Otatso Wetlands does she wanna get it all back?

For @Fox!

Maudlin Magpie rose from the tree base she had used for shelter, appearing to coalesce from the wetland itself. Her coat, usually a stark black and white, was saturated with the sludge that was the lifeblood of the territory. She licked her lips, then curled them back as she attempted to get the awful taste from her mouth, lifted a paw to scrap along her muzzle as if that would aid her effort. When it did not, she began to move in a direction she hoped would either yield clear water, or the rest of the Corvidae.

She knew her chances of finding them would be slim. By her best guess, she had been lost for at least a half moon — too long for her family to stay and search this close to a land so rife with non-migratory packs. It was likely they believed her dead, and thus moved on long ago. With a week's head-start, if not longer, Magpie knew only luck would bring her back to her family. Truthfully, only luck would keep her alive — already, without the Corvidae to support her, the juvenile felt exposed and vulnerable.

Approaching the southern edge of the wetland, luck gave Magpie its first gift — the sludge gave way to a sprawling, cat-weed filled pond. She bowed her head to drink deeply, thankfully, and then trudged happily into the water. Playing there for a time — splashing as she gave energetic wags of her tail, and chomping the water's surface — Magpie was considerably cleaner when she finally emerged...