Chilly day for a swim (open)

OOC: topic that led up to this

IC: Because of all the fur Mistpaw had, plus it being sopping wet which weighed it down even more, Smokepelt had spent ages hauling the apprentice back to camp, wanting nothing more than to lay down in his nest and never wake up. Every muscle ached and his mind felt groggy from his swim in the gorge as he neared the camp entrance. 'Almost there,' he reassured himself, his pace slowing down and paws dragging on the frost covered ground bellow.

Eyes wanting to shut, he forced himself to stay awake as he pulled the grey she-cat's tattered body through the camp's tunnel of an entrance. With his eyes almost all the way closed, he didn't really know where he was in the camp, and so he dragged her near Ashstar's den, and unable to go on any farther, set the apprentice down, giving his teeth the opportunity to chatter again.

"F-featherpaw," the warrior stuttered and sat down, his entire body shivering. Exhausted from working so hard to rescue Mistpaw and from the cold, he hung his head and he began to close his eyes. Maybe he could just take a little power nap while he waited for her.

Featherpaw heard her name, and as such made her way towards the source of the sound, but froze when she saw where it had come from. Smokepelt was there, and looked so tired, but her heart stopped when she saw the apprentice next to him - Mistpaw. Her sister. "What happened?" she asked quickly, and when she saw that Smokepelt seemed to be dozing off she shook her head. "Please... Please stay awake."

"Mistpaw!"The pile of twigs and grass that Laurelsong had been carrying between her jaws dropped untidily to the ground as she spotted her soaking wet apprentice being dragged along the ground by Smokepelt towards the medicine cat's den.  Dashing over on swift paws, the young warrior sniffed the she-cat's thick gray fur tentatively before hissing to both the former deputy and the medicine cat apprentice; "What in StarClan's name happened to her - and to you?!"  She had just noticed that Smokepelt was also dripping wet; what had these rabbit-brains been thinking, getting dunked in the river this close to leaf-bare?

The rather scrawny rabbit bumped awkwardly against Brindlewhisker's chest as she slipped through the prickly gorse barrier. The sound of rather anxious chatter reached her ears, although she initially dismissed it as the usual gossip that she always somehow managed to catch wind of. The Deputy had only managed to take a few more steps into the shelter of camp before she spotted something slinking in the corner of her vision. Turning her head, she was greeted with the sight of two sopping wet bundles of fur- although Laurelsong racing into view quickly obscured the two forms from further recognition. Until a name was brought up.

Mistpaw!

The freshly-killed rabbit was dropped in the dirt without a second thought at the mention of Mistpaw's name as Brindlewhisker practically flew towards the small crowd that was beginning to form beneath the Tallrock. A small puff of brittle earth was sent into the air as the Deputy frantically skidded to a halt in front of the half-drowned form of her daughter. At first, her blazing gaze raked over Laurelsong's form, but then her gaze settled on the soaking wet, half-sleeping Smokepelt. "What happened to my kit?" There was a hint of snarl in her words as her gaze flicked back and forth expectantly between the two Warriors.

The only thing that Brindlewhisker could hear as she waited for another cat to speak was the furious rushing of blood in her ears as she stared down at Mistpaw's pitiful form. She had just lost one of her sons to the Gorge, was she somehow about to lose another kit in a similar way?

Mistpaw! Mistpaw's eyes opened, no matter how hard it was to look at all the cats looming over her, panicking and shouting at a grey blob. Mistpaw blinked rapidly, trying to see who was there, it took what felt like hours but she was able to just make them out. They were yelling at Smokepelt, the tom that had just saved her life! Now she couldn't have that, could she? With a weak and shuddery sneeze, her mouth struggled to move.

" 'e-'e saved m' life mama" Mistpaw's whole face felt numb and tingly, and she couldn't feel her toes or just about anything, long insulating fur be damned. Mistpaw did her best to struggle, to look at everyone, to cease their worries. She was okay- all she had to do was warm up and she could resume training before Laurelsong started yelling at her more than she already did.

Listening to the once silent camp grow filled with worried voices, every sound was torture to his ears. All he wanted to do was take a quick nap, was the so much to ask for?

Recognizing the medicine cat apprentice's voice, Smokepelt pried his open and lifted his head just enough to be able to look at the she-cat. "S-she f-fell... the g-gorge," the tom chattered as a crisp breeze blew through the camp, his body vigorously shivering. Looking around, his clanmates began to gather around the two of them and he turned to Laurelsong who'd asked him a question.

Opening his jaw to attempt and reply, he turned his gaze to Brindlewhisker who was leaning over Mistpaw. The deputy shot him a glance and her harsh words stung like a bee. Was she not grateful that he'd saved her kit's life? Was she that un-trusting of him that she thought he'd put Mistpaw in harms way somehow? Did she think that he was really that heartless not to save an apprentice from certain death?

Anger began to broil through his veins, but he quickly stopped himself, his head growing dizzy. He didn't have the energy for that right now. With his tiredness helping him stay calm, he met Brindlewhisker's gaze.

"Y-your kit fell into the g-gorge," he replied as clearly as possible, his shoulders hunched and his slim, soaked body becoming even more soar from how tense he was from the cold. She might be angry or scared now, which he could understand, but she'd better thank him later, seeing that he'd risked his hide for her kin.

A watery sneeze was the only answer to Brindlewhisker's question, but it was enough to melt away a portion of the fervent anger in her eyes. As Mistpaw weakly explained what had transpired in a choppy sentence, her tense and bristling stance relaxed as her shoulders sagged. Oh thank StarClan. Brushing past the small crowd of anxious cats, the Deputy quickly circled the shivering Mistpaw several times before curling tightly around the water-logged she-cat. Frigid water seeped from Mistpaw's long fur as Brindlewhisker pressed against her, but it hardly bothered her- the adrenaline that was released whenever she had first seen her kit was still strong enough to keep her warm for sometime yet.

Ignoring the young she-cat's constant wriggling, she set about briskly grooming the extra water from Mistpaw's bushy nape fur in an attempt to help warm her as she waited for Featherpaw to give her sister some sort of check over. Her ear twitched as Smokepelt spoke up to answer her, but her attention didn't divert from the task at paw. The Gorge? The grey and white tom's words did little to pacify her and only brought about a new wave of distress upon her. First Goldenflame and then Mistpaw? She felt ill and it took several more heartbeats before she felt as if she could speak once more.

"Thank you then," Brindlewhisker simply mewed during her furious grooming of Mistpaw, her gaze only briefly lifting to Smokepelt for a heartbeat, "Make sure that you let Featherpaw thoroughly check you over."