ffffvvvvvvbbb

ffffvvvvvvbbb

Bluekit's eyes blinked open, and his jaws stretched wide in a yawn. He took only a moment more before getting to his paws, finally awake enough that it clicked in his mind that it was his mother calling for him. Ivyfeather was often busy as deputy, so it was always exciting
when she had some free time to spend with them!

"Mama! Did you chase anyone off RiverClan land today?! Any stinky ThunderClan cats, maybe?" His nose wrinkled. He'd never personally smelled a ThunderClan cat but he couldn't imagine they smelled as good as his fishy Clanmates.

ffffvvvvvvbbb

Cherrykit bounded over, excitement coursing through her tiny paws, brownish tail twitching.

"Did you say swim, Ivyfeather? We can learn to swim today? YES! Can we learn to catch fish too? I can't wait it'll be so much fun can we go now now now??" she babbled, bouncing up and down on the spot.

The pale cream kit strolled out of the nursery at the sound of her mother's voice. Bluekit and Cherrykit had beat her out, but at least she was faster than Otterkit! "Swimming? Really, Momma? You mean it? Thank you, thank you! We'll be on our best behavior!" Violetkit promised, her pale tabby head bobbing up and down. She turned fast on her paws, and poked her head into the nursery. "Otterkit! Otterkit! Wake up! Momma's taking up swimming!"

"Huh? What?" Otterkit's head snapped up, and she blinked sleepily several times at Violetkit's form in the entrance of the nursery. It took a moment, but her sister's words finally registered and Otterkit flicked her ears back as a yawn split her features. "Okay, I'm coming!" She slunk out of her nest, shaking scraps of moss from her fur as she trotted after them, rubbing against her sister's flank as she caught up.

Bluekit nuzzled back against his mother's face, feeling warm and safe. She was the best mother, in his humble opinion. His blue eyes lit up at her offer to teach them to swim, and he joined the other kits in excitedly bouncing on his small paws.

"Yeah, let's swim!!" He exclaimed, not even thinking of how cold the water probably still was. He had been enjoying the icy flavor when it came to drinking it, but who knew what his reaction would be to actually getting in it.

ffffvvvvvvbbb

Violetkit readily jumped after her mother, bouncing around her. "RiverClan are the best because we can swim! Any cat could run like jumpy WindClan, or stalk like smelly ThunderClan, or jump like silly SkyClan, but no other Clan can swim like RiverClan! That makes us the best!" The kit boasted proudly, tail raised high, pale cream tabby head raised proudly.

"All RiverClan warriors swim like pros. Since you're our Momma, we'll be the best swimmers in all of RiverClan! I'll be better than all of you!" Violetkit mewed to her following siblings, a playful teasing lacing her confident mew.

Otterkit lagged behind, sleep still tugging at her limbs. She was always a slow waker. The slight leap required to escape the nursery was typically not a problem for her - she had on many occasions "snuck" out of the den and lingered around the entrance of the nursery. She scaled it with no difficulty and followed after her mother, weaving between her siblings with a purr. Typically, she would have challenged Violetkit's claim of superiority, but today she was just excited to get out and about, so she stayed quiet lest she get in trouble and be forced to stay behind.

Cherrykit barely noticed the obstacle as she leapt out of the nursery after her mother and sisters, joy and excitement filling every hair on her tiny body.

She rolled her eyes at her sister's bragging, sure that out of the four, SHE would be the best swimmer(yeah, sure Cherry. i remember your namesake) of them all! She purred to herself at this thought, and then, realizing that she was being left behind, raced to her mother's side to keep pace with her on the way to the riverbank.

Bluekit let his sisters go first, as ladies first and all. The blue pointed tom then easily stepped over the barrier, remembering when he was too small to do so. When it had been really difficult for a while. They really were getting close to being apprenticed.

"No matter who's best, the journey is the real fun!" Bluekit purred, hurrying to keep step with the others, as close as he could manage to their mother. He loved RiverClan's camp, but now was the time to experience some more of their territory, and that was thrilling in it's own way. Someday, all of their Clan territory would feel just as much like home to them as the camp did.

ffffvvvvvvbbb

As her mother carried her across and told her to stay, she obeyed, as she didn't want to risk her chance of swimming by misbehaving. Her mom brought over Otterkit, then Cherrykit, and finally Bluekit. Giving each kit a nuzzle, she asked who's be going first for an attempt to swim. Violetkit's bravery faltered a bit, and her ears fell to their sides. Then her mother guaranteed they'd be fine. She didn't want her siblings to know she was scared, and wanted to make her Momma proud, she she bounced forward.

"I'll go, Momma! I'll go!" She declared, looking up at the silver tabby with shining pale green eyes. Delicately, she picked her way to a small pool of water. Gently dabbing a pale cream paw in the water, she relished in the fact that it wasn't freezing, in fact, it was almost warm. Taking a few steps backward, she sprang and splashed into the little pool of water. At first, she looked rather clumsy, but then she gathered her footing, and she began to swim in tight little circles, kicking her little limbs as hard as she could as to stay afloat, tail streaming out in a cream line behind her. "Look, Momma, look! I'm doing it! I'm swimming!"

Cherrykit squealed as she was ferried across by her mother, tiny paws flailing in the air. She sat rather impatiently as Violetkit made her efforts, tail twitching. Finally, the little she-kit could take no more.

"My turn!!" she yelled, pounding down the bank towards the water. Cherrykit leaped into it with a delighted yowl, ecstatic at the splash she made upon contact. Her small paws kicked, keeping her afloat with relative ease. She was a RiverClan cat after all.

"Look, look, I got it!" Cherrykit laughed. She looked over at her other two siblings still on dry land. "Come on, Bluekit, Otterkit, come try swimming! It's easy!!

Bluekit was equal parts thrilled and terrified by the water so close to his paws as his mother finally helped him across. Soon enough he'd be in the water himself! He'd be a true RiverClan cat then, once he'd christened his webbed paws with the river water. How many generations of RiverClan cats had learned to swim in this spot? The history of it was awe-inspiring.

He watched as his sisters began to take their turns at swimming. Determined to not be the last one in, he nudged Otterkit's shoulder with his nose and made his way into the water. He tried not to show his surprise and fear as the water reached his chest much more quickly that he'd thought it would. His paws slipped on the pebbles on the bottom of the pool, and he found himself churning at the water helplessly, struggling to keep his head above. How had Cherrykit and Violetkit made this look so easy?

His chin dipped into the water, and he coughed as his mouth submerged. He couldn't breathe for a second, his paws thrashing harder.

"Mama, help!"

The water barely skimmed Otterkit's rear toes as she was carried across the water by her mother - and once she was on the other side, the kit began to explore, sniffing along the bank. She'd never been here before! And it was very exciting! Once all her siblings had made it across, and both her sisters had already began showing off their inherited skillset for swimming, Otterkit became a little more confident - after all, if they could do it, certainly she could too. Bluekit padded in too, and, eager to show she could do it, Otterkit followed. But she'd only gotten ankle deep when her brother's cries reached her, and she stopped short, panic flaring in her eyes as she turned to her mother.

ffffvvvvvvbbb

Cherrykit's tail flicked just above the surface of the water as she swam after Violetkit, joy building in her tiny body. She tilted her head back for a deeper breath as she paddled, now swimming in tight circles, trying to perfect her form.

She looked back to shore to see her siblings struggling. Bluekit was fine, being held up by their mother, but Otterkit looked scared. Cherrykit felt bad that she had shown the two up, she supposed, which is why she swam back to shore, clambered back onto the bank, and rubbed her wet fur all over her other, drier sister.

"Come on, Otterkit, you can do it!" she mewed encouragingly, though maybe not being actually helpful. "All you gotta do is kick the water! It's really easy once you get it!"

Bluekit's fur felt hot despite the water drenching him. He wanted to just shrink into a tiny little flea and disappear. His siblings were all fine...But he was not, and he'd scared Otterkit on top of it all! His mother's words calmed some of his churning thoughts, but it took him a moment to stop feeling like he was letting everyone down and to really focus again. When the heat of his embarrassment faded a bit, he managed to slowly begin churning his paws in a more productive manner as his mother instructed. If she were to let go of him, though, the kit would end up tipping forward and getting a nose full of water.

Violetkit had had a small panic when Bluekit panicked, but calmed when their mother saved him. She waded over to Bluekit, pressing her wet pelt up against Bluekit. "It's a little tricky," she admitted, "But you just gotta kick hard! And fast, like this!" She lifted one paw and flapped it up and down in a demonstration, before she fell over and flopped. It took her a minute, but she straightened herself and laughed. "See Bluekit, Otterkit? It's fun! We'll get better as we get older, we'll be better swimmers than Lichenstar one day! Don't worry about being perfect now, we're still kits. We can be perfectionists when we become apprentices. For now, let's have fun!" Violetkit encouraged.