Verdigris Ravine 'tis time that i fare from you

He could see that the question perplexed her. Nevertheless, S’ari answered, reassuring him that otters didn’t make their homes here. Talisman nodded and shot her a sheepish smile, suddenly feeling a little ridiculous.

I know everyone thinks they’re so cute and cuddly, he said on an exhale, but when I was a tiny baby, I was attacked by one. My mother interfered. Apparently she got bitten several times. They were deep. They got infected and she passed away not long after.

It was a sob story, though truthfully Talis didn’t feel terribly sad about his loss. He did vaguely remember his early days, particularly the attack, but he couldn’t remember much about his mom. He knew she’d looked like him and that his father had become wistful whenever they’d spoken about her.

Thinking about her and their peculiar coats reminded Talisman of his hopes for the future. He had mentioned them to Candle quite candidly. Should he do the same with S’ari? Was now an appropriate time to bring up such a thing?

Anyway, he said a bit more lightly, stretching out his toes for something to do, I look just like her, apparently. At least my dad said so at least once a day, and it had always come with a fond footnote about the superiority of his genes.