If River Doesn't Swim In My Blood, I'll Swim In The River[C]

As quickly as his kits had appeared, as if they'd spontaneously conjured themselves out of the clouds, they began to grow older. Dovetail found himself almost alarmed by how swiftly they changed from mewling balls of fur to walking, talking miniature cats that spoke in complete sentences. Had he ever been that small? How had his adoptive parents felt, seeing how quickly he grew up? For that matter... No, no, he didn't want to think about his biological parents. He didn't want to think about the mother he'd never known, and he certainly didn't want to think about the one-eyed lurker in his dreams that claimed to be his father. For the sake of the kits, he promised himself, he would be a good father. He would be there for them, whenever they needed him. He would do whatever they needed him to do. He would keep them safe and he would love them ferociously. The only problem was... though he had moons of experience being an older brother, he'd never had anyone to teach him what requirements there were for being a father. So far, he had done his best to translate the care of being a sibling with the glowing pride that came from an authority figure being proud of you. Hopefully, his kits thought he was doing a good job, though he wouldn't know until they had grown up and it was too late.

So when Milkkit asked to show him something, and find Murkyriver--stars, but it still threw him for a loop to hear her called "Mother" or "Mama"--he had no reason not to agree. "I definitely can," Dovetail said, giving the two tom-kits a smile. "Where are we going, or is it a surprise? I'll find Murkyriver and come to join you." He pressed his nose gently to the top of each of their heads, and then walked off with a parting wave of his tail to find his... nest-mate. With how much work and time it took to care for the kits, they'd had very little time to themselves to discuss what this meant and how they would go about it. For now, though, they'd at least reached the agreement to be the best parents to these kits that they could be... and they were on far better terms with each other once he managed to deal with the sudden mental breakdown he'd had during their conversation. It didn't take too long to find the shadowlike she-cat, given how much more time she spent in camp and in the nursery these days. He gave her a slow blink of greeting when he found her. "Murkyriver, our kits--" that phrase still threw him for a loop every time he said it, sending a strange shiver into his fur-- "said they want to show us something. Milkkit and Herringkit are waiting."

ooc note; it has been agreed upon by all parties via Discord to revive this topic.

Being a mother had been much different than she'd imagined it to be. She pictured wailing kits, constant pain from little sharp teeth and claws, and an all-around headache she wasn't built for. But it seemed that her mothers instincts had in fact found themselves in the molly, and she found it much easier than she had once believed. Perhaps it was because herself and her sister Firefly were persistently problematic for their mother, but her kits... her kits... they were utterly lovely.

Dovetail's appearance was welcome as his head popped into the nursery, the marbled queen raising her head to return the slow blink in greeting. It'd been harder to see out of her eye these days, the figures blurring just a bit more. She blamed it on taking time off of training to care for her young. Not that it truly mattered. A quiet nod, and she nestled those close to her away just enough so she could rise without injuring them, padding out of the den.

"What is it?" She only dared ask once they all were present, not wanting to waste a single breath in talking. It made most sense to ask once she was with her kits, anyways. They all looked fine--her worried glance quickly went over both of them to make sure what they 'found' wasn't some type of injury--so now curiosity got to peek its head. She stuck shoulder-to-shoulder with Dovetail, his strong build certainly appreciated by the lithe queen. Even if questions of what everything combined to be still lingered, nothing stopped them from being honest with how they felt with one another in front of their kits: Murkyriver still loomed as Dovetail's bodyguard, as well as the bodyguard for her kits, even if the tom had a stockier build than she did.

"It's a surprise," Milkkit assured his father swiftly, the smirk slowly growing on his face as Dovetail left to fetch Murkyriver. It wasn't long before both of their parents were present, eyes watching him and Herringkit just as he knew they would. He could already see the curiousity in their gazes, urging him on. "Follow me, please," He purred. With one final nod to his brother, he turned and headed for the river surrounding Camp, head held up high and all too eager to show off his 'skills'.

The water was chilly this time of year, the winds harsher than they would've been in Greenleaf, and the water lapped at the bank with a little more splash than Milkkit had expected. He stood on the edge, cool, tiny round pebbles shifting beneath his paws as he took a few tentative steps into the water. He tried not to show how the cold of the water affected him, how the feeling of his fur getting wet upset him-- he had spent ages grooming himself-- or how looking at the depth of the river suddenly struck him with fear. He forced a smile, puffed out his chest as he whipped around to face his parents. Where was Herringkit? He suddenly did not fancy the thought of doing this alone. "We wanted to thank you two for being such amazing parents to us," He began, voice steady but not quite. His tail flicked behind him, splashing up a little water in it's wake. "And so, we decided to swim in the river for you, to show you how great RiverClan cats we are thanks to your guidance!" There was perhaps too much eagerness in his voice, the end just an octave too high. What was this irritable feeling that nagged at him and suddenly made his paws feel too heavy and his being too small? He was not small--

And yet, when he turned back to the river, to the bottomless mass of water that stretched out far too far for him, he could feel his smile faltering. He did not want to do this. But he had come this far, hadn't he? Perhaps he should've tried swimming himself before making such a show of himself, inviting both his parents to come watch. No, he was being silly, he chided himself as he took a tentative step into the water. Swimming was in his blood-- he was RiverClan, through and through. With that final assurance, he plunged into the cold, cold water.

The first greeting of the ice-cold water was shocking-- he opened his mouth to gasp, but all that came was more water. Everything was water. He could feel the bubbles of air all around him, and he felt as if his body had frozen, unable to move as the water coated his fur and dragged him down, down, down...

It was both a relief and a shock to feel pebbles beneath his paws yet again. They shifted far more easily in the water, but it was something that wasn't water. He used them to push himself forward, paws finally kicking back into motion as he paddled for the surface. It wasn't even that far, he realized-- this side of the river, closer to the bank, was relatively shallow. He couldn't help his small gasp of relief as his head broke the surface again. He found himself treading the water, just as he had seen all the older kits and apprentices doing in the shallow pools in Camp, tail floating lazily behind him. The current was going against him, but it was slow and he almost found it within him to giggle as the waves rocked him.

So this was swimming. It wasn't easy, that was for sure. The water was chilly, the spray all in his face, and his fur felt so heavy. He felt like the current was going to drag him away, and he had never felt smaller. But most of all, it felt right. Paddling was helping his body slowly warm to the chill of the river, and with that comfort, there was a certain lightness that he had never felt on land. As if the water was lifting him up, holding him at the top as he paddled. A wide grin spread across his face as he turned to his parents, still trying to blink the water out of his eyes. He had done it! --Well, of course he had done it, he could do anything. But there was an irrational rush of relief that coursed through him as he scrambled back to the bank, feeling the solid ground beneath his paws once again. The first moment of trying to swim had scared him, even if it felt silly now. "Did you see that?" He asked, half breathless and half excited as he looked from Dovetail to Murkyriver. Would they be proud?