Young Adventures (Open)

(Sorry for the late reply!)

Shadekit's eyes widened as he watched Mottlekit be swept away by the current. His paws itched ferociously, but he had to follow Streamtail's orders. But he had to save Mottlekit...

With a running leap, the black kit hurtled himself into the water, taking a gasp of air before he slammed into the chilly waves. At first his legs went numb with shock, but, surprisingly, he realized he was strong in the water. I can swim! He thought, kicking out his legs.

Almost loosing sight of tumbling Mottlekit, he kicked hard with his front legs so he could be boosted up and get a better view. In that heartbeat, he spotted a black and white blur at the corner of his vision, a gray Streamtail swimming towards it. With a surprising energy he found deep within himself, he swam quickly with the current towards the two cats. He kicked out gently when he figured he was near. Shadekit felt sodden fur hit his paws. Mottlekit! With the last spurt of his energy, he kicked out again, pushing Mottlekit sideways. After a few moments, her weight disappeared, and he hoped to StarClan she had reached shore.

At the last heartbeat, as Shadekit was swimming towards the sandy shore bank, a strong wave struck him in the head, sending him reeling: Underwater. He could only see black for a moment, then his head felt as if it where on fire. The edges of his vision became gray, and he let himself go limp. Please, StarClan. He prayed, not caring about his own well-being. Please. Oh StarClan- let Mottlekit be safe.

Streamtail couldn’t waste another  moment. Quickly, she caught the current and swam towards Mottlekit as fast as she could. Mottlekit was several mouse tails away, so Streamtail swam faster and faster. Soon, she reached the little kit and held her two her own chest before swimming back quickly. What she saw next almost made her sigh in frustration. Shellkit and Shadekit were in the water...and they both were desperately trying to stay afloat. Scooping up Shellkit with one paw and Shadekit with another, Streamtail padded back on shore, before setting down the three kits. Fatigue threatened to make her faint, but she caught herself and layed down heavily instead. “Kits...you shouldn’t swim off by yourself...did anyone get water in their chests?”

(Aw man. I wanted Shadekit to be able to save Mottlekit! Is that okay...?)

(I don’t know about that since technically a kit doesn’t have any swimming practice and the currents were rather strong...but Shadekit could definitely save some other kits when he’s an apprentice though!)

(Yeah. Makes sense, sorry lol.)

Sodden Shadekit lay limp as he was brought to the shore. His breath was coming raspy and shallow.
His flanks quivered as he lay unconscious, fighting for breath.

(So I realize I wasn’t clear in the end of my post, but Shellkit didn’t jump in the water at the end, she was running along the side of the bank. Don’t worry I’ll merge it to the story!)

Shellkit didn’t think she had run that far or that fast in her life. She collapsed next to the soaked kits, panting almost as hard as they were.
Her head spun with how brave the warrior had been, and how brave Shadekit had been, and how brave even Mottlekit had been. The river had gone from a fearsome foe to a playful partner once more—but Shellkit was unlikely to forget it’s dark side from now on. The exhaustion after the quick cut of adrenaline was a new experience for the future clan cat, and it took her a moment to wrap her head around it. The moment when your paws are limp, the day is saved, but it doesn’t feel like it quite yet.
She couldn’t wait to feel it again.
She turned over to say something to her denmates, but the sight of the limp and exhausted Shadekit had her immediately scooting over and start licking his shoulder fur the opposite side up with furious swipes of her tiny tongue. She moved to his shoulders and looked around for Mottlekit, wondering how she was faring.

Mottlekit coughed a little and spat out some water. She looked down bashfully. "I'm sorry, Streamtail. I just really wanted to swim! I think I'm ok now." She still felt like she needed to cough but she didn't want to worry Streamtail more than she already had.

She looked over to where Shellkit was licking Shadekit. Mottlekit hadn't been able to see much as she was being swept away, but she was pretty sure Shadekit had tried to help her. He seemed so exhausted now, and she felt guilty that she had jeopardized his safety.

Quietly, she padded over to Shadekit and gave him a hesitant lick on the ear. "Thanks for trying to save me," she purred. "You were so brave!"

Seeing Shadekit blinking in and out of consciousness, Streamtail immediately padded over and rubbed his back softly, trying to get the water out. Gently trying to push the water out, Streamtail then started to smooth his fur with gently laps of her tongue. “There.” Then, she turned sternly towards the rest of the kits, emerald eyes hard. “There will be no more reckless diving into the river. If I catch any of you doing that again I will tell your parents...” Streamtail’s eyes softened, and she licked all of the kits in turn. “Go on. Back to the nursery. If you catch a cold be sure to tell Spiderquill, okay?”

Shadekit blinked as he regained consciousness. Fuzzy shapes loomed over him, and he blinked again a few times to clear his vision. He heard the muffled voice of Mottlekit, telling him he was brave. He weakly sat up and tilted his head, water draining from his ears. Trying to shake the remaining water from his pelt, he stumbled and nearly fell over- leaning against Streamtail for balance.

Finally regaining some of his energy, he rose to his paws and dipped his head in embarrassment. He never meant to almost drown. He just wanted to save Mottlekit...

Padding back into the direction of camp, tail low, he risked a glance behind him. The kits and Streamtail were still sitting there, watching him go. His pelt scolded with embarrassment as he pushed through the reeds to enter camp. His mother raced over, smothering him with ferocious licks to warm him up. He sighed.

Mottlekit watched Shadekit walk away and noticed that he seemed embarrassed. She felt bad that he had almost gotten really sick trying to help her. Feeling guilty, she ran after him and caught up to him as his mother licked his wet pelt.

"Hey, Shadekit!" She meowed. "Thanks again for trying to help me. Are you ok?"

Shadekit side-long glanced at her, nodding. His mother whisked her tail, stroking his back, before padding off towards the nursery. His siblings, Stormkit and Finchkit, tumbled from the nursery, barreling at him. Shadekit purred gently as Finchkit rubbed against him."Are you okay???'/ She asked, circling him and licking his fur. Stormkit gently butted his shoulder. "Did you fall into the river?" He joked. Shadekit rolled his emerald eyes and glanced guiltily at Mottlekit. Sorry... He mouthed, as his siblings entwined their tails around him and led him towards the nursery. "Tell us all about it!" Was all Mottlekit must've heard, before Shadekit was bundled back into the cozy den.

Shellkit watched her littermates go, the tip of her tail flicking back and forth. She didn't understand why Shadekit might have felt embarrassed by a brave act, even if he did have to be rescued. That was what the clan did for each other! The scolding they accured was deserved, but she didn't feel like following the others in what she could only view as a retreat.

Plus...

She turned her head to Streamtail. "Did the river get mad at us?" she asked. Her ears flattened as she cast a cautious glance at the bank. The current of the river still leaped alongside the banks, slapping splashes on the sides of rocks in its usual rambunctious way. Before, Shellkit had seen it as joyful, inviting... now she couldn't get the yowls of Shadekit and Mottlekit out of her mind.

Streamtail smiled gently at Shellkit’s inquiry. “The river doesn’t usually get mad...today it was just rather irritated. Don’t worry, when you have a mentor, she or he will teach you how to handle the river when its angry. RiverClan can always tame it, no matter how.” She gently tapped her long tail onto Shellkit’s nose. “There. A little gift from me to you. I’m sure you’ll be a great swimmer one day...like all RiverClan cats do.” Streamtail suddenly felt the fatigue hit her again, and glanced at the setting sun. “Well, it looks like it’s getting rather late. Why don’t we all go back to our nests?”

A swift sneeze wrinkled Shellkit's nose from the warrior's touch, but she started purring loudly at the affectionate gesture. The warrior already saw her future as an apprentice! And a great swimmer, at that! Her paws tingled as she got up, her spirit jumping with energy--though it was tempered slightly as her leg muscles seemed to mewed crossly at her that they were still tired and sore from her sprint, and they wanted to rest, thank you very much.

"Sure," she meowed cheerfully, in agreement with both her legs and the warrior. She trotted close to the queen's side, ready to follow her back into camp.

"What's your name? Do you have an apprentice? Can I be your apprentice when I'm old enough?"

(sorry for the slow reply, was busy at work the past couple days!)

Mottlekit watched as Stormkit and Finchkit excitedly asked Shadekit what happened. Shellkit was padded after Streamtail, meowing something that Mottlekit couldn't quite hear. For a moment she felt a little bit left out as everyone walked away from her, but she tried not to dwell on it.

Besides, trying to swim had been exhausting! Mottlekit felt like she could probably fall asleep on her feet. So she padded inside the nursery and curled up in her nest. Still, she kept one eye open and watched in amusement as Finchkit and Stormkit questioned Shadekit.