[ti]Open[/ti]Dropping In

[KingHarry]

"Look how far down it is!" Robinpaw exclaimed, carefully peering down over the rocks that sat at the edge of the waterfall. They really were a long way up, weren't they? It was probably pretty dangerous to be playing where they were, but oh well - the danger was what made it extra fun.

The tabby tom knocked a small rock over the side of the waterfall. For a brief moment there was silence and then... Splash. Ha! Brilliant! Robinpaw knocked off another stone and laughed as the same thing happened again. He shot a happy look over his shoulder at his companions before going back to looking over the edge.

"How deep do you reckon the river is?" He asked, more to himself than to his friends as he slowly edged closer to the drop. "Do you think a cat could, you know, jump into it from here?"

[silverfang218]

Sootpaw thinks this is a bad idea; maybe it’s the fact that he was raised by Silverfang, who had fallen off a cliff as a young apprentice, or maybe he’s just a bit jumpy. Either way, he has no idea why he’s up here or why he doesn’t just leave. Or why he follows his fellow apprentices around.

Sootpaw keeps his distance from the edge, looking down at his paws. At Robinpaw’s question of whether or not a cat could jump down into the river below, Soot sarcastically mews, “Well I’m sure a cat could jump from this height. Whether or not they’d live or they should jump is another matter entirely. As for how deep the river is, deep enough that you’d sink if you didn’t know how to swim.” The sass child over here is laying down the facts. Soot’s gaze moves up from the ground to focus on Robin, eyeing the other cat with an expression like well? Are you gonna do it?

[sabs]

FOXPAW >>

    The young cat was more than excited to be out of the Clan camp, and, even more so, excited to be around her fellow apprentices. Droplets of water continued to pelt Foxpaw's face as she peered over the edge. "Ooo, I dunno, maybe you could be the first to find out?" The apprentice snickered, then turned and playfully nudged Sootpaw. "Don't be such a scaredy pelt!" She purred, edging closer toward the end of the rock. Gazing down, it was rather hard to see the water from here because of all the mist shrouding it. It sure was a sight to see, the apprentice thought. What a fitting place for MistClan cats to live, by a misty waterfall! Foxpaw snickered to herself. She watched as Robinpaw flung rocks over the edge. "I bet I can throw mine further!" She challenged, swiping her paw over the edge and completely missing the rock she was aiming for, dislodging her footing and slipping onto her side. The apprentice slowly got up and scrambled away from the edge of the waterfall. Phew! That sure was a close one. Her fiery pelt shimmered underneath the waterfall. She could've easily gone over the edge, guess they should be more careful...

[KingHarry]

"I reckon I could swim," Robinpaw responded cockily. It was just flailing your paws about, right? Yeah. He could definitely do that. It didn't seem that hard.

Being the first cat to jump off the waterfall would be pretty cool. Maybe he'd even get a warrior name based on the act! Robinfall or Robinleap, perhaps? The apprentice didn't know for sure, but that certainly sounded like something that he would be able to brag about in the future.

Really, there was no reason not to jump. "I'm going to do it." Robinpaw decided, looking back at his fellow apprentices. He was going to jump. He was going to jump and nobody could change his mind about it. Hey, maybe his friends could even jump too! They could make a sport out of it!

Robinpaw shot a wink at Sootpaw, revelling in the other cat's nerves and, without a second thought, he jumped.

But as he jumped, the apprentice slipped - paw's unable to grip the slippery rocks and causing him to half leap, half fall. Robinpaw shouted as he fell, body twisting as he rapidly attempted to correct his body so that he could at least land on his feet. The water falling above him and hitting his body threw him off guard, though, and the young cat just couldn't sleep to fix his posture. Not only that but, thanks to slipping, Robinpaw realised at the last second that he wasn't even falling towards the water. He was heading for the rocks! Frantically now, he began to wiggle - desperately hoping that he could move to the side a little and-

The last thing the tom saw was jagged rocks rapidly coming towards him as he yelled before he ultimately hit the ground with a loud thump and a crack as his skull hit stone.

[silverfang218]

Sootpaw huffs at Foxpaw, “I think it’s called the will to live. That and I would totally fall if I got too close. You might want to go for a swim, but I’ll stay out of the water, thanks.” Truth; his partial blindness and occasional clumsiness makes staying back the wisest choice for Soot… it’s probably the wisest choice for all wayward apprentices, but ya know. Who listens to reason anymore?

As Foxpaw confidently strides up and nearly takes a tumble into the pool below, Sootpaw finally leaps closer to the edge, wanting to be able to help his companion if he needs too. Fox scrambles away on his own and Soot gives a little smile in relief. One of his companions lives another day. Sootpaw plops down right where he is again, quite a bit closer to the edge now, though still a (somewhat) safe distance away.

As Robinpaw declares that he’s gonna jump, Sootpaw mutters, “See you in StarClan, you mousebrain.” If only Sootpaw knew how spot on he was. As Robinpaw half falls half jumps off the waterfall, Sootpaw creeps up to the edge. Robin’s cries and just the sheer stupidity of this idea is conjuring quite a bit of concern in the snowy apprentice. He creeps right up to the edge, keeping Foxpaw within his sight; Soot doesn’t want to be pushed off the edge should Robin give them an all clear.

As Robinpaw scores a perfect ten on his swan dive, Sootpaw calls out, “Hey, Robinpaw. You okay down there?”

[M'Lady]

Ashlark was the more charismatic of the two, so it was usually her that went to bring cats to Starclan at this point. But the two had decided, after witnessing this death, it would be better if Whitecliff went. The stoic warrior shifted from his spot next to the apprentices on the top of the waterfall, a sigh escaping his maw as his starry pelt brushed past them and he made his way down the crags and rocks with ease. His movements were fluid and graceful, as befit a warrior that danced in Silverpelt. He settled at the bank, next to where the apprentice had died, and reached into the water to bite the furry scruff of said apprentice's spirit, yanking them out of both the river and where they clung to their body.

Once they were ashore, Whitecliff studied Robinpaw with his icy gaze, as cold and bright as the stars.
"You are dead." He said simply, rising to his paws as he glanced behind him, noticing a familiar ashy furred cat that grinned in greeting, and beckoned them along with a jerk of her head and a flick of her tail.

"We're taking you to Starclan, say your goodbyes."

[sabs]

FOXPAW >>

    Foxpaw was impressed at her fellow apprentice's eagerness to jump. She moved closer to the edge to catch a glimpse of Robinpaw's daring stunt. As soon as he leapt, however, she could tell that something wasn't quite right. The terrified look on his face sent a chill down her spine, but there was nothing she could do to save him now. She watched helplessly as her Clanmate flailed, wincing as he hit the ground with a sickening thud. Her paws stood frozen on the rock, turning away as the water below her trickled with crimson.

    Her voice was small and weak, she'd never felt so terrified in her life. "S-Sootpaw...." The apprentice gulped, her eyes wide. Oh sweet StarClan, what were they going to do? "He's not...moving..." She whispered, panic suddenly shooting through her. The red cat bolted from her place on the ledge, somehow scrambling off the edge without falling in, until she was on safe footing. A blood-curdling scream rang off the rocks around her. "Somebody help! Robinpaw...he needs help!" Foxpaw paced back and forth across the bottom of the waterfall, tears streaming down her face. She couldn't get the image of the small cat, laying limp at the bottom of the rocks...

[karambito]

Cottonpaw

The fluffy white tom had been watching his clan mates plan their absurd stunts from the bottom of the waterfall. Why would you WANT to jump off of the waterfall? he thought to himself with a snort. Despite thinking the idea was absurd and stupid, Cottonpaw couldn't help but stand by and watch to see what went down, what if it was funny?

The first to jump was Robinpaw, how typically, Cottonpaw chuckled dryly to himself as he watched the apprentice dive down into the waters. Instantly, Cottonpaw's ears pricked towards them as he heard Robinpaw's cries echo and get muffled by the rushing water. Fur prickling, Cottonpaw stood to his paws slowly as his clan mates body landed not in water, but on land. A loud, audible gasp left Cottonpaw's mouth as he witnessed this, the sound of his body cracking and splattering sticking to his ears and brain.

"Oh-oh my Starclan!" Cottonpaw mewled as he dashed over to Foxpaw's side, gazing down at the motionless, most likely lifeless body of Robinpaw. "Robinpaw!" He attempted to also 'wake' him with a few prods of his large, fluffy paw. Mist pelted his fur and water roared in his ears as he looked to Foxpaw and Sootpaw. "This is all your faults!" The usually calm tom snarled, baring white teeth. "You let him do this! And he's DEAD!" Cottonpaw felt his usual self fade away as he felt his pelt soak in with mist and shock. His own friend and clan mate....dead. How could this be? Cats only died in battle! Cottonpaw began to tremble as he looked away from them all, gazing at the ground as he crouched by Robinpaw's body.

[silverfang218]

Sootpaw shivers a bit as he looked down towards Robinpaw’s body. Soot’s sight isn’t good enough to tell what happened, and so he looks towards Foxpaw for an answer since Robin clearly isn’t giving a satisfactory answer.

Clearstream is totally standing in the back, next to Sootpaw, watching as the dynamic duo beckon the mousebrained Robinpaw towards StarClan. He doesn’t usually accompany Whitecliff or Ashlark on their excursions down to the living clans, but this one… this one he just had to witness up close to believe. As Robinpaw joins the StarClan cats in their ascension, Clearstream brings up the rear (moving to forcibly push Robinpaw along if he doesn’t go peacefully), gracefully sweeping in behind them. Before they leave completely, he turns to give the remaining MistClan apprentices a stern glare (not that they’ll notice), silently warning them to not follow in their dead denmate’s footsteps.

Foxpaw soon gives a reason for Robinpaw’s silence; Sootpaw just blinks at her. What did the mousebrain do, miss the water? Or does water not cushion falls? Soot follows Fox more slowly, carefully picking his way off the rocks then continuing to make his way back down the waterfall the same way he had gotten up there. Foxpaw can be up there and yell if she wanted to, but it was unlikely that Silverfang would hear from all the way inside camp. And if Robinpaw was only hurt, not dead, then they should probably go get Silverfang- well, Sootpaw’s gonna go get Silver either way.

It’s pretty clear, as Sootpaw nears the ground, that it’s a bit too late for any medicine cat to help much, though. ‘He’s not moving’ had made the situation sound much better than it actually was; Robin’s head seemed to have hit the rocks first, creating a pretty horrific scene. While it spooked Soot a bit to see a cat he knew like that, it wasn’t the scariest thing he’s seen in his life. Soot’s good eye is quickly drawn away from that by the screech of another of his denmates, Cottonpaw. “And how were we gonna stop him, exactly? Have you ever met Robinpaw? I told him it was a bad idea, but why would he listen to us? And if one of us tried to push him away, it would likely have caused him to fall off anyways. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I should go get Silverfang.”

He dashes inside the camp intending to do just that, unless someone else or Cottonpaw wants to stand in his way.

[karambito]

Cottonpaw

A sudden calm fell over Cottonpaw as Sootpaw responded to him. So this was death. He didn't understand why his heart was racing or why the other apprentice had snapped at him. Did HE do something wrong? They should be upset with Robinpaw, he was the one who had jumped off the cliff and to his imminent death. Ignoring his previous meltdown, Cottonpaw stared at Robinpaw's lifeless body. "Good idea to get Silverfang, though at this stage, looks like Robinpaw will be dead forever" Cottonpaw meowed nonchalantly with a shrug. He gazed up to Foxpaw, a look in her eyes. Frowning, he wondered if she needed help as well. Was she hurt? Standing up, he brushed off the mist from his fur, looking around. There wasn't anything for him, no duties for his clan.