Stones (Book Four) Ocean Breeze

Chapter Sixteen

Fadedwing's POV

Fadedwing sat with Cocoapaw and the other apprentices. Although they were a warrior now, it still felt right to be with the group.
    "So, Cocoapaw, wanna go for another swim?" Ravenpaw teased.
    "No thanks," Cocoapaw walked up a rock and sat down.
    "Makes sense," Fadedwing mewed.
    "Aww, why not?" Ravenpaw smiled, "You seemed to have fun drowning last time!"
    "Yeah, because apparently drowning is fun," Gingerpaw added.
    "It's not fun, thank you very much," Cocoapaw told grunted, glaring at the two apprentices.
    "Then why were you so happy?" Ravenpaw asked.
    Cocoapaw sighed, "I wasn't, but you can think what you want."
    "Guys, why are you being so-" Quailpaw was cut off.
    "Well I am heading to the river. You can come if you want," Ravenpaw walked away. The other apprentices ran after her, and Fadedwing walked behind.

    Fadedwing sat by the edge of the river, letting the cold water soak their paws. It was odd for a LeafClan warrior to like water, but here they were, enjoying it. Ravenpaw, Quailpaw, and Gingerpaw were having a race on the side of the river, while Cocoapaw sat on the side of a rock.
    Fadedwing stood up, shook the water off their paws, and watched the three triplets with interest. Gingerpaw leaped through the finish line, and declared himself the winner.  "Good job, Gingerpaw!" Fadedwing called as the other two crossed the finish line.
    "Thanks," Gingerpaw replied, "We're gonna be heading back now, you guys coming?"
    Cocoapaw jumped off his rock, only a few feet from the river. "Of course!" He ran back to the other apprentices.
    "I'm staying here for a bit," Fadedwing mewed, "Maybe I'll catch something for the group."
    "Good idea!" Ravenpaw said, skipping away.
    As soon as they left, Fadedwing paddled into the shallows of the thin(ner) river. Their swimming wasn't quite strong enough to go into the deeper parts, but these points were just right.
    Fadedwing started to hear some distant splashing, coming from a bit ahead. They slowly paddled over, to see some kittens sitting at the edge of the river, waiting.
    "Hey, where did you dudes come from?" Fadedwing called, moving to the shoreline.
    "Ahh, run!" The first kit, a black one, squealed. Her and a light gray one ran through the shoreline, but the third ran the other direction; towards the center of the river.
     Fadedwing sighed as the she-kit struggled to swim through the water, thrashing her dark gray paws. Fadedwing paddled through the water and grasped her by the scruff; it was easy, as they weren't very far in.
    Once Fadedwing got to the shore, the light gray kitten yelled, "Hey, she's got Ash!" Their ear twitched at the she as theh leaned down to set the kit on the ground.
    The black kit smiled, "Let's get her!" Before they knew it, Fadedwing was leaped on by the two kits. They laughed, setting the wet kit down and taking a minute to wrestle with them. Eventually they let the kits pin them, and laughed in defeat.
    "So, who are you? And where's your parents?" Fadedwing asked, standing up.
    "I'm Coal!" The black kit announced proudly, "I'm only the strongest she-kit ever!"
    "That's a lie!" The light gray one announced, "I, Minnow, am the strongest kit ever!"
    "You just called yourself a she-kit!" Coal teased.
    "Hey!" Minnow hissed playfully, "You know I'm a guy!"
    "Uh, guys," The dark gray one shivered before continuing, "You're forgetting about Ash over here, freezing!"
    "Nice to know you three," Fadedwing mewed, leaning over to start grooming Ash, "But you didn't answer my second question. Where's your parents?"
    "Oh, mom and dad left us in our den yesterday." Coal frowned, "They haven't been back since."
    "We thought it would be a good idea to find something to eat, so we came to the river," Minnow added.
    "B-but we couldn't find anything, sadly." Ash finished.
    Fadedwing looked up from grooming. "Oh, so you're hungry. Well I know a place that has lots of food." She stood up slowly, "You guys wanna come?"
    "Is it dangerous?" Ash questioned.
    "Don't worry, I'll protect you, sis!" Coal leaped up bravely.
    Fadedwing laughed, "No guys, it's not dangerous! I live with them!"
    "Then what are we waiting for?!" Ash exclaimed.

    "So who's going to take them?" Froststar asked.
    Kelpstream looked up from her nursing kits, "I will!"
    "But you already have nine kits," Sunsparkle mewed, "Me and Wavefang would love to adopt them!"
    "Well do you have milk?" Kelpstream challenged.
    "Well, no, but-" Sunsparkle started, but was interrupted by her mate.
    "But we would care for them with all our heart. All couples should have an equal chance to have kits, don't you think, Froststar?" Wavefang smiled.
    "Well don't you think all kits should get to have equal amounts of milk?" Kelpstream snapped back.
    "Well-" Froststar paused.
    Pinestripe quietly padded over, a vine with small pink flowers in her mouth. "These should help the milk problem, Sunsparkle." She purred, setting it down and picking off the petals.
    "What is it?" The cream she-cat asked.
    "Sweet Vines," Pinestripe smiled, "I'm no medicine cat, but Birchwood says they can start milk flow for same-sex couples or when a queen is having difficulty producing milk."
    "Oh, I've seen those!" Fadedwing added, "They're all over by the TreeClan border! I haven't seen Rosethorn use them, though, so I assumed they were just pretty flowers."
    Wavefang glanced up at Seastar, her eyes shimmering excitedly, "Well, can we take them?"
    Seastar nodded, "Of course."