An inconvenient fear (OPEN)

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Honeypaw sat at the edge of the river, his eyes fixed on a nice plump fish that was swimming just a few meters before him. The tom was hungry and the supplies of food at the camp had been low, so the young apprentice had figured that wandering off to hunt would be a good idea. Unfortunately though, Honeypaw had forgotten to take into account his fear of water, and the fact that the main food source for Riverclan was fish.

'This sucks...' The tom though in defeat as he continued to watch the fish from the safety of the bank. Oh how tempted he was to leap in and grab it, if it had not been for his pathetic fear of water. His mother had been sympathetic about it during his kitten hood, but after his apprentice ceremony the queen had told her son straight out that his fear would hold him back until he could overcome it. It was not that Honeypaw had not already tried to overcome his fear, it was just that the poor cat did not know where to start.
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'Jumping right in would be a bad idea.' The cat thought as he watched his own reflection simmer in the water before him. 'I'm not even sure I can swim... so what does that leave? Wading around in the shallows like a little kit? How embarrassing would that be!'

All of a sudden a screeching noise sounded behind Honeypaw, and the little cat jumped up in alarm before toppling over and into the river. With an almighty splash the apprentice's slim golden furred body entered the water, while the owl that had startled him so flew overhead without any care for what he had caused. The cold water was already starting to numb Honeypaw's limbs as the cat's mind finally clicked into gear that he should do something before he drowned. So with all his might the small tom began to thrash about in what he thought was swimming, but the actions only resulted in the apprentice getting carried away by the current. With all hope lost and what little strength he had starting to fail him, Honeypaw let out a desperate wail for help.

"HELP! SOMEONE! I CAN'T SWIM!"

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As soon as those words left the young tom, a blur of silver dashed through the bushes and dove into the water after him. A strong jaw clamped onto his scruff and pulled him up, you could even feel the strength be exerted by the warrior as he battled the current with ease to get the apprentice to the shore. He finally dragged the smaller body up with him onto the rivers edge, breathing heavily and soaking wet as he looked to the apprentice. It was Stormstrike, the Riverclan deputy. "Are you alright?"

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Honeypaw has gone limp with exhaustion by the time he felt teeth clamp onto his neck, followed by another cat moving through the water next to him. The apprentice was a light and small cat, so the rescue was short and successful, ending with the soaked golden fur ball lying on the edge of the river. He was tired, but alive, although the embarrassment that was starting to kick in was eating Honeypaw away at the inside. Whoever had saved him would surely not be impressed with the River clan cat's failure in the water, and as the sodden apprentice moved his gaze to see who was the witness there was shock written all over his face as he saw that it was in fact the deputy himself, Stormstrike, who had been his savior.

"I-I'm ok..." Honeypaw said reluctantly as the warrior asked of he was alright. It was bad enough that the tom had almost drowned, but now one of the highest ranking cats knew that he could not swim, which was almost an insult to his clan because it was what they were known for.

"I...I can swim you know..." The tom added in, the fact that he was lying written as clear as day on his face as he spoke. "I just slipped... that's all. It was a shock... any other time I'd be perfectly fine."

After realizing that he had not even thanked Stormstripe for his rescue the golden tom quickly added in - "But thank you. For saving me."

Honeypaw tried to avoid the other cat's gaze as he went to shake some of the water off of his coat. Being of Riverclan blood meant that his fur was pretty well adapted to this sort of treatment, but that did not mean that the apprentice was waterproof and he did not like the idea of looking like a drowned rat all day. Plus all the water clinging to his coat made Honeypaw look even tinier in comparison to the full grown warrior near him thanks to his small frame.

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Dappledleaf padded through the forest, only to see her mate dashing past her towards whatever sound that could have been. The calico she-cat bolted after, little Sonnetkit at her heels. She was going to start teaching him to hunt so he could have a bit of a head start but when she heard the screech and splash she had darted too. The calico-she cat stopped, looking at Stormstrike. "Everything okay you two?" She asked, looking worriedly between the two. Little Sonnetkit with his folded ears huddled behind his mother's legs, his big grey eyes peeking out from behind her.

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Stormstrike smiled easily as the little apprentice explained himself, not saying a word to contradict him though he knew the cat was embarrassed he couldn't swim yet. He was just shaking the water off his own pelt when his mate padded up with one of his kits and he sprayed them a little. "Ah, everything's fine Dappledleaf." He said with a deep, charming purr as he licked her cheek affectionately.

"I was just teaching Honeypaw how to swim better." He said casually before winking to the wet golden tom. He changed the subject smoothly, letting the apprentice catch on. "Hey there Sonnetkit...what are you two doing?" He asked with a smile and he dropped down to the kits height.

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Honeypaw was still trying to dry himself off as two cats suddenly entered the scene at a run. It was a calico queen and her kit, and the older cat looked worried at the sight of her two soaked clan mates. The apprentice knew the she cat a little, after all he was only recently out of the nursery, and Honeypaw smiled at Dappledleaf in greeting before he noticed the strange ears on her kit, who was hiding behind his mother's legs.

'I wonder why they're folded like that? Is there something wrong with the little guy?' As the cat thought it over his eyes were glued to the strange feature on the kitten's face, which might have very well scared the little thing. Honeypaw could hardly believe that he had not noticed it before, but then again he had rarely interacted with the very young kits in the nursery.

The sound of Stormstrike's voice brought the golden tom's attention back to the older cats, and the apprentice watched as the deputy affectionately greeted the queen, before the warrior lied about what had just happened. Honeypaw caught on quickly and nodded at the Stormstrike's words, then backing them up with his own.

"Yep! It was just a lesson!" The apprentice sounded enthusiastic as he said that, but on the inside the tom was still worried about what the deputy really thought of what had happened.

'I wont get punished... will I?' Honeypaw wondered that as his green gaze stayed fixed to the warrior that had saved him, who had now gone to greet the shy kit that was hiding behind Dappledleaf. Of course Stormstrike came off as a nice cat, but the apprentice was still on edge for what his reaction would be, after all swimming was generally something that came naturally to Riverclan cats. 'I hope he's not mad...'

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Sonnetkit bounded out from behind his momma after a moment, his little eyes bright again. His folded ears flopped a bit, wriggling as he did. "Momma was gonna teach me to hunt mice!" He said, his voice rather excited. "But now I wanna try and swim....but I don't wanna look all soggy! So I think I'mma have momma teach me to swim.....wontcha momma?" He said, babbling away before looking back at his momma. Dappledleaf smiled, shaking her head in amusement. "Of course darling. But we can't take all day. We have to get back to the nursery soon so you and your siblings can take a nap. I can't expect Ashrose to watch them all day now can I?" Even though I'm sure she enjoys their company and games more than any warriors. she thought to herself.

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Stormstrike purred and touched the little kit softly with his tail. "Yes, don't wear your mother out Sonnetkit. But I'm sure you'll be great at it." He said with encouragement, glancing up to Dappledleaf with a knowing smile. He never thought he could love anyone more than Dappledleaf, then the kits came along and...around them, the deputy was a big softie.

Stormstrike looked back to Honeypaw, the friendly smile still not leaving his face. "So...would you like to get back to the lesson?"

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Honeypaw smiled at the little kit's words. Sonnetkit was quite a lively young thing once you got past his shyness. As the other group of cats chatted away the apprentice began to relax a little, especially with the kind expression that was on Stormstrike's face. The deputy was still smiling as he turned back to face Honeypaw, and the golden tom nodded again as the older cat's suggestion. But suddenly the young cat realized what his clan mate's words could mean.

'Wait... does this mean he's actually going to teach me how to swim?'

Swallowing a nervous lump in his throat, Honeypaw turned back to face the ever flowing river, his thin body shivering a little as he remembered how close he had come to drowning in it just before. The tom was not sure that he had the courage to even put a paw in the water now, let alone try and swim through it. But if Stormstrike ordered the apprentice to do it then he would get in trouble for disobeying orders. So with a weak smile Honeypaw faced his deputy and waited for instructions, although ideas of how he could weasel his way out of swimming were quickly starting to form in his mind.

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Stormstrike turned to the apprentice beside him, studying his expression carefully. He had feared this would happen, that now this young one was scared of the water. It was true that it could be dangerous, but he needed to learn how to swim. And the sooner after this incident the better.

"So Honeypaw...let's move to a more shallow area of the river so you can practice." The deputy said gently and started up the river, assuming the tom would follow.

Ooc: Sorry its such a late reply!

[everlong]

Shaking his body again, this time to try and clear his head, Honeypaw looked back at the deputy to nod at his words with a brighter look on his face. Fears or not, he was an eager young apprentice, and although the tom dreaded the thought of even putting a paw in the water again, he swore that he would do his best not to disappoint the great cat that was offering him guidance. 'I can do this!'

Stormstrike turned to head upriver and the young cat followed without question, his steps enthusiastic and bouncy as Honeypaw trotted in the deputy's trail. The new apprentice had never been this far away from camp before and naturally there was a hint of anxiety at the unfamiliar surroundings, but there was excitement of course too. Getting to leave the camp and travel where ever he liked among the Riverclan territory was just one of the many new benefits of his new rank that Honeypaw had yet to fully make use of. Thinking about all the things that he would get to learn now and all the places he could go made the golden tom even more excited, as well as anxious to finally receive a mentor to start his training.

"Is this a good spot?" The apprentice suddenly called out as he walked along with the other Riverclan cat, his green eyes fixed to a slow moving and fairly shadow part of the river. Still brimming with excitement at his previous thoughts Honeypaw figured that his feelings would remain unchanged even when he finally entered the water, but that remained to be seen.

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Stormstrike nodded, stopping and looking to the water. It looked shallow enough. He stepped into it, testing it and finding it to be calm and shallow enough for the apprentice. It came about to his stomach so it would come mid-chest on the apprentice. Shallow enough to be safe but deep enough to learn. He nodded to Honeypaw, a signal for him to follow him.

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Honeypaw watched as the deputy nodded and headed towards the bank of the river to examine the area. After stepping into it to test the depth the cat seemed satisfied and stopped, turning back to the waiting apprentice to give a signal for him to enter the water as well. Although Honeypaw nodded back at the signal without hesitation, the young golden tom spent a good minute or two just blankly staring at the flowing river.

It was shallow, only coming up to Stormstrike's stomach, and the rate that the water was moving was barely enough to drag a kit downstream, let alone an apprentice. But still there a great fear in Honeypaw's eyes as he finally forced himself to the edge of the bank, where he gingerly held out a paw to place in the river. As soon as the cat's outstretched limb touched the cool water it snapped back towards him, as if the river was electrified. The tom's tail was bushed out with fear and he shrunk back, looking weak and terrified as he mumbled to Stormstrike.

"I'-I don't think I can do this..."

Honeypaw cursed himself at those words, feeling that this was the height of failure for any Riverclan cat. He could not even put his paw in the water, and his instincts had not even kicked in before when he had almost drowned. Shuddering as he shook some of the water off of his paw, the apprentice began to be consumed by thoughts, none of which were going to help him overcome his fear.

'I must have been born into the wrong clan, I just can't do this! I'm such a failure! Why can't I just jump in like every other cat does? It all comes to naturally to them... so why not me?'

His head hung low in defeat, and to avoid what the cat assumed was a disappointed look on his clan mate's face, Honeypaw again mumbled as he sat on the bank. "Sorry..."

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A golden warrior soon bounced out, her blue eyes looking electrifying. Her ears were perked up, while her tail was high in the air. She looked like she was ready for anything that was willing to pop out.

She was one of the warriors that didn't stop bouncing, except for meetings. She made herself calm then, but even there, she fidgets. She always has to have her limbs out in front of her, moving in quick motions in a dash.

The golden warrior soon saw how Honeypaw looked, and slowly crept over. She had her tail down, and her ears slightly drooped. She was worried for the young warrior, and it was true, she felt bad for him beforehand. Why? He didn't even have a mentor yet! That must be keeping his pride down.

The warrior sat down beside the young apprentice, her single white paw nudging his shoulder very gently. Her muzzle held a wide smile, and spoke out rather smoothly, "HoneyPaw, what seems to be the matter?"

Sunlight looked over at Stormstrike for a brief moment, before letting her electrifying blue eyes travel right back to the apprentice. She held her smile, while her eyes stayed soft.

While she did look at the apprentice, she couldn't help but admire his pelt pattern. It almost seemed rather un-natural. He had white paws, a white chest, black toes, white muzzle, and well, more black on his pelt! She couldn't explain it, but she found it admirable, as she found her only white patch being her paw.

She couldn't help but let out a giggle, trying to keep herself calm-- which was a bit hard as usual. She blinked, while purring out softly, hoping that would encourage the tom to speak calmly, and not to stutter or with worry in his voice.

"Come on, you can tell me," she spoke softly and calmly, hoping her words would soothe the young apprentice.

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((Hopping in, it looks fun, and I wanna rp with someone new. (: ))

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(Are you waiting for me? OO)