Blood and Bone - Raven's Hope

Chapter 3

It had been nearly a moon since I had first helped Moth. I helped him nearly every day, but today River was teaching us to swim. Feather and I stood belly deep in the lake, River stood in front of us, "You have to get used to the way the water moves. Feel the waves as they roll into you."

A wave rolled into me, knocking me back a bit. River flicked his tail, "Move with the water, don't fight against it."

I noticed Feather, she let the water lift her off her paws. I grunted and tried to relax. A wave rolled towards me, I closed my eyes and relaxed my body. I felt my paws lift off the sand.

"Wonderful! The next step is to move farther out, keep your tail flat on the water's surface. It'll help keep you afloat." River said, wading deep into the water. I followed, I paused when the water reached my neck. Feather stopped beside me, "Remember what River said?"

I nodded, I laid my tail flat against the water's surface, I let the water roll underneath me. Feather swam after River, I did my best to copy her. River nodded, "You're doing it!"

I noticed River wasn't swimming, his paws could still touch the bottom. He nodded, "Keep going."

I swam around River, Feather beside me, "Hey, we're doing it!"

Wind whipped around us, I closed my eyes as a bit of water sprayed into my face. "Raven!"

I opened my eyes, I had been pulled away from River and Feather. Water suddenly slammed into my back, pushing me under the water. I struggled to reach the surface, but a current pulled me farther down. My lungs screamed for air and I started to panic. My vision started to blur, my limbs became heavy. I could see someone swimming towards me, but I couldn't tell who. The water around me suddenly felt very thick and darkness surrounded me.

"Are you okay?" I didn't recognize the voice, I blinked my eyes open. A large black and white tom stood above me. "Are you okay?"

"Uh- I- I think so." I mumbled, the black and white tom flicked his ear, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah." I mumbled. The tom rolled his eyes, "Speak up. You don't sound sure of yourself if you mumble."

I blinked, the black and white tom flicked his tail, "Lets try this again. Are you alright?"

"Yeah." I said standing up. The tom smiled, "There you go!"

"Who are you?" I asked, tipping my head to one side. The tom hesitated, "Doesn't matter. You can call me... Coal."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Raven." I said, Coal dipped his head, "You should go join your friends, they're worried about you."

I was about to say something when I woke up inside of Star Flower's den. Star Flower looked over her shoulder, "Glad to see you're finally awake."