Lionsbeach

[Moon Lily]

(Haha, cool!)
@Dipper

Eagleflower settled into the warm folds of the nest, feeling Fawnsqueak's furry pelt beside him, breathing gently. It was the first time he'd ever been on a date, really. He hadn't had one with anycat else, even Dreampaw. He smiled at the warm body next to him, his eyes drifting shut. The activity throughout the day had sucked his energy from him, and he was eager to slip into a dreamless sleep. It comforted him.

Eagleflower wriggled as he felt Fawnsqueak slip out of the nest. Still half asleep, he groaned, flopping over to his side. He felt like a half dead pidgeon. He needed more sleeeep. At the faint glow of the sun in front of his eyelids, he turned. The nips from the tom did NOT help. He sat up, his eyes still closed.
"But I don't wanna get up..." He moaned, tempted to flip back down in the nest. He owned for a bit longer, opening his eyes. He padded throughout towards the brown tom, lightly flopping against his side. Catching sight of the devil's smile on Fawnsqueak's face, he stood up straight, pelt spiking. Something was going to happen, wasn't it? Oh, Starclan, no. No way. Nada.
"On second thought, I'll just, you know, get back to bed." He mewed, turning towards the mods lined thing.

[Fawn]

Fawnsqueak was highly skeptical and watched Eagleflower's reluctance to rise and shine, his eyebrows hitched. "You can't seriously want to stay in that nest any longer." He couldn't imagine it was that comfortable since he'd thrown the thing together just so they'd have a place to sleep rather than on the cold ground. "Hey, come on," he chided and nudged him with his shoulder. "I did the whole, 'risking my life to climb a tree' thing, so I'm pretty sure you can at least get your toes wet." Fawnsqueak beckoned for him to follow, drawing closer to where the waves lapped at the shore -- he was glad to see they weren't very intense, the wind reduced to almost nothing. In the middle of leaf-bare, they couldn't ask for a better day for this.

@Moon Lily

[Moon Lily]

@Dipper

Eagleflower glanced at Fawnsqueak sideways. Even though it has been just chucked together, the nest was still a place he would had preferred to stay that the water. The best was predictable. It was a nest. It wasn't going to go anywhere. The water...anything could happen.
"I'd rather that than water." He replied, his legs stiffening in protest. He didn't want to swim...
He let out a mrrow of protest at he was nudged towards the blue tides, and he felt his paws threatening to shuffle rapidly. CALM DOWN CALM DOWN. It's only water...oh Starclan it's water it's water it's water it's - He needed a break from his thoughts. Shut up, conscience.
"Haha, fine. You're going to have to push me in, though." He mewed, his voice breaking off into smaller, fearful chunks.

[Fawn]

Fawnsqueak looked between Eagleflower and the waves, then eventually settled on the former with a little, breathy laugh escaping him. "Dude, I.. I'm not going to make you get in." The last thing he wanted to do was traumatize him, and he knew that he personally wouldn't appreciate getting pressured to do something he was fearful of. With a shrug, he said, "If you want to stay dry, that's honestly fine." However, since they were here, Fawnsqueak wasn't going to let the opportunity slide through his paws even if Eagleflower would prefer to be on the land. Breaking away from him, Fawnsqueak padded forward to the edge and observed his rippling reflection in the wavy blues of the ocean, then he took a careful pawstep in... another, and another, and soon he was up to his chest.

@Moon Lily

[Moon Lily]

@Dipper

Eagleflower hesitated, wincing slightly at the sight of the Tom approaching the water. As much as he hated the blue satin surface, and how it wanted to all at his paws, he couldn't help but feel his fur ruffle with anxiety as the brown tom left the shore. If he stayed here, he would be alone. If he went in the water, Fawnsqueak would be there, and they could have a good laugh about how darned sad he was a swimming. The latter seemed like a better option.
"Fawnsqueak! Wait for me!" He tore down the shore, flailing as he struggled to run through the sandy soil. Skidding to a stop at the water's edge, he glanced up, gulping, at Fawnsqueak. Taking a step into the shining waves, he held his breath. Exhaling at its contact, he waded in, trying not to shiver or run. The other tom was like a fish. His swimming as something more graceful than her ever seen. Breathing in awe, he followed after him, swimming like a squirrel would. Very badly.
"Hey! I'm doing i-" He was cut off as a rush of water hit in on the maw. Paddling desperately, he gasped as it went on its way. He spat out a mouthful of water, whining.

[Fawn]

Fawnsqueak had forgotten how strange it felt to be walking along the bottom because the sand beneath his paws was washed away with the tide rolling in and out. It was an almost dream-like experience to feel weightless. "You're coming?" he inquired with a tilt of his head, perking up at the possibility of Eagleflower joining him. As if worried he'd pressured him, he added, "You don't have to, if you don't want.."

He watched Eagleflower's dive into the water as he got deeper in, somewhat impressed despite its clumsiness. "Wow, you're-- actually getting in." Fawnsqueak was alert in his observation, waiting for any signs of distress that suggested they were better off returning to the shore. "Just... don't go in too far, okay? It's kind of dangerous. The tide..." And if that happened, he had no idea what he would do since he wasn't a strong enough swimmer to support both of them.

A little smile twitched in the corner of his lips. "Yeah, that's not half bad, honestly. You're better than most apprentices when they first start out." Despite the lack of grace, Eagleflower seemed to have the mechanics down, and his muscular form made it much more feasible.

@Moon Lily

[Moon Lily]

@Dipper

Eagleflower felt the small grains skid as he stepped down in them, marveling at the sand. It felt softer than he'd thought, smoother too. It just added to the feeling that he was being smothered by a cloud. Smothered seemed like a much better word than the more light ones out there. He grinned, trying to to slip under the waves.
"No, no, I'm coming!" He insisted, paddling harder. He splashed around until he reached his warrior friend, panting with the effort.

He flicked water around until his paws grew to tired to do so, so he settled for calmer swimming instead. He felt his warm muscles relax as he paddled softly, and he marveled at the quiet of the blue. It was...peaceful. He still preferred the tree. Oh, how he wanted a tree. He felt small movements below him, and he almost leaped out of the water. Remembering he was in Riverclan, he knew what these sma!l things were. Fish. Hah.
"I'll try, I can't say I promise, because I always manage to find a way to kill myself." He explained, chuckling nervously.

He felt his pelt grow warmer than it already was at the praise. He didn't know his swimming was that decent. In fact, he'd heard from others he looked like a fish in land when he swam. An oversized, flailing fish.
"Are you sure you're not just saying that? I've seen some apprentices around, and boy, they can swim." He breathed, shaking his head in amazement. He cocked an eyebrow teasingly, flicking water at the tim.

[Fawn]

"Don't wear yourself out!" Fawnsqueak called when he saw Eagleflower giving it all he got to reach him. "Remember, we still have to go back to shore, and... and I don't know if that'll be easy." Usually, heading to shore was the tougher part of the journey than going outward from it since the waves tended to make it a two steps forward, one back process. Fawnsqueak purred when he made it over to him, giving a laugh through the rumbled noise. Now that he didn't have to yell over the sound of the ocean, he softly greeted, "Hey."

Fawnsqueak was relieved to see he was beginning to get the hang of the movements. It was already starting to look smoother. "It's kind of tricky at first, but it also feels like it comes naturally. Uh, to me... anyway. I don't know about SkyClan. ...Were you born able to climb a tree?" That last part was asked with a cheeky grin.

Wincing at the thought of Eagleflower dying, he pointed out, "You haven't been too successful at it so far, I guess." Unless... the leader having nine lives thing was a sham, and everybody happened to get nine lives. It was one of those things Fawnsqueak mused about every once and a while. "I... I'll seriously try not to let you drown, but I'm not the greatest at swimming. I get by." That was all he could say about his ability, he was nothing special.

"I'm not," he confirmed with a nod. "You're actually doing good." Well, neither of them had drowned so that constituted 'good' to him. When water was flicked, Fawnsqueak let out a protesting sound and returned the favor, using a paw to clap down on the water and send some at Eagleflower. "Okay, now you're making me want to take back what I said."

@Moon Lily

[Pepperkins]

Raccoontail
[ooc: sorry it's short, my dumb tail is trying to write this half sleep ]

She looked at the apprentice curiously. He was wiser than she thought. Plus, what he saidade her feel a little better. Plus, if Shiverpetal didn't forgive her, she would spend all of eternity in Starclan apologizing to him! She gave Goosepaw a small smile and she wiped the tears out her eyes. "Thanks Goosepaw, that's a really sweet thought," she meowed gratefully. As for Fennelnose, she looked back out onto the horizon and nodded in agreement. The waves would surely take him peacefully off and Starclan would handle him from there. As for the question, she was also curious. But take him out kinda made more sense. "I think we should push him out, so that the tides don't bring him back in by accident," she replied, turning back to the others.

[ @pathos @Slushie ]

[dino.]

[ @Pepperkins @pathos ]

Goosepaw glanced up in surprise, pausing as the water touched his paws. He'd never felt the ocean before. It's cold. And... Raccoontail was thanking him? He shrugged, glancing down at the sound. "It's nothing," he mumbled, his fur becoming warm.
"It isn't my decision to make, but... if you two want to take him out there, I'll stay on the shore." He bounced up and down on his toes. "These short legs aren't really made for swimming."