He had forgotten she was one of the newer apprentices, perfect! She would be more interested in exploring than gossiping which was exactly what he needed right now. Plus she probably needed to be with another cat to go out still too. What a better adventure pair could they be? He thought his recent adventures would make him sick of exploring but if anything he was more excited to get out there. "Have you been to the northern sea yet?" Summerclan had both a northern and southern sea. He had yet to go to the southern sea because he had only been an apprentice during newleaf. Apparently there were too many twolegs for it to be safe until leaf-fall. At least that's what his mentor had told him. "It's a great place to hang out and swim if you like swimming."

He brightened at her answer and grinned, "Yeah, you're welcome to come along if you want. I've heard rumors of some cool caves to explore over there too. The elders used to tell stories of ghosts there and warned never to go at night... but we have lots of time before then. Come on, I'll lead the way!" The black tom jumped up in excitement and headed out, exhilarated to be out and about again. Deep breath in, slow breath out. "It's so nice to be out of camp again. It's stifling being in the den all the time" His grin was a little lopsided, it hurt still but he couldn't help it. The apprentice felt rejuvenated and like he could tackle the world once again. But this time he would do it following the warrior code and would trust his clanmates above all others. The clan had not noticed his absence for three days and he wouldn't let that happen again.

Netherpaw shrugged, glancing over at her with a yellow eye. He could tell she was taking in the new territory and it was unfamiliar so he would need to be extra careful. If anything happened to her Devotedcrow would surely have his pelt. The apprentice was already walking thin ice with the deputy, who had already shown him mercy. "Probably. I hope there are no such things as ghosts, honestly." He shuddered at the thought. If ghosts were such a thing was there a ghost following him? Was that Summerclan warrior who died because of him watching and waiting? He shook the thoughts out of his head. Those were too scary to deal with right now. "I may not know about ghosts but I've heard there's lots of other cool things you can find in there. Do you know how to swim?" Netherpaw actually enjoyed the water these days but it was a mixed bag whether or not the other Summerclan cats knew how to swim. Sometimes even if they knew they hated it.

(sorry I took so long, computer kept crashing every time I made a reply >.>) Netherpaw nodded, noting her hesitation. "There's plenty of shallow water. Don't swim unless you feel ready. I learned pretty recently myself. I don't know how well I can swim now that I only have one eye but I suppose we'll find out today!" His words were chipper but also tugged at his heart. He thought of the cat who took his eye and missed him. Thorn had really been like his father and his absence was deeply felt, more so than he had realized. He shook it off. It was so much easier for him to get depressed these days than it used to be. I'll show her what a great swimmer I am! It was decided. Maybe what he needed was a new friend, someone who didn't know everything - hopefully - and was willing to give him a chance. They arrived before long and netherpaw stretched out with a sigh, "Welcome to the Northen sea! My name is Netherpaw and I will be your tour guide for the day. Over here we have the sandy beaches - careful before you get sand in your nose! To the right we have the ghostly cave of mysteries. Ah, and before I forget on the left beyond the sandy beaches is the man attraction, the sea!" He held out a paw as if it was on display, peeking at her to see her reaction.

(I thought it was still your turn to reply but I guess I didn't check 😅 I'm sorry!) His eye widened and he chased after her into the sea with a loud laugh. He liked how carefree and fun she was. He felt like he could just enjoy the sea and the day and he didn't have to justify it. He didn't have to justify having fun or himself. It felt like ages since he had played so carefree like this and he loved it. "You're so going to be a rotten mouse!" He joked, making sure she was on his left side so he could see her. But, running in sand was a challenge. Running in sand with one eye was even more difficult and he did not see the stick poking out of the ground, but just barely. It launched him into the air and he landed on his feet but just barely, his legs bending under him so he started rolling towards the water in the sand. Adrenaline was rushing through him and almost made his mistake exhililerating. "I'm okay!" He called out, trying to reorient himself but he had no clue where she was or what he was doing anymore.

When e finally stopped rolling and looked up, Sunpaw's worried face was hovering above him. She was saying something but her words didn't quite reach him until the end of her sentence. Instead of reacting like a normal cat and saying he was in pain or even embarrassed from his spill, Netherpaw started laughing. It started quiet and almost sounded like crying, but quickly grew in volume. He didn't know why he was laughing, maybe he had hit his head. It just felt good to laugh and the situation was ridiculous. A stick? A stick had made him fall so far? It truly tickled him pink. He laughed so hard he was crying and eventually it died down. "I'm sorry, I'm okay." He grinned, focusing on breathing. Laughing like that was a lot of work and didn't allow for breathing very well. "Maybe I've lost my mind, though."

He grinned, not moving and just laying there belly up. He batted her paw away playfully and rolled his one good eye. "Maybe I did hit my head but that was just so ridiculous. I haven't really laughed in a while so maybe I did go crazy for a minute." He sighed and stretched out a back leg. "Everyone thinks I'm crazy or a traitor anyways so I'm just having fun." He jumped up, ready for a rematch but deciding it would need to wait. One of his paws was feeling a little sore. "Want to go in the shallow part of the water with me? Not deep enough that it's dangerous, of course." She had already voiced her concerns with swimming and that it made her uncomfortable. Netherpaw just had a feeling that the cool water would feel good on his sore paw.