Whitefish River Misty Morning

Taking a step back to avoid being soaked by Peregrine's splashing, Koda waited to see if the black wolf would make a catch. The flailing wolf missed his mark and the fish darted away in a panic, quickly disappearing from sight in the murky water. Koda shook his head.

Peregrine emerged, his jaws empty and his fur soaking wet. "Yeah," Koda said with a laugh. He felt a little guilty laughing at Peregrine when he had only been trying to follow his advice, but it was pretty entertaining to watch. "At least you didn't fall in," he tried to sound reassuring, remembering his own spectacular fail the first time he attempted fishing. He didn't want Peregrine to feel too discouraged. "You almost had him though. Keep trying, you'll get the hang of it."

Peregrine's splashing had kicked up a cloud of dirt, making it a bit harder to see, so Koda moved a few steps into clearer water. "My turn now," he announced, "watch me, you might learn something for next time."

The gray wolf stood still, his extremities starting to get a little numb from the cold water. He was determined to make a catch, so he ignored the discomfort. A flash of white alerted him to a sizable whitefish, the river's namesake, breaking the water's surface as it swallowed a drowning bug. Koda's yellow eyes darted to Peregrine, to see if he was watching, then back to the fish, and he watched it's every movement as it gradually swam closer. The fish took it's sweet time, but it was soon within the wolf's reach.

Koda plunged his head into the water, his jaws closing around the fish's wriggling body. But his grip wasn't tight enough and as he lifted the fish from the water it wiggled free, slapping the wolf's nose with it's tail as it fell back into the river. Koda chased after it in the shallow water, and made another grab for it. This time, he bit down as hard as he could until his teeth broke through the scales and sank into the flesh. Fish wasn't going nowhere now.

He hoisted his catch high into the air and strode past Peregrine, feeling rather proud of himself. As he reached the shore, he let the fish drop onto the rocks. "See, easy stuff."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the fish weakly flopped back into the water. "Damn it, get back here," he growled, dragging the poor fish out by the tail.