something don't feel right — diving / intro

[FOXTAIL]

The young warrior finds himself staring into the river, trying to ignore how his increasing heartrate. He's supposed to love the water— the river is supposed to call to him like it does to every other RiverClanner, but it just doesn't work that way. He can remember the incident like it was yesterday. "Foxpaw, I dare you to stand on the frozen river!" The young voices of his denmates ring back to him— as well as the innocence he held. The river looks peaceful right now— albeit it's slushy with leaf-bare coming upon the clans, but it's deceiving. The water can be dangerous, it can pull a cat down mercilessly if one doesn't pertain the proper knowledge on how to swim. He didn't know how to swim when he was dared to step on the frozen river last leaf-bare. And despite the fact that he can now, there's still a feeling of uneasiness when it comes to diving into the river.

His eyes seem to be locked onto a catfish— a fairly large fish that can't be swiped out of the water. If he wants to bring it back to camp, he'll have to dive into the river. Do it already! He thinks to himself, Stop stalling, it's going to swim away! He takes a deep breath and leaps into the cold river, claws sinking into the catfish. It puts up quite the battle— squirming to get out of Foxtail's claws, but the young wariror wasn't going to let it get away. He could feel his heartbeat in his chest as he risks his only source of air and bites down on the prey, feeling relief as it goes limp. Wanting to get out of the water, he propels himself to the surface and practically throws the caught catfish onto land. His uneasiness has seemingly taken him over at this point. He frantically pulls himself onto shore, shivering from the cold... and perhaps from fear.​

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ —— 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦

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  credit to raphaelion for the artwork <3
  
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  Foxtail

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  warrior
  warmhearted
  timid
  experience: trained
  backstory: tbd
  biography: [HYPERLINK]
  credit to nopeita for the pixel <3
  

  cisgender male [he / him]
  eyes: green
  pelt: cinnamon/chocolate with high white
  fur length: long
  parents: dawnflower and redfur (riverclan npcs)
  14 moons
  

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[Feathergaze]

Ears pricking forward at the splash upstream, Feathergaze gives her pelt one last slow shake before stepping out of the increasingly chilly river. It’s current does wonders for sweeping away the twigs and bits of leaves she accumulated throughout the day; it wasn’t going to be fun having to groom them out with tongue and paw every time she accidentally ran into a bush or tripped over her own paws. Ive got to appreciate it before it’s too frigid to bear.

She pads along the bank, pale eyes falling on Foxtail’s drenched form. Woah, look at that catch!
“Nice job!” she purrs, eyes shining as she nudges the young tom. His violently shaking body isn’t necessarily a surprise given that leafbare was upon them, but still Feathergaze pulled back, concern sparking across her face. “Foxtail? What’s the matter? Did you wrench your claw on a stone?” Her query wasn’t as random as it might seem. The two warriors had known each other their whole lives, shared the nursery together, then the apprentice den, and now the warrior den. While she hadn’t been part of the dare, Feathergaze was well aware of the event that Foxtail appeared to be reliving. If he doesn’t want to talk about it, I don’t want to make it worse by bringing it up.

 

[Bounceheart]

bounceheart ✧ she/her ✧ riverclan warrior (=˃ᆺ˂=)

Now was the time to be wary near the river. While they could drown at any moment, it was more likely during leaf-bare: the freezing waters would make you tired, and succumbing to the river would feel peaceful. Quiet. Freezing cold would be exchanged for warmth.. and in seconds, you could be lost. Bounceheart had seen it happen before. Nothing halted the river - not the cold, certainly not cats.

"I think the cold got to him," she replies to Feathergaze. "Have you taken up ice-fishing, Foxtail?" Knowing that he would be shaking the river from his pelt soon, she braced herself for scattered droplets. ​

 

[FOXTAIL]

His body shivers from the cold, genuinely this time, as his friend pads over to him. He looks over towards Feathergaze as she gently nudges him, droplets dripping off of his fur. "Thanks Feathergaze," He meows to his friend, briefly glancing over at the prey he caught. This catfish will feed numerous Riverclanners, that's for sure. He just wished it could've been caught with the simple swipe of a paw. "Foxtail, what's the matter? Did you wrench your claw on a stone?" Feathergaze's concerned tone reaches him, as the tabby stands up onto his paws. He quickly shakes his fur— seemingly Bounceheart was prepared for it— before shaking his head.

"I'm fine," Foxtail lets out a sigh, ears pinning back for a moment. He knows Feathergaze knows about the incident as well as him— the two were practically raised together. Mere days apart, they grew up in the nursery, apprentice den and now the warriors den together. If it weren't for Feathergaze, Foxtail probably would've drowned. "The water still scares me at times," He meows, frowning as he glances at the slushy river before them. "That's all." It feels strange— being a RiverClan cat with a fear of water. He wishes he could be like everyone else, wouldn't it be simpler that way?

"That too," He nods at Bounceheart's comment, as he pads over to his kill. "This isn't the best time of the year to go diving for fish," He murmurs, that catfish wouldn't have be worth it if he went down with hypothermia, and drowned in the slushy river. "I don't recommend it," He awkwardly chuckles, before heading over to the dead catfish and picking up his prey, with the intention to drop it off at camp... and warm up.​

₊ ⋆ * ⊹ ₊ —— 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦

• ooc notes here
  
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  ---

  credit to raphaelion for the artwork <3
  
• Foxtail

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  warrior
  positive trait
  negative trait
  experience: trained
  backstory: tbd
  biography: [HYPERLINK]
  credit to nopeita for the pixel <3
  

  cisgender male [he / him]
  eyes: green
  pelt: cinnamon/chocolate tabby chimera with high white
  fur length: long
  parents: dawnflower and redfur (riverclan npcs)
  14 moons
  
  

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[iciclefang]

The cats in the Clan who are referred to as drypaws often have some sordid tale in their arsenal, Iciclefang has noticed. There are cats who had nearly lost their lives to the water, cats who’d been held beneath the surface for a heartbeat too long, cats who had slipped and fallen through ice. She remembers the apprentice den collapsing around her and her denmates, remembers the water thrashing around them, rising and shoving them against the splintering bracken roof. She does not blame the river for her near-death experience, however—and even the next day, after her wounds had been treated, she’d have swam beneath the water to fish; had it not been flooded, no doubt she would have.

Still, she remembers the terror latent on the faces of the cats on the journey as they’d encountered the rushing water. The river is to be respected, she’d told her apprentice—for as much life as it gives RiverClan, it will take mercilessly and without regret.

“That’s a great catch,” the young tortoiseshell says, eyeing Foxtail as he shudders out of his fur. “I would say it’s too cold for a dive, but you’ve made up for it.” Her tone is brisk; she gives a curt nod of acknowledgment to both Bounceheart and Feathergaze. “Make sure you get warm. The last thing we need is for you to catch a chill.”

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[Feathergaze]

The silver warrior chuckled at Bounceheart’s comment, though her eyes still shone with worry. She blinked and tossed her head as the young tom shook off any excess water. Thankfully Feathergaze never minded being splashed. As Foxtail confirms that the past still haunts his mind she turns her gaze back on him, soft concern radiating from her being. It’s understandable. You have nothing to be ashamed of.
“Well, you sure showed that catfish that a little fear won’t stop you,” she purred. There was still the fact that he was soaked through with freezing water. As Iciclefang pointed out the dangers of a potential chill, Feathergaze’ heart skipped a beat. A stinging sensation oozed into her belly and crept into her veins, like someone was pumping her full of liquid mint. Memories of ragged coughs scraped against her ears, empathetic pain tightening her chest. Icebloom’s dim eyes peered at her from the past, the late elder now one with StarClan.
“Iciclefang’s right, we should get your catch to the prey pile and then you to your nest to dry off. We don’t need more- we don’t need more sick cats, right?” She tried her best to keep some pep in her voice, even as the recent past clawed at her heart. We don’t need more loss.
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