Just Swimmin' Along...

The sun shone brightly down on the crystal clear stretch of river; on the shore, in the direct sunlight, it would quickly grow uncomfortably warm but in a patch of shade the temperature evened out to a pleasant warmth. At a bend in the river, where the water ran wider and deeper but slower than further upriver, the banks on each side formed a gentle slope, an easy spot to climb in and out of the water. It was a quiet area with few distractions. The slope of the bank and depth of the water made it unnecessarily hard to catch fish and the width and depth made it undesirable as a standard training spot.

Mothpaw found himself drawn to the fairly remote spot. Minnowstream had given him the afternoon off from training but he really needed to get better at swimming. He was perfectly capable of swimming with little risk of actually endangering himself, but even he could recognize that he was a long ways from a good swimmer. So he'd decided to spend his afternoon practicing on his own.

He waded into the water, it leached away the worst of the heat from the sun, making it a soothing coolness. A bird called from the trees across the river as he pushed off, clumsily paddling to the other side with a nigh comedic amount of noisy splashing. He shook himself off as he landed on the other bank before turning around and swam back the other way, trying to keep in mind all his mentor's advice. Keep your paws further below the surface. Lift your head a bit higher. Move more like you're running. No! Paws lower! Use your tail to direct yourself, it'll help you move more smoothly. Not that far! Move it more fluidly!

His nose scrunched as he tried to put it all together. He didn't understand why it seemed so hard! If he kept his paws lower his face dunked underwater constantly but was significantly quieter and steering with his tail was just so complicated! He flattened his ears as he once again left the bank on the Riverclan side of the water, continuing his loud, clumsy splashing.

Robintail had been hunting near the border. The days since her warrior ceremony had seemed to pass by quickly, leaving behind a quickly forgotten apprentice name. There was a duty to her clan and her kin that vastly outweighed the memories and things she clung onto. Even so, something irked her, nagging  at fringes of her consciousness. The way that thoughts of Acornpetal flitted in and out of her mind was agitating and unusual. How could she be a good warrior with something so trivial pestering her at the most inconvenient of times? The Skyclan warrior pushed away the infuriating idea for a moment as she caught the flickering of a bird again. Her long limbs slid into the proper hunting position and she silently crept forward.

Just as she neared her target, there came an abrupt bought of splashing. The river had been a pleasant, constant background to the hunt. Admittedly, Robintail liked the fresh tang of the water against the wind. Perhaps that was why she found herself hunting near the river. Every other aspect of it was wholly unpleasant. Including the Riverclan cats. At the sound, the bird that she was stalking fluttered away, spooked. A snarl bubbled up from her throat. Behind the nearly almost snow white she-cat, flicked a vividly angry russet tail that lashed relentlessly. A drenched, over-sized rat pulled itself from the river. Her green eyes fell on the tom as she called out, "I thought Riverclan cats were supposed to be decent enough swimmers to at least not scare my prey away. What in Starclan's name are you doing?"

Mothpaw startled at the sudden voice, jumping back in alarm, his eyes widened almost comically as he entirely lost his footing on the bank and tumbled back into the water with a big splash. Quickly enough he managed to right himself, with yet more splashing, and scramble onto the bank. He shook himself to shed the worst of the water and blinked a few times before looking around and spotting the mostly white she-cat. He stared for a moment before chirping, "I'm practicing!"

With a huff he sat on the bank, curling his fluffy golden tail around his paws with a glance back at the river. "Swimming is hard."

"Don't you have mentors to teach you, rather than flopping about like a fish?" Robintail snorted, her lip curled up in disgust. The slight twitch of her whiskers was the only indication of the way he had fallen to gracelessly into the rushing water once again. She shot him a displeased glance as he shared the woes of attempting to learn how to swim. There was only a brief moment where she considered what it would be like to face the water and be able to easily navigate it before deciding it was the least pleasant idea any cat had ever had. Trees were dry, proper, and easy. It was only in the rain that her pelt was so disgustingly soaked with water droplets. After a moment, she pressed again, "Are you able to practice closer to your own camp? You're disrupting my hunting, kit." Robintail didn't want to move hunting areas simply because some overgrown kit was pretending to be a fish. Just like she had learned, he would have to learn clan basics as well.

"Well, yeah, my mentor taught me how, but I'm just not good at it yet, so I gotta practice extra!" He seemed entirely unbothered or oblivious to Robintail's annoyance. Swimming was so easy in theory, but putting all of Minnowstream's advice together and actually doing it was... Not nearly as easy as it sounded. Or as easy as the other apprentices made it seem. He'd figure it out eventually, he was Riverclan after all!
He blinked over at her, "I guess I could... But this is the best spot I've found for actual swimming. Mothpaw tipped his head to the side as he looked back to the river, "It's slow enough here I don't have to worry about the current pushing me around and wide enough I have more time to figure out what I'm doing wrong.