Of Reeds and Grass [For Icekit and any other Riverclan cats]

Wailingkit dragged his tiny drenched body to be beside his sister, licking her feebly to try keep her warm. The icy waters were far too cold for a kit's small body to maintain warmth in, and while he may have failed to notice it while the adrenaline coursed through him, now that he was out, he was freezing.

"Are you.. okay, Icekit?"

Icekit was cold as well. She decided she'd take a nap. A happy, small nap where she could regain some warmth.. She closed her eyes, not hearing her brothers question, or Shimmerlights calls.

Just a quick nap..

Shimmerlight finally reached Icekit and Wailing kit. They, along with her, were soaked. She thought Icekit was dead for a second, before she saw that she was still breathing. Shimmerlight pulled them close to her with her tail to keep them warm. "What are you two doing out of camp?" She asked sternly. "You guys almost drowned!"

Icekit awoke, water sputtering from her mouth just in time to hear Shimmerlight's words. "W-we wanted to go see what the territory looked like and we played around and we.. F-fell in.." She said, still freezing.

Wailingkit pressed himself up against his sister, and Shimmerlight for maximum warmth as he kept licking his freezing sister. For all he liked to tease her, he couldn't imagine a world without her. It didn't matter that his fur was also drench, she came first. He didn't even bother answering Shimmerlight's question, busy with the task at hand.

Shimmerlight pulled them closer to her as she sighed. "I wish I could let you off that easy," She said. "But the leader is gonna want to know about this." She licked each of them, alternating from Icekit to Wailingkit, trying her best to keep them warm. "How about we go back to camp and you two warm up in the nursery? I'll bring you two a fish and you guys and relax a little. But don't be afraid if Sunstar comes to talk with you." She wasn't good at punishments.

"O-okay.." Icekit mewed. She wasn't scared of Sunstar. No, she wasn't scared. She sighed though and looked at her paws. "A warm place.. And a fish would be nice.." All she wanted to do was be like a newborn kit again, curled up by her mother, father, and her brother.. But now she was cold, scared, yet with her brother and best friend Shimmerlight. Good enough..

Wailingkit nodded wearily, he was getting warmer but was still shivers wracked his body. It took a minute or two to process what Shimmerlight had said, but once he did, he meow in protest. "Why does Sunstar need to know?!"

If he had been sleepy before, he was awake now.

Having been stuck in the medicine den for two days, Rippletail felt the urge to stretch his legs and hunt in the territory, despite his weariness and chesty coughs. The toyger was stalking a scrawny vole when he heard shrieks and wails, and the familiar high-pitched voice of his son. "Wailingkit?" He stood up, perked his ears and lashed his tail, which subsequently startled the vole and it dashed off into the reeds. Not caring about chasing the prey, Rippletail dashed off in the direction of the river, towards the source of the cries.

"Icekit, Wailingkit!" The warrior called as he arrived at the river bank, and immediately wrapped himself around the drenched kits. "What in StarClan's name are you doing here? And why are you so wet?" Rippletail pushed his anger down, and replaced it with concern for his two kits, who were on the verge of catching white cough if they stayed out in the cold with dripping fur that clung to their small frames.

Shimmerlight let Rippletail take over with the kits. "Apparently they snuck out, and I had to save them from drowning in the river," The she-cat said. "We should get them back to camp and warmed up before they get sick." Shimmerlight was worried about Icekit and Wailingkit too, because they were her friends.

"I'm fine!" Wailingkit cried as he tried to wiggle out of his father's grasp in protest. He didn't want to appear weak in front of his father, or tell him just how terrified he was. Wailingkit already knew he was in for an earful, and had no desire to make it any worse. But his full body shivers gave away his shock and just how cold he was, drenched in icy water. And the pebbled sandy floor did nothing to keep the heat in, instead leech warmth from the kit. Warmth that he couldn't afford to lose right now.

Icekit snuggled closer to her father. "We were playing. We fell in the river but thank Starclan, Shimmerlight saved us!" She wailed weakly. She didn't care if she appeared weak. She was happy to be with her father. She was just a kit, after all. Seeing Wailingkit get up and protest, she blinked. Wouldn't you be delighted daddy is here?

"Thank you, Shimmerlight, for saving my kits." Rippletail sighed, before shifting his body slightly. Turning to Wailingkit and Icekit, he said- "Let's get you back to camp and warm you up, then you can start apologising for venturing out of camp." His voice was harsh, for if his kits had died so young due to their own curiosity and stupidity he would have been terribly distraught. Hoisting his thin frame to his paws, the warrior coughed a few times before bending down to gently clamp his jaws on Icekits scruff. He then waved his tail, instructing Shimmerlight to do so with Wailingkit. With his daughter in his jaws the father padded back to camp, ignoring any protests the kits would make.

Shimmerlight nodded to the warrior, then grabbed Wailingkit by the scruff and followed Rippletail to camp.

Frostpaw had heard yowling a while ago and was now pounding toward the noise. There she saw two wet kits. She padded over to them and started to knead their flanks until they coughed up the water. She wondered how they got here, Half drowned by the current. She waited for the grey kit to cough up water. She wasn't entirely sure who they were, Because they didn't make much sound and she couldn't see their faces. ''Wake up...'' She said. ''Please, Wake up...''