle lessons from Smokewish XD)