don't let me down || p, newt;

This was it. This was officially Kilio's first adventure through the RiverClan territory since arriving, and the young cub was determined to find something cool. He still wanted to go adventuring with Neon, but he wanted to prove that he could find fun stuff on his own. Because he could! He totally could! Although at the moment he was finding mostly rainsoaked shrubbery, a small shower having just ended. There had to be more to this place than beaches and palm trees.

Stepping through a patch a foliage, a grin spread across Kilio's maw as he found exactly what he wanted. A large, swirling pool stood in front of him, the junction of two rivers creating a deep vortex. Now that was cool. The striped hyena cocked his head, wondering idly just how deep it could possibly be. Had the rain made it bigger than usual? Surely he could see the bottom if he looked at it from above, and then maybe there would even be something hidden in it!

Kilio glanced around him, head going still when he found a large tree with its branches hanging over the pool. It wasn't quite as far out as he would have liked, but it was good enough! And maybe it was better this way, since he didn't know how to swim and the water was probably still shallow where he would be observing from. He made his way to the tree, digging his claws into the bark and scrabbling up the trunk with his small paws. It was a bit more difficult with the rain making the tree more slick, but his fluffy fur managed to catch against pieces of bark anyway. It may have hurt, but it probably saved the cub from falling a few times until he reached more solid branches to hold onto. Good thing there were at least a few trees that weren't palm trees; those branchless fruitsticks were even harder to climb.

Finally he scrambled onto the largest branch, balancing carefully at its base and taking a few steps forward. He looked down at the sloshing water below him, seeing only gray. Was the water really already so deep that he couldn't see the bottom? That was ridiculous, he was barely over the edge! It must just be the reflection of the clouds that still hung in the air obscuring things. Yeah, that was it! Reinvigorated with false confidence Kilio took several rushed steps to the edge of the branch, freezing when he felt it begin to bend under his weight. Slowly, the cub shifted his eyes down, not even daring to move his head. The water was still completely murky and gray, clashing waves meeting in violent splashes.

It occurred to Kilio then that perhaps the small rainshower had, in fact, been more of a big deal than he had realized. He couldn't even think about how deep that water was at this point; all he knew was he had accomplished his adventure of looking at a dangerous pool from above, and it was time to inch his way backwards. Somehow. He would get there eventually. Or he could just jump into the water! Swimming couldn't be that hard, surely. Yeah, the waves looked awfully strong and yeah, there was no telling how far he might sink if he couldn't do it. But he had to have faith! A true adventurer always succeeded, and he would too. And how amazing would it be to tell everyone he learned to swim in a terrifying pool all by himself? He allowed himself a small smile, barking a short chant to himself. "I'm Kilio, the greatest Riverclanner ever!" Arcanepaw would be so proud of him.

The sudden voice caused Kilio to jerk up, looking towards the tabby who had appeared. What was this clanmate doing here? And who did he think he was? Kilio could do anything he set his mind to, he could easily learn to swim in the pool! Puffing out his cheeks, Kilio made a quick twisting motion, just barely managing to turn around on the branch with one of his paws getting stuck sideways. "Says who? I'm doing just fine, thank you very much."

Really, Newt had no reason to worry. Kilio was perfectly capable of handling his own adventures, he didn't need anyone breathing down his neck about what was dangerous. He lived for the thrill of danger! Turning again, the cub attempted to undo the motion he had made earlier and look back at the pool. His one paw, still stuck, suddenly bent at the wrong angle, causing it to slip off the branch and into the air.

And it didn't take long for the rest the hyena to follow the movement his paw had started. Eyes wide in surprise, he barely had time to register to incoming water before he was dunked under the surface by the force of gravity. The cub thrashed wildly at the currents, an icy chill numbing his movements. What was this? He had to swim! He had to learn to swim right now! He began making a running motion with his paws, trying to walking along the water. He needed to figure this out soon, or his lungs were going to give out while he was still under.

Wheezing sounds filled the air as Kilio greedily sucked oxygen into his lungs, followed by violent coughing. That hadn't gone as planned. At all. He wasn't even sure how they had ended up back on land, but he begrudgingly admitted it was probably a good thing Newt had been there. With shaky legs, Kilio stood slowly, his soaking pelt plastered to his frame. He reached out one paw to nudge the feline before him. "Um. Are you alright?" His words were hoarse and punctuated by gasps, but he forced them out nonetheless.

The words brought up a bubble of indignation in Kilio's chest. He didn't need anyone's help, he shouldn't have to have an older clanmate trailing behind him with everything he wanted to do! But at the mention of his father his frustration deflated a bit. He didn't want to make his dad sad. But he knew what he was doing! This was just bad luck, just an unfortunate bump in his adventures that turned out ok in the end. Those happened all the time! He would be fine, really.

The young hyena pushed his ears back, huffing as he turned away from Newt. "I just wanted to see if I could do it myself. A-and we're both fine so. . . it doesn't matter that much." Conflict swam in his eyes, wanting to be independent and strong but also feeling some twinge of guilt at the possibility of worrying Arcane. "I-I'll ask someone to teach me to swim. It won't happen again. S-so please don't tell my dad about this." And maybe he'd take a break on self adventures for a while. That didn't mean he'd have some stuffy adults following him, no way! But he'd at least bring friends along until he got a better feel for the territory. Just in case.

Ears perked up as Kilio whipped his head back to look at Newt. A haunted cove? Treasure? Now that sounded awesome. Way better than whatever he was hoping to find at the bottom of that deathly vortex pool! He nodded quickly towards the feline, amber eyes bright. "Alright! Yeah! I can be your body guard in the haunted cove. But if we find any treasure, I get to keep some of it!" Maybe this guy wasn't all that bad. Kilio would still get up to his own adventures with some other friends, of course, but for now it sounded fun enough to follow Newt. Especially if it meant his father wouldn't know about the incident.

"And, uh, you can teach me to swim sometime." That would be useful, wouldn't it? He could try out adventuring at sea then, swimming to a new island! Yeah, this feline was proving to alright in Kilio's book.

Well, Kilio wouldn't argue with that. He could take all the treasure and share it with Arcanepaw! Although he'd have to tell his dad that he went adventuring with the feline of his own accord and not because he had his ass dragged out of a river. It wasn't lying if he just left out what happened before they went to the cove! Besides, he'd have so much to say about a haunted adventure that no one would question how he decided to get there. Looking at Newt eagerly, the hyena barked "Alright, let's go fight some ghosts then!"

Kilio skipped along behind Newt for what appeared to be a much shorter amount of time than he anticipated. He figured this haunted cove would be somewhere completely secret and hidden, really hard to get to! But maybe proximity didn't affect the quality of adventures that much, it could still be fun. He grabbed the backpack Newt handed him and sat down to bring it over his shoulders before remembering to take the hard hat out and put it on. It was a little bit big on him, but that was fine, he'd make it work. He'd been somewhat listening to Newt as he focused on the supplies, but he probably didn't miss anything important. With that he looked up towards the feline, his hat hitting his muzzle with the force if him whipping his head up. Pushing it upwards above his eyes so that it slid slightly to the side, Kilio shifted his paws in excitement. "I'm ready! Let's go find this treasure!" Maybe after they got started Newt would let Kilio lead the way through the cave. That would be amazing! He'd be finding his way with only his instincts to guide him, like a real adventurer!

Kilio bounced in excitement as Newt let him lead them through the cave. He was leading a real discovery team! This was amazing. The cub ran ahead, listening to the echoing of his own pawsteps as he did. He stopped for a moment, contemplating the noise, then let out what he considered to be a ferocious bark into the tunnel so that he could hear it repeated back to him. He did it a couple times, continuing to listen to the faint noises of the cave. "Newt, look! I'm gonna scare away every ghost before they even get to us!" He certainly hadn't forgotten about the haunted part in his eagerness to find treasure; they would have to fight off the ghosts for their prize.

His confidence wavered just a bit as he felt a sudden chill in the air. Was it windy? It must have been windy, yeah, that was it. Windy. In the cave. When another barking echo bounced off the walls, the cub jumped a foot in the air, letting out an undignified squeak as he ran closer to Newt again. "Um, heh, that echo took a little while to come back, huh?" He wasn't about to assume that he made the ghosts mad. That was too frightening of a thought.

Newt's sudden reaction sent a wisp of uncertainty into Kilio. Was it alright for him to go further into the cave all on his own? And what did he mean by being waken up suddenly? As the feline disappeared ahead of him, the hyena pinned his ears back and stared into the darkness. "Newt?" he whispered, wanting desperately for his new friend to come back.

He shook his head then, trying to ignore his apprehension. He was supposed to be Newt's bodyguard! He couldn't leave the tom to go wandering through the cave to be eaten up by ghosts! (He also didn't want to be eaten by ghosts himself while Newt was gone, but he wouldn't admit that.) Taking a few slow pawsteps, he attempted to navigate the darkness as silently as he could to find out what Newt was doing. Maybe he could be sneaky enough that he wouldn't know Kilio was following. Although he would certainly jump out of hiding if he discovered Newt being attacked! Just like a good body guard.

Kilio had followed with careful steps, only a couple of times accidentally shifting a rock or pebble and freezing until he was sure nothing had come back to get him. By the time he was able to make out the form of Newt again, he was at the end of the cavernous tunnel, coming out into some kind of wider clearing. There was. . . a lake? Underground? And it looked like Newt was heading toward some bridge to walk over it. The cub gave a frustrated huff. So he wasn't allowed to climb a tree over water, but Newt could just walk onto a frail looking bridge over a whole lake?

His frustration died when he heard the feline call his name. He pinned his ears back and slowly walked into Newt's view, a bit ashamed that he'd been caught following. "Yeah, I'm here. I didn't want to stay in that cave by myself." At that thought he began trotting closer to Newt, wanting to be away from the mouth of the tunnel. "Is everything alright now? Did you find anything?"