A slight recap. (Closed to all non-Batpaws)

Leafpaw sat at the edge of RiverClan territory. She breathed in the smell of water from the river, and the still absent smell of fish to her nose. Raintalon, her mentor, had brought her around to see the territories just earlier this day. She was facinated by them all, so she came out to look at them again.

The clans she found most interesting were WindClan and RiverClan. RiverClan, she liked them better. They had the luxery of living next to the river and have as much of the fish as they wanted. True, all the clans had part of the river, but she through they had more of it.

She took a deep breath, enjoying the smell and look of the area.

Batpaw stood on the edge of the river,feeling the cold wind blow through his fur. He was staring down at the water,images of his dead family flashing through his mind as he watched his reflection shimmer. He looked up,feeling a tiny jolt of surprise to see a ThunderClan cat on the other side of the border. Should he chase her off? He shrugged and continued to watch her,his golden eyes carefully blank.

LEafpaw sighed. Her first day of training was horrible. She couldn't even catch the mouse. She was startled by a bird. A bird! She wasn't scared of anything, but a bird flying from the bush made her lose her first look at live prey. She felt qa little happier when they went to the borders, but not for long.

Raintalon, her mentor, didn't even let her see the other clans, DarkClan, FireClan, and WolfClan. She didn't get to see them, just try and catch more mice. She liked hunting, but how could you if you couldn't even catch a mouse!

Leafpaw lay down in the grass and tucked her paws under her. She looked at the border line. What was it like being on RiverClan? With all the fish? She looked around, no one, she couldn't see anything. With no one around, the temptation of seeing what it was like gripped her. She could just, step over, for a second! It wasn't like she was stealing prey.

She inched herself closer and then stopped. No! No! You'll be breaking the warrior code! She thought in her mind. SHe would! She couldn't do that! She was just made apprentice that day and already she was trying to break rules.

But it was so tempting! Okay, okay. She wouldn't walk over, but... maybe she could just put a paw in. What harm was that, right? It didn't really count as being on the border, no, not at all! It was jsut a pay after all.

Slowly, Leafpaw pulled her paw from under her and reached out. It inched over the border, and when she started to get nervous she padded the ground and brought her paw in quickly.

..... So that's what it was like being on RiverClan. Leafpaw felt like mud was weighing down of her pelt. She had just crossed the border, not officially, but with a paw. She broke the code! She knew it! What had she done?

Batpaw chuckled,an amused look passing over his eyes. The huge black tom flicked his paw into the water,bringing out a fat fish. He had found what was polluting the river yesterday;a body stuffed with deathberries. He decided to leave it there,and he didn't feel ashamed at all. Maybe because there was a devious streak in him?

Unlikely. But he shrugged. As long as he fished downstream of the body,the fish would be safe to eat. He walked up to the border and set the fish down,then he returned to his post. ThunderClan were sure to be hungrier than RiverClan. But why did he care? No. Clue.

He kept up his charade of being mute to amuse himself,and to keep a safe distance from anyone he might row close to. Anyway,he hadn't spoken much since his sister's deaths. He shuddered,remembering waking up beside his sisters that morning and how they felt like frost. He'd begged them to wake up but they were dead already. Since then he'd become this bitter,hard shell of what he'd been before.

He wondered briefly why the ThunderClan cat had even set her paw into the border,but was too preoccupied being mute to ask her.

OOC:Hehehehehe..this is like a replay of Graystripe and Silverstream...except you haven't fallen i the river yet.. ^^

OOC: ... WHY DID YOU REMIND ME OF THAT! DX *kills self*

Leafpaw stood up, still looking over the border. A shudder went through her as she thought about what she just did. A step over the border! A whole step! That was just... reckless. But she did it anyways. What harm would come if she went a little farther?

She grinned and crouched down. Yep, she was going to do it! Just.. jump across. And she wouldn't end up in any trouble since the river was, what? A couple paced away? She couldn't jump that far. Right? And she could measure it.

With one push she jumped over the border. To her surprise she had goofed up. She jumped too hard and was now falling right into the river. Maybe swimming wasn't that hard....

With a hard splash she felt the cold claws of the river sink into her fur and rake at her skin. She flailed wildly, trying to get out. Water surged into her ears and mouth as she sunk down. When she went back up she gasped for air, but it didn't seem like enough before she went back under, her lungs feeling like they'd explode.

OOC: Rain pressured me into doing it...... XD

OOC:Did not. ^^ Ok,maybe I did.

Batpaw leaped to his paws,his fur bristling with alarm. He scanned the choppy brown water carefully,looking for the she-cat's return to the surface. When she didn't come up,he didn't think. He just acted.

Icy water stung his eyes as he launched himself in after the ThunderClan cat,and he kicked out strongly,easily making his way through the water. Only then did he realize what he was doing. His mind was screaming at him. What are you doing?! Are you crazy?! you're gonna get yourself killed over a cat that threw herself in the river!

But he reached down,groping blindly under the water as he searched for her. Then he felt his pelt brush fur and reached out to it.

Leafpaw thrashed wildly in the water, unable to help herself. She didn't know how long she had left before she ran out of breath, she just knew she had to get herself out. She wasn't sure, but she thought another cat jump in along with her, no, impossible, there wasn't another cat around.

Her lungs tightened and burned with the need for new air, she felt like her head would explode. She couldn't see a thing, her eyes were closed. Even with her frantic swimming she was unafraid of what was happening at the moment, but she was everything, but calm.

She tried to think of how a RiverClan cat might swim, but she had never seen one swim herself, and was unable to try and copy the movements.

Leafpaw's heart skipped a beat when she felt jaws grab her scruff, and flailed around with more power at the feeling. It was almost as if she though the water grew jaws and was getting ready to drag her down deeper until she lost all her strength.

Batpaw's head emerged from the waves,his paws churning strongly in the fast current. "Breath!"he hissed through the ThunderClan cat's scruff,pulling her head above water.

Leafpaw took in a deep breath were her head was brought above water, but her break was too quick and left her coughing out water from her lungs. She felt exhausted, but she still found the energy to thrash about in the water, still trying to get away from the jaws of the water.

Even if she heard the voice of the RiverClan tom she still couldn't take away the thought of being brought back under. Not again. She was just made an apprentice. It couldn't end because she felt the thrill of trespassing over another clan's territory! Not at all!

Batpaw felt pebbles brush past his paws,and he struck out towards them,dragging the other apprentice with him onto the shallow sand-bar. He let go of her scruff,letting her fall into the shallows. "Are you alright?"his voice was worried. Wait. Worried? He didn't worry. Except about himself. He shook his head and prodded the ThunderClan cat with his paw.

Leafpaw coughed more as she lay down on the ground. With the tom's grip away she relaxed more, calmer now. She took deep breaths as if at any moment the water's jaws would rise up and pull her under again.

Slowly Leafpaw opened her eyes and looked around to see herself on new territory. She recognized some, and that immediately told her she was over on RiverClan territory. Quickly she jumped back up to her paws and looked around frantically. She shouldn't be over here. She spun around facing the RiverClan tom, her eyes wide and her pelt prickling.

She calmed as she got a good look at him. He didn't look hostile instead, worrying. "Uh... yeah," she paused to let out a sneeze, "I'm fine."

The huge black tom nodded,and then he returned to his usual with-drawn state. "Why were you in our territory?"he questioned,his gravelly voice sounding rougher because of the exertion of swimming in the cold water. Batpaw shook the water off of his paws,and sat down.

Leafpaw shuffled her paws and sat down. Shoudl she sit? She didn't know, she wasn't sure. "Well... I got curious." She answered him, not a quiver in her voice, and answer as confident as it could be. "I wanted to know what it was like on this side. I put in a paw because... well... I just got apprenticed today, and I didn't want to break the code or anything, so I thought that'd be okay, you know? But then when i put it in I thought I broke it, so I figured since I already broke the rule I might as well go further, right? I didn't mean to fall in the river, but I guess StarClan was just telling me I should have just walked away, do you think?" She tilted her head when she finished.

She talked to him as if he was another clanmate instead of part of a rival clan. She wasn't too familiar with the fluctuating tensions between the clans, so, naturally, she address the other cat normally, not worrying about reports or the consequences ahead.

Batpaw nodded. "I can't really empathize with you,as I've never been in this situation,but I think I know what it's like. I'll let you off with a warning." He didn't say his name,though he was much more talkative than usual.

"A warning? That sound reasonable." She said with a nod. She looked around the territory. She was over in RiverClan! So this was what it was like to be over here? She felt... a little different. There was this tingle in her stomach, but that was probably just excitement. "So what does fish taste like?" She suddenly asked him, no warning behind it or hint as to why she asked.

"Tangy,a little. What does pigeon taste like?"Batpaw meowed,blinking golden eyes. "And your name is?" He felt slightly curious as to why this unnamed apprentice would dare set paw in RiverClan,much less try to swim.

"Oh, that sounds kind of good," Leafpaw said with a grin. "Pigeon? It tastes.. Hm.... how do I put it? It tastes like blood and... and a little sweet mixture." She grinned again, but then it disappeared. That probably wasn't a good description at all. So much for him getting an idea. "Leafpaw," she told him, "and yours?"

"Batpaw." Not that he looked much like a bat. His mother had named him Batkit because of his jet black fur and yellow eyes,but it didn't make sense to him at all. He looked up,eyes dull.

"I like it," Leafpaw laughed before giving Batpaw a friendly shove with her paw. she twitched an ear as water started to drip inside. She'd need to dry herself off soon. A harsh gust of wind blew in and sent chills down Leafpaw. Yeah, soon. She was going to freeze to death out here!

Batpaw's eyes widened. No one had ever said they like his name. They just kinda put up with it and went on their way. "I'll take you back to ThunderClan's camp. They might not believe you if you just walk in dripping wet."

"Probably not." Leafpaw agreed. "I look like I've been in a rainstorm for six moons!" She shook herself, spraying water in every direction. "Oh, sorry if I got any one you," she apologized in advance. He probably didn't like that. She looked behind her at the river and then looked back at Batpaw. "So I have to go back across the river?"

((... *grawr*))

"Don't worry. It's easy to go across when you purposely go in."Batpaw assured her,standing. He padded up to the river and waded in,standing so that the water tugged at his belly fur.

"Okay, if you say so. You're the expert." Leafpaw mewed before padding after him. Carefully she wadded into the water and slowly made her way to him. The way the water flowed right under her fur and touched her bare skin made her plenty uncomfortable, and the tug of the river's current felt weird. Though, even with how weird it was, the sensation was oddly relaxing, and very fun to her. "This is kind of cool," she laughed as she looked down at the water.

"Don't get carried away. When I say so,watch what I do exactly and follow me."Batpaw warned,his tail streaming out in the water. "Now. Watch." He leaped into the current,his head bobbing under for a few seconds as he swam. He was starting to float downstream,and he turned his body so that he could make his way to the opposite shore.

At last he reached the other shore,the water streaming off his fur like on a duck's feather. "Come on."he called over to Leafpaw. "Just keep kicking."