swimming paws [swimming lesson opportunity - rc apprentices only ]

[Marigoldwhisper]

`~Owltalon
She, Her\Lionheart\44 moons\Riverclan
"Are you listening, starchild?"

Purrks: Agatha Kitty [ACTIVE]



- - -

How exciting it was to be actively involved with something. The she-cat couldn't stop smiling even if her face muscles hurt from the effort. "Al'ight chief!" She called to Fadingstar just to let him know that she had heard him and trailed to the back of the group, allowing her jaw to hinge open as she breathed in the scents of her clanmates. Before fading to the back completely she made sure to give Bearsnout a supportive look.

Marigoldpaw
She, Her\Appretice\8 moons\Riverclan
"There will come a poet whose weapon is his word."

Purrks: Dreamwalker [ACTIVE] Chill of Death [ACTIVE]


- - -

It seemed they were going now, what fun! Marigoldpaw still wasn't looking forward to the whole swimming thing, infact she dreaded it, but she'd have to learn sooner or later. And maybe she'd even make some new friends. Marigoldpaw refused to be the only cat in Riverclan who didn't like to swim, that was a title she'd move heaven and earth to stay far FAR away from.

[chickadee]

Bearsnout

30 Moons || RiverClan Lionheart || He/Him
Beefed Up Tier 1 || . . .
The Paladin[INDENT]

. . .

Bearsnout padded over to join the group of apprentices Fadingstar had gathered. The opportunity to explore the territory and have a little overnight camping trip with these apprentices was exciting. He loved swimming, and the opportunity to teach these youngsters would be nice. He hadn't had an apprentice in a while. "Alright kiddos! Let's get moving!" He called. He caught Owltalon's look and gave her a grin back. He made his way to the side of the group to pad alongside the apprentices and between Fadingstar and Owltalon.
. . .

@Marigoldwhisper - brief Owltalon mention

. . .

Tulippaw
38/100 || RiverClan || 9 moons || she/her
The Wilting Bud

Tulippaw padded towards the middle of the group in an attempt to blend in. She didn't want to stand out, and she certainly didn't want any of the Lionhearts or Fadingstar to try to start any stupid conversations with her. Not like they really cared. She didn't know any of the apprentices either. Except Marigoldpaw. But Tulippaw was in a mood at the moment and she didn't feel like talking to her.

. . .

[Yoshdo]

Rainingpaw bounded around with the group.

(Open)

[occultation]

Event [#event]

Fadingstar went with Owltalon, Bearsnout, and the apprentices who joined down the mountain and along the river. It took a while for the river to finally calm down enough for it to be safe for beginner swimmers.

There was a part of the river that banked off to the side, growing shallow as it passed over a stony bottom. The waves lapped much more gently along the shore; the entire environment would have been very soothing, if not for the harsher water churning just a bit away.

There was enough space in these shallows for all of the apprentices to learn. Padding into the water, he tried not to shiver at how cold it was. Stars, this was colder than any water back home! The water came up to his mid-leg, so it was deep enough for the smaller apprentices to learn in.

Turning to face the apprentices, he began his lesson. "The first thing that you always need to remember with the water is to respect it. Water can be more dangerous than it looks. This water here is safe, but sometimes deeper water can have undercurrents that can be dangerous. Until you've all become stronger and more experienced swimmers, stay away from deeper water.

"That said, I want you all to pay close attention to what I'm telling you. Owltalon, Bearsnout, and I are here to keep you safe, so there's no need to be nervous. Swimming involves two basic parts: you pull the water toward you with your front paws, and push it away with your hind paws. It's almost like walking in a way, except you have to push with your hind paws."

Stars, did that make sense? He was definitely making this more complicated than it needed to be. Maybe a demonstration would help.

He began to do the same motions he'd just described, trying to go slow so as to allow everyone to see. He began to move forward slowly; after a few strokes, he stopped and stood in the water again.

"Alright, let's get in the water and practice. Do a few strokes at a time, then stop, turn around, and repeat. Go back and forth and get used to the motions. Owltalon and Bearsnout, if you can come in the water with me and stay in between the rapids and the shallows so we don't have anyone going too far."

[ Keep in mind that your apprentice needs to participate through the whole lesson to have this count! My next post will be coming in the next 2-3 days. If you have any questions, let me know! ]

 

( @Yoshdo @chickadee @Marigoldwhisper @Goopysharkboi @rubberRatroom @KestrelPaw @PINTO BEAN

[taillow]

DUSKLION
she/her | riverclan deputy | 30 moons
go with the flow, rapid recovery, beefed up t3

Well... now she just felt stupid. "Sorry," Dusklion chuckled and shook her head, glancing over to see the two Lionhearts approaching. Folding her ears back the deputy backed up a couple paces, glancing around at all the apprentices. "...Have fun." Part of her wanted to go, but Fades already had two Lionhearts going and several apprentices. Plus, it wouldn't be smart to have them both out of camp. With a flick of her tail the she-cat turned and padded off.

[Goopysharkboi]

Moonpaw and Grimpaw had been the first of the apprentices to dive into the water, chatting the entire time.

[Yoshdo]

Rainingpaw carefully stepped into the water. It was so cold that she almost couldn't feel the temperature of it. She swam foreword a bit not sure if she was allowed to go under.

[Marigoldwhisper]

Marigoldpaw
She, Her\Appretice\8 moons\Riverclan
"There will come a poet whose weapon is his word."

Purrks: Dreamwalker [ACTIVE] Chill of Death [ACTIVE]


- - -

Water. Something her pelt hadn't touched. Well, not intentionally. Fadingstar had told the apprentices not to worry about drowning or anything because they were safe and explained swimming, and yet, Marigoldpaw felt as though she might as well have swallowed a hole bunch of river water, because she felt absolutely horrible.

"Hey, be civil about this," Marigoldpaw reminded herself as she stared at the water. Respect. Yeah, she could do that, hopefully it'd give her some respect back as well. "You're fine, everything's fine," the young apprentice clenched her teeth as she put a paw in the water. "It's okay. See? Just like the stuff you drink. Yup yup, totally not scary." Okay... Here goes everything.

She held her breath before slowly slinking into the water. It felt so wrong and so unbelievably horrible. She wanted to get out as soon as she'd gotten in. But she had to swim. The water wasn't high enough to drown in, but it would definitely be embarrassing if she just stood there with her increasingly pale face. She pushed her paws forward and back, squinting her eyes as she tried to do something, anything! But the water said, "No," and her paws said, "Absolutely not," and her brain said, "Why can't you do this correctly?"

Fear plagued the she-cat, her legs suddenly stiffening. "No, no! Don't lock up on yourself. Just, figure it out! Life or death situation, react! Go, go, go!" Okay! Okay? Uhm... Yeah. No need to worry. She was alright. Swimming could be learnt. She wasn't going to drown. So she started to paddle, one slow and clumsy paw at a time. It was like re-learning how to walk, a new challenge. Alright, that's something Marigoldpaw could overcome.

`~Owltalon
She, Her\Lionheart\44 moons\Riverclan
"Are you listening, starchild?"

Purrks: Agatha Kitty [ACTIVE]



- - -

Water, oh how she missed it! She didn't have to be told twice, her fur hit the water as soon as the words were uttered. She swam to the rift between the deeper and more shallow waters, effortlessly pumping her legs as she crept back into the familiar rhythm. Owltalon was never the most water loving cat, but she didn't hate it. This time was an exception though. Now she just wanted to stay in the lapping waves, because it felt like home.

(Short post, sorry!)

[rubberRatroom]

Covepaw.
APPRENTICE | He/him | Purrks: N/A | 8 moons

"Enough Acorn Jellies can make life so much easier."
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Covepaw stopped in his tracks, craning his neck to see over the clump of heads. He perked his ears to listen to the leader, eyes beaming as he heard more. Swimming was definitely on the top of his things to learn! He was a RiverClan cat, after all! Swimming was surely in his blood, somewhere, next to his excitability, surely. He could feel his pelt itching to get into the water, to feel the cold on his pads. He knew it would probably be a lot colder than RiverClan's old one, for it was higher in altitude. That didn't deter any of his motivation, though! If not, made him want to get in more, to prove himself correct or incorrect. Covepaw casually trotted over to the water, stepping all four paws in at once. Eeek!! That was cold! But he didn't back down and eventually got used to the bitter cold numbing his paws.

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Sneezepaw.
APPRENTICE | She/her | Purrks: N/A | 10 moons

"Keep your cool and be confident!"

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Sneezepaw felt a little less nervous after hearing Fadingstar explain swimming. It seemed... well ...easy. Not easy as in she could execute it first try, but a lot less of what she'd imagined. Maybe it was just her anxiety getting to her. She didn't need to additional stress anyways. Sneezepaw took a couple steps towards the water. She hesitated before putting one paw in and immediately taking it out. It was freezing! How was she supposed to stay there, legs soaked? She sighed, debating it. No! She would do this. She needed the lesson. She put all of her paws into the water, letting out a quiet squeak.

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[chickadee]

Tulippaw
39/100 || RiverClan || 9 moons || she/her
The Wilting Bud

. . .

Tulippaw followed along with the rest of the group. She watched as they trekked down the mountain, towards the less rough and flatter land. The farther they trekked, the calmer the river got. It went from rapids all the way to the steady flowing body of water they stopped at. It reminded her of the river back in the territory. Maybe it connected to the one back home. Maybe if they swam far enough they'd stumble upon the RiverClan territory. And it'd probably be overrun with ShadowClan scum. She'd only been once, but she'd learned how to fish there. No thanks to any of her former mentors. Fishing was fun. It was one of her only accomplishments and one of the only times recently that she ever actually felt good about herself. It seemed like she couldn't do much of anything right these days.

She didn't pay much attention as Fadingstar talked, only picking out the key words. Swimming look easy. And it sounded easy too. Walking but in water? That was barely any effort. She didn't get why they'd need a whole day to learn this, but then again there were some scariest kits among them. Give the water respect? Who was Fadingstar kidding. It was a body of water for stars sake. Was he insane? How are you even supposed to respect it? How are you supposed to disrespect it?She'd heard tales of floods and drowning, but that didn't mean she was going to respect the river. She didn't care enough.

The calico dipped a paw in the water cautiously, just to test it. The Haven Springs were always boiling hot she remembered. But if all the others were getting in, then she probably could too. It should be safe. A shiver rolled down her spine as the chilling water touched her pawtip. That was cold! She didn't remember the river at home being that cold when she fished.

She slowly touches the bottom of the river. One paw at a time. This was probably the hardest part - getting in. The sun was so nice and warm, while the water was freezing. Okay, slowly, the second spotted paw got placed in the river. Then the third and fourth, until her whole body was in. She wasn't sure how she liked the foreign feeling of her soggy and wet fur.

She watched Fadingstar's example of slow swimming and looked to her own paws to try to replicate it. Pull it towards and push it away? Okay. She had to admit this wasn't as easy as she thought. She struggled for a minute trying to get the motions correct, and her eyes were constantly flicking down to her own form, then to Fadingstar as he performed his demonstration. She soon began to paddle and keep herself up. Yes! She did it! She mastered swimming. So this was as easy as she thought.

Bearsnout

29 Moons || RiverClan Lionheart || He/Him
Beefed Up Tier 1 || Go with the Flow
The Paladin

. . .

Bearsnout nodded at Fadingstar's orders and got into the water himself. It was amazing. It felt like the most refreshing thing in the world to be in a river again. The way the gentle waves lapped and played with his fur was almost blissful. He stopped momentarily to give a huge prayer of thanks to StarClan. Maybe you never learn appreciate something fully until its gone. The river was something he'd always taken for granted, but then again, who could've predicted RiverClan's fate. He started with gentle strokes in the waves. Bearsnout then observed the apprentices around, keeping an eye out for anyone who needed help, or strayed from the group.