Causin some Trouble by the River

"C'mon, Blackpaw, stop being such a stuck-up snob for a change," purred a she-cat in a whining voice. Only Silverpaw was allowed to pick on her little brother like that; it was an unspoken law that if someone besides Silverpaw made fun of Blackpaw, they would be torn to shreds by the both of them...but mostly the she-cat. The apprentice's silver fur shimmered in the reflection of the sun against the crunchy, white snow and her light blue eyes glimmered with excitement. Her faint tabby stripes were brought out against the sheet of white that encased the forest and her strong legs made it easy to pick her way through the powdery landscape. Silverpaw was jumping from tree to tree, snow showering down every time she landed on a new branch. Her and her brother were going to the river to find something fun to do.

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Blackpaw rolled his eyes at his sister's words as he trudged through the snow-covered ground. He wasn't much of a tree type cat because of his big size. Every time he tried to travel like a Skyclan cat in the trees, the branch always broke underneath him. "Silverpaw, I'm just trying to look out for you. We shouldn't go to the river; it's dangerous at this time of the year. If one of us falls in, we could drown or, more likely, die from hypothermia." He raised his voice on the last few words, stressing the importance of what he was saying and making Silverpaw sound stupid. He paused to gaze at the treetops and see which tree his sister was in, when Silverpaw landed on a branch directly above him. Snow rained down onto the tom, then a huge chuck of it plopped down on him, covering his handsome silver and black tabby fur in white. Blackpaw let out a growl, but he and Silverpaw both knew that he couldn't stay angry at his sister for long. He would've turned back right then and there, but they were already at the River.

OOC: This topic is meant to be fun, so anyone can join and anything can happen. We'll let destiny decide how this topic shall end.

Ghostpaw padded after her siblings silently. "Blackpaw is right Silverpaw. The river is really dangerous. Didn't you hear about Rosepaw, Fallencloud's older twin? She drowned in the river while they were fishing, even though they were Skyclan cats." The silver tabby meowed her light green eyes focused on the swelling river. She smiled jokingly. "Besides i'm the oldest one of us all so i have to watch out for out two. Mom'll be very mad if one of you guys were killed or injured while i was around." Ghostpaw chuckled sticking her tounge out at her sister high above in the branches.

"Oh, why did mom have to give birth to two old ladies? You guys are lame." Despite her words, Silverpaw knew that Ghostpaw and Blackpaw wouldn't take her insults to heart. Silverpaw was like that to everyone; rude in a good-natured way. It was complicated, but it was what made Silverpaw so daring and nonchalant. "I don't want to hear any Elder fables about some Rosepaw. I'm not dumb enough to fish...I'm a Tree Hugger, not a Fish Flopper." Silverpaw had odd nicknames for the clans. Skyclan was Tree Huggers, Riverclan was Fish Floppers, Shadowclan was Night Crawlers, Windclan was Rabbit Chasers, and Thunderclan was Squirrel Squeakers. Silverpaw leaped off of the tree she was in and landed swiftly on the snow-packed ground. She padded to the river's edge and brushed snow off the ice with her paw, then stared at her reflection in the slippery surface. "Stop acting all in-charge, Ghostpaw, try loosening up a bit. What's the point of living life if you won't take the chance to live it. In other words...why not have fun with the time you have left? Starclan's gonna take your life one way or another, so it might as well be when you are having a good time. I wouldn't want to die as a shriveled, cranky old elder who watched every single cat he or she loved die right before their eyes. You make the choice, but I suggest choosing the right one." And with that, the stubborn apprentice stepped onto the ice.

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Blackpaw rolled his eyes at Silverpaw's response to Ghostpaw. He shot his oldest sister a worried glance before watching as Silverpaw stepped out onto the ice-covered river. "Get back here, Silverpaw! The ice could break and you could fall in!" Silverpaw didn't stop, so Blackpaw cautiously placed a paw onto the ice. "Come here or else I will have to go and drag you back myself!" He took another step out onto the iced-over river and looked back to see what Ghostpaw would do.

"Ugh can't you tell when someone is joking?" Ghostpaw meowed. But when Blackpaw shot her a worried glance and Silverpaw went n the ice the quiet she cat had a sharp intake of breath. "Silverpaw, Blackpaw is right you should come back, the ice doesn't look very stable. It could break at any moment!" The silver tabby meowed shaking some snow off her darker silver swirls. She stepped closer to Blackpaw and shot him a glance filled with worry. "Blackpaw if i were you i wouldn't go onto that ice its already starting to crack and if Silverpaw doesn't get back soon shes gonna fall in." Ghostpaw meowed to her brother, lashing her tail in annoyance at their sister and out of worry.

Silverpaw rolled her eyes, even though her siblings couldn't see it because her back was toward them. She didn't answer, but continued on her journey across the river. When she was almost at the bank, a splintering sound could be heard from behind her. She looked down and lifted up a paw to see that there was a thin crack in the ice. She looked over her shoulder and saw that Blackpaw was in the middle of the river, trying to follow her. Her eyes then went to the ice beneath him and saw that there were larger cracks around him, fanning out in a spiderweb sort of way. "B...Blackpaw! You're too big! The ice is gonna break!" Silverpaw turned the rest of her body around so that she was completely facing him. "Hurry!" The splintering sound grew louder, and the ice would give under Blackpaw at any second.

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The moment after Silverpaw warned him, Blackpaw froze. He was scared that if he would take another step, he would break through the ice. The silver and black apprentice's build was too big and strong to be able to last long on the river. "Silverpaw, you get onto land! I'll make it across, don't worry!" Blackpaw cautiously placed a big paw in front of him and took a step forward. As soon as he did so, the ice where he had previously been standing made a crashing noise and broke into the water. The ice where his back right paw was broke off, causing his paw to fall into the freezing water. He yelped and pulled it back up, then he knew what he needed to do; run. Blackpaw bolted forward, ice collapsing in his wake. He was a few tail lengths away when the ice he was on broke away and started floating downstream. "Ahh," he screamed before bunching up and pushing off. The front part of his body made it to the river bank, but the back part landed in the chilly waters. Blackpaw dug his claws into the dirt and dragged himself onto dry land. The apprentice then stood up and looked across the river to Ghostpaw. "Look at what you did, Silverpaw! Now we are stuck on Thunderclan's territory and we can't cross back to Skyclan!" 

"Blackpaw don't!" Ghostpaw started and had followed him trying to get him to come back. When the ice broke the smaller silver tabby's eyes widened and she fell through the ice. She struggled to keep her hold on the ice, but she wasn't strong enough and was swept off the ice by the river, and went under the ice that didn't break. Her head hit the top of the ice and broke through, and continued on being broken as she was swept down the river. The ice that she broke while trying to stay above the water cut her and so some blood mixed with water but her fluffy pelt didn't show it. "B-blackpaw! Si-silverpaw! Help!" Ghostpaw meowed in terror.

Blackpaw watched in horror as Ghostpaw fell into the water. "Silverpaw, you're the fastest cat I know, run ahead and get a branch and hold it over the water. When Ghostpaw floats by, get her to grab onto the branch and I'm the strongest of us so I will easily pull her to shore. Go!" Once Silverpaw took off, Blackpaw ran after her, but he wasn't nearly as fast as her. "Ghostpaw, don't worry! We'll save you!"

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Silverpaw ran, following her brother's orders for once in her life. She picked up a strong branch from the ground in her mouth and got far downstream so that she was ahead of Ghostpaw and her brother. She stood on the bank and held the branch out over the ice, watching Ghostpaw in the distance coming toward her in the current. "Sister, grab on," the second oldest screamed through the bark of the sturdy branch.

Ghostpaw grabbed the branch with her teeth and sank her claws into the branch as well. Keeping her iron grip on the branch she heard Blackpaw shout to Silverpaw about him helping to pull her up. The poor drenched silver tabby's fluffy fur hid her cuts and bruises and the blood from both, and her light green eyes were filled with terror.

Blackpaw reached his sisters and clamped his jaws around the branch. He yanked backwards and pulled as hard as he could "Silverpaw, help me," he growled as he strained to drag Ghostpaw out of the cold waters.

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Silverpaw nodded and helped pull Ghostpaw out. She dug her claws into the muddy dirt and pulled backwards with Blackpaw. After a few yanks, the two managed to drag out their sister. "Ghostpaw, you scared me to death," Silverpaw shouted as she dropped the branch and ran over to her. The she-cat pressed against Ghostpaw to provide warmth and she licked down her wet fur. "Blackpaw, help me warm her up! We can't have her die of hypothermwatever."

Ghostpaw's chest was heaving from the scare and from trying to keep her head above the water. "S-sorry. But if you hadnt gone across the ice in the first place B-blackpaw wouldn't have tried to get y-you back and I wouldn't have tried to get him back." The drenched silver tabby stuttered, shivering from the cold. She tried to help lick her own fur dry but her pelt was fluffy like their fathers so it was a bit difficult. She could smell blood and since the water didn't wash it away it started hurting more like a sharp throbbing pain all over. The red seeped through her fur from the cuts and bruises that had been broken open by the ice. Ghostpaw wrinkled her nose and started to lick the cuts, trying to clean away the blood.