it was certainly interesting. Barely had Gingerfrost finished explaining when Minnowpaw already went into the water before Gingerfrost could even give the go-head -- and befor he could retort, Minnowpaw was already back, a shivering mess, hiding behind him. Confused, Gingerfrost look over his shoulder only be met with green eyes and suddenly being told to... kitten-sit a stick?? What even was this, stick-nursery?? But alas, he hadn't much to say, for the stick was already put in his care, neatly deposited at his paws. Gingerfrost sigh, solemnly accepting this fate.

Next came, chaos. Before Gingerfrost could utter a word, Minnowpaw ran back into the water, posing a bunch of questions even her didn't know the answer to. The water was wet because... It's wet? You'd have to be some all-knowing being to know the answer to this, surely, Gingerfrost was content with just accepting that water was wet and annoying. But not Minnowpaw, clearly, who then suddenly tripped and flailed about the water. For a moment Gingerfrost panicked, getting up and rushing into the water.

"Quit flailing your paws about and try pushing the water away."
He mew as he attempted to get closet to Minnowpaw, but only getting batted away by flailing paws until the apprentice somewhat managed to paddle; which, of course, the deputy monitored closely by remaining next to Minnowpaw with a slight frown. Now he was wet too and Minnowpaw almost drowned, great. He sigh. At least the apprentice was alright and back where they can stand.

Solemnly Gingerfrost climbed back onto land too, shaking out his pelt the moment he could then eyes turning to Minnowpaw who... Didn't look as frightened as he expected? On the contrary, the apprentice looked rather excited to try this again, and that... Never mind. Just don't question it.
"This time go about it calmer. Step in the water and try moving your paws how I instructed you to - like you're running... Sort off. Try it, in the shallows."
He made sure to iterate 'shallows' very well, so a same scenario as just now wouldn't happen again.

Up quite early, was he now; but only to train a certain apprentice. One, quite frankly, he would've thought to almost be ready for their assessment -- only a vital part of her training was still missing: swimming. That's where he jumped in, ready to teach the cat how to not drown and die in the water like other misfortunate souls had. It is certainly something to be avoided, and why he never turned down an apprentice looking for a swimming lesson. Seriously. Even some warriors fall in the river and get lost for moons on end, and Gingerfrost wasn't particularly fond of that.

His tail waved lightly as he took Kestrelpaw with him across the territory to the familiar spot of Cattail Pond, where their lesson would be taking place. As usual, the water was decently calm today, offering the perfect chances for a successful swimming lesson. And, admittedly, it was a nice break from all the kittens too.
"You can go in the water, but stay where you can stand -- get used to the feeling. If anything goes wrong, you get out and call me, okay?"
Turning towards the apprentice he gestured over a shallow area where she could safely get in and stand.


[ @sol. - kes' swimming lesson ]

Gingerfrost remained silent as Kestrelpaw went into the water; the twitching, to him, was a fairly natural reaction and precisely why he always asked apprentices (or whomever he was teaching) to get used to the water first. It could be an almost scary situation for some, or the cold was simply surprising. It depended on the cat. With Kestrelpaw, it seemed that it was simply the cold.

He sat down, waiting a few heartbeats to give the apprentice the time and get used to cold feeling of water seeping into one's fur -- a feeling he found particularly uncomfortable, strange as it may be for a RiverClan cat. He looked to the side a little, then back at the apprentice who was moving further and further into the water until her neck. Perhaps that was just a little far, though the tabby didn't say anything; surely she'd manage.

For a moment, he thought back to Bluebellpaw. The niece he had long realised disappeared from the clan for whatever reason. He'd lying if he said he wasn't worried; Kestrelpaw must be too. Even he could tell the cousins had been close. But this was a swimming lesson, and he had to ban the thought to the back of his mind. Focusing again the apprentice and the lesson, Gingerfrost continued.

"To swim, you'll use your front paws to pull the water towards and below you; with your back legs, you kick the water away. Keep in mind that you'll have to kick hard: while your chest has air to help it float, your back is nothing but dead weight. You use your tail to steer like so."
He stood up and turned to his side, giving the apprentice an example of how to move one's tail to steer. He still vividly recalled what his mentor had told him back when he was learning how tot swim... And his own embarrassing struggle to stay afloat.
"You can also use your body weight to steer a little, by slightly leaning towards the side you want to turn to. Try it."
with that, the tabby wanted to sit back down. But given that this was Kestrelpaw's first swimming lesson, and the accidents that he had come to realise could happen, Gingerfrost decided to keep standing. That way he could jump in quicker should anything go terribly wrong. Speaking of which;
"If ever anything goes wrong, try to stay calm and paddle to shore. Panicking will do you no good."


[ @sol. ]