Otter Creek when you close your eyes

Zireael was not sure what to do and weighed the options of continuing forth or turning around (which would also be an admittance of his defeat) and make his way back to Oberon Fortress several times. Upon the territories leading into the Wilds there had been a gradual fade of green and life until he was left meandering through skeletal and spindly limbs and remotely barren landscapes broken by the sprouts of green that had begun to push their way, resilient, through the earth. It wasn't entirely dead, the young sparrow mused as he pushed on, deeper into the Wilds, and he could have sworn somewhere out in the distance he heard the click of a venison's joints though he did not pursue it, nor did he break away from his goal to investigate it. He could not feasibly take down a deer by himself, anyway. There was little use wasting his energy on building the temptation if only to see it unsatisfied. None of Tutor's lessons and brutal teachings had ever prepared him for any thing like this. Zireael knew the word for it, of course, and his jowls parted as he thought it with a grim acknowledgment: famine. Though what had caused this particular famine went largely unknown to the sparrow who had ridden the worst of it in the lush territories beyond the Teekon Wilds — the territories beyond that had been brimming with life and in retrospect these Wilds left him wanting and disappointed.

His objective, however, was not food, rather it's opposite. He had begun to follow the sound of a nearby creek until he finally came upon it. The morning was hot, the humidity heavy and almost tangible in the air. He sucked in a breath, tentatively aware of the scent of a pack nearby. It was across the creek and some distance away from him so he did not think he was in danger of being attacked, yet still, Zireael remained rightfully weary. He lowered his head to the creek and began to lap at the cool water, crisp and refreshing. His laps were evenly paced so as to not make himself sick. It worked to sate his thirst but also a small part of him hoped that it might serve to slave off his hunger until he could find something to hunt. For now, however, the water would suffice.