Redsand Canyon then caleb threw that bottle down and grabbed me by my hair

Derg was kind as he corrected Riley. Riley did not flinch - he was often wrong, his memory faulty and his ability to transcribe memory into speech even faultier. Warrior's Heart, he repeated to himself -- willing the memory would not run like water through a sieve.

Riley didn't respond right away to the statement of his name's first letter, nor the comment about the falls. He was still wheeling from trying to process that he was a warrior now. He certainly did not feel like a warrior. Granted when push came to shove, Riley was as precocious a fighter as any predator, but he did not live and die by the sword, nor did fighter come close to summing up what he felt his identity was.

Through all of this self-reflection, Riley didn't even realize Derg was waiting for him to supply the rest of his name. Nope, no helpful Riley followed in answer - because, Riley thicc -- and not in the body-type way.

He moved past, trying to think if he had seen water here. "Where is that?" He would go, of course, once he knew the direction to go.