Anything You Can Do [Closed]

Leopardpaw stalked along the bank, his rounded ears flat on his head as he paused to knock any loose rocks that stood out to him into the river. He wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, maybe he was scouting, maybe patrolling. Maybe he was just...Bored. Bleh, he hadn't expected how boring an apprentice to actually be - hunting wasn't bad but it wasn't something worth spending all his time doing, staying in the camp was annoying because everybody was annoying but there wasn't much for an apprentice like him to do... So, here he was, just walking along the border and enjoying the plopping sound of rocks breaking the surface of the river. As another rock caught his attention, he hurried forward and gave it a good wack...Before he leapt backwards. "Son of a minnow!" he cursed rather loudly, raising his paw in a defensive position as the rock tumbled into the river - having been rather sharp on the edge that Leopardpaw had struck it. He stood there, glaring at the spot where the rock had sunk before he turned over his paw to study it and make sure he hadn't broken any skin.

Sunpaw was supposed to be hunting-- but being outside the camp, mostly by himself, was overwhelmingly refreshing. Tensions between the new arrivals and the Clan born cats was starting to fray his nerves and the ginger tom took great joy in being out, breathing in the fresh greenleaf air thick with tempting prey scent. He had been half heartedly following a trail through the undergrowth beside the river when the sound of splashing caught and ripped his attention away from his task. His whiskers twitched with curiosity as he peered out across to the other side of the river to see Leopardpaw kicking stones into the water. When the spotted apprentice pulled back, Sunpaw couldn’t help but snicker. “I thought RiverClan swam for fish, not crush them with rocks!”

Leopardpaw's ears flickered back at the sound of a new voice - unfamiliar as he glanced across the stream. Oh, great. A....He paused, opening his mouth to quickly taste the air to find out where along the border he was actually at. A SkyClan cat, alright then. "We don't even do that," he retorted as he finally planted his paw, rolling his eyes as he flicked his tail at the apprentice. "Clearly you don't know a lot if you think that is how one fishes. That would only scare them away, you minnow-brain. We aren't fishes after all, even if we can swim..." before he paused, casting a grin at the SkyClan apprentice. "But that does make me wonder if the rumors of you guys crawling around in trees like squirrels is true or do you have an actual smart way to hunt?"

Sunpaw flicked his tail dismissively at Leopardpaw. “Could’ve fooled me, with all the effort you were putting into it. How am I supposed to tell the difference between a RiverClan apprentice fishing and a RiverClan apprentice splashing around like a kit?” He snorted, rolling his shoulders in a good natured shrug. His whiskers twitched at the gibe and his playful mood slowly began to sharpen into something a little less friendly. “Oh, sure, it’s true,” he answered back in a slow drawl, licking a paw to drag it over one of his ears, feigning a cool demeanor to cover up the agitation at being called a squirrel-- and a stupid one at that. “Funny how RiverClan doesn’t teach their apprentices how to jump properly, though, since they’re already teaching you how to swim like frogs!”

A snort escaped Leopardpaw as the apprentice returned the shots, a little excited to have somebody he could argue with that he wasn't expected to get along with. He was always told to play nice in the RiverClan camp, that fighting would get them into trouble even if the cat clearly deserved to be called a minnow-brain a pawful of times. But here, he wouldn't get into any trouble from getting a rise out of the SkyClan apprentice - he doubted even their jumping skills would carry him across the river. Please, I would rather swim gracefully than learn how to jump any day - at least the water keeps us smelling nice while you all roll in the undergrowth and the tree branches. Tell me, does SkyClan even believe in bathing?"he questioned, bearing his teeth just a little as he scruched up his nose. "Cause it sure doesn't smell like it. I can't imagine how terrible your camp must smell with all the dirt, twigs and leaves covered in who knows what that you all must drag in."

“Oh please, like pond scum and frogdung smell any better, fishbreath!” Sunpaw snapped, completely abandoning his nonchalant attitude. All the tension from camp he had tried to swallow was on the rise, and out here, unsupervised, he could at the very least let some frustration out. His tail lashed back and forth as he stalked closer to the edge of the river, firmly planting his paws into the muddy, pebbled ground. He glanced down at the water and twitched his whiskers. What was so great about sopping wet fur, anyway? RiverClan must all have fur for brains! “Swimmimg might take strength, but jumping takes skill. Only a truly skilled cat knows where to properly jump to keep from falling. Any old cat can learn how to swim!”

Leopardpaw almost grinned as the SkyClan apprentice lost his cool, fur rising up along his spine. Wow, this tom really was a minnow-brain, wasn't he? "I think you are getting the river and the marsh mixed up, minnow-brain. Cause I sure as scales don't see any pond scum in the river. You SkyClan cats really don't know your stuff, do you?" he said, a mocking tone entering his voice. Like sheesh, it wasn't like they swam in any old pond full of murk and filth - why bother when the river was there? After all, moving water tended to be clean. before he glanced down at the river as the apprentice claimed that any old cat could learn how to swim while it took skills to have jumping. Stars, really? Where the frost was he getting that from? Jumping was so easy that a kit from any Clan could do it. But if he was so certain..."...Oh really? Anybody can learn how to swim, huh?" he said, laying down next to the river. He dumped a paw into the water, swirling it around as he flashed the apprentice a challenging grin. "Care to prove it? Or are you truly a drypaw?"

Oh, foxdung!
Sunpaw grit his teeth as it slowly dawned on him that he’d backed himself up into a corner. Either prove himself a coward and let that smug fishbrain RiverClan cat walk away triumphant, or jump in pawsfirst and just hope he was right about swimming being so easy to learn. He glanced from the apprentice across the river down to the water near his paws. Icy fear prickled at his fur, but underneath it rose up a flaming hot anger. No cat would call him a coward and walk away without a clawed pair of ears!
“Fine! I’ll prove it!” He huffed, shaking out his pelt to make himself look bigger. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Sunpaw began to move forward toward the water. It lapped at his paws and every instinct was screaming at him to give up and turn tail. “Oh, foxdung!” He muttered through clenched teeth. Screwing his eyes up tightly and sending up a silent prayer to Starclan, he bunched up his legs beneath him and blindly jumped into the river.

Leopardpaw had to hold back a laugh as the apprentice agreed to try to swim, having a feeling he knew how this was going to go. His grin only grew as it was clear how hesitate the tom was, doubting he had the guts to do it...Until the tom bunched up into a leaping position. All at once, the smile faded from Leopardpaw's face because if that tom couldn't figure out how to swim....  Then, Sunpaw was in the water. The RiverClan apprentice jumped to his paws, his teeth bared as he studied the waves, trying to make out Sunpaw's form. "You don't need help, do you? Surely you can learn how to swim?" he called out, although his voice was a little high. Dirt, if Sunpaw was stupid enough to start drowning... Leopardpaw wasn't sure if he would get into trouble if the idiotic cat didn't survive - Sunpaw had been stupid enough to take the bait, but it was his bait. He tensed his muscles, waiting for a response...And he couldn't believe that he was ready to jump into the river to save a stupid SkyClan cat but he didn't want to risk getting into trouble.

What a pain in the tail...

The rush of water in his ears and the shock of the going from warm greenleaf air was enough to disorient him. Soon, adrenaline took over, and on instinct he began to wildly kick his paws against the water to try and move his sinking form back up to the surface.
With a little luck and a great push of his limbs, Sunpaw’s head broke free from the water, and the tom’s jaws parted to take in a frightened gulp of air. He kicked with all his might and all his strength to keep his head above the surface, casting up great splashes in his clumsy flailing. His amber eyes were wide and his once fluffy fur was now matted to his skin.
“Foxdung, it’s freezing!” He yowled just in time for his head to dip underwater again. He resurfaced and sputtered out a mouthful of riverwater, turning his head wildly from one side to the other to see how in the name of StarClan he was going to get back on dry land. Despite his strong jumping legs, he was starting to feel the weight of his waterlogged fur, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he’d be too tired to clumsily tread water.

As Sunpaw broke the surface, Leopardpaw straighten up...Before watching as the tom struggled to tread water. "Frog-dung!" he snapped, muscles tensing before he did a leap into the water. Automatically his paws started to turn, easily breaking the surface as he moved gracefully toward where the SkyClan apprentice was floundering. "You minnow-brain! You absolutely frosting turtle! Couldn't you have actually put a thought into your head to realize how bad of an idea that actually was?" he growled, reaching the apprentice. In a swift motion, he grabbed Sunpaw's scruff and started to swim toward the SkyClan border - he knew it could technically be trespassing but he would rather deal with the consequences of that then be responsibility for this turtle's death.

"And for the love of StarClan, stop squirming," he growled through the fur. As the reached the shore, he started to pull himself out - taking quite the bit of effort to get the SkyClan apprentice out of the water before he dropped him unceremoniously on the bank. "Stars, did you actually not think of why only RiverClan swim?" he questioned, shaking his glossy fur as the water slide right off. "Swimming takes not only strength, it takes skills and not having a pelt that logs water like a drowning rat."

For all his mousebrained ideas, Sunpaw had enough sense to listen and relax as Leopardpaw brought him back to shore. When he could feel solid ground beneath him once again, he let out a long, heavy sigh and rolled onto his belly. He began to recover from the mortifying ordeal and once he caught his breath, he sat up and gave himself a shake. Admittedly, RiverClan coats were much better for swimming as shaking did very little to help Sunpaw’s soaking wet fur. But there was no way he’d be willing to admit that outloud.
“Obviously not,” he muttered, ducking his head to try and lick his chest fur dry. He paused for a moment and glanced up at the spotted apprentice, his eyes glinting with a mix of relief and pride. “But I did it, didn’t I? I jumped in and I swam, even if it wasn’t pretty.”

Leopardpaw huffed, rolling his eyes as Sunpaw caught his breath and started to try to groom the water from his slogging fur. "Sure, whatever. You swam as gracefully as those rocks I was knocking in," he retorted, taking a couple steps so he was standing right on the bank of the shore - not quite ready to head back to his side but easy enough to make a quick escape if anybody else was to stumble across them. It wasn't that he cared about Sunpaw, more that he just wanted to make sure the tom wasn't about to collapse on the spot the moment he left. Mostly with his scent now on this side of the border - it was better Sunpaw be able to actually explain how much of a minnow-brain he was than somebody stumbling across him. "Y'know, I think our kits are far more graceful in the water than you were. I do hope you aren't as clumsy as that in the trees or I really have to pity whoever your mentor is."

Sunpaw grunted as he focused on trying to dry himself off. At least the heat wasn’t so bad anymore— the one upside to almost drowning, it seemed, was cooling off. Satisfied that he did a good enough job, he stood back up and gave himself one last shake.
“So? What about you, fishbreath?” He snorted, flicking his tail to the nearest tree. “Gunna prove any old mousebrain can climb like a squirrel?” He challenged, not the least bit bothered about borders and trespassers now that he had a chance to prove his point.

"Nah," Leopardpaw said, a grin on his face. He wasn't going to risk that - he wasn't going to get into trouble for crossing even more into SkyClan's territory. Besides, he had a feeling it would get Sunpaw more annoyed if he didn't take it and that made it so worth it. "I never once claimed that any old 'mousebrain' could. You were just stupid enough to think that anybody could learn how to swim," he meowed, flickering his tail against Sunpaw's nose. "While I just think that you are all idiots for climbing trees in the first place. I think you gave a great lesson at sticking at what we know, and I know that I am not a complete idiot like you! So!" With that, he turned and jumped into the water before Sunpaw could make any reaction to that insult, easily swimming back to his side of the border. "...You know, despite saving your sorry tail, I didn't even get your name," he noted as he pulled himself out of the river, casually laying down as he rested his head on his paws with a toothy grin. "I'm Leopardpaw. And what about you? Is your name as stupid as you are?"

Sunpaw scrunched up his nose as Leopardpaw swatted it with his tail, bringing up his paw to rub at it. His whiskers twitched and he once again felt the beginning prickles of agitation. Something— no, everything about the RiverClan tom rubbed his fur the wrong way.
But he didn’t let you drown, a small voice in the back of his mind reminded him, and reluctantly he let the insults slide. He now knew just how stupid he could be if he took it too seriously. He took a slow, deep breath before he answered.
“If you really want to know, it’s Sunpaw.” He called back, slowly but surely feeling like his usual self again now that the river had knocked some sense into him. “And thanks. For not letting me drown.”

"Sunpaw...." Leopardpaw ran the name through his head a couple times, before he stuck out his tongue. "Funny, sounds like a name for a much brighter cat than you," he retorted...Before he paused as the SkyClan apprentice suddenly thanked him for not letting him drown. Ugh, a sap, of course. He rolled his eyes, giving a shrug of his shoulders. "And what exactly was I suppose to do otherwise? I might not like you but..." he drifted off a bit, his expression growing dark. "Like...How could I stand by and let you die when I could save you? That the type of dirt that will haunt me for years, even if you are from another Clan. The blood would be on my paws..." He grew silent, before he shook his head, pushing himself to his paws. He thought about making some retort about how protecting kits was part of the Code anyways but decided against it - he had already called him as useless as a kit already. "Ugh, I have better things to do. Think you can stumble your way home or should I make sure you are nice and safe for when some of your Clanmates happen to patrol over here and carry you home?" he asked, taking on another mocking tone - if anything to hide his brief moment of softness.

Sunpaw was a little taken aback at the show of sincerity from the other tom. Very little of their encounter had led him to believe Leopardpaw was capable of anything other than antagonism— no, that’s not right, he thought with a shake of his head. I’m the mousebrain that turned it into a contest. He suddenly felt like a scolded kit, and shame prickled at his paws as he kicked at the dirt to distract himself from thinking too hard about it.
Leopardpaw’s mocking tone helped snap him out of it. His whiskers twitched and he let out a snort.
“I’m sure I can politely ask some squirrels for help if I need it,” he joked, his whiskers twitching. He gave him a friendly wave of his tail as he turned back towards the forest. “You can go back to crushing fish with rocks— I’ll get out of your fur and leave you to it.” He trudged back into the underbrush, pausing to call back over his shoulder. “See you around, Leopardpaw!”

Oh. Stars. Oh Stars no. His body grew ridge when Sunpaw returned his snark with kindness, staring blankly ahead as the SkyClan apprentice slipped away into the bushes. ...Had he managed to find another Mothpaw? He groaned, rolling his head back before he turned and stomped away. Somehow, somehow he had managed to make a...A friend? He might have saved that minnow-brain from drowning but he didn't want to be his friend! A soft growl escaped him as he paused, glancing over his shoulders. Fine then, he would have to work extra hard to make sure that Sunpaw got it through his thick head if they ever ran into each other again.

Leopardpaw didn't do friendships - he had only made that lie to Mothpaw so that he could more easily boss the apprentice around. There was no way he would ever get that to happen with that SkyClan apprentice so it wasn't even worth pretending it was a thing. His tail lashed, giving his head a shake as he finally pressed forward. Lilystems, he needed to go curl up in his nest and just take a nap. Couldn't he not be surrounded by minnow-brains for one day? How did he managed to find one in SkyClan? Ugh.

Just his luck.

OOC: Topic is over~