Open Camp TRANQUIL BLESSINGS [ attempting to swim ]

[lavenderkit]

The stream around camp has swollen with rain water - not intensely, to the point where kits like her may be in danger, but enough to test the limits of their natural skills. Lavenderkit doesn't edge too far from Hazecloud or her littermates, watching the tide of the water lap greedily at her paws before receding away. It was rhythmic in a way she's never noticed before... she supposes it would be now, when the dangers and rules are being listed to her, that she would find herself distracted and hypnotized.

Lavenderkit waits to be set free, wading further and further into the water. She pauses when it reaches her elbows, lips pursing into a pout. She supposes she could go out further, but at some point the stream has to rise back to the other bank, does it not? She feels like she's already wandered into it pretty far, and can't imagine it going any deeper. That said, the blue furred molly doesn't try.

"My paws still touch the ground, Momma!" Lavenderkit complains, looking back towards the shore.

[ @hazecloud @Jackdawkit + the other kits but no need to wait ! ]

 

[Russetfall]

FALLING FOR THE PROMISE OF THE

EMPTINESS MACHINE

Russetfall listens from her spot in the shallows slightly downstream, limbs stretched out to let herself sink in so that it rose up to her chest. It was beginning to get warmer now, not quite to the unbearable levels of greenleaf but it wasn't too far off. She intended to spend as much time in the water as she could to avoid it.

The soft splashing of water from the kits prompts emerald green eyes to look up, both curious and apprehensive at once. So it was swimming lessons today, was it? This was certainly a great deal safer than learning in the tide pools of the shipyard, where the waves often slowly and greedily crept up on a cat before surging powerfully to drag them out to sea, never to be seen again. Even so, there was always a risk when still learning the basics of swimming and the Life Guard finds herself shifting to angle herself in the way of the kits should they lose their footing or drift too much with the current.

Lavenderkit's complaining reaches her and the molly snorts once. "Did you think Haze was just going to toss you and Jackdawkit right into the deepest part of the river from the start?" There's a bite to her words, absent of any real malice but more a tone of incredulousness. "You'd get swept away before you even knew what happened."

She flicks an ear, suddenly thoughtful. If Lavenderkit wanted a challenge- Russet assumed that was the reason behind the complaints at least- she could give her one from the safety of the stream. She sits up, water dripping in rivulets from her fur from the movement and raises a paw to beckon her closer to where the chocolate tabby sits just downstream.

"...Try swimming over to me, Lavenderkit. Don't slip." The current would do most of the work for the kit of course, but she might be surprised at the effort it would still take. A suitable challenge, maybe.

ITS BEEN DECIDED HOW WE LOSE

RUSSETFALL

— Life Guard of Riverclan
— She/Her
"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
— A Green-eyed Chocolate Mackerel Tabby With Low White
#8a2c55

 

[Frostmoth]

Frostmoth sits, dry on the shoreline, as his clanmates splash about in the shallows. The sun warms his plush coat, coaxing him to step white-tipped paws into the water. Russetfall lounges nearby, and Hazecloud and Lichentuft's kits splash about excitedly in the water. The river here is so shallow that even a kit can splash around with minimal risk; as is punctuated by Lavenderkit crying out about how her paws still touch the bottom. Though Lavenderkit seems to always find something to complain about.

Russetfall's rebuttal comes before his can. 'Or drown,' Frostmoth thinks silently, his maw twisted into a slight frown. He'd rather not think about such things, but there had been cats who drowned at the shipyard and others who had drowned when he had been just a young shipcat. RiverClan has been lucky enough to avoid the same fate so far, but he knows that the special skill that sets them apart from the other clans is both a blessing and a curse.

He watches as Russetfall stands and asks Lavenderkit to swim towards her, and wades in a little further himself. "Look, Lavenderkit," the bicolor pipes up "If you get to Russetfall then you can swim back to me. It'll be good practice." Frostmoth just hopes silently that Hazecloud and Lichentuft will be okay with this little exercise. If Lavenderkit is amenable to it, she'll probably be worn out enough to take a long nap.

OH, MY GOD ★ MAKE ME IN YOUR IMAGE

• "SPEECH"
• ★ FROST — he/him, riverclan deputy, 20 moons
  — penned by carat, feel free to ping or dm for plots!
  — longhair black and white bicolor with blue eyes
  — peaceful powerplay ok! all interactions ok!
  
• penned by carat!

 

[lavenderkit]

Lavenderkit's eyes grow sharp initially. She should have! How is she and her brother supposed to learn if not receiving the full breadth of the task? What are they to do, assume that the water licking at her chest will be all that she must face? Russetfall's tone lacks true anger or frustration, but harbors the same sharpness that the kitten often wields. "I would not -" She doesn't quite understand the worry or fear; she's well protected here in RiverClan. Her mothers and fathers will watch her closely, and the Clan cannot ignore her, not when her voice is so loud.

But - Russetfall relents (if one could call it that.) "... Try swimming," Lavenderkit's tail twitches, catching the water and floating atop it now. The blue furred kitten blinks the shock out of her eyes and faces the music that she began playing - she cannot back down now. She wriggles her shoulders and wades just a bit deeper into the water, wincing as cold water laps at her belly. She takes that as an opportunity to leap... and sink. It is a solid second or two where she disappeared beneath the water before erupting with a flourish. Her paddles, if they can be called as much, splash far too much water as she pushes herself towards Russetfall. Her eyebrows pinch with the determination and there are a few bounds where her paws need not touch the ground once again. She meets the Life Guard, sopping wet, and reaches the ground to stand again.

"I did it!" She wouldn't allow the molly to say otherwise.

Her breath shudders and she coughs for a moment, all before remembering Frostmoth's suggestion before she took off. She turns to try and find the tom, lips pressing to a thin line at just how far he seems now that she's grown exhausted. But, ever determined, she nods quietly. "I'm on my way!" she shouts, as if the quiet tide of the stream is comparable to ocean waves. Lavenderkit kicks off the ground with the same fervor as before, but this time she doesn't sink immediately. Her nose keeps above water, and though her paws occasionally graze the ground to keep her afloat, she, for the most part, swims on her own. Far from flawless or natural, but a considerable improvement from the prior attempt.

She finds Frostmoth and stands again, water slicking her curls down to her frame. This time, her breath heaves, "I... did it...!" She looks to the deputy, then the Life Guard behind her, and grins, "I did it...!" Oh, but she is exhausted now.