Mudminnow River Eridanus

Esma is right at the edge of Riverclan's borders.

Very early on in her life Esma had learned that owning stuff could only bring you trouble. Whether it was a piece of bone, even food, if it was something she could not take with her everywhere, it was bound to either get lost or claimed by someone else. Make no mistake, she was just like every other kid - she liked toys, she had desired things and she had felt very upset, when she could not have them or - this happened more often - they were taken from her by siblings. Hating arguments of all kinds and being submissive by nature, it never occurred to her that she could stand up for her and fight. It was easier to give up, even if it meant her own unhappiness. 

Yet on one such day, when her little heart had been full to the brim at the injustice of having yet another thing she had liked taken or lost, she had realized that the same thing could not happen to imaginary thing. Of course, a dreamt up bone was not the same as chewing one in real life, but she figured that, when forced to give it up, she could always take its spirit with her. Just like those bear gods mom had told her about did. Which meant that a person could continue to gnaw on her bone all they wanted, but they would never have the same satisfaction, because Esma had taken its soul. It did not seem to bother other people, but she enjoyed the idea so much that soon she simply had to take a good look at something she liked and then added it to her imaginary collection. 

Today she had wandered downstream the river that ran through her home and had settled at a little delta right, where it joined the bigger stream of Mudminnow river. Having never left Riverclan before, she was very cautious of staying within a safe distance from the borders. Just in case of danger (and she had taken all the stories meant to scare small kids into obedience to heart), which she imagined to be something like a dark cloud and horrible, she could run back. But while this was not on the horizon, she explored the multitude of debris that the rising waters from the recent heavy rainfalls had brought with them.