A Vixen Under the Wing of a Jay

The deputy helped his apprentice swimming by her side all the time until she reached the shore. He sighed relieved that she was to do it just like he expected but his attention soon was driven to the saddened apprentice that was hiding her face from him, ashamed because she didn't do it right.

Seeing her like that reminded him Cinderpaw and that's why he approached her slowly and embrace her fatherly with his long and fluffy tail. Jaystream nuzzled her head, kindly, trying to comfort her. "Hey... don't say that. Everyone has to learn how to swim, Vixenpaw. You don't have to be sad or ashamed because you weren't as good as you wanted to. Look at this as an opportunity to improve. Now you know that maybe you're not a natural swimmer just like you're a natural fisher but... that's why you're training." He took away his nose from his head and tried to look at her brownish face with a nostalgic smile.

"Let me tell you a story, Vixenpaw. You know that I'm the deputy, right? You might think is because I'm a strong and the most awesome cat after Ivyfall and that's why she chose me. But... that's far from true. I'm not perfect and I'm not the best warrior in the clan. I sometimes wonder why she chose from all the cats... and it frightens me to realize that I can't find any reasons.When I was an apprentice I wasn't exceptional at all. Even if I was a good swimmer since I was young, my fishing technique started pretty clumsily. I always ended splashing water on my mentor, Poplarstripe. But you see me now and you can see that I'm better because I worked hard to do it. Day by day I do my best to be better, fighting my fears the best I can and controlling them, just like you did back there in the river." He said looking at his territory with a calm and mature expression. He still had so much to learn but there he was... being the deputy... probably the future leader of Riverclan. That thought frightened him just like it scared him to lose Cinderpaw one day but he was still standing. His green eyes gazed back at Vixenpaw as he stood up, touching gently her head with one paw. "Life isn't easy and all of us have flaws. But that's why we're here...to improve and overcome those flaws the best we can. The only thing you need is the courage to keep fighting."

Vixenpaw snuffled sadly with her head under her paws, jumping a little when she felt Jaystream's soft tail around her. Though he had just been in the water, her mentor's tail was still warm and fluffy. She looked up at his reassuring face and felt something she never had the chance to feel. With a jolt, she realised that Jaystream was the closest she had to a father.

At his story, her eyes widened. Jaystream was clumsy when he was her age? It was almost unbelievable. "R-really? You... weren't always such a good fisher? I..." her voice trailed off when she felt his paw on her forehead. She closed her eyes and relaxed a little. When she opened her eyes, they were shining with a new confidence. "Can we try that one more time?" she asked determinedly, "if it's not too late..." she added, knowing that Jaystream probably had deputy things to do.

Jaystream smiled gladly to see that Vixenpaw now ha gained a new and more powerful confidence. He knew how hard was it to not have a father or a mother around you... Galewind didn't live enough to create a bond with him and Ivyfall... she was always too busy to be with him or even talk. That's why he tried so hard to help those cats that were similar to him so they didn't get as wounded as he did in the past. "Of course, Vixenpaw. We can use all the time you need until you feel to are better." He purred. Then, he approached the shore once again and waited for his apprentice to join him. Now that she knew what she did wrong and had more determination on doing it right she would surely do it better.

Vixenpaw smiled and joined her mentor at the shore. She entered the water with much less hesitation than before, this time not even flinching as the cold water made contact with her soft pelt. Once in the water, she began to swim, taking all her mentor had told her and converting it into her swimming technique. She swam with even, confident strokes, careful not to overexert herself. She knew her swimming was still far from perfect, but the feeling was entirely different. Like last time, a fish passed in front of her. This time, however, she just marvelled at the freedom she and this fish shared, the freedom of swimming. Her eyes half closed as she revelled in the free, floating feeling of the water. Turning to her mentor, she asked, "Am I doing it right?" She certainly hoped she was.

The warrior submerged his body quickly as he saw how Vixenpaw started to move. At first, he stayed close to her but when he noticed that she wasn't having any problem, the tom decided to slow down a bit to admire how she was doing it. His smile grew up wide seeing how great she was doing it. Of course, there were some details to fix but she now got the main idea of swimming and that was more than enough for him and for her to not get drowned. "Yes! That's it, Vixenpaw! Keep those moves and you'll see how your body, training by training, will start to endure itself until you will not even feel tired! Now, try to keep your tail up so you can get more balance and always keep your head up so you can avoid the water bothering your sigh and your breath." The deputy approached her and showed how she had to do it better, hoping that with this her today's swimming lesson would be over and she would have gained more confidence in herself. "See? Now you're better! Always see your mistakes as opportunities, not as something you can't fix."

Vixenpaw raised her tail and head at her mentor's instruction, which helped her balance better. Feeling confident and accomplished, she asked Jaystream, "Can I go a bit deeper?"

The warrior approached her after she asked him that. "Only if you don't feel tired yet and if you stay next to me. You have to take it slowly, so your body can adapt better to the exercise of swimming." Purring those words, the deputy swam forward, getting a bit deeper into the river. For him, it wasn't a problem at all because he practiced swimming each time he could but for the young apprentice, it was different. That's why he should be there, close to her brownish body so she wouldn't get too exhausted before they could go back. Even if she was doing it great he still had to be cautious.

Vixenpaw nodded, then swam after Jaystream into deeper water. Pressing against her grey mentor, she swam with stronger strokes to match the deep, thick water. After a moment of this, her legs began to ache. Not panicking this time, she leaned against Jaystream and made towards the shore. Once on the shore, she shook out her pelt and sat down, tired but delighted with herself. "That...
was... fun..." she panted, eyes shining.

The tall warrior kept his moves shorter than usual so he could accompany Vixenpaw while she swam into the deeper parts of the river. When he felt that she was starting to get tired, he guided her to the shore and soon both of them were resting on the ground. The tom shook his fur and then licked one of his paws, delighted by how great this training ended. He chuckled light-hearted when he saw the bright eyes of his apprentice. "Right? Swimming is awesome once to get used to it. You did it great, Vixenpaw. I'm sure you'll do great things once Ivyfall names you as a warrior." Finishing licking both of his paws, the warrior stretched his slender body and then turned his sight back to the she-cat. "I think that was all for today, Vixenpaw. We should return to the camp and rest. You deserve that after all the hard work you do today. Tomorrow we'll continue our training, okay? I'm going to organize a hunting patrol early in the morning so I hope you join me before dawn so we can work on your hunting skills, all right?" He purred standing up and beckoning Vixenpaw with his tail so she would follow him back to the Riverclan camp.

OOC: You can post once and then the topic will probably finish. Expect a hunting patrol soon ;) and after that (if we don't have a battle encounter) we'll work on the battle system.

Smiling at the thought of being a warrior one day, Vixenpaw followed her mentor back to camp.