It was cold, very cold. It felt like his legs were frozen to the bone. His ears went back as he moved further into the chilly water. It lapped at his belly fur and he shivered as he took another step further into the pool, further submerging his belly into the dark water. Why did they have to start this so close to leaf-bare? They were lucky that the water wasn't frozen over. The smooth stones beneath him were slippery, he felt as though he might slip at any moment. He looked down; he couldn't see his paws now. His legs faded into the darkness beneath him.
What could be down there? Something could swim by him and he wouldn't even notice it. Something could touch him and he wouldn't know until it did. What was down there? Fish? Frogs? Snakes? Could snakes swim? The tom twitched his tail nervously, causing a small splash in the water behind him. He didn't know if they could, but it was certainly too cold for snakes. There probably weren't any snakes. He looked up to the cat a few tail lengths in front of him, deeper in the murky pool.
There was an amused look on Mistyfoot's face as she watched Fireheart's distress. She was nearly completely submerged; she had her head held high out of the water and part of her gray back breeched out of the dark pool. Her tail trailed behind her, running along the surface of the water like a snake. The RiverClan cat mewed, "It gets better when you keep going. You're delaying the inevitable."
Fireheart continued hesitantly into the water. Mistyfoot had found this pool in the stream that ran through the patch of woods between the Twolegplace and the farm. It was deep enough where it made a good place to practice swimming and fishing and it was wider than most of the stream, forming at the base of a small waterfall. It went on for some tail lengths before growing smaller again and returning to its state as a flowing stream.
Graystripe and the apprentices watched Fireheart's plight from the shore. The orange tom could hear some excited mewing from the apprentices as they watched him. Stormpaw remarked, "I didn't think he'd be such a drypaw! Bramblepaw and Graystripe got in quicker!"
Drypaw? Fireheart had never heard the word before. "Stormpaw!" Mistyfoot's voice was stern, "teasing him isn't going to help. Fireheart's coat is the thinnest out of all of us, it's colder for him. He's not a RiverClan cat, he's not used to it." There was a pause, "Anyway, no one's pushing him in. Unlike what you two did to Bramblepaw."
Stormpaw's ears went back sheepishly as some laughter sounded from the other cats.
That was how Bramblepaw first got into the water? It was bad enough moving into it at his own pace, Fireheart couldn't imagine being pushed. The water was rising to his shoulders now, he'd have to actually start swimming in a moment. The orange warrior's heart raced as he stretched to keep his muzzle above water. The RiverClan she-cat spoke again, "remember it's like running."
Running. As the slippery ground came out of his reach, Fireheart felt panicked. What if he couldn't do it? Would he go down? How deep was the water? He started imitating how he would run, kicking his legs out in the water. After a few heartbeats he rose, most of his head was out of the stream now. He felt his back breach the surface and hit the bitter air.
Fireheart's eyes grew wide as he paddled towards Mistyfoot. He was doing it! He was swimming! He turned as he came within a tail length of the RiverClan warrior, heading back to shore. He heard the sound of Mistyfoot following after him. Once his feet were back on the stream floor, Fireheart let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. Mistyfoot came up next to him, "congratulations, you can swim as well as a RiverClan kit."
"That's more swimming than most ThunderClan cats would ever do," Fireheart muttered. He'd done it willingly; he was learning to fish willingly, too. That was a lot more than most ThunderClan cats would try. More than most non-RiverClan cats would try.
The group had gotten there at about midmorning, the frost was disappearing from the grass and the earth around them was beginning to warm up. The day started with a fishing lesson, a hunting lesson, unlike any Fireheart, had participated in before. It wasn't scent or sound that they had to worry about, it was their shadow.
Other than that, it was a game of patience. Waiting for the fish to move by and being able to quickly pull it out of the water. After a few failed attempts, resulting in splashing himself with the chilly water, Fireheart managed to get a small brown trout.
It was quick, suddenly the creature was flopping helplessly in front of him. Normally, when hunting land prey, it would have been killed by the original strike. Fireheart had to hit it again to kill it. That was his first time eating fish as well, it was a strange taste. Chewier than forest prey with a strong taste. It tasted a lot like it smelled, but Fireheart hadn't found it all too unpleasant. He could see himself eating a fish again.
Another cat that had managed to catch his first fish was Bramblepaw, he had caught it faster than Fireheart. When the brown apprentice first got the fish on the streambank, it had startled him. The striped young tom hadn't realized that he had to make a second blow and the fish flopped around. It tried to flop its way back towards the water and freedom when Featherpaw stepped in, killing the slippery creature for the other apprentice.
Despite his error and earlier expressed dislike of the way fish tasted, Bramblepaw's eyes had shown bright and full of pride at catching the creature. He had eaten it without complaint as well, it seems the taste of this new prey was growing on the apprentice.
It had been good to see Bramblepaw excited by the catch. Since Fireheart had told him the truth about his father the apprentice had been acting more anxious. Prior he had been nervous, careful to a point and put more thought into his actions than most cats his age but this was different. He was more hesitant to interact with the other cats now, he seemed scared of their opinions of him now that they knew he knew the truth.
He had apologized to Cloudtail for his questioning, Fireheart had told him that it wasn't needed. Bramblepaw hadn't known the truth and he didn't need to apologize for the ignorance that he had been fed. His obliviousness on the subject had been the other's fault, and there wasn't much else they could do about it.
Fireheart had also had to coax the young tom into joining Stormpaw and Featherpaw in extra practice they had wanted to do together. They wanted him to join in, Bramblepaw seemed to have wanted to join their practice but was stopping himself. It took some encouragement and reassurance but Bramblepaw had ended up joining in.
Fireheart had not expected him to react so much, the outburst right after finding the truth out had been one thing. It was a lot that Bramblepaw had learned, Fireheart didn't blame him for it. Had he gotten the chance; the orange tom would have waited longer. At least until he was sure that Bramblepaw could handle it better. He would grow used to what Tigerstar had done, Fireheart knew he would, but it didn't make him feel less guilty about having to tell the apprentice the truth so soon.
This training had been good for Bramblepaw, catching that fish made his golden eyes glow with excitement, his chest puffed out with pride as he had realized what he achieved. He looked more enthusiastic and less hesitant than he had the days before. At least one good thing had come out of this training, being wet certainly wasn't one of them.
Graystripe stepped into the stream, seemingly unbothered by its icy feeling. He padded over to the two cats standing in the stream, his tail held high. Fireheart's eyes narrowed as he felt a flash of jealousy, was the gray tom already used to the way the water felt? His fur was a lot longer and thicker than Fireheart's, it was possible.
There was a mischievous glow in Graystripe's eyes as he got closer to Fireheart, he stuck his muzzle towards his friend. As he did, Graystripe allowed his tail to slap the surface of the stream sending a spray of icy water into Fireheart's face. The gray warrior mewed, "welcome to the group, fish-face."
The orange warrior jerked his head back from the spray, shaking the cold water off his face. He let out an annoyed hiss. He launched himself at his friend, toppling him over into the shallow water. He quickly moved away, allowing the other cat to get up. When Graystripe got to his feet, gasping for air, the gray tom cuffed him. Fireheart moved away from the blow as he mewed: "I don't think I qualify for being called that; all I did was swim a lap."
"I agree with Fireheart." Both cats turned towards Mistyfoot as she mewed, "I think it's insulting to call him that so soon, he doesn't have the skills to be called that yet. I think Fishkit fits more."
"Fishkit." Graystripe echoed; yellow eyes glowing. The ginger tom's eyes widened in alarm at the RiverClan warrior's teasing; he had thought she would be on his side!
"We're not doing that."
"Yeah, we are." Graystripe replied, hitting his shoulder against his friends'. Mistyfoot rolled her eyes at the two toms.
"If you two are done, Graystripe you said you'd work with the apprentices downstream. We haven't got all day." Mistyfoot reminded the gray warrior. He nodded, leaving the stream behind and heading back to shore where the three apprentices were waiting. They'd be working on something the RiverClan warrior had shown Graystripe the day prior while Mistyfoot and Fireheart worked together.
Once the apprentices and Graystripe moved further down the stream, Mistyfoot turned to Fireheart. She meowed: "let's see what you can do, Fishkit."
Fireheart's ears went back, "you are not calling me that."
"Aren't I?" The RiverClan she-cat turned away, heading further into the stream. As she got to the point where she had to swim, Mistyfoot meowed, "we'd better get started. That was a decent first try. You certainly kept your head above water well enough." She moved further into the pool, turning to face the shore and Fireheart, "by the time I'm done with you, you'll be able to do this."
The RiverClan she-cat disappeared, completely submerging into the icy pool, Fireheart's eyes widened and he felt a twinge of fear. They could go underwater? He hadn't known that. How was he expected to figure that out? Mistyfoot reemerged deeper into the pool, calling out: "swim to me."
Graystripe had explained this to Fireheart, she had done it with the gray warrior as well as with Bramblepaw to an extent the first time. They'd go back and forth, deeper and deeper into the pool. The ginger tom padded deeper into the water, remembering what the RiverClan cat had told him last time as the water got too deep. This wasn't too hard; Fireheart didn't understand why Graystripe had made it out to be. It was just being cold and wet that was obnoxious, he could do this.
His muscles were screaming at him by the time he pulled himself out of the water and on to the bank opposite to the one they had started on. Mistyfoot came out of the water after him, unbothered by the exercise they had just done. The ginger tom sat down, panting. It had been fine for a while but after a point, his muscles had begun to burn, Fireheart no longer felt the freezing water. Rather he had warmed up significantly. They had done exactly what Graystripe had warned him of, Mistyfoot would make corrections when needed, but it was mostly swimming back and forth in the pool.
The RiverClan she-cat turned to face the stream, she asked: "do you think you can go across one more time?" Could he? Fireheart looked towards the opposite bank. He'd already crossed it once; he could do it again. Or they could go around and go through the shallower and more narrow part of the stream.
"Yes, I can do it." He rose to his paws again, his muscles resisted the movement. Mistyfoot eyed him for a heartbeat.
"Are you sure? There's no shame in going around. You've done well." She padded over to his side.
"No, I can do it." The RiverClan cat nodded after a heartbeat and they entered the water again. This cross is more difficult than the last, Fireheart realized. His muscles ached a lot more and he was panting again by the time they reached the opposite bank. Was this just how it felt to swim? He wasn't sure if he would be willing to do this again if it felt like this each time.
As if reading the tom's thoughts, Mistyfoot explained: "it's not that difficult normally. Once you've built up the muscles and get used to it, you'll feel better." Fireheart hoped she was right. He turned, starting to lick the water from his soaked pelt. As he did, the orange tom noticed something white in the air. Snow! He looked up to the sky, through the barren trees Fireheart could see that the sky had turned gray in their time in the woods.
Confused mews caught his attention, Fireheart looked downstream to see that all three apprentices had stopped what they were doing and were looking up to the sky. Stormpaw stood in the stream in front of Graystripe, while the other two apprentices were on the shore.
Bramblepaw's ears flattened suddenly, he moved his head back and there was a flash of pink as his tongue darted out, licking his nose. Fireheart felt a purr form in his chest as he rose to his paws, the apprentice must have gotten hit on the muzzle. This was the first time any of the apprentices had experienced snow. Mistyfoot took the lead as they headed over to the rest of the cats. Featherpaw looked to Graystripe, blue eyes glowing as she asked, "father, what is it?"
"Snow," the gray tom responded as he and Stormpaw returned to shore. He explained, "it falls during leaf-bare."
It did a lot more than that. It made hunting harder, prey would be tucked away in its burrows and it was difficult to move in the cold substance once it got thick. Fireheart's mind went to his former Clanmates. They would be struggling thanks to the snow, meanwhile, Fireheart and the others would have the mouse-filled barn. He felt a twinge of guilt, he should be living with his Clanmates. Dealing with the starvation of leaf-bare alongside them. It would be an even harder leaf-bare, considering the fire as well as the TigerClan leader having other uses for the Clans prey.
"It's cold!" Bramblepaw mewed, raising a paw in the air towards the falling flakes. His golden eyes were round with wonder as he watched the snowflakes land on his paw. The snow was starting to fall more thickly now.
"It is," Fireheart agreed, "if it keeps falling the way it is, it'll completely cover the ground." He could see the snowflakes were beginning to stick already.
"Really?" Stormpaw asked, looking up to the sky again, "but they're so small!"
"Yes, but there's a lot of them." Mistyfoot explained, "you'll see." She glanced at the other warriors, "why don't we head back to the barn? I think this is enough for the day." Both cats expressed their agreements. Once they had picked up what prey had been caught, the group started heading back towards the farm.
By the time they left the narrow patch of woodlands, there was enough snowfall for their pawsteps to show as they walked. The three younger cats were still in awe as they moved through the snow. Suddenly Featherpaw struck the snow with one paw, scooping it up and launching it into her brothers' face.
The gray apprentice let out a startled squeak, dropping the fish he held before he crouched, eyes narrowing before he sprang at Featherpaw. The apprentices tumbled in the snow, mewling and giving each other mock blows before Stormpaw regained his footing. He shot off in the direction of the barn. His sister followed quickly after, letting out a yowl as she did. Fireheart purred as he watched the two littermates play, glancing at his own apprentice.
The young tabby had stuck with the warriors. He was watching Featherpaw and Stormpaw as well, his tail lashing excitedly. Fireheart moved up next to Bramblepaw, nudging the apprentice with his shoulder as he spoke around the fish in his jaws, "you should go join them, kit."
The young tabby's ears went back, "I'm not a kit!" There was a pause before he shook his head, "I don't want to bother them."
"You won't be," Fireheart reassured. He readjusted the fish in his mouth so he was gripping its head in half of his mouth. He stuck his muzzle closer to the young tom, "in fact I think they'd be excited to have you join." Graystripe moved to the apprentice's other side, mewing his agreement.
"Of course, you won't be bothering them." The young cat still looked hesitant.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course," Fireheart encouraged him forward with a nudge to his shoulder. He looked back to Graystripe and Fireheart, there was worry in his golden eyes. The orange tom meowed, "Bramblepaw, go. It'll be fun."
He wavered a few heartbeats more, claws digging anxiously into the snow, before trotting off where the other two apprentices had gone. Fireheart watched him go, "he's overthinking it."
"He'll get over it." Graystripe replied, "he just needs to figure it all out. Once he realizes other cats' opinions of him haven't changed, it'll be fine." Graystripe nudged his friend, "look."
Bramblepaw had made it over to the other two apprentices after a few heartbeats of conversation between the three young cats Stormpaw launched a pawful of snow at the brown apprentice, Bramblepaw seemed startled for a moment before he threw himself at Stormpaw and the game continued. Fireheart felt a warmth come to his chest as he watched the young cats.