Make a Splash [OPEN TO RC APPRENTICES]

Today was hot. Unbearably so, seeing as the short furred Woolypaw was left panting in the shady safety of the apprentices' den. He'd seen hot days, being a Greenleaf kit, but this was by far the hottest he'd encountered. The air was almost hard to breathe, being both hot and humid, and the sun reflecting off everything was hurting his eyes. So, for the first maybe forty minutes of his day since waking up (which was also because of the heat, he might add), he lay in the apprentice's den. Panting. Though he made some conversation with his equally suffering denmates to pass the time, he soon found it to be so mind-numbing that he was tempted to just put up with the murderous heat and go do something. That was when he got The Idea.

The Idea was so simple he wondered how on earth he'd managed to go 40 minutes before coming up with it: swimming! And not just a solo endeavour, no- he intended to bring all the apprentices. They were RiverClan, after all, so why should they bake in their dens when they had a perfectly good, perfectly cooling alternative! So, having told everyone his plan, he hurried over to the warriors' den to find someome to supervise them. He wasn't much of a stickler for rules, but he figured someone would notice if a large chunk of the apprentices went missing. Owlshriek volunteered, a fact Woolypaw was very happy about given that he'd both mentored Stormdance and was mentoring Yarrowpaw and Woolypaw had still never spoken to him. That being sorted and Owlshriek waiting at the camp's exit, Woolypaw returned to his own den.

"Everyone, Owlshriek said yes! We're going swimming!" He was grinning like a madman, who wouldn't facing relief from such suffocating weather? He trotted out of the apprentices' den, joining Owlshriek and leading the others out of camp. He'd been to the river once before, so he hoped he'd find it. Of course, the warrior would direct him if he got lost, but he wanted to see if he'd remember. "I want to try and catch some fish! I say we should all try, to see who catches the most! It's too hot for normal hunting anyway, fish are probably the only animal that don't mind the weather." He laughed, speaking more to the whole group than to anyone in particular. It was exciting to get to go out with his fellow apprentices. He was really only properly acquainted with Yarrowpaw, the rest of them he'd only spoken to briefly or not at all. Now he'd finally be able to befriend everyone! His ears flicked, locating the sound of rushing water- yes, there it was! The river! "Last one there is a rotten egg!" He broke into a gallop, reaching the river and attempting to stop once he touched its rocky shore. Unfortunately for the young tom, he overshot it by quite a lot and landed with a loud splash in the water. He rose to the surface, spluttering for a moment at the shock, before grinning at his compatriots. "Water's great!" He gurgled through a mouthful of river water.

Rowanpaw had been awake for quite some time, though he'd been sulking in the furthest, darkest corner of the den, curled up in a tight ball and narrowed eyes glittering with irritation. The heat was unbearable, oppressive humidity cleaning to his dense fur. He was unusually quiet, grumbling softly to himself, both curses and quiet thank you's that his mentor hadn't come to fetch him. But then two of the older apprentices stood up– one of the white toms, whose name he hadn't yet bothered to learn, and Hawkpaw, with the white one yapping something about going down to the river. That caught the ruddy tom's attention, and with a begrudging huff, rose to his paws to follow the older pair out under Owlshriek's guidance.

Once the river was in sight, neither of them wasted any time bolting for the water, the white one venturing to suggest hunting while Hawkpaw dove into the water, paddling about with ease. Admittedly, Rowanpaw was a little jealous of how well the older apprentice swam– he hadn't quite managed to get the hang of it, and had spent most of his swimming lessons thrashing about and calling himself a master. Nose wrinkling, he turned towards the leader of their little pack with a sly twinkle in his eyes. "You suggested hunting, did you not? The fish are awfully vocal today. I don't think it would hurt to catch a few." With that and a single lash of his tail, Rowanpaw bounded towards the water, leaping in with none of RiverClan's practiced grace, paws flailing to bat at Hawkpaw's ears, shoulder– wherever he could reach.

Even the usually energetic, wiggly Minkpaw had taken to being much more still in recent times. It felt as if she were swimming just to simply move about each day, her russet-colored fur clinging to her awkwardly as if it was perpetually damp. Quick surveys of those around her saw that it was a mutual distaste, and she'd even taken to sleeping just outside of the apprentice's den. It was only worse inside their den, as the shared body heat of all of them made it like they were in some type of hot-water bath at all times. So the moment it had been suggested to go swim in the river, Minkpaw had lit up.

As Woolypaw had challenged her to getting to the river, her body broke out into an all-out sprint. As if she were racing for her life, in a way. She could hardly remember the path she took, but all she could remember was making a swift dive into the water, happily treading her paws about. Her name certainly was fitting as she glided about with ease. "Oh, I don't think even mom could get me out of the water!" She giggled cheerfully, watching as her brother seemed to go after one of their friends. She knew that Hawkpaw was her brother, in a way, but not actually, as he was a bit older. Still, Poppyshine had looked after him and his siblings as if they were her own. Holding her breath and diving under the water's surface, she tried to swim around a bit more, only to find her body naturally floating her head above the surface. It was a skill to practice another time, then.

"Woolypaw, this was an awesome idea!"

He was a puddle.. Or at least that is what Sootpaw called himself. The heat was unbearable, with his dark fur that matched his father's it was just even worse. No matter where he laid the heat seemed to stick with him. So at one point he was content to become one with the ground if it meant he didn't he didn't have to move anymore. So when he heard something about swimming, he wanted to go along. Well he was a little hesitant.. since well the incident happened while he tried to cool off but when he heard it was his father watching them all he decided he would go.

The dark tom followed after the rest of the group, a little behind since he had to fully decide if he wanted to go. Once he caught up with the group the tom butted his head against his sister before going over rubbing against Owlshriek. He didn't say much more before he joined the others in the water. The apprentice settled into the shallows, laying in the water, letting it steadily lap against his fur. This is how he preferred it. He still didn't have the heart to join the others full but at least this way he was still around.

As the russet she-cat continued treading through the water, her eyes lit up as more and more seemed keen on joining them. It seemed that everybody was rather sick of the unbearable heat, and while the river was quite high for the time of year, it was excellent exercise in strengthening just how well she was able to swim. She'd come to the surface to take in a large breath of air before pushing herself off of some type of stone or ledge beneath the water to go right back beneath the surface, attempting to swim deeper and deeper below the water. Each time, she knew when she needed to resurface, easily doing so. It was a really good exercise, one that she needed to just keep practicing...

This time, when she was going to break above the water, the she-cat saw a group of fish not too far away. Swiftly, she shook out her pelt as she heaved herself out, though it was quite frustrating how it felt like she was unsuccessful thanks to the heat. Her ear flicked and her tail seemed to twitch in focus, as if all of a sudden, the she-cat had nothing else on her mind. Woolypaw did mention trying to catch some fish. She mentally reasoned for her brief vacation from the waters with everybody else. Grebedance hadn't had the change to take her out hunting yet, but she'd seen the other apprentices talking and practicing time to time, so she'd picked up on a thing or two. So when she spotted the silver scales glittering by the waters edge, she did her best to mimic it. Claws were unsheathed for the first time that day as her paw darted back into the water, flinging the fish her direction onto the riverbank. It seemed like it wanted to flop away, but her paw slamming onto its head then stopped any of that.

Picking up her catch in her maw, while it was small, it still counted for something. Happy paws trotted over to where she spotted another apprentice, Yarrowpaw. His hesitation for the water was something she personally couldn't quite understand, but the fish in her jaws made a great conversation starter. Placing it down at his paws, she beamed. "Hi, Yarrowpaw! I brought you a fish, I'd like you to have it!" She grinned, sitting and wrapping her tail around her paws.

Minkpaw attempts to catch a fish... Success! And she brought it over to Yarrowpaw, awww.

The member 'Kitty' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 5

Woolypaw watched from the cool water as more and more apprentices joined him in the river. Rowanpaw, Sootpaw, Minkpaw, Hawkpaw, Yarrowpaw... Even Sleepypaw was here, albeit not swimmimg as such. Still, he was happy for everyone's company. He marvelled at Minkpaw and Hawkpaw's swimming as they seemed to effortlessly cut through the water. Clearly they'd had more practice than him, as he was settling for a clumsy doggy paddle. In fairness, it did the job of keeping him from drowning. Besides, the sheer relief of being in the water and the fun of it all negated any embarrassment he may have felt from his poor form. He grinned at Minkpaw's comment that it was an 'awesome idea'. "Thanks, Minkpaw! It's the least I could to in this kind of heat." He'd suggested swimming to escape the heat, but he had to admit that having his efforts recognised was wonderful.

He swam over to Yarrowpaw who was hesitating at the shore. Woolypaw couldn't blame him; though he was growing into his frame slowly but surely (and really looked rather elegant on land, the tom admitted to himself), Yarrowpaw was still a tad awkward at times. Plus, he'd always been a bit of a scaredy-mouse. With a devilish grin, Woolypaw sank suddenly below the river's depths and emerged just as quickly, sending buckets of water splashing onto his best friend. "Come on, scaredy-mouse! Water's not getting any colder! You'll soon die of heat stroke if you don't get in." He batted Yarrowpaw on the nose before swimming away, distracted by yet another activity: fishing! He watched Minkpaw catch a shimmering silver fish, sending it flying effortlessly to the shore. Inspired, he paddled to the shallows and looked for a fish of his own to catch. He soon spotted a rather big, spotty one. Ignoring his instincts to catch it for a moment, he identifiednit as a trout. It was smaller than most trout he'd seen in the fresh-kill pile, but it wouldn't be bad for a first catch...

He didn't bother going all the way out of the water, fearing the trout would swim out of his reach. Instead, he stood stock still with the shallow water lapping at his ankles. Once the fish was finally close enough, he grabbed the fish with his claws and sent it flying. To his horror, it wasn't headed for shore. Instead, its trajectory was directly up and back down again. Thinking fast, he opened his jaws and snapped- biting down into slimy flesh as he caught the flopping trout. Smiling through the fish, he turned to Yarrowpaw. Wouldn't he be jealous!

He blinked with odd surprise as he watched Minkpaw deliver her fish to Yarrowpaw. A strange feeling of... Something reared up in his chest. Though he couldn't identify what that feeling was, it compelled him to rush over to the two with the trout in his jaws. He dropped it by Minkpaw's. Thinking for just a moment how to explain his inexplicable need to copy Minkpaw, he came up with an acceptable answer. "Minkpaw and I are fishing! You should join us. Right, Minkpaw?"

The member 'Snickerdoodle' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 5