Otter Creek dancing with demons.

So I did a tiny little bit of research on otter behavior just to make this seem a bit more realistic and apparently OTTERS WILL ATTACK FULL-SIZED CROCODILES. I didn’t watch the whole thing, but Jesus…

Red was learning. She was learning by sitting and watching the otters. They had, due to her proximity, noticed her long ago, and every once in a while, they would lift up and watch her, much the same way meerkats stand up on their back paws to watch for danger. Other than that, they didn’t seem to mind her, so she saw no point in moving. She wasn’t even sure if she really wanted to go after any of them. More than being hungry, she was simply curious. What were these strange creatures whose fur seemed sleek and shiny even on the ones who hadn’t been in the water recently? Briefly, she wondered if their fur was like a duck’s feathers. Ducks looked constantly shiny, due to their feathers being waterproof. Red figured that might be the answer, though she couldn’t be sure. She would need to study them more before coming to a final decision.

“Pesky little buggers, eh?” came a voice on her right.

And instantly she was up on her paws. She had been previously lying down, half in order to get comfortable and half in order to less frighten away her potential prey. Though she noted in the back of her mind that the second she had sprung up to face her could-be attacker, the otters had all scatted and disappeared below the water in the creek, only to reappear a few moments later way down at the other end of it. Inwardly, she sighed in frustration, but outwardly, she was feeling a combination of fear and aggression.

But then she remembered… She was supposed to be making friends. And how was she going to do that if she ran from every wolf she met? Besides, this one seemed nice enough. The grey-and-white female would have probably attacked her by now if she was going to at all. So, instead of running away, which is what Red really wanted to do, she straightened herself from her crouched, fight-or-flight position and relaxed her body, letting out a whuff to say, ”You scared me.”

She paused, and wagged her tail as a sign of friendship. She let her eyes soften and her mouth open slightly to say, "What did you want? To play? I’d like to play.” Being only a year old meant that, despite being considered an adult by pack standards, she still had a bit of her juvenile-like tendencies when she felt like bringing them out. And, for once, this was one of those times.