Otters Aint' Got Noing On Me! // Swimming open!

[Raccoonpaw]

The announcement had rattled them. They weren't sure what to think, what to do in that moment. What could they do? Cicadastar seemed to have lost his mind and was in a hysteria of some sort with the borders. They where most of all concerned about Buck; the earthen she-cat had yet to join Riverclan and now they weren't sure if she would be able to now if at all.mAs far as they knew Caraway had already joined for the sake of Boar, but they haven't seen them around yet with Boar. The black legged cat gave a soft sigh and looked down at the water below. They had come out here to clear their mind and process that of the announcement from Cicadastar. Worry waved through their body and made their fur prickle slightly; what would happen now? How would they grow in numbers if they weren't accepting new members? They hardly had a camp! There was so many questions and Raccoon had no answers.

The river though was comforting. A place they knew would never do such a thing, would never change so drastically. A place they could go to whenever they where stressed or needed to meet someone, and Raccoon gently placed a paw in the water. Watching it ripple around her foot and gave a soft smile at it. The river was always a comfort place for Raccoon and they were thankfult hey wouldn't have to leave it behind. The white cat moved to stand in the water up to their elbows, feeling water lap at their belly fur, and then eventually flopped down into the water.

Holding their breath, Raccon rolled in the water for a moment before standing back up to shake out their coat. Giving a smile as water droplets fell from their body, fur plastered to their rather skinny body that was usually hidden underneath a plush coat. Raccoon then moved to go further into the water to start swimming around with their black tail streaming out behind them. It was a rather warm summer day and a swim was exactly what they needed. ​

 

[Harry Styles]

A S H K I T
-
it's a long way forward, so trust in me

She pretty much catapults into him.

A teeny ball of orange fluff, Ash adores the river, and she runs howling with joy to leap into it. She's always darting out from under the watchful well-intentioned adults, skittering between their legs and away from furry faces that'd scruff her and drag her back to the nursery. Some grown-up or another always catches up to her eventually, but they can never keep her for long!

So the three-month-old kitten tumbles face-first into the river, half-diving and half-falling from the bank, legs splayed out. She has far too much confidence for a cat that can't swim.

Ash realizes this about two seconds too late. The river is big. It's not too deep for a grown-up, but Ash's stubby baby legs can't reach the bottom, and the current wouldn't faze an older cat but it beats at her little body with a force she can't match. Ash relishes in the joy of the water for those two seconds, droplets soaking her tabby fur and healing the heat of the sun, before she realizes StarClan has forsaken her.

"H-ELP!"

Water splashes into her mouth, cutting up her words with a gurgle. Ash yowls and yowls, splashing frantically, trying and failing to paddle to safety. Then the current sweeps her right into a solid mass of fluff-- a clanmate!-- and Ash clings to Raccoon with all four sets of claws.

She clings and claws and climbs and scampers up Raccoon's pelt, till she's crouched atop him, a little ball of orange fur perched on his back.

"That water tried to KILL ME!" Ash yelps. "Also good morning."

​

i'll give them shelter like you've done for me

​

ooc quick tags

• she has arrived ​
• - three moons old
  - will bite you
  - will put nettles in your nest
  - latches onto anyone who shows her affection
  - she's trying her best, i swear ​

 

[LILYBLOOM.]

Like many others, the announcements made by Cicadastar have left her rattled and confused. Though a part of her thinks she understands his decisions to crack down on the borders, his decision hurts, and the fact that no loners or no kittypets are to be allowed to join rattles her greatly. It's a far cry from the life she is used to living.

She joins Raccoon in the water silently, a small nod of acknowledgement directed in the other's direction, before she wades out far enough that the water laps just above her paws. Lily stands there for a long moment, eyes closed, just enjoying the sound of the moving water and the feeling of being in the river. The water has always been a comfort to her. And despite all the changes RiverClan seems to rapidly be undergoing, it settles her just being here, surrounded by the cool waters, and good company. The moment is disturbed by Ash, who lets out a howl of pure delight, before launching herself full tilt into the water. Lily winces and steps back to avoid a cascade of water soaking her, but still finds herself getting wetter than she hoped. Lily frowns slightly and goes to say something to Ash, but panic breaks her frown when Ash starts calling out for help. The tortoiseshell wades in deeper, intending on helping keep Ash afloat, or maybe even put the kit back on dry land. However, by the time she gets to her, Ash has already clambered onto, Raccoon, using the other to keep themselves out of the water.

"Ash, maybe don't jump straight into the water next time, hm?" Lily chides in a not unkind way. Her green eyes flick to Raccoon, and a glimmer or amusement passes over them. "Looks like you have a little passenger there."​

 

[Raccoonpaw]

The splashing of water caught their attention firstly and watched as Lily moved into the water to help a little kit- but the kit seemed to have other ideas. Claws pricked their skin and Raccoon flinched a bit at the sharpness, they sworn kittens had needles for claws, and glanced over their shoulder. Watching as Ashkit climbed up onto their back and the white pelted cat moved to wade to shallower waters. Giving Lily an amused look before shrugging, "I don't mind at all, I use to ride on Bucks' back all the time!" They spoke rather optimistically and moved to head back into the water with Ashkit on their back.

Swimming in a circle for a moment before wading back to shallow water, joining beside Lily with a small shake of their coat, "Though you should really learn to swim, Ash, we won't always be here to help you," They reasoned with the kit with a turn of their head. Orange eyes gleamed with playfulness but their tone was some what serious. Raccoon didn't mind coming out here when the kit wanted a swim, but Ash shouldn't be out of camp at this point in their life. They where lucky to have found Raccoon and Lily out here.​

 

[BEESONG]

Beesong is trying to maintain some level of normalcy in this place, but it's hard when the universe seems to be against him.

Cicadastar's announcement had rattled them all. No loners or kittypets, the slamming of his paw echoing in the cinnamon tabby's ears. No kittypets, unless the stars force one into your ranks. It's a bitter thought that he must push away before it consumes him. Bitterness will do him no good, it would only fester inside of him like a wound full of pus. He's hated Cicadastar for murdering Rain, but is his paws any cleaner? Beesong had taken a life, too. One who had friends, family, just as Rain had. He'd hurt others. How could he condemn Cicadastar when his own soul is dirty?

Beesong had tended to his wounds as best he could with the medical knowledge he'd learned, but he still isn't sure which herbs staved off infection. For now, he'd just have to make sure Cicadastar cleans the wounds every day and hope that they didn't become infected. They're treading to the river again that afternoon with a mouth full of moss, a routine they'd quickly fallen into. However, nearby voices garner their attention. Beesong's head raises, looking towards Raccoon, Ash, and Lily; They're only familiar with the latter, recognizing her as their friend Mud's daughter. Their eyes glance down as if to look at the moss held in their teeth, although their snout blocks it from view. It wouldn't hurt to dawdle about for a few minutes, would it?

Beesong changes direction, padding over to the group with a small smile which he forces. Ash looks to have fallen into the river, clambering onto Raccoon's back and exclaiming that the water had tried to kill her. He purrs in amusement. How he loves the innocence of kits... "Good thing the river wasn't hungry today, eh?" He jokes, completely deadpan, the moss falling from his mouth. While the others try to warn Ash against jumping into the water carelessly, Beesong couldn't resist the opportunity to mess with her. His eyes widen comically, leaning over the river with ears straining forwards. "It woulda swallowed you whole."​

 

[pumpkin]

The river is anything but solstice for Pumpkin, a thing that takes and takes, cold and cruel. She sees it in her reflection, in the kits playing in the shallows. Shes not much older but she sure feels like it, with aching bones and scars that twisted her appearance. It makes her loathe the river, a hatred in her heart, but shes here for Cicada and no one else. No one else at all.

An ear twitches irritably as a shrill howl splits the air, orange eyes rolling with a huff of inner anger. She slams a clawed paw in to the ground as her little water vole escapes due to the sound. Angrily shes stalking over from where she was hunting with a brushed up pelt and slitted eyes, a scowl growing on her face. "Yeah, it would have eaten you, and it would have been your fault." she chimes in a very unkind way, a stark contrast from Lily. "Maybe it would of been better, you’re scaring off all the prey on the damn territory!" she grumbles beneath her breath, another roll of her eyes. Now that the prey was spooked, there wasn’t much for Pumpkin to do but sit here and help babysit the child, something she hated with a burning passion.
​

"speech"​

 

[LILYBLOOM.]

Thankfully it seemed as though Raccoon was in good spirits about being used as a float by Ash. They made a comment about Ash learning to swim and Lily nodded her head in agreement. "It'll be good for you to learn to swim when you're a little older," Lily confirmed. "For now just enjoy your time as a kit!"

Soon after they were joined by Beesong and Pumpkin, both of whom had been clearly drawn over by the sound of Ash's panicked screeching. Like Raccon and herself, Beesong looks upon the scene with a humorous gaze, quickly making a joke about how Ash is lucky the river didn't swallow her whole. Pumpkin, meanwhile, is understandably a little more annoyed, grumbling about how she was scaring the prey out of the territory. Lily shakes her head in amusement at the scene unfolding around her. "Oh no, I think she should be more scared of the fish," Lily quips in response to Pumpkin's words. "I think they'd gobble her up if they could." ​

 

[Semper / Wolfrush]

YEAH YOUR GONNA GROW UP, YOUR GONNA GET OLD
ALL THAT GLITTERS DON'T TURN TO GOLD
BUT UNTIL THEN JUST HAVE YOUR FUN
BOY, RUN, RUN, RUN, RUN, RUN

​

---

To be completely honest, Semper hadn't realized just how into the river the Riverclan cats actually were. He had known they lived near to it and that they did some hunting out of it, but he hadn't expected their lives to so thoroughly revolve around the rushing waters. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Sure, he'd have to learn to swim now, and hunting in water rather than on land would be weird, but he was trying to keep on the bright side of things; swimming would keep him cool under all that fur, and he didn't dislike the taste of fish. Hell, if anything all this extra work kind of sounded like fun.

And so he let himself be drawn down to the commotion at the rivers edge, the sound of cats talking and water splashing enough for large paws to bring him toward the scene. He recognized the two cats int he water at once, Raccoon and Ash both being cats he'd interacted with before. Those on the shoreline however were still new to him, and he offered them a lazy wave of his tail as he made his way over to join them.

"I still can't believe you guys actually swim in the river. Weird." he laughed, and yet even with his grin still in place he slipped forward to step into the flowing waters. His nose wrinkled at the feeling of it rushing over is paws, but his smile remain as he took another experimental step forward in the shallows.He'd probably have to get used to this sort of things anyways, so might as well, right?
​

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male - 20 months - riverclan - homosexual - single - a large cream and white tabby cat with broad shoulders and powerful hindlegs. has amber eyes and splotches on his face that are reminiscent of freckles.