Warriors: The Fall of the Clans: Sunlight

Chapter 5

Dawnpaw was nudged from her sleep by a restless Snowpaw. "What do you want?" She muttered crabbily, blearily glaring at him.

Snowpaw just smiled. "Come on. We're going now." He whispered, before slinking out if the apprentice den.

Dawnpaw looked up at the clustered branches, bracken, and moss that made up the den. She still wasn't completely certain about the safety of this, but that wasn't her problem. He could swim fine. It was Foxpaw who couldn't. She tilted her head, getting up. What would happen to him? She shrugged. A mild sting of annoyance went through her. Who cared? If he was mouse brained enough to actually do it, it was his own fault whatever happened.

Setting her jaw determinedly, Dawnpaw got up, licking down some of her greyish silvery fur. She ducked her head to go through the entrance. As she straightened, she took in the nighttime view. RiverClan looked splendid. The soft water could be faintly heard lapping at the island's shores. Dawnpaw yawned, looking at the others. Foxpaw smiled at each of them, before darting ahead. "Follow me." He whispered.

Dawnpaw narrowed her eyes. He'd been the one to find and challenge them about the Currents? Why? He really was a mousebrain! She padded a bit faster, catching up to him. "What. Are. You. Doing?!" She whispered, her voice alarmed. Foxpaw merely glanced at her with an amused expression. "What does it look like? I'm walking, duh." Dawnpaw rolled her eyes. "You can't swim through the Currents. You can barely swim in a pond!"

Foxpaw's eyes glittered competitively. "Are you saying I'm weak? I'm not. You only saw me swim once, and that was over a moon ago. Don't tell me what'll limits are." He mewed, his tone cold. Dawnpaw mentally sniffed. He was a rude cat who never knew what his limits were. It want her fault she was trying to help him. "You know what? You go and drown. Sorry if I was trying to actually help you." She snapped, her tone icy. She fell back with the others, watching Foxpaw walking ahead of them sullenly.

She saw Moonpaw looking at her with a curious expression, but shrugged it off. She was apparently still not friends with Dawnpaw. Snowpaw was talking in a hushed tone with Stormpaw. They were at the back, glancing around warily. Dawnpaw wanted to know why, but didn't care much about it right at that moment. There were more important things to take care of.

Almost right at that moment, she saw that they were nearing the slippery rocks that bordered the shore, from which the Currents began. Dawnpaw breathed in deeply, taking a moment. Skynose had trained her how to battle a current while swimming, but she'd never had to battle such a strong one. She felt unease amongst the others too, as they actually saw what the Currents were like.

"Maybe we shouldn't?" Snowpaw's uneasy tone wasn't hard to miss. Foxpaw turned. "It'll be fine. Just swim strongly." He said, his voice a bit reckless. Dawnpaw felt a slight twinge if worry for the mousebrained idiot. Ssniwpaw sighed. "Fine." He said. Foxpaw nodded, satisfied, before turning to the Currents. "Alright. Let's swim to..." His icy eyes searched the far outline of land. "There." He inclined his head in the direction of a rock jutting out. "And back."

Moonpaw nodded, although she looked a bit uncertain. "Are you sure?" She asked. Foxpaw nodded. "Look, ill go first, alright?" He mewed reassuringly, not waiting or an answer before heading out onto the rocks. "Foxpaw!" Dawnpaw called out, her tone annoyed. "Are you trying to get killed?!" Foxpaw shot her a challenging stare. "I can handle it." He called back, his voice determined. Before she could say anything else, Foxpaw had jumped into the dark water. Dawnpaw and the others peered over the edge anxiously, looking for the russet fur colour that only Foxpaw had.

Moments passed, and she began to dread that he actually frowned, before Stormpaw called out. "There! He's over there!" Dawnpaw looked over, seeing a drenched cat climb up into the rock. She felt a wave of relief rush through her, as Foxpaw turned around and shot them a triumphant grin. He was okay.

"Um, I'll go." She mewed, certain it wasn't so difficult. If Foxpaw had managed, she would too. She gingerly stepped across the rocks, slowly placing her paws into the cold water and pushing out into the current. She began to swim against it, taking a breath and looking around blearily, only to have a wave lap over her head, bringing her under. It wasn't as easy as she'd thought. A slight tense panic began to go through her.

She couldn't see where the rock was. Where was it? She was going to drown? She didn't want to. She choked slightly as yet another wave pulled her underwater, before gasping for breath as she pushed upwards. She was going to drown.

"Dawnpaw!"

A voice rang through her confusion. Foxpaw.

"Follow my voice!"

She nodded in her brain. attempting to pinpoint where his voice was coming from. She took a deep breath in before pushing in his direction. "Keep-" She mewed, diving under to avoid impact with a wave. "Keep talking!" She called, pushing towards him as he yowled several times before mewing towards her. She pushed and pushed, certain she wasn't though to make it. Her muscles burned with the effort, and her lungs began to ache for air. She felt herself slowing, and at the moment where she was certain she would drown, several pricks across her scruff brought her back.

Someone was dragging her onto the rock, and she coughed up water, opening her eyes blearily. It was Foxpaw, looking at her with slightly...scared? she couldn't tell which emotion but something was there, roiling around in his eyes. Fear? Alarm? She didn't care right now. Dawnpaw shivered shakily getting up and leaning into Foxpaw's drying fur for warmth. She didn't care if he was a foolish mousebrain. She didn't care about anything right now.