04-05-2020, 05:46 AM
[div style="width: 440px;font-size: 11pt;text-align: justify; font-family: times new roman; letter-spacing: -.2px; color: #594B4B"]Littlebloom, ever since she was a mere kit stumbling around the nursery, had always been one to subvert expectations in that she loved to explore. You'd expect her to have been fearful and timid, always hovering around her mother's side and wailing should she stray too far. Which, in some cases, was true, was not usual for the young she-cat. No, she had always been an explorer, trying to be free of Snailshine's overprotective gaze so she could go explore the camp and, beyond it, the world. She'd never make it far, though, always swooped up just a tail-length or so from the nursery's exit and deposited right back into Snailshine's hold, waiting to receive a stern, but gentle, scolding.
As a warrior, though, freedom was bountiful for the young she-cat. There were few things she couldn't do now, with her name no longer ending with some obligatory prefix that didn't suit her beyond rank. Her mother only held so much control over now and, while she loved Snailshine with her whole heart, she quite disagreed with just how overprotective the gray bicolor molly could be. Seriously, Littlebloom was an adult now! She didn't need her mother going through the fresh-kill pile and finding the 'very best' piece of prey for her darling daughter to eat.
Her day started just like every other, with Littlebloom waking a bit later than most before plucking a piece of prey from the recently-topped pile--normally a water vole, her favorite--before eating it at her own pace. It was normally around this time that she'd be called off to patrol or whatever else but, with Brownfoot's disappearance still hanging in the air and Thornystar having to disperse his duties to RiverClan's senior warriors, she wasn't, much to the young female's pleasure. While she loved to explore the territories and see what fruit RiverClan's land had to find, she didn't necessarily enjoy doing it with... others. Perhaps it was the fact that she didn't have many friends beyond her mothers--and could they be counted as friends, really?--and she wasn't that good at talking to the others that she didn't have a pre-existing relationship with.
Thus, it wasn't particularly uncommon for the young warrior--with no duties to complete--to slip from the camp and go off doing... well, whatever. Normally it was exploring the territory and seeing what different kinds of prey she could catch but, today, the she-cat was determined to swim. What with new-leaf in the air and the temperatures of the clan territories beginning to rise, Littlebloom was going to take full advantage of the not-freezing-ice-cold water. Now, she stood in the shallows of the river that wove through the territory, her eyes wide and excited as the water tugged at the thick fur on her legs.
She had never been a strong swimmer, she knew this well from the many times she had nearly drowned before Doebreeze had grabbed her by her scruff and pulled her free of the river's grasp. It had become such a common occurrence that Doebreeze and her mothers had pretty much banned her from ever going too deep, worried for the fragile she-cat. But nothing was going to keep her--a RiverClanner--from the river's call, a gentle murmur against her ears whenever she gazed in its direction. Besides, today it seemed to on the calmer side and surely the undertow wouldn't be so strong to sweep her away. She was fully grown, after all, and had grown much stronger since her days as a weak little apprentice. Right?
With such reassuring thoughts humming in her mind, the tail-less brown she-cat began wading further into the river's encompassing form, the chill seeping through her thick fur and sinking into her bones. Despite this, she didn't shiver--in fact, Littlebloom welcomed the icy embrace, grinning at how it sent little sparks of electricity running up her numbing legs. Even further now, the water up to her chest and slogging around her form as she disrupted the usual flow of the river. She could feel it's strength now, tugging at her fur and her limbs with one particularly strong pull nearly sweeping the female of her paws.
She yelped at that one, her breathing hitching. No, no, it was fine--she was fine and she had nothing to worry about. It was just a little bit of a stronger current, nothing significant. With her resilience beginning to falter, the dark warrior pressed even further. Now, she was treading water, her head hardly above the water. Yes, yes! She was doing it! She was swimming and doing it well! Laughing to herself, the sound light and mellifluous despite the effort it took to keep herself afloat, the RiverClanner began to swim with the aid of the river's current.
However, her friend quickly became her foe as she began to reach more treacherous parts of the river's winding expanse, where the tugs were rougher and more violent. It happened in seconds, the female going from treading water with some effort to being sucked under, the female thrashing and fighting as much as she could. She tried to call for help from beneath the waves, her efforts swallowed up by the water as it flooded into her lungs, Littlebloom hardly able to keep most of it from filling her airways and drowning her from the inside out.
There was a moment, then, that she breached the surface, thrashing and crying for someone, please, anyone please help, before the river reclaimed her once more, stealing the small warrior back beneath its waves and swallowing up her pleas for salvation.
[align=center][member=10596]OTTERSPOTS[/member] have fun
As a warrior, though, freedom was bountiful for the young she-cat. There were few things she couldn't do now, with her name no longer ending with some obligatory prefix that didn't suit her beyond rank. Her mother only held so much control over now and, while she loved Snailshine with her whole heart, she quite disagreed with just how overprotective the gray bicolor molly could be. Seriously, Littlebloom was an adult now! She didn't need her mother going through the fresh-kill pile and finding the 'very best' piece of prey for her darling daughter to eat.
Her day started just like every other, with Littlebloom waking a bit later than most before plucking a piece of prey from the recently-topped pile--normally a water vole, her favorite--before eating it at her own pace. It was normally around this time that she'd be called off to patrol or whatever else but, with Brownfoot's disappearance still hanging in the air and Thornystar having to disperse his duties to RiverClan's senior warriors, she wasn't, much to the young female's pleasure. While she loved to explore the territories and see what fruit RiverClan's land had to find, she didn't necessarily enjoy doing it with... others. Perhaps it was the fact that she didn't have many friends beyond her mothers--and could they be counted as friends, really?--and she wasn't that good at talking to the others that she didn't have a pre-existing relationship with.
Thus, it wasn't particularly uncommon for the young warrior--with no duties to complete--to slip from the camp and go off doing... well, whatever. Normally it was exploring the territory and seeing what different kinds of prey she could catch but, today, the she-cat was determined to swim. What with new-leaf in the air and the temperatures of the clan territories beginning to rise, Littlebloom was going to take full advantage of the not-freezing-ice-cold water. Now, she stood in the shallows of the river that wove through the territory, her eyes wide and excited as the water tugged at the thick fur on her legs.
She had never been a strong swimmer, she knew this well from the many times she had nearly drowned before Doebreeze had grabbed her by her scruff and pulled her free of the river's grasp. It had become such a common occurrence that Doebreeze and her mothers had pretty much banned her from ever going too deep, worried for the fragile she-cat. But nothing was going to keep her--a RiverClanner--from the river's call, a gentle murmur against her ears whenever she gazed in its direction. Besides, today it seemed to on the calmer side and surely the undertow wouldn't be so strong to sweep her away. She was fully grown, after all, and had grown much stronger since her days as a weak little apprentice. Right?
With such reassuring thoughts humming in her mind, the tail-less brown she-cat began wading further into the river's encompassing form, the chill seeping through her thick fur and sinking into her bones. Despite this, she didn't shiver--in fact, Littlebloom welcomed the icy embrace, grinning at how it sent little sparks of electricity running up her numbing legs. Even further now, the water up to her chest and slogging around her form as she disrupted the usual flow of the river. She could feel it's strength now, tugging at her fur and her limbs with one particularly strong pull nearly sweeping the female of her paws.
She yelped at that one, her breathing hitching. No, no, it was fine--she was fine and she had nothing to worry about. It was just a little bit of a stronger current, nothing significant. With her resilience beginning to falter, the dark warrior pressed even further. Now, she was treading water, her head hardly above the water. Yes, yes! She was doing it! She was swimming and doing it well! Laughing to herself, the sound light and mellifluous despite the effort it took to keep herself afloat, the RiverClanner began to swim with the aid of the river's current.
However, her friend quickly became her foe as she began to reach more treacherous parts of the river's winding expanse, where the tugs were rougher and more violent. It happened in seconds, the female going from treading water with some effort to being sucked under, the female thrashing and fighting as much as she could. She tried to call for help from beneath the waves, her efforts swallowed up by the water as it flooded into her lungs, Littlebloom hardly able to keep most of it from filling her airways and drowning her from the inside out.
There was a moment, then, that she breached the surface, thrashing and crying for someone, please, anyone please help, before the river reclaimed her once more, stealing the small warrior back beneath its waves and swallowing up her pleas for salvation.
[align=center][member=10596]OTTERSPOTS[/member] have fun