Frogspawn Swamp The Stars Are A Mired Swamp

The sky was kissed with an array of constellations and Cassian had made an awful habit of attempting not to memorize them; but, instead chose to associate them with the animals he’d seen around the area. His head was laid between his paws at the given moment, tail spread neatly onto the lush, grassy fields of the Frogspawn Swamp. A single claw from his upper left paw jutted its way into the marshy soil, etching out what he believed to be a frog. It may not have looked like a frog to anybody else, but to him it was. Big, beady eyes, coupled with that annoying little sac that jutted out of their flabby chins whenever they were croaking. He couldn’t be bothered with the details of their webbed fingers so he kept it clean and simple.

  It looked more like a rock with eyes and a sentient desire to no longer exist, but nobody ever said he was an artist.


  Then, he rolled over, onto his back, staring up at the night sky without the hindrance of having to shift his head up and down time and time again. The wolf’s tongue lolled out of his maw as his brown, wandering eyes searched for a frog up there. Somewhere. Come to think of it, anything could be made with these stars if he looked long enough, right? Ah, that just took the fun out of it! His stargazing would have kept going on for the better part of the next hour had it not been for one of those same creatures he’d been searching for up in the cosmos making its way on over and landing atop his chest. Staring down at it with a curious, tilted, haphazard grin, Cassian barked once. To warn the little guy, just in case he was on the denser end.

  The frog did not move. A fearless foe, indeed.

  “You’re a brave little fella, aren’t you? I would eat you, but I’m not really in the mood for frog right now. So, count yourself as one of the lucky ones, little guy.”

  CROAAAAAAAAAAAK

  An annoying sound in other circumstances, but for now it elicited laughter from the wolf. His brown eyes shone with joy and only then did the frog hoist itself up and off of his chest. Rolling back over, Cassian shook himself vigorously for a handful of seconds before getting up from his resting spot and to the edge of the riverbank that ran through this swamp. A few laps and his thirst was satiated. It was nice, being able to enjoy the scenery and the way that the wind brushed up against his fur, but it wasn’t good to be in one spot for too long. Especially as a loner with no pack to abide by. Though, there was charm in that, too. There were no rules. No drama. It was a set of life that would be nice if his instinctual desire to muddy a group with his presence wasn’t so festering. So strong. So obligatory.

  The flow of the river here wasn’t all too strong. There were no strong winds, it only went in about ankle deep, and for now he chose to swim in it. Enjoying the rush of the cool currents sloshing their way over him. Maybe he’d be lucky enough to have a fish spill itself into his maw? That’d happened only once in his lifetime before and it had made his entire week. A story nobody would believe, but he’d lived through it, so he believed it and that was all that mattered!

Fennec hadn’t intended to be out this late, but she’d gotten restless and needed to take a walk. T swamps had always reminded her of her conversations with Wraen and, slightly more recently, her aspirations to be a “witch”. Neither of these had stood the test of time.

Still, she did take pleasure in the spooky atmosphere. Fennec always had a soft spot for a place that felt haunted.

A frog croaked nearby and she froze, hearing the following plop that signified its return to hiding. Well damn. A snack might’ve been nice, but fish and frogs were definitely not her preferred prey. She couldn’t even listen for them.

She reached the edge of a river and heard a gentle splashing. At first she thought it was a rather stupid fish proving her wrong, but it didn’t take long to encounter the scent of wolf.

And here I thought I’d be the only swamp-dweller tonight. She stated sardonically, listening attentatively to every movement as she sat down near the edge of the water. She wasn’t sure how much distance was between them, but she wasn’t about to get in the water and sink her chances of defending herself or flight.

Footsteps reached Cassian's ears. They were wet, dilapidated, and the weight they held didn't quite sink into the swamp at the rate that his own dense, weighted paws did. Yet, despite that, they did demand the wolf's attention. It didn't take all too much to garner it, all things given, but the presence of another wolf was more than enough to tether it away from some measly frogs. Albeit, not quite enough to stretch it away from the wolf's loving gaze to the sky and the secrets she held buried within her bosom.

"You thought wrong, haha! That's okay though, I think. Your eyes are weird, I've never seen a pair like them before. They remind me of....that weird stuff that comes down onto the ground sometimes that makes it hard to see. I dunno what exactly it's called, but that's what it reminds me of!"

A simple glance over was given to the soul that entered this space. Notably, not his space. None of this belonged to Cassian nor would it ever. Maybe one day in the near future it would be claimed by a pack but even then it would eventually fade with the brushing of time. If there ever were a reason for him to join one of those territorial groupings it would be to just explore without the fear of being mauled alive. Hopping from one pack to another didn't seem like something that was entirely feasible, but the amusing thought of doing such a thing struck a chord with the wolf.

Silence struck between them. Cassian didn't like silence.

"The sky looks nice today. Well, it looks nice every day, but today it's different. There's a lot of sparkly things up there. Way clearer than normal, too! Sometimes, I make a game of making out things from those sparkly things. Things I've seen. Things that come up in my mind sometimes, too. Oh, and sometimes, if I stare super, duper long, I can see things that I don't even really know. Weird how that works, huh?"

A glance was tossed aimlessly to the wolf. Name. They had a name, right?


"My name is Cassian! I don't know about the last name, but it doesn't really matter, I think! What's your name? Why are you here? Are you hungry? You look frail. Tiny, too. There was a frog here earlier, but I didn't really want to sink my teeth into it. Big, beady, innocent eyes it held and I couldn't bring myself to do it! If I knew you were around though, I might've. You're really quiet! How do you do that? Oh! Seems like you could use a good few meals, haha! Do you think if you ate a frog you'd start croaking like they do? I think I don't because of how big I am, but if you didn't digest it well enough I think you might let out a few before it fully broke down! Well, I'm not super big, but compared to you...I am. Not big enough to eat you though so don't worry about that."

This had to be the most bizarre encounter Fennec had ever had in her life. She didn’t think she’d ever been met with such a blunt introduction, but it turned out that the entry point was hardly the strangest the wolf had to offer. And she was still trying to sort out a response to that.

Oh. Oh shit. Oh god how do I turn it off?

There was no mute button. This man was off to the races and nothing was going to stop his headlong charge into an absolutely inconceivable string of sentences. How the fuck did point a line up with point b, let alone d over here? And did someone drop something on this guy’s head? He could be concussed. The healer in her actually wondered at the possibility as she tried, a few times, to open her mouth and respond before giving up and just letting him finish.

The tide finished washing over her and carried every single question he’d asked with it. She’d stopped paying attention, to be honest, because she’d been so distracted by the fact that he just kept going.. It was fucking impressive. Something something frog? And some comments about her being weird and small, maybe. Nothing new there.

I think you might have eaten a few too many frogs. Or whacked your head a few times going for them. You sure you’re okay? She asked instead, wondering immediately if she’d just opened the floodgates once more. It was a little worth it just to find out.

"Oh, you think I've eaten too many frogs? Haha, you're funny! Whacked on the head? Mmm...I don't think so! Unless you count taking a tumble every now and again as bumping my head? I dunno, doesn't matter to me! But yeah, I'm totally okay! You know, you didn't really answer any of my questions. That's kind of common manners, don't you think?"


Cassian, overtly oblivious to the simple fact that some people simply didn't have the mental cognition to keep pace with the spastic spiels that could find their way slipping out of his maw. Another glance over was taken to this new wolf. The chatter mouth of a man couldn't quite place a paw on it, but they just reeked of...experience. Somehow. Yet, they did not appear overtly elderly. Maybe it was just the way they handled themselves. Yes, that must've been it! Surely!

"Why don't we keep things simple then, yeah? My name is Cassian. C-A-S-S-I-A-N. No last name! Haven't decided on one yet! If you won't give me a name then I'll give you one! That's okay! Let's see....you're tiny. Small. You kind of remind me of a...." Blink. Blink. Blink. Then, the word hit him square in the head. "...squirrel."

And what was a perfect name for a squirrel?

"Chestnut! Your name is officially Chestnut to me! It has been decreed!"

Her ear flicked at the name but there was no way in hell she was going to argue. Any discussion with this guy was going to be a waterfall of useless chatter, she could already tell, so he could call her whatever the hell he wanted. She was far more interested in prodding him than hashing out accurate details.

Besides, might be better if he couldn’t follow her home later.

Did you get yourself cursed? Piss off whatever witch lives in this swamp, refuse to answer a question, and now you can’t open your mouth without everything in your head falling out? Fennec tilted her head, the question entirely genuine. Because that is a hell of a curse to live with, Rambles.

Taking a tumble every now and again finally registered. Shit, maybe the guy was brain damaged. The healer in her noted the way he talked, though, and dismissed that pretty quickly. There was no reason to think it aside from mean speculation - but that would never stop her from having the private thought.

Because that is a hell of a curse to live with, Rambles.

There may as well have been nothing else said to him save for that specific, endearing sentence. To Cassian, garnering a nickname was the highest form of praise. Well, right now it was. The wolf's ears shot up instantly upon hearing it and those murky, brown eyes shot instantly to his new companion that lay just a hop, skip, and a leap away. Rambles. It even sounded cool!

Laughter roared across the swamp. It was loud. It was boisterous. But, it was also warm, full of life, and the most innocent glee one could possibly imagine. There wasn't a single shred of insult that the amnesiac took from this interaction and instead a sense of joyous wonder blossomed forth from it.

"Haha, I love that one! Rambles! It's got some zest to it, you know? Chestnut and Rambles...I like the sound of that! Hey, Chestnut, you hungry?" Cassian inquired, head tilted to one side and then to the other. Regardless of whether they answered or not, the wolf was already on the prowl. They were in the middle, more or less, of a bogged down swamp river. Through pure happenstance, and a twinge of bad luck, the sun-kissed wolf learned a while back that crawfish were abundant in swamps like these. If one snapped you on the tail it was difficult to forget such an interesting factoid. One that was now painfully committed to memory for Cassian.

"'Cus I sure am! I'm going to try and find some nice little red munchies to eat. Maybe toss a few your way? Unless you don't like them? More for me if that's the case! I think they're great! Better than frogs, anyways."

Off he went, Rambles the Rambler. Nose low to the swamp ground, it occasionally ducked into the murky waters before a foot followed to stamp inches in front of it. Then, after some surveying, Cassian found it! A crawfish! It was captured gently between the wolf's teeth. Walking over to Fennec, Cassian carefully tossed it over between their paws and grinned from ear to ear.

"Try it! Tell me what you think?"

She wasn’t particularly but somehow she didn’t think that would stop the stranger. Besides, the way he took her joking so easily in stride had her warming up (ever so slightly) to him. He might be exhausting but at least he had a sense of humor about it. And he didn’t get pissy about her not bothering to answer his questions.

Not sure anything is going to sit there and let you catch it while you tell it - nevermind. Fennec cut off, amused, as he tossed something in front of her. Proven wrong immediately. Whatever this was must be stupider than a frog, or at least less able to disappear in an instant.

What is it? It’s… shit. Fennec had gone in to sniff at it, not realizing it had pinchers. This gave it the opportunity to latch onto her upper lip and dangle there while she reared back in surprise. Rambles, the fuck is on my face!?

“Huh? Can’t you see it?”

Yes, Cassian was not aware that this wolf was blind. Others might have laughed at Fennec, but what covered Cassian’s tone in this given moment was genuine, authentic confusion. He blinked once, twice, and then a third time while watching the crawfish latch onto the opposing wolf’s upper lip. It dangled there, swaying in the wind as it hung on for dear life. Soon enough, it would be lifeless and torn to bits and pieces. So, why did it struggle when death was practically certain? Why did it bother even trying against the odds that were stacked against it?

“It’s a red thingy! You know, the ones that you eat?”

He moved. One, two, three feet away from Fennec to circle them. Seconds passed and they still struggled with conceptualizing what was on them. Bridging the distance, Cassian’s tail flicked the staunch crawfish off before crushing it under the weight of his paw once it skittered on over his way. Then, the man’s jagged, thick canines tore past its shell and into the meat. But, Cassian did not feast on it. Instead, he just ripped the head off so the meat was exposed. Afterwards, it was held in a paw and out towards Fennec once he sat down.

Cassian swayed it from the left to the right in front of their eyes. It went far right! Far left! Back! Nearly up against their nose!

“It’s right in front of you now. I tore into it so you could just…suck the meat right out! I didn’t know you couldn’t see. Why is that? You don’t look like you can’t see. I mean, you still have your eyeballs!”

Nah, I just like asking pointless questions for shits and giggles. Fennec retorted, though the words lacked actual ire and were more deflection than anything else. She was trying to scrape the thing off but doing a poor job of it - she couldn’t tell how tightly it was latched on and was nervous it would do more damage if she did. Thankfully Rambles came in to save the day.

She didn’t thank him and was grateful when he didn’t dwell in it, instead moving on to the more comfortable ground of asking about her lack of sight. She would have figured it out, and so far she’d enjoyed the dynamic of this whole meeting. She didn’t need him thinking she needed his help going forward now that he’d finally picked up on the obvious.

She could sense him waving something in front of her and smirked, her tail twitching behind her with amusement as she waiting for him to finish whatever experiment he was testing out. At least he wasn’t a threat. I’ve got other ways of seeing. Eyes aren’t everything. Maybe I traded them for something better? She definitely still had them, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have been replaced with something else. Actually, Rambles was onto something here. Trading her eyes to some creature in order to read the future, or some shit, was a pretty damn good origin story.

Chestnut didn’t want to take the meal and Cassian wasn’t one to waste food. So, with a simple upwards thrust, the crawfish went flying in the air and into the open maw of the wolf before being chomped on and disintegrated to bits and pieces. While he chewed, Cassian listened attentively. She had other ways of seeing? Did that mean that Chestnut had more than one pair of eyes? No, that wasn’t possible! Cassian had given her a thorough glance over already. Unless…

Oh god, unless they were under her FUR?!

Suddenly, Cassian’s appetite was gone.

“Traded them for something…better? If I traded my eyes, I don’t know if I’d get anything special like that for them. They’re just regular eyes, you know? Um, Chestnut, does that mean…”

His stomach coiled and churned just thinking about it again. But, he had to ask. Cassian’s curiosity was simply too explosive of a thing to be left alone to fester!

“Does that mean that you have eyes under your fur? I’m not one to judge but, if you do, that’s gross and super duper cool at the same time!!! Would you show me your extra eyes? Ooo, please!? That’d be super cool of a story to have! Please, please, pleaseeeeeeeeeeee?!

She’d been meaning to try it after the conversation lulled but it seemed her newfound friend (?) was a hungry one. Not a surprise if Rambles was wandering alone. Fennec didn’t comment, though amusement tickled her at his lack of hesitation. For all the annoying he carried she appreciated how authentic it felt.

Under my fur? Wait, you think I traded my actual eyes for fur eyes!? What would that even give me? She snorted at the idea and grinned. If it sounded stupid to her, he was at least creative, and he wasn’t afraid to get weird. I traded them to a swamp witch so that I could take her place. Obviously. You can’t see the future with normal eyes, and you can’t give out curses until you’ve got a curse. What would he make of that?

Wait, you think I traded my actual eyes for fur eyes?!

Fennec didn't need to traverse much further in their speaking than that before Cassian started to eagerly nod his head in agreement. Yes, yes, yes! Of course that made sense to the wolf. Why else would Fennec's eyes look so weirdly unique? Cassian was an observer that constantly spurred his gaze to things that were living. Owls, deer, bucks, bison, fish, the list went on and none of them were so blessed with a unique situation like Fennec's weird looking eyes! Would it be weird if he asked to touch them? No, he didn't trust himself with his claws. Maybe a lick? Did eyes have a taste? Was it weird to ask to lick another wolf's eyes?

"A SWAMP WITCH?!"

Immediately, Cassian jumped! Then, when the man landed back down onto the marshy ground, stompy stomps were given to the flaccid ground! Water spurted left and right and the muck that formed soaked itself into Cassian's fur.

"CAN YOU SEE THE PAST?!"

Genuine excitement formed in the man's throat. Oh, maybe this soul knew more about him than he knew about himself! Ah, but the curses seemed like so much more fun!

"Actually, forget the past! Gimme a curse! A cool one! I don't care about the future either that's just boring stuff. Ooooo, can you give me TWO TAILS? Maybe then I could swim faster! I've been trying to catch fish whenever I can and they ALWAYS escape me! How rude is that? Like, I just want to EAT you! You being the fish, of course. Not you, you know. You're nice! You probably taste weird though. Maybe your cursed eyes wouldn't, though! I was going to ask for a lick, but I think a second tail is more worth it instead! What do you say, Chestnut? Come onnnnn! Second tail, second tail, second tail PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE?!!"

He was chanting like a toddler. If there was one thing Cassian had above all else it was vocal chords to supplement his ceaseless talking and begging. Pity to the poor souls that were unfortunate enough to deal with the man when his excitement grew tenfold.