Swiftcurrent Creek We’re going to need a bigger boat

no. oh no.
lestan, who did not know what to do with himself, had lingered in earshot of the den. devoting himself to patrolling the waterways, his ears came up with a surprised sharpness at suzu's panicked voice.
long legs carried the mayfair in her direction, belly lurching as she mentioned their beloved creek.
swollen from summer-rain and autumn storms, the water was fast moving and terribly frigid; he felt its miasma even as he ran along the wet banks, following the current.
at a fork, lestan tucked paws and leapt neatly into the water.
dragged beneath almost at once, the mayfair sought the coldness of logic and moved with the current itself, claws scraping deliberately on rocks and branches beneath, feeling for shark.
he surfaced some ways downstream, grabbed breath, and returned to a dive, swimming downward and fighting to see as silvery bubbles swirled from his mouth.
but there was nothing to glimpse in the dark iciness, and when his head broke the waves again, he looked for suzu, clambering now for the shore.
a rest and he meant to return, searching the creek in sections until he was too exhausted to stand.
if that had been blossom, lestan would have begged someone to do the same.