Otter Creek My love, she keeps me warm

Relief flooded through her when Rivet forgave her, yet that wasn't to say that the guilt immediately disappeared. "I love you too, Riv. I don't know why I do this," she said, gesticulating almost angrily with a stockinged paw. "Why I get in moods and treat you like such crap. I'm really sorry. I'll try to stop," she promised, which was all Turq could think to do at this point.

Lowering her smudged muzzle, she nosed the porcupine back toward Rivet's paws. "You eat it," she said softly. "I'll take whatever you don't want." Turquoise sucked in a deep breath. She was hungry—ravenous, actually—but she wouldn't let this continue to be an excuse to verbally abuse Rivet. "I'm going to get a drink and maybe see if I can't try catching a fish again," she added, turning back toward the stream.

True to her word, she took a long, cooling drink—it helped dull her hunger pains and clear her head a bit—and then crouched on the bank again, trying to remain patient as she waited for something to swim by.