Learning To Swim [closed]

The early morning sky was rosy and the camp's clearing was bathed in shadows as Splashwillow carefully slid into the Apprentice's Den to search for her new apprentice Lilypaw. Being back in the Apprentice's Den so soon felt incredibly strange as because up until a few sunrises ago, this had been her den and it was her mentor coming to wake her up- and yet in the matter of a few days that had all changed. Spotting Lilypaw's sleeping form, Splashwillow reached out to gently prod the smaller she-cat's sleeping form, careful to keep from disturbing the various other sleeping Apprentices. "Lilypaw wake up, we're going to start training today." She urged softly, gazing down at her Apprentice with wide eyes.

Lilypaw stirred as she heard her mentor's voice coming to wake her. She opened her eyes and looked over at Splashwillow. She carefully sat up and stretched a bit. "Goodmorning." she greeted softly, her voice still laced with sleep. She got up and walked out of the Apprentice's den. "Where are we off to?" Lilypaw asked much more awake now as she was excited to start training.

"We're just going to the river for now- I figured we could start with just making sure you can swim well enough- nothing strenuous." Splashwillow exhaled softly, amusement evident in her quiet words as she gazed at Lilypaw. Slipping after the smaller she-cat, she took up a brisk pace that lead them away from the quiet insides of the camp and towards the river that churned ever-so-slightly outside of the sleepy camp. Once they reached the muddy banks of the river, Splashwillow turned to look at Lilypaw with a curious gaze before finally chirping out, "How well can you swim?"

'Oh...swim?' she thought. She looked down into the water and looked at her reflection. She carefully placed a paw into the water and felt the cool liquid wet her paw. She lifted it back up and shook it to try and dry it off. She looked over at her mentor with an embarrassed expression. "I-I don't know how to swim...Was I supposed to?" She asked sheepishly.

"No but it's alright," Splashwillow hastily reassured at the sight of Lilypaw's expression, "Not all Queens teach their kits to swim- some wait until their your age and let their mentors handle it." The calico continued, using her tail to beckon the smaller she-cat forward towards the softly sloping riverbank before taking a few small steps forward as she did. "We can start off slow." Splashwillow promised as she waded a few steps further into the water, reveling in how cool the water felt in comparison to the sticky-warm heat of the morning.

The cloud-colored she-cat cautiously stepped in after her mentor. She flinched as she felt the cool liquid start to swallow more and more of her small body. She turned gripped the river bank afraid to let go. She closed her eyes and made herself relax. She slowly let go of the ground. The water was up to her shoulders. She turned to her mentor with an excited expression. "It feels really good!" She purred happily.

After carefully watching Lilypaw for several moments, Splashwillow let out an amused purr at the sight of the apprentice slowly acclimating to the admittedly strange sensation of the water, the distant thought of Sparkwillow first starting Cinderpaw's training on replay in the back of her mind. Once she was confident enough that the smaller apprentice could handle herself fairly well enough in the water, she began to wade out towards the center of the river, ignoring the way that the slow-moving current tugged at her fur.

"Follow me," Splashwillow called out after glancing over her shoulder at Lilypaw, "Once the water starts getting deeper just keep your muzzle tilted upwards and paddle your forepaws like you're running." She instructed, plunging forward into the deeper section of the river and tilting her face up towards the sky in example as she began to swim in leisure circles.

Lilypaw watched as Splashwillow went further across the river. She paid close attention as her mentor instructed her and showed her what to do. She started to follow Splashwillow and as she got closer, she could no longer feel even the slightest bit of river bank. She was now at a deeper part of the river. 'Okay. Muzzle up and paddle as if you were running.' she reminded herself. She turned her muzzle up and started to paddle. It felt weird but she started to get the hang of it. After paddling in circles for a while, she made her way towards her mentor. "How did I-I do?" She asked Splashwillow.

"Good!" Splashwillow reassured, gliding forwards towards the Lilypaw with swift, powerful kicks of her limbs, offering her shoulder as a bolster so that the smaller she-cat wouldn't tire out as quickly. "For now, we'll stick to working in the water and making you a stronger swimmer," She mewed, voice raised a bit over the soft gurgle of the moving water, "Then we can move onto the diving and fishing. But for now just get used to the water." She instructed, pulling away once more so that Lilypaw could keep paddling.

"Alright." she purred, determined to get better at swimming. She kept paddling and trying to perfect her pose. Not much could be heard from the two she-cats. Lilypaw wanted to start a conversation. "Splashwillow...how was your first time learning to swim?"

"I suppose it must of been...quite sometime ago," Splashwillow mused, sorting through her memories the best she could. It must of had to be sometime ago if Sparkwillow and Snowpaw were still alive. "But I think it was a fairly average experience- similar to yours. My mother, Shellwater, took my littermates and I to the Brokenpools while we were still kits." She mewed, adopting an idle, abstract swimming pattern as she kept one eye still focused on Lilypaw's. "Most Apprentice's have experiences similar to your own- after all we were practically all born in the water so swimming comes naturally to us." Splashwillow continued, eyes focused on the large, smooth boulders that were in front of her now, "Would you like to see the Sunning Rocks up close?" She suddenly questioned, paws grazing the smooth stones that lined the banks below her as she pulled herself closer to the prized sunning grounds.

Lilypaw's eyes lit up. "I'd love to see the Sunning Rocks up close!" she replied happily. She started to make her way to her mentor. She was excited as she had never seen the Sunning Rocks.

Splashwillow drew herself ashore in two brisk strokes, shaking out her glossy fur as she clambered ashore onto the neighboring strip of land.

"ThunderClan's never tried to take them back," She began loudly, a hint of pride evident in her soft voice, "Although they did stay here for a short while because their entire territory burnt to the ground in a single night." She continued, springing up onto the low hanging stones, admiring the warmth beneath her paws.

Lilypaw finally made it ashore, distracted by her mentor's words about Riverclan's Sunning Rocks. She shook her pelt to rid of the water. She joined Splashwillow on one of the smooth and warm stones. She looked up at Splashwillow happily. "They're so cool but very warm!" she exclaimed as she looked around the place.

SLOW RESPONSES GOMEN

"Yes, they do get really warm." Splashwillow nodded in agreement, gazing down at the smooth stones beneath her paws with trembling whiskers, "That's why they're such a good place for sunning- although during this time of year, sometimes it gets too hot." She mewed, leaping down from the stone she had been perched on and down to the muddy banks of the river beside them, her paws feeling immediate relief at the sensation of standing on something other than the overly-heated Sunning Rocks.


ooc) are you about ready to end the topic?