The kits looked up at the warrior, eyes shining with admiration as he began the tale. “So, there I was…” he began.
…
Mudnose’s fur was flattened by the rain that was blasted down by the storm overhead. The wind blew fierce, howling like a dog targeting its prey. “I’m so close,” the warrior says as he run alongside the river, trying to catch up with the log that was drifting further away with each second.
As Mudnose passed the log, he took the leap of faith, throwing himself into the river. The water pushed against him as he hit, trying to drag the tom to the bottom of the icy pool. He kicked out, desperately swimming to the log with all his might.
The rain was only getting heavier, acting as a force to drag the tom down, as though paws were pressed against his back, pushing him under. When the tom reached the log, he reached his paws out, throwing himself over the log. As Mudnose took a moment to let himself breathe before continuing, a small set of eyes stared back at him. “There you are,” he says with relief, grabbing the kit that had been washed away by the scruff of fur at his nape.
Throwing himself back, Mudnose pushed himself towards shore, swimming against the current and the storm, desperate to save both himself and the stranded kit. The closer that the tom swum to the shore, the further downstream he appeared to be. In a last attempt to get to shore, he used all his strength to beat the current, pressing.
“Ashkit,” a she-cat yelled as Mudnose noticed a group of cats on the shore, staring back at him, some with tears running down their faces. Mudnose lifted the kit up, trying to pass it to her as she ran alongside the river. The kit’s mother grabbed Ashkit the moment that Mudnose lost all strength and was pushed under the water, dragged to the bottom of the depths.
As Mudnose resurfaced, he felt a pain in his back as he was thrown against a rock, the rapids still pushing him further back. The sharp edges of the rocks fought against the rapids of the storm, tearing at his back. Mudnose let off a cry of pain before he felt a set of teeth connect with his neck and pull him out of the water.
Mudnose laid out on the ground that was churned up with the storm, panting heavily and finding himself in pain, having pushed himself past his limits, but alive and safe. “Is he okay?” The tom asked the queen.
“He is thanks to you,” she replied, letting him see the kit that was being helped by the two medicine cats who arrived on the scene sometime around when he was pulled out of the river.
…
“Wowee,” one of the kits chirps up. “you’re so cool! I want to be just like you when I grow up!”
Mudnose smiles at the kits before standing up, groaning and stretching his legs. “Right, I better be going now,” the warrior says to the kits who all happily say ‘goodbye’ before running back to their mothers to tell them about ‘the brave warrior that they talked to today’.
“Still telling that old tale?” a voice says behind Mudnose.
Turning around, the tom was faced with his old apprentice, Ashmask, and chuckled. “It’s better than the truth, more exciting too.”
Mudnose walked up to his apprentice still chuckling to himself. “Falling out of a tree because I was scared by my apprentice sneaking up behind me doesn’t sound as great, does it?” Mudnose commented, nudging Ashmask on his way past.
