from the shadows to the sea [private lesson]

[alec]

->> rookfire <<-
[ shadowclan enforcer | 17moons | purrks ]
a large scarred dark grey cat with minimal white markings and grey eyes

with a frankly surprisingly large group of cats, it was only four for now, six if he counted the warriors he had brought for safety, but rookfire hadnt expected this many apprentices to be interested in training by cat that had only recently joined shadowclan, they made their way out of camp. realistically, rookfire knew training was training and he didnt carry the title of enforcer for nothing, so the surprise quickly shifted to the back of his mind as the tom lead the group to the body of water he had recently located and judged to be of decent size. it wasnt 'good' per se, too shallow and small for rooks taste, but he had learned to swim under similar, yet warmer and probably cleaner circumstances so who was he to complain, as long as it would work.. it felt like half a miracle finding a decent pond on shadowclan land in the first place.
warm midday sun shining down on dark pelt, the enforcer glanced over his shoulder again, rookfire wasnt really sure how much he liked leading a group of cats he had to look after, perhaps trailing behind to be able to make sure no one got lost would put his mind at ease, perhaps he still felt like he had to be on guard at every moment, perhaps he simply couldnt put that much trust in the two warriors, he wouldnt find out yet, not on this trip anyway.
he slowed to a stop near the water, the trip had taken longer than he wouldve liked but a broken shoulder doesnt enjoy going fast sadly, and turned to face the group of cats, roachflare, sleepysunrise, grousepaw, birdpaw, pigeonpaw, and muddypaw. both sleepysunrise and the medicine cat apprentice were a familiar sight, even if rookfire hadnt really talked to either of them properly in a while, the tri colour feline resided within the same den he had been confined to for rest, and sleepysunrise had earned her name alongside rookfire. roachflare, and birdpaw he very vaguely knew as well, mostly by sight, pigeonpaw and muddypaw, however, had been a surprise, mostly because he hadnt seen the light grey molly and dark brown tom much around camp..perhaps they preferred to keep to themselves.

rookfire considered a smile, decided against it, neutrality the more comfortable choice for hiding how unsure he was about this whole lesson.
"happy to have you here, we're gonna go over basics first so no one drowns." he began, putting no particular emphasis on being happy to have them, probably successfully replicating the 'dont care' approach hawkbite had met sleepysunrise and rookfire with at their first enforcer meeting.
"if you ever find yourself in a river, swim with the stream, focus on keeping your head above water and slowly paddle to land or whatever safety you can find." drawing a claw across the soil he produced a crude drawing of a river, followed by tapping a claw on the ground a few times and then drawing it to the 'borders' of the river, as if following the stream. the motion was smooth, entirely thought up in this very moment yet comfortable as the enforcer settled into the sensation of teaching and six pairs of eyes resting on him. "i dont suppose i need to tell you, but dont try to show off, water doesnt forgive your mistakes, and you should know your limits"
with a sharp flick of striped tail, signalling the others to wait, rookfire stood once again, closing the distance between himself and the water before slipping into the greenish liquid with the upmost grace he could manage without his shoulder making him see stars. water shallow enough to stand this close to the bank, the enforcer lifted a white tipped paw out of the water to demonstrate paddling, paw spread a bit to allow more traction. "the only thing we'll learn today is paddling, to keep your head above the water n practice, you'll figure it out eventually"
beckoning the others closer, he stepped further into the water to clear the space, now submerged to his shoulders while the apprentices should have the water barely touch their stomachs, he watched carefully for their reaction. "we'll start in the shallow so you can stand alone if needed, go ahead and try, i'll be watching"

________________________

OOC:
id prefer this to not take years pretty please.

- you are very welcome to have your character ask/need assistance from rook just mention me,
- additionally, off topic conversations are welcome as long as your character participates.
- there is no limit to the number of posts your cat can make between rooks big "group teaching" posts (i will be posting interactions in between those as well). i appreciate every ping :3


rundown of the lesson plan:
- rook is going to have them try alone for a bit, get comfortable in water shallow enough that they can both try to swim and still stand if need be. (between now and my next post)
- next i was thinking getting their head under water to take away some of the fear of being submerged and then finally going into the deeper water. (unsure if this'll be one or two posts)
- for the final bit i am planning to have everyone show what theyve learned one by one for critique of technique. (last group teaching post)

not 100% sure how many groups posts this'll get from me but probably around 4.


people involved:
rookfire - me (teacher/guard)
roachflare - me (guard)

sleepysunrise - @Estelle (guard/participant)
grousepaw - @redshiftreign (participant)
birdpaw - @Mica (participant)
pigeonpaw - @Luminous (participant)
muddypaw - @Dolomedes (participant)



-> next rook post: 25/07/24 OR earlier if everyone has replied <-


[ i actually tried very hard with this please no one yell at me sob ]

[Luminous]

She/her - 8 moons
Short grey molly with a darker stripe and amber eyes
The collector - Heightened perception (smell)

The small apprentice had been lucky enough this time not to have to go pester a warrior for lessons since this one had just appeared to teach her, so score with that... but it would be swimming. Pigeonpaw wasn't sure on that. Everything she had heard about swimming was that it was this strange activity Riverclanners did and that most cats considered getting their fur wet to be comfortable, to say the least. But yeah, if you were set on becoming the greatest most fantastic warrior Shadowclan had ever seen, well then you had to learn a lot of things, and like who didn't love being able to show off to younger cats once she was not said young cat anymore. No, oops, that was the thing Rookfire told them not to do. Maybe once she was better at swimming though and could make even less dangerous stuff look like super cool.

But mainly basics for now, like surviving if you accidentally fell into deeper water, and to be fair, while being awesome was a goal and priority for Pigeonpaw, staying alive was also a major interest of hers.

The grey molly followed cautiously into the murky water, each lap of the water as her paws sending an uncomfortable shiver down her spine. And Riverclanners likes this? Genuinely how? Like she was not one to judge on what others did with their free time (considering she organized moss) but surely there were better hobbies!

But yeah ok, swimming. Carefully she moved around her paws in the shallow water, taking in the feeling of how it flowed around her paws, how much she could spread her toes before water flowed between them, and trying to imagine swimming. "Can you imagine that Riverclanners do this on a... like daily basis?" she giggled to the nearest cat. One of her paws almost slipped on something slick under the water, but she managed to regain her balance before her muzzle touched the water, thank the stars!

[Open]

[Dolomedes]

Muddypaw
"Shadowclan's self-proclaimed Hound!"
| He/they | ShC Apprentice | Moons: 5| Purrks: none |

Muddypaw was ecstatic that Rookfire had allowed him to join on this lesson even though he was so young! Swimming wasn’t necessarily a skill that he was super excited about knowing, especially not when in comparison to tracking and stealth, but it was a skill that he knew would be very important for a hound. It wouldn’t do to lose his prey just because they cross some water and he can’t follow. Besides maybe he’ll even be able to use this knowledge against others in the case that he needed it. Like against Riverclan! It really is too unfortunate that he was just too young to attend the patrol against the aquatic clan. But no matter, from what he understood of their track record it wouldn’t be long before they tried their paws against Shadowclan and then Muddypaw would be more than ready!

One of his floppy ears flicked as he took in the knowledge the enforcer was teaching before amber eyes moved towards the water that they were supposed to just start swimming in. Well not swimming, but standing. Well, no time like the present then! The apprentice gave a determined nod and then wadded out into the water and stopped beside another one of the apprentices that chose to attend the lesson. He wasn’t too familiar with her, though she seemed to be alright if she was willing to get going so quickly.

The water was a strange sensation, not one he had very much familiarity with besides similar, but heavier, mud. There were many differences though. He flexed his paws in the water and the ground beneath them shifted a smidge. He let out a soft question noise and shuffled his paws. The soil beneath them giving way and burying the forepaws. That’s interesting, and could potentially be of use. He blinked and looked up from the water to the apprentice he noticed earlier who spoke to him casually. “It isn’t too bad. Though I think I prefer mud.” Watching the apprentice almost fall brought a small laugh that he tried to smother, “Careful, or someone will mistake you for a Riverclan cat for your eagerness” Muddypaw ended playfully.

[ @alec - Rookfire | @Luminous - Pigeonpaw ]
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