So his real motive for knowing if she could swim was for water fishing? Hm... maybe she shouldn't have fibbed that small bit about knowing how to swim, but she was far too proud to admit that lie now - she'd much rather drown than swallow her pride and come clean. Whatever, she couldn't be dreadful at swimming at any rate, and her instincts must count for something even if they didn't lend her to the side of being very good. They'd keep her alive and afloat. Probably. Isn't that all that matters.

Whatever, it doesn't really matter. Not a moment after he sets off, Wrenpaw puffs up her fur against the slight chill in the air and follows after her mentor, keeping close behind him and noting the slight wetness of the ground under paw, the trees they pass and the different landmarks that would guide her back to camp. There's a tree with a strange knot on its trunk that seems to be looking at here here... a large rock overgrown with moss there... and, finally, the river lies ahead of them.

[ @occultation ]

Cold water... ugh, Wren's not looking forward to this. On top of that, just looking at the way the water is moving faster here almost gives the usually confident molly cold feet. But she shakes her head firmly to rid herself of the small bit of anxiety. Now was not the time to panic. She knows how to swim in calm water especially, her instincts will keep her afloat, too. With a deep breath, Wrenpaw nods to her mentor and dives in.

The first thing she notices in the cold hitting her like a blow to the side. Second, she notices that the stronger current here is trying to carry her along. 'Ok, Wren, you can do this, you know how to swim in shallow, calm water, how much harder could this be?' She asks herself. The truth is, it's much more difficult. As she surfaces, Wren can't help but take a quick gasp of breath, her paws churning under her as she tries to fight the slightly strong current. It's not overwhelming, at least, and RiverClan's diet of plenty of fish has made her coat glossy and slightly water resistant over her moons, so her fur doesn't become heavy with the weight quite as quickly as other clans might.

Trying hard to split her focus, Wrenpaw keeps half her attention on the churning of her paws, and tries to focus the other half on her mentor. If anything, so far this is more of a brain workout then a body workout.

[ @occultation ]

Deep breath, deep breath, remember the basics. 'Think, Wrenpaw, think[/i]!'[/i] She scolds herself, still struggling for the briefest moment. Pull with your front. Push with your back. Use your tail to stabilize yourself. Ok. Ok, this is fine. This is working. It's not that bad, see?

It takes a moment, but eventually her struggling lessons and she gets a handle on what she's doing, splitting her mind into two halves, one focused intently on swimming, repeating the instructions in her head like a mantra, and the other focused on Slatestripe, chancing a very brief glance in his direction.

"O-okay," she asks, trying not to swallow water, "now- now what?"

[ @occultation ]