Chapter Text
Fear of water.
Furledlake splashed into the stream, a smile on his face. “C’mon, Eagleclaw, the waters great!” he cheered. You could have fooled Eagleclaw that Furledlake was half fish. She’d believe it. He swam better than any cat in their clan. “And get this thick coat wet? You're dreaming,” she smiled at him as she sat down on the shore. He can enjoy the water for both of us. The pout on Furledlake's face made Eaglestar weak with how heartbreaking it was, “Oh, don’t give me that,” she snorted as he came up from out of the water. “Oh, so you just HAAAATE your mate.” He dramatisized as he nuzzled into her cheek, “ew stop, you're all wet-!” She giggled, but she didn’t dare pull away. Furledlake pressed further before sitting down next to her.
“Eagleclaw,” he muttered in a more serious tone. “You’ve never really... Told me why you don’t like the water.” Eagleclaw was about to open her mouth to give him the same excuse she gave every cat ‘I just don’t like the feeling of being wet.’ but he spoke further. “And I know what you're going to say about just not liking it, but whenever you lie your tail does this flicking thing, so don’t even try it, silly.” He said quickly. “You know you can tell me anything,” he intertwined his tail with hers as Eagleclaw sighed.
“Okay..”
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“What are we doing by the water, Talonscratch?” Eaglepaw asked, her gaze locked on her mentor as they approached the stream. She usually did training with him in the hollow in the valley with the shorter grass, so training by the river surprised her. She noticed Talonscratch’s pelt prickle with annoyance at her question, which she silently shamed herself for in her head
You're always asking dumb questions, Eaglepaw. Just pay attention.
“We are doing combat training,” he sneered. “And we’re doing it by the water, as this is Cavernclan’s border, where you will have fights with them in the future, understood?”
Eaglepaw nodded, shifting her paws into a more battle-ready position. “Ready,” she huffed
As Eaglepaw had suspected, her mentor charged at her first, she nimbly ducked out of the way and slashed at his side with her claws sheathed so as not to harm him, a cocky smirk plastered on her face. Her mentor gazed at her, his eyes narrowing at her as if amused she thought she actually bested him with one mere dodge and swipe. “Now you charge me,” he sneered. Eaglepaw nodded and charged at him, leaping with the intent of landing on him. But that didn’t happen. TallonScratch dipped aside quickly and bit down on Eaglepaws Scruff before tossing her into the shallows of the stream.
Pain seared into Eaglepaws' pelt as the water smacked against her, then the sharp, blunt stones at the bottom hit her, and the pain intensified. She stood up and shook out her pelt. She shivered and scrambled onto the shore, avoiding her mentor's gaze.
“A newborn kit could have seen that attack coming from a mile away.” Tallonscratch sneered. “Try again, Eaglepaw, don’t let your confidence distract you from the real threat.”
They trained until the sky turned orange from the sunset. Eaglepaw didn’t know how many times she had been thrown into the water; more than she could count. Her muscles ached with effort as she crawled up the shore and shook out her pelt again, huffing.
“That's enough for today, maybe you won’t disappoint as much tomorrow.” He hissed before turning tail to march back towards camp. Eaglepaw looked down at her paws, her claws unsheathed with the effort it took to stand. She wasn’t bleeding, but she felt bruising from the rocks on the shore forming under her fur.
She sat on the sand and stared at the water. It made her sick. She looked away back at her paws
“I’ll be the best warrior I can be, so I never go in that again,” she vowed before standing up and walking back towards camp.
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