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Shadowfoot was blissfully happy. It was one of the rare days when her mother was in such a good mood that she allowed her eldest daughter some free time to be a cub. Just as the little dark cub set out from the family den, the thought occurred to her that she really had very little idea what to do with her free afternoon. She just didn't have that much experience playing with the other cubs in the clan, since she rarely got to, and really, she wasn't even that sure what cubs did for fun all the time. Certainly she had seen her siblings playing together, but what exactly they were doing was beyond Shadow....

Just as she was getting ready to turn around and try to find one of her siblings to tell her what to do with her time, she heard a faint mewing. Turning back to face the hilly area that comprised of her clan's territory, Shadowfoot followed her nose and realized that it was her youngest sister, Shahelda, that she smelled. The cub hoped that her little sister wasn't mewing from being in danger, the poor little one did have trouble with that from time to time.... In any case, at least Shadow had found something to do!

Breaking into the fastest run that a cub can manage, Shadowfoot followed the scents and sounds to a small creek that ran through the clan territory. For a moment she wasn't able to see any thing, but then the movement of water splashing around alerted her to the fact that something was having trouble in the stream. Hurrying to the water's edge, Shadow was a bit surprised to see that it was in fact her sister in the water. Shouting out to Shahelda that she was coming, the dark cub knew that there was no way that she could get help in time. She doubted that her littlest sister knew how to swim, and even a small creek was a danger for her. Jumping across a few stones that peaked above the water's surface, Shadow got as close to her sister's struggling form as she could and then called out again, "Shah! Can you get over here?" Shadow wasn't entirely sure that she would be able to swim for both herself and her sister, and so was a bit nervous about jumping headlong into the water. If her sister could just make a little headway against the creek, it would bring her close enough for Shadow to grab onto her....

Shaking her head as she stretched out her paw towards her little sister, Shadowfoot realized that this just wasn't going to work.... Looking down into the water, the dark cub tried to think of a plan, but the water was moving too swiftly for her to stay in place if she tried, and it was too deep for her to touch the bottom, curse her short legs.... What she needed was something else to grab onto that was closer to her sister.... Or.... Looking down stream from Shahelda, Shadow saw that there were some smooth rocks there too, maybe she could maneuver the pair of them to catch on those rocks.... No! Better idea! Get to those rocks and get Shah to let go and fall to her sister's waiting paws. Perfect! Shadow looked to her struggling sister and said, "Just hold on! I've got a plan!"

With that she dashed back to the creek's edge and down the few lengths to the next set of rocks. Jumping from one to the next, she got to the furthest out boulder and reached her paws out. "Okay Shah, let go and try to angle yourself towards me!" This had to work, right?

It seemed like a perfect plan, how hard could it be to catch and hold onto her littlest sister right? In all reality the cub was much smaller than Shadow, so really the older sister should have been able to hold on easily, but the grabbing part was likely going to be more difficult. Just as everything seemed to be going according to plan, Shadowfoot's paws outstretched to snap up her sister to safety, the little gray spot in the water sunk down in front of Shadow's eyes. Oh no, oh no, oh no! Mother is going to KILL me! Shadow thought to herself, and she tried to peer through the water to see if she could dive in after Shahelda. Just as Shadow's nerves were fraying with waiting and waiting a faint grey spot, and she readied herself for the very horrible experience of diving after her little sister, the little grey spot grew bigger and broke the surface. Luckily the grey cub hadn't floated past Shadow's position on the rocks, but she wasn't angled close enough for Shadow to grab her!

Knowing that the plan wasn't going to work in its current form, Shadow sighed to herself about something involving grooming and cold, and then pushed off the rocks into the water, her claws latching onto Shahelda's fur. The black cub knew that her sister wouldn't like that, but at least then she wouldn't slip away. She just needed to get the younger one to grab onto on her own and then maybe Shadow could grab something to get them both to shore. At least this way her sister wouldn't go under the water's surface again, Shadow just couldn't have stood to experience that terror again.

"Sure as the mist it's your fault Shah! Now Mother is going to insist on grooming us both until sunrise!" Shadow growled out, but she was reassured to feel her sister's claws in her fur, at least she was still strong enough to hold on, which would make it much easier for Shadowfoot to swim and scramble them both to shore. For the moment she was simply trying to keep them both well enough above water, but in one of her easier moments, she spotted a small set of rapids coming up, with rocks all over the river, meaning easy things to grab onto! Without actually thinking of the risks of rapids and trying to grab onto rocks, Shadow kicked off one rock that came in contact with her thrashing back paws, and that was enough to send her and Shahelda rocketing towards a log hanging over the edge of the river. "Hold on Shah!"

Extending her claws fully and skewering the log was the best way Shadow could think of to get hold of the rotting material, and thank the mist it held. This left the two cubs secured against the unstable fallen tree with swirling water still flowing all around them and continuously pushing them to let go and continue down stream. Keeping one claw stuck into the log and crossing the other over to stick back in slightly farther down the log, Shadow started pulling the two of them towards shore, but she hadn't really gotten to the part where they get out of the river yet, since the log lifted above the surface of the water before touching the shore.

A triumphant smile spread across Shadow's face as she was able to sink her front claws into wood that felt much more solid, and her back claws scratched against mud! Her heart was pounding, but the excitement of the afternoon's events had not been exactly what she considered entertainment. She cared so little about the mud squishing uncomfortably between her toes, all she wanted was to be on dry land and have her little sister safe. "Okay, I can feel the river bottom, we're almost safe Shah, just hold on." She thought she might be feeling the claws in her fur loosen, but no, that must just be her fear, Shah would be fine!

Using her front claws against the wood of the log to balance her, Shadow started clawing up the stream's bed with her back feet, stretching rather too vertically for her taste as the log continued to rise out of the water, but after just a few more steps she just knew they'd be safe, right?