Stifling Shad[o]ws

[Unity]

Smirking almost demonically as the tom neared the edge of the stream Unity purred, "Well let me give you a... head-start."

Starting from where she was she pounced, aiming for the tom's shoulders and knock him off balance that way just enough to make him topple at the least partially into the silver liquid. If he decided to dodge at the last minute given he had the agility to do such a thing, it would be her soaking wet.

[Kot]

Kot flinched in surprise as he lost balance and stumbled, tumbling into the river with a laugh. "Ah, a sly one!" He mewed with amusement as he resurfaced, water dripping off of his whiskers. He kept himself afloat with kicks from powerful legs, eyeing Unity with blue orbs that shone with mischievousness. "Well, you'll join me, won't you?" He aimed to hop out of the water and push her in to it, then falling in after her. If she should dodge he would remain on the river bank.

[Unity]

Unity had never been one to get her fur when, besides the unexpected rain when she was on a hunt but even then she could take shelter under a tree. Although as she was deep in thought she was caught off guard. The black tom was fast, very fast. Able to bound out of the water before she even knew it and attempt to knock her in.

And she tumbled, rolling into the water and then falling under. It was cold, extremely cold. Cold and dark. For a minute she felt as if she was dead, not being able to see anything besides the moonlight showing in rays through the surface. Luckily enough she found her way to the top, gasping for air then dragging herself to the shore only to sputter up some water.

[Kot]

Kot chuckled. "Sorry, I didn't realize you hadn't been paying attention. Are you alright?" He paddled all four paws in turn, keeping himself afloat with ease. He planted his front paws on the bank to keep his head up easier but remained in the water. His ears dripped with water, and some of it was thrown off as he tilted his head. His eyes showed curiosity.

[Unity]

The loner puked up the last of the liquid and flashed a small smile at the tom. "I'll leave."

Unity wasn't one to put down a challenge, or act weak in front of others. Although she had her limits, she knew what she couldn't and what she could do and had at least a tad bit of survival instinct for her age.

"Let's go again."

A fire blazed silver in her grey eyes and she shook herself off and turned back towards the depths, staring the water down like it was her greatest foe. Then without anything but a few steps backward she ran, springing off the mud and into the water in an arc. This time she managed to stay slightly more towards the surface, legs kicking furiously beneath her.

[Kot]

Kot pulled his paws off of the bank and once again was using all four to keep himself up. "You sure you got this?" He asked, a smirk lining his maw at the fire in her eyes. "You don't need to fight that hard. Just relax and the water will do most of the work for you." He demonstrated this well, as he was moving his paws slowly compared to her vigorous kicking. His sapphire eyes were locked on her, watching her try to keep her head above the water.

[Unity]

Unity groaned and tried to go slightly slower, relaxing her body more and the letting the water run freely through her pelt. At this moment in time she couldn't tell if she liked the cool liquid running over her or not so much. It was oddly nice on this humid summer night.

"Better?" She mused, finally looking up from the water and searching his eyes for approval. Although all she pulled from them was a cold... almost judging curiosity.

This loner wasn't all bad.

[Kot]

Kot nodded. "You catch on quickly." He noticed, flicking an ear. He paddled past her and started pushing himself upstream. "Come on, then, let's see if you've actually gotten the hang of this. Think you can fight the current?" Soon he began showing signs of effort as he reached a faster-flowing area of the river and had to fight to move forward. He glanced over his shoulder to see if Unity would follow or not, but didn't move his gaze from it's position in front of him for too long.

[Unity]

She was already becoming quite exhausted from just keeping herself up in the calm of the water. But the current, this sounded like a whole new level of hard. Harder than hunting hard. "Uh, sure?" She mewed, slightly uncertain of her choices now.

But either way she followed, even though her gut instinct was to turn back and head to shore before her lungs and heart exploded. As she neared the slightly more snaking water she could feel herself being pulled backwards, her legs thrusting five times more than they had been.

"It's like climbing a tree with no claw holds." She hissed through gritted teeth.

[Kot]

Kot looked back at her. "I suppose it is a little like that." He tilted his head. "Having trouble?" He chuckled lightly and stopped paddling, letting the current carry him swiftly backwards so he was next to Unity. "We could always stop and go the other way." He let the river drag him backwards a little more, then pushed himself forward so he was once again next to the grey female. "It's a nice way to strengthen the leg muscles, I'll give you that." He too was beginning to grow tired, a hint of weariness darkening his blue gaze.

[Unity]

Unity snorted water as her mussel went under for half a second, her claws tearing through the current like the flesh of her enemies. Not to mention her lungs were screaming for mercy as if she was actually in a fight.

"Yeah... maybe it is time for a little break." She breathed, pumping her legs even harder now until she reached the shore, basically dragging herself on the bank and collapsing before her entire body even met the shore.

"This seems like a grand place to take a nap." She purred, her eyes fluttering shut and then open again.

[Kot]

Kot laughed as she dropped onto the ground. He hauled himself onto the bank as well, then shook himself before laying down, legs folding underneath him. "Mm, a nap would be nice after that..." A purr of agreement rumbled in his throat as he tucked his black paws underneath his white belly, water pooling around him as it dripped from his fur. He set to drying himself off, rough pink tongue scraping the water out of his pelt. "One thing I don't like about the water is it leaves you soaked..." A bit of a funny thing to say, for a cat who liked to swim.

[Unity]

This cat seemed to make everything look so simple and easy. Sighing she rolled over onto her back and let the water drain from her still almost kit-like stomach fur. She was barely 6 moons, still small and holding all her young influences. Unity was surprised she had made it this far.

"So Kot. Where are you actually from." The loner mewed, he smelled of other things rather than wilderness. Some other kind of smell, he came from somewhere.

[Kot]

"Hm, perceptive little she-cat. Well, it's true that I was born a loner, and I have been one up until only a few days ago, before I found myself part of a clan living nearby." This information would decide if she hung around or not, and he knew that well, but he'd had his fun and didn't mind if Unity now chose to run off.

[Unity]

Unity knew of the forest cat smells, she knew of rouge smells. He was none of them. There was only one clan she dared not to venture near, not close to their territory. They were a ruthless class, even challenging the clan cats to battle over their territory. These cats were known as Deathclan, and it made sense.

"Deathclan eh?" She mewed, feeling slightly more uncomfortable by his calm sapphires. Still wearing her mask she struggled not to the let the growing lump in her stomach show through.

Loners were bad, rouge. Worse.