Spring Fever [open]

The chilly, slow-going waters licked at the exposed fur of Sunpaw's belly, making her teeth chatter even more vigorously. Despite the fact that the weather seemed to be growing warmer with each passing of the sun, the river seemed to hover comfortably at freezing. Wading in deeper, until the dark waters swirled and lapped at the pale fur of her chest, the little tabby let out a slight hiss through her teeth. After spending all day running about doing Lilytail's bidding, her fur had quickly become muddied and soiled to the point that grooming it was out of the question- thus, she was attempting to rinse herself off in the river.

Inhaling sharping through her nose, Sunpaw steeled herself for a brief heartbeat before ducking completely underwater, hoping to wash away the lingering mud and debris that stubbornly clung to her normally pristine fur.

Sprucepaw was observing Sunpaw dunking her head under the water of the cold river. His eyes held amusement at her actions but he broke the silence by walking up to her and crouching to see her submerged face better. "What are you doing sunpaw?" he asked while making small ripples with his paws. His light green eyes held curiosity.

Darkpaw followed closely after her friend Sprucepaw. And to her surprise, another one of their denmates came into view. Given the amount of predators she had fought lately, the apprentice glanced around to check their surrounding before heading towards the water's edge. She smiled. It was a peaceful day. After making sure it was clear, she meowed a quick greeting to Sunpaw before diving into the water. In her haste and distraction, the bi-colored she-cat had missed the hiss and shivers of the other cat. Thankfully, the thickness of her fur, along with the sleek coat that came from eating fish and her pure Riverclan blood, kept most of the chill from soaking deep into her bones. But, it was still pretty darn cold.

Her head, which had disappeared under the water shot up almost immediately. There was a patch of sun over the water and quickly she swam towards it. A sigh of relief escaped her throat as the warm rays heated up the part of her above the water. Due to her half dark coloring, one side of her face warmed up a bit quicker and she had to blink against the sun and turn away. Finally settled in a decent position, Darkpaw trod the slight current and turned to Sunpaw, "You'd think it would be much warmer in here with the way things look." Maw twisting into a bit of a cheeky-grin, her gaze glanced back and forth between the other two apprentices. She nodded towards Sprucepaw to try and convince him to give it a try as well.

Mosspaw loved being an apprentice!

It took him a little while for it to sink in -- Mosspaw didn't like sleeping alone anymore, and not seeing his mother as much -- but after realizing the new freedoms that came with shedding the kit-- from his name... Mosspaw never wanted to go back!

Sure, the warriors looked down on him a bit more for chasing leaves or splashing in puddles in camp -- but he could leave camp whenever he wanted! Once Silverfang was done with him, insisting he work hard in every hour of his day, and he finished chatting with the elders... well, Mosspaw could go anywhere!

The little black tom raced through Riverclan's territory, laughing as he leaped over the little streams criss-crossing the soggy stretches of land. Silverfang probably wouldn't have liked it -- scaring away prey, or something or other -- but Mosspaw was having fun! He was heading in a new direction today -- hoping to find some new, exciting things to explore!

Mosspaw had traveled quite far from camp when he saw several cats not to far from him -- standing beside a huge river! He didn't know them well, but he recognized them from camp -- they were apprentices, too!

"Oh! Oh! Over here, guys!" He exclaimed, bounding over to the group on his little paws as he drew attention to himself. "What are you guys doing? Oh! You're playing a game, aren't you? Can I play?"

Frigid river water flooding both her ears and nose, Sunpaw felt a violent shiver creep down her spine as she continued to hold herself below the surface of the river until her lungs began to ache. Despite the unpleasant chill of the water, she was determined to only have to rinse herself clean once- even if it took a painfully long time. Paws scrabbling against the smooth, algae-rimmed stones, it took the little tabby a brief moment of floundering until she was able to breach the wave-riddled surface once more. Much too her surprise, she was greeted with the sight of Sprucepaw hovering near her- with Darkpaw apparently close behind.

Rivulets of water streamed down Sunpaw's face, heavy droplets splashing down into the rippling shallows that she was still knee-deep in. Offering a shy, half-smile in response to her two denmates friendly attempts at conversation. Although she had practically known the pair since her birth, she still found conversation to be rather difficult at times. However, before she could stutter out a half-thought out response, another voice chimed in.

Twisting around slightly in an attempt to catch a proper glimpse at the clearly exuberant Mosspaw, Sunpaw's wet whiskers gave an anxious flutter. Despite sharing a den with the younger tom, she still felt awkward and out of place around him. "I-I don't think we're playing a game," She managed to eek out, dark gaze flitting to both Sprucepaw and Darkpaw for confirmation, "But..but you're welcome to join us anyways."