sensitive topics i'm still breathing - river accident

[LILYBLOOM.]

The river was the very lifeblood of RiverClan. It fed and nourished them, allowed them to build a life on this land. But it was not something to be underestimated either. The river was an unpredictable beast and could harm them just as well as it helped them thrive. Although Lilybloom had not lived by the river her whole life, in her thirteen moons she had developed a healthy level of respect for the river. She knew better than to underestimate its still waters.

That day she had not intended on simply fishing not swimming. Lilybloom had been by herself, perched at the water's edge looking for fish, when she heard a horrid sound. A lot pop rang through the forest, bringing to mind the sound of thunder during a storm. So sudden and loud was this noise, that Lilybloom jumped violently, and looked around warily. The sound had rattled her and she was panicked over what could have made such a noise. The most likely scenario was the twolegs that had been lingering in their territory in recent days, which in truth, was not a comforting thought to Lilybloom. She could not tell how close by the sound had been meaning that if it was the twolegs, they could have been in the nearby bushes or far away for all she knew. She had heard enough stories about what had happened to Cicadastar to know she had to get away from here. She didn't dare think about what might happen to her if they emerged and found her trembling on the riverbank, especially after what they had done to the RiverClan leader. But where could she go? With the uncertainty of their location, she didn't exactly want to go running through the bushes. Which left only one real option - the river.

It would be a long swim but Lilybloom had done so before. She crossed the river when she discovered the sunningrocks, she could do it again.

Or at least she had believed she could do it again. Lilybloom had misjudged how strong the current actually was beneath the calm ripples on the surface. She only realised her mistake when she made it about halfway, suddenly realising she wasn't making much progress moving forward and that her efforts to swim were becoming increasingly difficult. The tortoiseshell tried her best to move to shallower waters but she was fighting a losing battle at that point. As good a swimmer as she was, she could not beat the current. It was draining and exhausting trying to get anywhere and to make matters worse she was struggling to keep her head up. A few times her head dropped dangerously low before it finally slipped beneath the water's surface. In a panicked state from this, she found herself imbued with a sudden burst of energy, enough to propel her upwards and keep her head above water a little longer.

If she wanted to get out of this Lilybloom knew she would need to stay calm but it seemed that panic and fear had fully gripped her now, refusing to let her go. Although she was still paddling in the water she was hardly moving now, if at all, and her movements were becoming increasingly sluggish. A second time her head slipped below the water and this time it was a struggle to resurface, finding no sudden surge of energy to help her come back up for her air. As her head broke the water's surface again, her green eyes searched the shoreline hoping - no, praying - one of her clanmates might have heard her desperate thrashing in the water and come to investigate. If not then she could only see one way how this would end…

Lilybloom was beginning to feel herself give up when the shape of a cat close to the water's edge appeared in her line of sight. "H-Help!" She would call out weakly. Not convinced they had heard her, she mustered what little strength she had left to call out to them as loud as she possibly could at that moment. "Help me, please!" Lilybloom cried out in desperation. It remained to be seen if the cat would come to her rescue or not as Lilybloom would soon sink beneath the water once more, only this time she would be unable to pull herself back up.

ooc - please wait for @HOUNDSNARL.
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[HOUNDSTRIDE.]

( ᴛᴀɢs. )  ❝  The water'd meant more than blood to Hound. It'd been the very soul of him, the only solace he could ever find in all this chaos and pain. It'd been somethin' meant to heal, to fix. But he knew it was not made of kindness. Those raging waters would rush on at odd hours, pushed by somethin' unseen so far upstream that they'd never even know it was there. Those days that it rained, the waters would swell even higher. Beneath the glassy surface lies all sort of trouble. They couldn't do to underestimate it. One false step, the smallest of errors, and it'd be bubbles rushing out of tired, aching lungs. He knows that pain, though it'd come another way. Breathlessness was the cruelest of torments. Wounds could be stemmed and breaks could be tended, but without air to fill your lungs, it was a descent to uneasy madness. A few moments before the dark.

Perhaps it even scared him, loathe as Houndsnarl was to admit any sort'f weakness. The point of him was to be impenetrable. A sturdy wall where none others would think to worry after him. One less mouth to feed, aye? Leaves him the time and space to do all the worrying on his own. About the patrols an' the water, and the tenuous peace that threatened to snap. With all that'd happened as of late, too– well, there was not a soul out there that could blame him for his concern.

More often than not, it'd seem he was right. The ground beneath him seemed uneven. Every step he took was off-kilter, wobbly, as if somethin' about the earth itself was just not right. An attack coming in, or a hunter with their loud sticks held up. He does not know what he fears, only that it is there, ever-present. Creeping closer to the riverbank with his body held low, Hound searches for something, anything, that'd make sense of intuition. So much as a misplaced pawstep in the mud and he would see himself convinced. But there is not that. A lone path winds to the bank the way any water cat's would. They sink in, and vanish. For a mere moment, the fur along the warrior's spine begins to settle flat. It'd seem for once he was worried for naught. But then he hears it.

Crashing paws, a gasp of breath. His height shoots up out of the scraggly grass, striding closer 'til his toes sink into the water. He knows that voice. Knows it near as well as Lake's, as Fox's– "Lily?" he shouts, an edge of panic to his tone. It is sheer luck that his desperate gaze catches one last sight of her. A mottled paw, sinking beneath the silver-waved surface. He dives in without thinking past that, the chill of the water hitting him full force. Experience keeps him from sucking in a lungful of water, though his eyes refuse to open against the debris-dusted underwater current. Hound's paws shove hard against the bank as he surges forward, towards where he had seen her go under, fighting for even a glimpse through half-closed eyes. She'd be close. They're swimming with the current, one more intently than the other. He'd find her. There was no other option here.

His paw finds her flank and his teeth sink into her scruff, and with one desperate shove of his paws against the bottom of the river, Houndsnarl drags her full sopping weight back towards the surface. Breathing around her fur's not nearly enough, head light with deprivation, but nothing matters more than getting her back to the bank. Only once they're both safely there does he let her go, heaving air in through quiet coughs. "Lily," he chokes out, shaking the young warrior, then ducking his head to aggressively groom some warmth back into her soaked pelt. "Come on now, up an at 'em. Got to you in time, right?" Right?

†  ooc notes information †

• 
  ooc: ik i just apologized and told you to open this up but surprise i'm making myself post instead. so, so sorry for the delay!
• ──── houndsnarl. trans male, he/him pronouns.
  ──── approximately 30 moons old, or 2.5 years.
  ──── bisexual with firm male preference; single.
  
  ──── a chocolate tabby with ( stylized ) low white and intense lime eyes. lean and lanky,  with whiplike musculature and a long, quick stride. hound's notable features include his impressive height, the long scar across the left side of his face from nose to jaw, his very deep, dense fur, and the confident manner with which he conducts himself.
• "speech"

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[Aspenfrost]

CHARLIE BOY, DON'T GO TO WAR​

---

Aspenfrost had been with a patrol that was heading for the river to fish when he heard furious the same loud boom that Lilyblossom had and then what he thought was splashing water and Houndsnarls' voice. Looking back at the other cats he was with, the warrior would bolt into a run towards the riverbank, and the scene he came across caused him to skid to a stop and gasp, "Lilyblossom! Houndsnarl!"

The tom would rush forward, delicately sniffing at their pelts for wounds before looking between them both, "What happened? Are you two alright?" Aspenfrost would look over his friends' daughter first, concern laced into his aqua gaze before turning to Houndsnarl with the same worry. "Some cat get Beesong! Quickly!" ​

 

[LILYBLOOM.]

The next few moments come in flashes to Lilybloom. She remembers sinking, one last glance cast towards Houndsnarl on the shoreline befre her head slipped under the water's surface. The she remembers darkness, the muffled sound of the water surging all around her, her consciousness waning with every passing second. And then she is no longer sinking but rising, propelled upwards by an unseen force.

Suddenly she can feel fressh air again. A small part of her wants to open her eyes and look but she is too exhausted to do anything other than be easily dragged to the safety of the riverbank. Lilybloom lies there still and quiet, only beginning to move a bit more when she can feel someone aggressively licking her, trying to get some warmth into her. She lets out a faint moan, before lifting her head slightly, trying to see who her rescuer is. To her surprise there are two cats with her on the bank, Houndsnarl - who judging by his wet fur was also the one to rescue her - and Aspenfrost, who calls out for someone to fetch the medicine cat. "H-Hound?" She manages to force out, voice little more than a whisper. "I'm tired," Lilybloom complains weakly, quite literally having to fight to keep her eyes open. "W-what happened?"​