Jade Fern Grove sediments

The river had become her lifeblood.

Often, she would scavenge fish from the otters that came to play on the banks. Sometimes she would attempt to catch one herself, but her technique remained sloppy and her success low. Hunger wormed at her belly, and a strange burning sensation had taken root where her broken tooth still remained in her gum. It had opened a black hole in her stomach where her appetite once was. She knew she must eat, but it hurt.

A seasoned medic would have recognised the signs of infection, but Leifa was no healer. Her paws carried her east down a small tributary into a lush forest in search of something soft to eat, when a harsh noise stopped her in her tracks. "Cassian? Is that you?" It didn't sound much like the man. Ears on high alert, she wet her nose and began to investigate jadedly.