A/N: Heeeerrrreeee we go! :) Please ENJOY and REVIEW!
Cloudkit woke to the prodding of his sister, Swiftkit, and the excited murmur that was ringing through the nursery. Lilyheart was fussing frantically over Quailkit and Jaggedkit, who squealed and tried to shift away from her tongue, but she always caught them with one paw and dragged them back. He didn't need to be told what was happening, as he already guessed it. It was time for his den mates apprentice ceremony. They were two moons older than he and his sister, and the two of them had been talking about their ceremony for ages, always bragging about how they would be warriors before Cloudkit and his sister. Even so, he would be sad to see them go, as they had fun together. But, it wouldn't be long now until they were apprentices as well, and then he'd be training to be a warrior!
"When is your ceremony?" Swiftkit piped up excitedly.
"Waspstar said soon! He said-"
"Stop moving, Jaggedkit," Lilyheart snapped, cuffing her around the ears and then continuing to lick her ears roughly.
"Mother, I'm clean, just let me be!" Jaggedkit complained, ducking away from her mother's lick again and managing to cross the nursery. Quailkit took Lilyheart's brief distraction and slipped away as well.
"Come back, you must look your best!" Lilyheart insisted, and she followed her kits quickly out of the nursery, still fussing. Wildsky let out a purr of amusement, watching them leave and then turning back to her kits.
"Don't worry, I won't be so intense," she promised, nudging them out of the nest and standing up to stretch. Waspstar's voice filtered into the den, calling all cats old enough to swim to shore for the ceremony. Cloudkit and Swiftkit nearly tripped over themselves trying to get out of the den, but their mother stopped them, shaking her head with an amused gaze. "No, no. You two must stay here until the ceremony is over. Don't think about sneaking out, either, I'll be right by the entrance."
Cloudkit huffed and sat back on his haunches, watching Wildsky slip out of the den, and he could just make out her familiar shape through the lichen that covered the den. He glanced over at Swiftkit, who was glaring at their mother's shape as well, her little tail-tip twitching in irritation. He nudged her good-naturedly, crouching into a playful battle crouch and letting out a hiss.
"In two moons, no one can stop us from doing whatever we want," he told her confidently. "Because we'll be apprentices! And we're going to be so good at it, they'll let us do whatever we want to do, and give us anything we want!"
"Yeah!" Swiftkit agreed eagerly, her eyes lightening as she fell into a crouch as well. "And the other clans will fear the names Swiftpaw and Cloudpaw, before we're even warriors!"
Cloudkit laughed as he launched himself at his sister, tackling her to the ground, and the two tussled together in the stale mossy nest that no one had occupied since he could remember. They laughed and rolled around in the nest until a stern voice called their names, and suddenly, he was being dragged off of Swiftkit and hanging in the air by his scruff. The familiar scent of their father, Duckwillow, flooded over him and as he was set down again on the stone floor, he glanced up to see the tom looking stern above them.
"You two are destroying the nursery. You are nearly apprentice-aged, you should know better than this."
"We would've played outside-"
"I don't want excuses," Duckwillow interrupted Swiftkit with a lash of his tail. "you should know to behave no matter where you are."
"Yes, Duckwillow," Cloudkit and Swiftkit murmured together.
"Now, Cinderfern sent me to begin your swim training, but with this behavior I have half a mind to make you wait another moon."
"No!" Swiftkit squeaked. "Please, we're really sorry, Duckwillow. We really, really are. We promise we'll never do it again, not ever."
"Yeah, really!" Cloudkit agreed fervently. Duckwillow looked between them both, and his eyes softened as he purred.
"I should think so. Now, come on," he told them, disappearing out of the nursery again. Cloudkit and Swiftkit exchanged excited glances and hurried after him. Finally, they would learn how to swim! It was the clan law that each kit would learn to swim at four moons old, so once they became apprentices, they wouldn't have to waste time learning and get ahead with their training. The kits parents were in charge of swimming lessons, and in most cases, their father's took the duty upon themselves. Cloudkit saw Quailpaw and Jaggedpaw just disappearing out of the camp with their mentors as he and his sister hurried over to where Duckwillow waited by the edge of the rock. The water glinted below them menacingly.
"Right. You two are four moons old, and it is time for you to learn to swim. I must warn you, it will take time to become good enough that you can leave camp. Usually, kits begin to perfect swimming just as they become apprentices. So, don't get any ideas of leaving camp. Cats have died trying to swim before they're ready," he told them seriously. Cloudkit's eyes widened in fear, and he took a small step back, but Duckwillow urged him to the edge of the water again.
"Don't worry, I would never let you drown. Sorrelpaw made it through, didn't she?" he reassured them. Cloudkit glanced across the camp to see Sorrelpaw lounging on one of the many rock islands in camp, sunbathing along with her friend, Slatepaw. She was watching them through slitted eyes. Sorrelpaw was Cloudkit's sister from a different litter, and he had never really talked to her much, as she normally spent her days with her mentor or fellow apprentices.
"Now. Cloudkit, let's start with you," Duckwillow said, and he dove head first into the water, coming up again and taking in a deep breath. He motioned for the grey-and-white tomkit to join him. Cloudkit stared at the water with trembling paws. Ever since he could remember, he always heard his mother talk about how dangerous the water was. He remembered one time in particular when she spoke about one of the elders' to Lilyheart, when she thought the kits were asleep, who went for a swim and got sucked up in some sort of current and was never seen again, probably drowned. He whimpered, eyes widening in terror.
"I don't want to," he whined.
"Don't be afraid. I told you, I won't let you drown. This is just for you to get used to the water now. I'll hold onto your scruff the whole time, I promise, I just need you to jump in first," Duckwillow spoke to him in a soft, gentle tone.
"Let me go, I'm not scared," Swiftkit spoke up, sounding smug as she took a step towards the water, but Duckwillow shook his head.
"No. Cloudkit will get into the water, give him time. It's natural for kits to be afraid of the water," it wasn't Duckwillow who spoke, however, it was Sorrelpaw. She appeared beside them, her pelt glinting and dripping water from where she had swam over to the main part of camp. "I know I was."
"Thank you, Sorrelpaw," Duckwillow nodded approvingly, eyes glinting with pride. Cloudkit looked between them. He must be so proud to have a daughter who isn't afraid of anything, like Sorrelpaw. She's almost a warrior! His tail drooped at the thought. And here I am, scared to get in stupid water. Cloudkit stood up straighter, his neck fur bristling slightly in determination. He could do this. If Swiftkit wasn't afraid, then he wasn't. If Sorrelpaw said he could do it, then he could. She was next to him now, looking down with a thoughtful gaze.
"We'll go together, okay?" she offered, and he nodded gratefully. "Ready?"
Cloudkit waited for her call, his paws still trembling with fear, but when Sorrelpaw told him to jump, he felt his paws lift away from the rock and then he was under water. Terror struck him. Water was all around, he couldn't breathe, and he felt like the water was pulling him down, down, down, never to come back to surface and take a breath again. Then, something sharp clenched into the fur around his neck, and his head burst to the surface, where he began to cough and sputter up water. When he was finally able to open his eyes, he was greeted with the contented gaze of Sorrelpaw, who treaded in the water easily, the current tugging at her fur. Duckwillow, as he had promised, was holding tightly to his scruff.
"See, I told you you could do it. Wasn't so bad, huh?" Sorrelpaw purred. Cloudkit shivered at the cold water, but his eyes were bright.
"That was awesome! I was scared, but now that I'm not drowning, that was awesome!" he exclaimed, and Sorrelpaw mrrwed with amusement.
"I wanna go, I wanna go!" Swiftkit begged from the stone, pacing up and down and looking at the water eagerly. Duckwillow murmured for her to be patient around Cloudkit's fur, but her eagerness was not subdued. Sorrelpaw swam forward.
"Here, let me take Cloudkit. You go ahead and work with her," she offered. Duckwillow hesitated. "I'm as good a swimmer as anyone. We won't even go far,"
"Okay," Duckwillow consented, letting Sorrelpaw take Cloudkit in her jaws now. "but don't go out of earshot. And if anything goes wrong, call for me at once."
Sorrelpaw nodded, and Cloudkit's muzzle sank underwater momentarily at the movement, and then they were moving through the water. Sorrelpaw swam with such ease, even with another cat in her mouth, and Cloudkit wished one day he'd find it that easy to swim. It was very important for ShellClan cats to learn to swim, as their camp was only accessible through the water, and to get to shore, one needed to swim as well. They went a little ways away from Duckwillow, who had caught Swiftkit's scruff as she jumped into the water willingly, and was swimming her back to the shore to try again, and then Sorrelpaw dropped him. His eyes flashed wide for a moment, fully expecting to go under again with no support, but before he could become fully panicked, his paws touched stone beneath the surface and he sighed.
"Not many cats know that this spot is so shallow," she told him, eyes sparkling. "I always told myself that I'd teach my kits how to swim right here, or I'd make Slatepaw,"
"Slatepaw?" Cloudkit wondered. "Why would he teach your kits how to swim?"
"That doesn't matter right now," she purred. "I'm here to teach you. Now, you can sit there and get used to how the water feels. Can you feel the way the water is pulling at you? Almost like it is trying to drag you back into the depths?"
Cloudkit nodded, looking down at his paws, astounded as to how he was keeping his balance with how persistent the current was. "Yes."
"That's the ocean tide, coming in and then going back out. It's very important to learn how to work with the tide rather than resisting it."
"What does that mean?" Cloudkit asked her, frowning in confusion. He didn't understand how anyone could let the tide take them, when that was exactly what had happened to one of the elders when he was younger. He didn't want to disappear without a trace and never be seen again. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"The ocean is dangerous, and that's that. But, if you can learn not to get freaked out by the tide, it makes it much safer," she tried to explain, but Cloudkit was still confused.
"I still don't understand."
"Okay, let me explain a different way. When the tide moves out, you swim out, but when the tide comes in, don't swim at all."
"But then you don't go anywhere!" Cloudkit responded incredulously. "How does that work?"
"Maybe I'll show you tomorrow, but for now, I think Duckwillow wants to stop," she told him, lifting him out of the water and plopping him down onto the dry stone ground, climbing out of the water with him. She shook out her fur, splattering him, and he scrambled out of the way with an indignant 'hey,' making her laugh. "Duckwillow wants you, and I think Tansyskip is looking for me."
"Sorrelpaw," Cloudkit called as she began to pad away, and she turned back to him. "thanks for helping me."
"Sure, it was fun," she purred, then turned and went off to find her mentor.
Cloudkit looked round to see Duckwillow waiting by the nursery with Swiftkit, who was bouncing up and down, and as he got closer, he heard her talking excitedly about what she had learned today. She only stopped when Duckwillow slapped his tail over her mouth, causing her to stop and spit out his fur, but here eyes never lost their glint.
"How was it? Did you do okay? Did you get hurt?" Duckwillow questioned Cloudkit, who shook his head quickly.
"No, Sorrelpaw just told me about the tide," he told his father truthfully.
"Oh, good. That's good." His father looked relieved. Cloudkit hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth again to speak.
"Duckwillow, can Sorrelpaw teach me to swim from now on?"
Duckwillow's eyes flooded with hurt, and he sat back on his haunches, frowning. Cloudkit felt a pang of guilt, having not meant to hurt his father's feelings at all. He had just really enjoyed spending time with his older sister, and he felt like she could teach him much better by himself than if he tried learning with Swiftkit, who was ready for anything. Cloudkit didn't want her teasing him if he didn't get something right, and he knew Sorrelpaw wouldn't do something like that.
"Why? Did I-"
"No! It's not you, at all. I think I'd learn better alone, is all, and I think Swiftkit really wants you to teach her. She's been talking about it for ages," Cloudkit lied with this, but when he looked at Swiftkit, it looked like she had caught on quickly to his deceit and she nodded very seriously. Duckwillow looked between them for a few moments, then finally sighed.
"All right. I'll see if she wants to teach you, but if she says no, that's her choice and you can't force her to do it, understood?"
"Yes, absolutely."
"Good. You two go and fetch some prey for your mother, I think she's feeling unwell," Duckwillow told them, and then he padded away.
Cloudkit watched him go feeling much better than he had when his swimming lesson had first begun. The water wasn't as bad as he thought, and maybe Sorrelpaw would be able to teach him for good, if she wasn't too busy with her mentor. Swiftkit scampered off to the fresh-kill pile, holding her head up high importantly as she approached it, but Cloudkit stayed put. Instead, he looked towards the sound of cats entering camp, and saw Quailpaw and Jaggedpaw swimming across with their mentors - Tigersong and Cinderfern - following close behind. When they pulled themselves out of the water, Cloudkit went to greet them, eyes wide with curiosity.
"What was it like?" he asked Quailpaw as soon as he was close enough. She brightened at the sight of him, and stopped while her sister and the two warriors went on to the fresh-kill pile. Quailpaw held a small fish, and she dropped it at her paws to respond to Cloudkit.
"It was so amazing! And the ocean is huge, and so is the beach, and we even get some of the forest. It's awesome."
"I can't wait until me and Swiftkit get to go out!" Cloudkit said, kneading his claws on the stone floor in excitement.
"Oh! Cinderfern said you and Swiftkit got your first swimming lessons today. How did that go?" Quailpaw asked, flicking her ear at the sound of Jaggedpaw calling to her from the apprentices den, but not turning away just yet.
"It was scary at first, but then Sorrelpaw started helping me, and it got much better," he told her honestly. "What was your first time swimming like?"
"About the same, except Sorrelpaw didn't help me. Scorchdust was a really good teacher though, he's a great swimmer," Quailpaw purred. Again, her ear flicked as her sister called for her a second time, but she still didn't turn away. "I heard Sorrelpaw and the other two older apprentices are going to be warriors at sunhigh tomorrow."
"Really?" Cloudkit looked around to see if he could find Sorrelpaw in the clearing, but she was nowhere to be seen, maybe out of camp hunting with her mentor. "Do you think she'd still have time-"
"Quailpaw, will you hurry up!" Jaggedpaw yelled, and this time the apprentice turned her head towards the apprentices den, where her sister was waiting along with Dustpaw. She sighed, looking back to Cloudkit with an apologetic look.
"I'd better go. We can talk later, I promise," she told him brightly, then hurried off to join her sister. Cloudkit watched her go, his tail drooping slightly. He and Quailpaw had been really close when they were together in the nursery, but he was just now starting to realize that until he was an apprentice too, they wouldn't get to spend much time together. That's okay, he thought, turning to head back to the nursery. I only have two more moons until I'm an apprentice. I'll be out exploring the territory before I know it. And catching prey for my clan...and hanging out with Quailpaw again… Cloudkit slipped into the nursery while he thought. Wildsky was already asleep in her nest, and when he curled up next to Swiftkit against his mother's fur, it was warmer than usual. Duckwillow did say she wasn't feeling well. He remembered, and shook it off, curling tighter into the nest and falling asleep with the picture of himself swimming across the ocean as a great warrior, the best his clan ever knew.
