We sneaking out boys (closed temp)

Shellkit never liked to stay still, that much was true. So in the darkest time of night, the little calico kitten slipped through the camp through a tiny hole behind the nursery the little kitten had been working on. She had managed to stay tight-lipped, the master of secrecy as she slowly and quietly made that little hole. Shellkit snuck around, hiding in reeds and behind snow mounds as she made her escape, barely holding back her giggles. Her siblings would be soooo jealous! When she felt safe she pounced into a snow mound, tossing the stuff this way and that as she cheerily giggled and squeaked.

But as Shellkit huffed and puffed, gaining back her energy, her ears pricked up at the sound of... something? Wasting no time, Shellkits curious and adventurous nature led her to the sound of rushing, a steady humming noise. The texture under her little paws changed, she couldn't quite understand what did though. There was texture, like rocks and frozen crunchy grass, to a plain and level surface with the rushing, humming noise under her paws. The stuff under her paws felt like extra cold, extra smooth and slippery stones with a dusting of snow... was this ice? Digging her claws in, she moved along the surface, creaking and cracking as she slipped around. That was normal, totally! She was having so much fun! She couldn't wait to brag to her lame, boring siblings! Too stuck in her mind, and having entirely too much fun, Shellkit failed to notice that when she got to the middle, the ice was practically non-existent.

White paws suddenly crunched through the surface, ice-cold water gushing up her legs as she let out a shriek of alarm. "Help!" and then she was under.

It had been a sleepless night so far for Ashflight, his new nest in the warrior's den was certainly comfortable and warm enough for the cold leaf-bare nights, but the gentle snores of his clanmates were distracting him rather than lulling him.  Admitting defeat, the gray-furred tom quietly left the den, shivering a bit as the chilly wind lashed at his pink nose.  Paws crunching in the icy remains of a previous snowfall, he made his way across the camp and through the entrance, calm breaths meeting the air in a misty cloud that drifted away in the breeze.  A short walk along the perimeter of the camp would hopefully give his tired mind the reset it so desired, and as the water's edge came into view Ashflight allowed his thoughts to drift, gazing around at his beautiful surroundings.

The squeal of an excited kit however made his ears flick, and the warrior looked ahead towards the sound.  What on earth...?  Picking up his pace to an urgent trot, Ashflight lifted his nose into the air and found the kitten's scent.  RiverClan, it must be a little adventurer.  He was relieved that it was something that simple, rather than an abandoned rouge lost in the cold.  With an amused grin, the former rouge kept going, soon finding the pawprints and scattered snowpile that the curious kitten had seemingly jumped in.  Looking at the path taken, he continued to follow until they neared the edge of RiverClan's island camp, and that's when he saw her.  A little she-cat, happy as could be, playing on the thin river ice.

Everything happened so quickly, Ashflight's paws moved almost before his brain could comprehend what was happening, but as the spiderweb of cracks caved in beneath the kit's paws and he heard her small, scared cry for help, he was already dashing across the riverbank, back paws throwing snow in his wake.  "I'm coming!"  The barely formed ice broke under his greater weight almost instantly, and Ashflight's breath stopped for a moment as freezing river water rushed over his back, but he continued swimming forward, pushing bits of ice and slush out of his way until he reached the hole made by the little calico kit...and she was gone.

Vivid green eyes sharp and narrowed with determination, the small but powerful tom dove down into the water, kicking out strongly with his hind legs to take him farther and farther down.  It was so dark under the water, he could barely see a thing, but he followed the current until a flash of white broke through the abyss.  Speeding up, Ashflight hooked his front claws into the kit's fur and dragged her helpless form close to him, grabbing hold of her scruff before kicking up towards the surface, his lungs beginning to ache.  They had drifted away from where they had entered, but there was no time to go back; instead, Ashflight didn't slow down as he got closer to the surface, and rammed the thin ice with his head and felt it shatter.

Finally breaching the surface, Ashflight took a deep breath and tipped his head back as far as he could, dragging the kitten's head above the water so that it could breathe...hopefully.  Knowing the general direction of the bank, he just kept swimming, breaking the ice, pushing it away, and swimming further until pebbles met his paws.  Digging his claws into solid ground, Ashflight hauled himself and the kit out of the water before placing the little scrap down and taking a few deep, exhausted breaths.  "H-hey, are you breathing little one?"  Water running off of his long fur, the tom bent down and pressed his ear to the kit's chest, relieved to feel and hear shallow breaths.  With a relieved huff, he held the kit with his front paws and tipped her forwards, firmly hitting her back until he could hear a splutter or cough.  "C'mon kiddo, you got this!  Talk to me."  His heart was beating a million miles a minute, and his eyes were wide and pleading.  Please be okay, please, be strong!  You've gotten this far, you're safe now!

Shellkit gasped when she went under on reflex, ice-cold water immediately flooding her lungs as it surged over her and tossed her amongst the current. It seemed almost instantaneously that Shellkits vision seemed to blink out, if that was the darkness of the water and the ice and snow cover overhead, or it was just her eyes closing she didn't know. Was this it? Was little Shellkit going to pass away at the ripe old age of three moons? The young calico didn't process that teeth were digging into her scruff until she felt the wind against her face, biting and clawing at her frozen nose and ears.

And then suddenly... she was coughing up heaps of water, paws thumping against her spine, and consciousness drifted and snapped back, a fog clouding everything else. Still, blue eyes cracked open the barest bit, vision blurry and unable to focus. Who was...? Ashflight? She wasn't sure. Shaking and shuddering like the reeds when the wind was at its strongest, Shellkit tried to curl her maw to make words, but she felt stiff and cumbersome. "Wh..?" The young kits eyes rolled back into the back of the head and her head fell down with a thunk as the little kitten collapsed.

Ashflight was breathing heavily, both from his panic and the freezing water that was draining from his pelt onto the frosty ground, but he managed to heave a sigh of relief as the little kitten - who he now recognized as Shellkit - coughed up a lungful of water and opened her eyes to look at him ever so briefly.  'Oh thank goodness, you'll be okay little one, I got you."  His chest jumped as her eyes fluttered shut once again, but a simple touch to her belly told him that she had passed out and was still breathing.  Wasting no time, Ashflight stood up on stiff limbs and took Shellkit into his jaws, trying his best to dash back towards camp but it came out as more of a hobble.

"Cloverheart, Birdsong!  I-It's Shellkit, she fell in the r-river!"  Placing the kit down on a soft patch of grass not yet taken by snow, the freezing tom began licking her fur backward to warm her up and dry her fur.  He would've wrapped her in his long fluffy fur, but he was just as wet as she was, and shivering down to his very bones.  His call echoing around camp, he waited to see if the medicine cat or the kit's mother would appear, continuing to try his best to wake the kit up and keep her warm.  You're okay little one, we're back in camp.  Everything will be alright.