Swiftcurrent Creek earth skills

the water weighs down the fox as she lifts it from the creek and sits it on the stone that leads to the squelching silt of the creek bed that was exposed by the slight recede of water during the cold months, when ice formed sometimes thinly on the surface, sometimes thicker if cold enough.

this, she stands on.

it is slick and messy but she cares only, for the moment, to clean her muzzle and chest fur.

it is this action that she is caught in when the low rumble breaches the quiet babbling of the creek, drawing her ears and attention.

she turns to face the man draped in shadows. for a moment, she mistook him for arric until he speaks and she takes him in a bit more slower. missing that strange marking of the eye.

and asking if she was bellatrix.

i am, the commander replies, stepping out of creek and creek silt to stand upon the dry rocks, turning to face him in full.