Chapter 2: His First Friend

Instructions

A cold, raging river stood before the three cats. Mudspatter's paws were at the riverbank, his unsheathed claws digging into the peat frantically. I can’t do this! Why can’t I hunt for the clan, or- ”Want a little taste of the water, huh, baby Muddy?” Nightmaretalon sneered, waving his tail for Skink to join them and pin Mudspatter down. ”Please, no-“ he gasped as the yellow paws held around his shoulders shoved him to the muddy ground. He felt sick. ”Shut up! You need to learn your lesson, runt!” The gray tom's powerful hind legs pounded Muddy into the river. He screamed, bubbles erupting from his muzzle. He was retching and waving around madly. They dragged him back up to the surface and he gasped for air, spluttering and coughing. He shivered so violently it looked like he had been through ten horrible blizzards. ”W-w-w why are you doing this?!” He wailed, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. ”Having fun!” Skink cackled as Nightmaretalon sneered, ”Shut it! We are teaching you a valuable lesson, rat!" ”Just leave me alone...” Muddy groaned, curling up into a tight ball of fur for warmth. ”Oh no you don’t!” They kicked him full on into the raging stream and he screamed, splashing and thrashing. He had never learned how to swim and was quickly sinking while being dragged along the current. StarClan, why didn’t you kill me in that flood? This is unbearable! he thought, frantically having given up his vain attempts to stay above the surface. He started to sink slowly to the rocky bottoms as his vision blacked out. Until suddenly, jaws met his chest fur and hauled him out of the river with great strength and effort. “Don’t hurt me anymore! Please!” he squeaked feebly, coughing up water. ”Why would I hurt you? And aren’t you a RiverClan cat? Why didn’t you swim?” A she-cat's voice was audible through Mudspatter's water-logged ears. He lifted his head and rested it back down again, feeling dizzy. ”Who are you?…” he murmured, still shivering. ”I could say the same to you, pal! I’m Reedfluff. From ThunderClan.” Mudspatter leapt to his paws, hissing, but fell over again. The red-and-brown she-cat rolled her eyes. ”Prideful RiverClan,” she scoffed, nudging him into a sitting position. ”Ehem well, thank you f-for your help,” she mocked teasingly, laughing. ”H-hey…. b-but yeah, thanks,” he mumbled, flushing. ”Don’t take it too hard. It’s just a joke, silly,” Reedfluff mewed, hopping up onto one of the shining stones of Sunningrocks, which did currently belong to ThunderClan. ”Uh, well, I’m Mudspatter…” He shuffled his paws, wondering where Nightmaretalon and Skinkfang went. They were bound to find him soon. ”Nice to meet ya, slippery paws,” she snorted, balancing him again. ”Heh heh, yeah… I’m afraid of water, actually,” he muttered, his thin tail twitching anxiously.