By the River (For Icee, Cherry, and any other RC apprentice.)

Fishpaw stretched her back, uttering a throaty yawn in the process. The sun was just climbing over the distant landscape, casting warm morning rays upon RiverClan's camp. She had been an apprentice for the better part of a moon, and her two sisters were surely becoming apprentices soon, as well. Mistkit and Breezekit hadn't had the chance to leave the camp, yet, so Fishkit had decided that she would take them to the river today, early in the morning.

She trotted as quietly as she could over to the nursery, and poked her head in through the entrance.

"Mistkit! Breezekit!" she whispered. "Get up."

Icepaw sat outside the camp, she had been watching in case the other clans were bold enough to attack. She doubted it but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Breezekit yawned, squirming in her nest and stretching, swiping her tail back and forth over her head. She opened one eye to look at her older sister, and stood, smacking Mistkit on the nose with her tail. "Come on, you lazy sack of sh-t Mistkit!" she mewed. "Fishpaw's taking us to the river!"

"Huuuh..?" Mistkit mumbled and rolled out of her nest. She let out a big yawn and stretched her back when her sister's words became clear.

"TO THE RIVER?!" she meowed in disbelief. Her face brightened up and she ran over to her big sister, tripping over her tail along the way.

"I've always wanted to see the river! Let's goo!" she cheered.

"Clearly someone got to the cat-mint," Fishpaw commented, swatting Mistkit harmlessly over the ear with her paw. "Alright, let's go." the she-cat spun around and began padding off in the direction of the exit.

Since posting about cats walking is boring, let's say that all three cats made their way silently out of camp. Many different birds could be heard from across the river. Fishpaw had always been intrigued by birds, with their tiny, fat bodies and delicate wings, but ThunderClan territory was the last place she wished to be at the moment. The filthy shrew-eaters were RiverClan's enemies right now.

"Try not to fall in, and don't jump in the deep parts," she meowed back to her siblings. "I made that mistake a couple of days ago, and it wasn't as fun as I'd thought it would be." Fishpaw almost grimaced at the memory. A little ways away, she spotted Icepaw sitting on her own, watching the not-so-distant shore carefully.

"Oh, those furballs won't think twice about crossing the river," Fishpaw murmured, scoffing. "They can't swim very well, so I wouldn't worry."

"We're gonna learn to swim when we're apprentices, though, right, Fishpaw?" Breezekit asked, pawing the water in front of her with curiosity. She drew her paw away quickly with the realization that the water was colder than it looked.

Pawing the water again, Breezekit had an idea. "Hey, Mistkit!" she called to her sister, waiting for her to turn around to look at her, and flicking water into her face when she did. "Is the water cold to you?"

Mistkit was taken by surprised when drops of cold water hit her face. Her initial reaction was to wipe her face and bury it in some cat's fur, but her little prideful mind told her other wise.

"Not really. Was it supposed to be?" she mewed, acting like nothing happened. She padded over to the river and pawed at the water when a quick shadow caught her eye.

"There's something in the water! It must be a fish!" she squealed and bounced over to Fishpaw, "Can you catch it?! Please, please, please!"

Fishpaw looked over to her siblings and sighed, making her way to the bank.

"I can't wait until you guys become apprentices, and can stop asking me everything," she muttered, stopping before where the fish was situated. "Alright, watch carefully."

Fishpaw angled herself so she was not reflected on the water, but still could see the fish. Slowly, she began to extend her paw forward, until it was nearly touching the water's surface. Then, in the blink of an eye, her paw whipped down into the water, claws unsheathing in the process. With one last, graceful flick of her paw, she tossed the fish out of the water. It wriggled furiously on the hot pebbles, silver body glinting in the sunlight like a gem.

Breezekit's eye widened, and she grinned, hopping about in glee. "That was so cool!" she gushed, rushing over to poke the fish with a paw.