Whitefish River hey there, lets get away

now that she has people, she's a great deal more secure. the only reason she'd left her foster family initially had been pressure from her siblings, a litter a great deal older than she was, who had (seemingly) suddenly began to drift away, until she alone remained. with the birth of her foster mother's next litter and the realization she was a hindrance, she'd followed the older yearling's lead. she told herself she didn't care. 

she's perched now on the edge off one of the quiet parts of the river, riveted by the shadows that pass beneath the water. suddenly, she moves, and like a kingfisher dives totally into the river, jaw's half-wide and forepaws pressed to her chest. her momentum carries her like a spear to the shadow she'd chosen and deeper still. she surges upward again, and when she surfaces, it is with a writhing silver body in her jaws. 

If he could clap, he would. For the dive he just witnessed is excellent. Mismatched green eyes are wide with awe and a grin stretches across his dark brown muzzle. Eve wags his tail. It has been awhile since he seen another so well attuned to the river.

“Nice catch,” he calls over to her, sitting upon the opposite edge of the bank from which she started. He had just been emerging from the undergrowth when she made her move, expertly capturing her target.

Fern catches sight of the other when she's finally able to blink away the water that streams in rivlets down her forehead. "thwankf!", she shouts around a maw full of fish, which despite her best attempts to clamp tight her jaws won't give up its fight. she reaches the same bank as the man, pulling herself upward and resisting the instinct to shake, having some consideration for others in this aspect. 

she drops the fish and pins it swiftly with a paw, dipping to dispatch it. perhaps it's because she's still glowing from the compliment, but she offers it easily to Evergreen. "want it? I 'ready ate." she beams as she pokes it towards him. "m' name's Fern." 

He gives her a broad grin, laughing at the way the fish still struggles in her jaws yet she thankfully has a good grip on the silver sea creature. Giving her space to climb easily onto shore, he debates fishing himself. While he isn’t starving for food, the bear can never say no to having fun and fishing…

Lips part about to speak when his company beats him to it, surprising him with asking if he wants her catch. “Are you sure?” His stomach growls as if to answer the question for him. Eve flushes with embarrassment, and his smile turns sheepish. “Aha, sorry, thank you, Fern. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Evergreen.”

Sitting back again, he dips down to start working on the fish. “Dulce welcomed you, right?”

she nods quickly as he hesitates, realizing just how much he towers over her. malnourishment and genetics have made her barely taller than her collie mother, while he's bigger than any canid she's met before. Evergreen accepts the fish easily enough after the rumble of his stomach betrays his hunger, and the grin returns to her muzzle. 

when he asks his question, she can only blink for a moment. but then - "yeah! dulce." expression turns sheepish, and she admits, "I'm not too good at names." she remembers the important ones - seelie, reigi, mur - but some use that is, having not seen them since she lost Undersea. "how many people 'r here? dulce said there were lots." 

The fish is delicious once Evergreen gets pass the scaled skin, he rumbles with gratitude—happy to have his favorite type of meal. But he tries not to shove the entire thing into his mouth at once, because that would be quite rude with company. Reclining back so he could talk with Fern now that he’s had a few bites, Eve’s expression softens.

“That’s okay, it’s a lot to remember. I’m not sure how I do it,” he jokes with a laugh. To be honest, it’s likely just because he knows each of their stories, at least… parts of it that lead up to them joining Kaistleoki. But he knows that it must be a lot to take in for someone new. “Uhh… there are lots. Let’s see… Dulce, Olvdia, Sindri, Chai, Tobi, Winterbourne, Vonnaruil, Reiko, Speedy… and then you and I.”

she likes this man! he seems to extend a general feeling of security; his size helps with that. when he offers the names of all that live her, her eyes widen a fraction. that's most definitely more than six people, the biggest her foster family grew, and certainly more names than she can remember. some stick out - she likes the sound of Chai, and Speedy, and Dulce - but the rest fade into a jumble she tries her hardest to pick apart. 

she sits back on her haunches, darting down her muzzle to pick a little black water-beetle off her forelimb. she considers crunching it between her teeth, but drops it. "was it lonely?" she blurts. "well, um, Dulce said you were d' leader, so you had t' be the very first one here, right?" the way she says it, he must have spent however long here before others slowly started to join him. she assumes the last joiners are the lowest ranked; it was always apparent she was at the bottom of the pecking order in her foster family, which was surely because she was last to join the family which had been, in truth, already complete. 

Lonely?

It takes Evergreen by surprise. His round ears cup towards the collie mix, and he makes a soft inquisitive noise. “Oh,” he hums, understanding her point then. “Uh, yeah, Dulce is right, and… it was, uh, lonely at first. I wasn’t alone for very long though. Somehow other people started gathering. Guess everyone was lonely and found company together, yeah?” With Thistle’s passing, Eve often thought of himself against the world. Going from an inseparable duo down to just a solo, it was… difficult. Kaistleoki has awaken his positivity.

“What made you join Kaistleoki?” He asks, curious now about what lured her in. Everyone has their own reasons, and he has yet to here Fern’s. She’s the only one he had no play in when it came to welcoming her into the family. Dulce did a good job though, and he’s quite impressed.

he admits that it was, and she listens silently. she feels sorry for him, for in her mind lonely is the very worst thing one can be. his net question is easy enough to answer, however, and after a beat she replies, "I was lonely. I didn't have any people any more n' I didn' wanna be all alone." it's a simple enough reason, though she adds, "plus I'm real good at fishin' so I can be real helpful."  it's one of her only real skills, though she isn't counting.

The two of them are like peas in a pod. Eve grins. Its always nice to have a fellow fisher to be with, for while the bear loves teaching other his favorite skill, he is always curious to learn more about it himself.

Yeah, that's great, he says, voice warm and pleased. I really love fishing, too, it was one of the reasons why I chose this place. Maybe Fern understands that in a way others might not. Do you... uh, feel less lonely now? Eve asks, his voice growing quiet.