Firefly Ravine River Crossing

Tohka lowered her ears to match Katora’s and wagged her tail as she approached and sniffed at her side. The movement from her tail wagging exacerbated the pain in her side, causing her to let out a whimper. She immediately stopped and sheepishly said, “Guess I can’t wag so hard right now,” but she soon resumed a much gentler wag, making sure to let the other know she was appreciated. She was unsure about the statement, ‘even if your ribs are fractured’. She asked about that. “Fractured? Does that mean, like, broken?” Broken or not, she would have to try to take it easy on her side. She wasn’t sure what punctured meant either, but she noticed Katora’s shiver when she mentioned it. Perhaps she had survived something like that?

Her paw would be another story as she needed it for walking. She might just have to walk on three legs until it healed. She finished cleaning the cut when Katora offered to help her get wherever she was going. “Well, no place in particular,” she answered, “but I do want to cross the river. Just before you approached, someone on the other bank said there should be a good place to cross downstream from here, so that’s where I was headed.”