Getting Your Paws Wet

Heronwing may have looked calm and collected, but on the inside, he was worried. He hadn't exactly worked with an apprentice before - had only just finished training himself. A part of him wondered if he should even be considered to be a Mentor, being so young. Did he want to train a cat to be a fighter - ready them for a bloody battle like the one he had participated in with the Skyclan cats against Windclan and Thunderclan.

Maybe that was why he had picked an easier lesson for the day- something that didn't have to deal with fighting. No yet, at least.

"So, Streampaw." He purred, his voice steady and the only betrayal of his inner nervousness being the erratic twitching of his tail. "Have you swum out into the middle of the river before? We're just going to do some practice, make sure your a good strong swimmer. That's the start for every Riverclan cat, after all."

Stream paw shook her head. "I never swam before, not unless you've counted the time I went swimming in a rather large puddle when I was a tiny kitten" she mewed. "I'm willing to try it." She said.

Heronwing just stopped himself from purring laughter at Streampaw's explanation, but he realized that might make his apprentice feel bad. "Well, the technique for puddle swimming is a little different than diving right in the River." He finished instead, circling around to put himself between her and the bank - in case she proved a little to eager to get started.

"We'll just practice on the shore first, then. Can you show me how you think you're supposed to swim? Lay on your side if it helps a bit - pretend the air's the water. Let me see where we are to start."

"Okay!" Stream paw said. She was on the shore. She moved her legs as if she was running, but made her paws go back for a hole second before dragging them back to do it again. She got up. "How was that?" She asked.

Okay, so she had at least a rudimentary idea of what she was doing - running wasn't exactly like swimming, but it was something you could work with. He could work with it. "It's a good start, actually. But I can show you a few tricks that'll help you keep your head up. In fact, that's where you'll start - you'll want to remember to keep track of your head. Tilt it up, just a bit. You don't have to worry about it so much when you're running, but trust me - you don't want a noseful of water."

To demonstrate, he flopped down onto the shoreline, echoing what she did with paddling her legs, but angling his head upwards at a slightly unnatural angle compared to just running. "Alright, and you can flick your paws a little more. It isn't wrong to keep them straight, like your running, but if you cup yours paws, it'll push you forward faster." He demonstrated this as well, kneeding the air. "And lastly, I'll just ask you this as a question first - what do you do with your tail?"

Stream paw thought about his last question. "I I don't know..." She murmured.

Heronwing smiled encouragingly as his apprentice stumbled and failed to answer his question - but he hadn't expected her to know, really. He'd have been very impressed if she had known; but even if she hadn't taken a guess at it, he still tried to be supportive. He didn't want her scared away from learning - imagine that, a Riverclan cat afraid of swimming!

"That's alright, very few cats know what to do from the start. Even Riverclanners. But that's why we're the clan of best swimmers, because we know a few tricks. Now, a lot of other cats might try to keep their tail out of the water- directly behind them and up." He demonstrated, allowing his slightly bushy tail to stand up straight behind him like a flag. "But - it's better to have them in the water, because one, you won't get tail cramps...and two, you can use it to help you cut resistance in the water. Kind of like steering. Other water animals, like those big otters, do it - so why not us!"

Stream paw nodded. "Should I give It a try?" She asked.

Although it might be dangerous to try it in the water for the first time, there was very few other ways a cat could learn to strengthen their swimming skills. And Heronwing was supposed to keep watch for that very reason - to make sure the younger cat wasn't dragged away by the current.

"Of course." He purred, nodding his head towards the water. "Although, don't try to swim out to the middle on purpose. Try to keep closer to the edge, where it's more shallow. That way you can put your paws down if you need to - but I'll follow right behind you just in case."

"Okay!" Stream paw said as she touched the water. A happy shiver bristled. It was cold, yet rejuvenating. She got in until it was up to her flank, keeping her head and tail above water, she strode forward, confident and strong. She swam around the water. But unfortunately, a wave caused her head to go under. She yanked herself onto the rocks. "Was that good?" She asked, wheezing a teeny bit, a smile still on her face.

For the first little bit, Heronwing knew she was doing well. For her first time in the actual river, it was rather impressive. As he followed along with her, his paws remained firmly touching the bed in case he needed leverage to pull her out. Still, as good as it was - accidents were bound to happen.

At least she was able to pull herself out this time, without him having to pluck her out of the water. "Very good, for your first time. Are you alright?" He asked, noting the breathlessness of her voice, despite the pleasant expression. "Take a moment to catch your breath - you didn't swallow any water, did you?"

Streampaw coughed a little. "Um... I don't think so..." She said. She got up and shook her pelt, making it fluff out like a frizzy ball. Frowning, she tried to groom it down.

His shoulders relaxed a bit to learn that Streampaw hadn't swallowed anything, because that could make a cat feel sick afterwards, and their lesson was far from over. "Take a moment, until you feel okay, and then we can try again." He gave himself his own little shake, but unlike the apprentice didn't try to groom what fur did stick up back into place - it seemed like a fruitless adventure anyways, seeing as he planned to dive back in eventually.

"Now, the next time you're in the water, you can remember to hold your head up at an even higher level - and try to go with the waves rather than against them - at least when swimming across the river. It's okay if it pushes you a bit, and it's less likely something'll splash up and catch you off guard."

Streampaw nodded. "Alright." She mewed. she padded back into the river, leaving most of her un-groomed fur fluffed up. As she got in, the coolness of the water made her feel good yet again. Relaxing her muscles, she began to swim. She let her tail go straight up, and padded through happily. Smiling, the water covered her almost to her chin, but kept her head up. For about 5 minutes, she did so. I'm getting really good at this! I think.... "Am I doing it right?" She asked, not noticing how far she was from the shore as a fish swam up and slapped her with its tail. She swam a fair distance back to shore.