The learner was extremely glad he brought their stick along on this little trip. “what.” Paws move. Push water away. Tail equals steer. The learner gingerly took a few steps into the water. The fur on his paws instantly being soaked with water, it freaked them out. The leaner jumped up, bolting behind Gingerfrost, mud sticking to its paw pads. Minnowpaw felt yucky already. How did others do this like nothing! This sucked fish breath! Minnowpaw’s eyes creep up towards the Second-In-Command. ‘Don’t be a big baby! You’re a learner for stars sake. It’s just some water…..super cold water.’ He mentally spoke to themself. Now slowly crawling out from behind the grumpy tabby. “You! You watch stick, I want stick back though. You kitten-sit stick!” They mewed to Gingerfrost, although reluctantly, dropped its stuck at his paws.
With a sudden burst of confidence the learner just….ran into the water. Yelping as the water flooded their pelt. “water is wet. Ginger, question. Why is water wet? I don’t wanna be wet by water! This is yucky!” They turned to the older tom. A look of confusion and surprise on their face. Water sucks. Only good when being drunken. Why did they have to be taught this stuff. Then it took another step forwards, actually tripping. Head going under the water for about a second before they starting freaking out. “WATER SCARY! WATER SCARY! GINGER! IT TRIED TO EAT ME!”
Minnowpaw started to flop around, limbs flailing around as they tried to touch the bottom to regain stability. The learner yelped again, but this time…just extremely loudly. Float. Float. What is floating! How did they float?! The learner felt like they were drowning, they refused to drown! ‘You need to calm down or you will drown,stupid.’ Alongside that thought came the formation of tears though, even as Minnowpaw stopped yelling and actually started to trying to swim, forcing their paws to at least manage to paddle somewhat. Stars this was embarrassing! Crying in-front of Gingerfrost of all cats! As the younger cat paddled back the shallower end of the pond, they crawled back onto the shore. The sensation of burning hit the back of their throat, holding back tears sucked! Climbing back onto all four feet was easier on land, the dirt wasn’t going to eat them.
Even with the thought of the water eating them…the random idea of swimming again didn’t seem all that bad. They wanted to try again, minus the tripping of course. “Again! I want to to go again!”
it was certainly interesting. Barely had Gingerfrost finished explaining when Minnowpaw already went into the water before Gingerfrost could even give the go-head -- and befor he could retort, Minnowpaw was already back, a shivering mess, hiding behind him. Confused, Gingerfrost look over his shoulder only be met with green eyes and suddenly being told to... kitten-sit a stick?? What even was this, stick-nursery?? But alas, he hadn't much to say, for the stick was already put in his care, neatly deposited at his paws. Gingerfrost sigh, solemnly accepting this fate.
Next came, chaos. Before Gingerfrost could utter a word, Minnowpaw ran back into the water, posing a bunch of questions even her didn't know the answer to. The water was wet because... It's wet? You'd have to be some all-knowing being to know the answer to this, surely, Gingerfrost was content with just accepting that water was wet and annoying. But not Minnowpaw, clearly, who then suddenly tripped and flailed about the water. For a moment Gingerfrost panicked, getting up and rushing into the water.
"Quit flailing your paws about and try pushing the water away."
He mew as he attempted to get closet to Minnowpaw, but only getting batted away by flailing paws until the apprentice somewhat managed to paddle; which, of course, the deputy monitored closely by remaining next to Minnowpaw with a slight frown. Now he was wet too and Minnowpaw almost drowned, great. He sigh. At least the apprentice was alright and back where they can stand.
Solemnly Gingerfrost climbed back onto land too, shaking out his pelt the moment he could then eyes turning to Minnowpaw who... Didn't look as frightened as he expected? On the contrary, the apprentice looked rather excited to try this again, and that... Never mind. Just don't question it. "This time go about it calmer. Step in the water and try moving your paws how I instructed you to - like you're running... Sort off. Try it, in the shallows."
He made sure to iterate 'shallows' very well, so a same scenario as just now wouldn't happen again.
The siamese found himself at Cattail Pond, this time for a reason. patrolling. This was his area, after all. He poked his nose around every crack and crevice, deciding that there really wasn't much here that was suspicious. So, the leader spent his remaining time strolling about, still on-guard but very much less tense. After a through check, he decided to go back to camp and check on things. He wasn't gone too long, but Beansprout didn't feel comfortable leaving camp for a long time, especially after that ShadowClanner showed up.
Up quite early, was he now; but only to train a certain apprentice. One, quite frankly, he would've thought to almost be ready for their assessment -- only a vital part of her training was still missing: swimming. That's where he jumped in, ready to teach the cat how to not drown and die in the water like other misfortunate souls had. It is certainly something to be avoided, and why he never turned down an apprentice looking for a swimming lesson. Seriously. Even some warriors fall in the river and get lost for moons on end, and Gingerfrost wasn't particularly fond of that.
His tail waved lightly as he took Kestrelpaw with him across the territory to the familiar spot of Cattail Pond, where their lesson would be taking place. As usual, the water was decently calm today, offering the perfect chances for a successful swimming lesson. And, admittedly, it was a nice break from all the kittens too. "You can go in the water, but stay where you can stand -- get used to the feeling. If anything goes wrong, you get out and call me, okay?"
Turning towards the apprentice he gestured over a shallow area where she could safely get in and stand.
Kestrelpaw trailed after Gingerfrost, feeling a bit sheepish. She was almost thirteen moons, yet didn't have her own swimming lesson. She wanted to hide into a hole, especially since she was in Riverclan. She really just didn't have any time... oh blargh, that was such a cringing excuse. Whatever, she would own up to it: she really had no excuse other than forgetfulness and other training.
So, it was with great relief that Gingerfrost had accepted her request to teach her how to swim without any hesitation or questioning (no doubt he'd give her a side eye once or twice later, but she'd cross that log when she got there).
"Okay." She said agreeably. The water was calm today; that was good. She didn't want to learn how to swim through drowning. Carefully, she dipped her paw in the area she was guided to. The cool water sent a shiver up her spine, and she twitched, spasming for a second before settling down. Geez, that was embarrassing.
Would Bluebellpaw have laughed at her? She almost gave a sad look, wanting to get away. Bluebellpaw. Should she tell Gingerfrost...? Did he not know? She pondered this, gently edging into the water more. She shimmied out a little more, letting the water touch her forepaws, then the middle of her chest, and then the top of chest but not close to her neck.
Gingerfrost remained silent as Kestrelpaw went into the water; the twitching, to him, was a fairly natural reaction and precisely why he always asked apprentices (or whomever he was teaching) to get used to the water first. It could be an almost scary situation for some, or the cold was simply surprising. It depended on the cat. With Kestrelpaw, it seemed that it was simply the cold.
He sat down, waiting a few heartbeats to give the apprentice the time and get used to cold feeling of water seeping into one's fur -- a feeling he found particularly uncomfortable, strange as it may be for a RiverClan cat. He looked to the side a little, then back at the apprentice who was moving further and further into the water until her neck. Perhaps that was just a little far, though the tabby didn't say anything; surely she'd manage.
For a moment, he thought back to Bluebellpaw. The niece he had long realised disappeared from the clan for whatever reason. He'd lying if he said he wasn't worried; Kestrelpaw must be too. Even he could tell the cousins had been close. But this was a swimming lesson, and he had to ban the thought to the back of his mind. Focusing again the apprentice and the lesson, Gingerfrost continued.
"To swim, you'll use your front paws to pull the water towards and below you; with your back legs, you kick the water away. Keep in mind that you'll have to kick hard: while your chest has air to help it float, your back is nothing but dead weight. You use your tail to steer like so."
He stood up and turned to his side, giving the apprentice an example of how to move one's tail to steer. He still vividly recalled what his mentor had told him back when he was learning how tot swim... And his own embarrassing struggle to stay afloat. "You can also use your body weight to steer a little, by slightly leaning towards the side you want to turn to. Try it."
with that, the tabby wanted to sit back down. But given that this was Kestrelpaw's first swimming lesson, and the accidents that he had come to realise could happen, Gingerfrost decided to keep standing. That way he could jump in quicker should anything go terribly wrong. Speaking of which; "If ever anything goes wrong, try to stay calm and paddle to shore. Panicking will do you no good."
She had been absentminded batting at a small fish who had gotten too close to her paws, the blobby reflection rippling and moving too much for her to clearly make out its position.
But she let the small scrap go as Gingerfrost instructed her, and she gave a gentle nod. Pulling with her front paws, kicking with the back. Breath normally, and then steer. Don't panic; panicking was not good.
"Okay." She said. She was about to start and try and figure this out before she gave a second thought and stepping back a bit. The water was still up to her chest, but less than before. She didn't want to learn to swim with her head barely above water.
She stood awkwardly for a moment. How should she do this? Did she need to jump? She tried to imagine herself jumping in the water... bleckh. Maybe not that. "Oh, to hell with it," she muttered to herself, and pushed up from the lake's floor.
She nearly panicked as she intentionally didn't left her paws touch the ground, instead moving them to try and stay afloat. She grit her teeth, feeling her chest constrict. Breathe, breathe, breathe, breathe-
She exhaled, and then sucked in a big breath. Okay, good, she was floating. Not drowning. She cracked a grin, before experimentally moving her paws. It was a little like sprinting, she figured. Bunching herself up, then launching herself out. But she felt the strain of her muscles, and decided to use considerably less force. Not too stiff, not too strong. Okay, like running then. In the sky. She used her tail like she had watched Gingerfrost with a bit of hesitance, and shifted her body weight. It was awkward yes, but she was doing it.
Briarfang padded to the edge of the pond and sat down then turned his bright green gaze to his apprentice "So this is Cattail Pond it's good for swimming practice and sometimes hunting so any questions about this place?" he asked again.
Briarfang padded to the edge of the pond and sat down then turned his bright green gaze to his apprentice "So this is Cattail Pond it's good for swimming practice and sometimes hunting so any questions about this place?" he asked again.
Autumnpaw didn't have any questions, but then she did. "Can you teach me how to catch a fish?" she asked her mentor, hoping she wouldn't require her nose.
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"Do you and Barley have kits?" - Bella
Autumnpaw didn't have any questions, but then she did. "Can you teach me how to catch a fish?" she asked her mentor, hoping she wouldn't require her nose.
Briarfang looked at her surprised then shrugged "Sure I guess I'm not that good at it but I'll try" he was quite nervous hunting was not his strong point but he'd try the dark brown tabby crouched down and signalled Autumnpaw to do the same.
Briarfang looked at her surprised then shrugged "Sure I guess I'm not that good at it but I'll try" he was quite nervous hunting was not his strong point but he'd try the dark brown tabby crouched down and signalled Autumnpaw to do the same.
Autumnpaw dropped into a crouch, waiting for further instructions.
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"Do you and Barley have kits?" - Bella
Re: Cattail Pond
