Otatso Wetlands i love you, it's all i do

@Whisker !!

she had been tracking a fox all day. it had been on the outskirts of the territory, and aria was determined to either eliminate it's threat or to drive it so far from the territory it wouldn't even know how to get back. she'd hoped for the first, since it would be a better meal than no meal, but the further they got from the territory, the further it got from her. especially when the lands began to dip into water and wetlands, and aria found herself not quite as lithe as the creature.

hmpf.

but aria tracked it anyhow, having nothing better to do and wishing to stay away from the voices that floated through the creek. but, of course, she mistook a turtle for a stone as she crossed a small body of water and found herself crashing into the shallow stream. muddied and wet, aria got to her feet and shook herself out, thick cheek fur standing at untidy angles, mud stuck to her pristine white pelt. 

her head hung, feeling defeated by this tiny mistake, and she trudged onto a muddy shore and plopped down to gather herself. what a mess-- over a little tumble.

Whisker's black-as-soot feet continued to take him this way and that over the past couple of weeks. He still had no real direction he was headed, but he had kept his eyes peeled for the missing triplet. Unfortunately, he had not seen her at all. It was too bad, really. Maybe if he had found her, he could have made some connections. He doubted he would see the other two-thirds of the trio again unless he found the missing one.

A splash not too far off caught his attention, and being the inquisitive type, Whisker trotted toward it. What he found was a white wolf (or rather, she *would* have been white) looking rather flustered and out of sorts.

"You okay? Did you fall in?" he asked, approaching with cautious optimism.

taken back, aria's gaze shot up quickly to view a wolf the complete opposite of her. a male, dark as night with a pair of eyes that reminded her of dandelions. she blinked, surprised and quite embarrassed to have had anyone seen her like this. and then, with a weak smile, aria sighed. "turtles do not make very good bridges," she told him, joking, but also quite serious. 

"i'm aria-- from swiftcurrent creek-- usually not so unkept, i swear," she added, trying to lighten her own mood. she straightened up a bit, rolling her shoulders, trying to look less defeated. life wasn't that bad, worse things could be happening, she supposed.

He half-expected her to lash out at him or run away, but instead, she cracked a joke. He guffawed (perhaps a bit too enthusiastically), but he quieted in time for her introduction. Her name was Aria, and she was from Swiftcurrent Creek. She assured him she was usually “not so unkept,” but he didn’t quite believe that. All white wolves had trouble keeping clean, didn’t they? The dirt showed up that much better on them.

Well, Aria from Swiftcurrent Creek, I’m Whisker. He didn’t mention a “from.” You want some help cleaning up? he asked. Wolves, pack or not, were much better at cleaning each other than they were cleaning themselves.

oh but aria could claim herself to be whatever she wanted. clean! even. every day except today, unfortunately. 

"ah," replied aria in a thoughtful tone, her pale gaze dropping to look herself over, "i suppose i'd appreciate that-- yes please." he hadn't mentioned a pack, and so aria couldn't quite place where he was from-- if anywhere. she would allow him closer, and then ask him this very question. "where are you from?" 

Whisker went to work, cautiously at first, as if she would revoke permission to help her out. But alas, she seemed comfortable enough with it, so he groomed away, plucking out plant debris, mud, and whatever else was stuck to her coat. It was a downright mess, that much was certain, but he was fairly sure they would be able to get her coat nice and clean in no time.

Not anywhere around here, he replied, pausing to scrape some of the mud off his tongue and muzzle. Where's this Swiftcurrent place you mentioned? He didn't have any immediate intention of joining the first pack he found, but he was known to be impulsive from time to time. He went back to cleaning her, this time focusing on the top of her left hip.

we can just wrap this up .. .cause i suck and whisker is dead lmao

"south of here," she informed the man as she began to groom the fur along her chest herself. and it was just barely south of here too. hopefully after this aria would be able to return home quickly. she'd already made a fool of herself out here, it'd probably be smart just to go home and take a nap. something easy, nothing energy draining. ugh. "thank you for helping," she added, taking a moment to look at him with a soft smile. she needed the companionship, if we're being honest.

Thank you for the thread! <3

Just tryna help a girl out! he replied cheerfully. Whisker believed himself to be helpful, anyway. He also believed himself to be likable, but unfortunately that wasn’t really up to him. The white-whiskered yearling continued to help her clean up, picking off mud here, pulling of leaves there, until she looked a lot more presentable.

Well, don’t you look all dandy now, he said, taking a step back to admire his own handiwork. I won’t keep you for long, of course, although if I find myself without a place to stay for too long, I might pay you a visit at that creek you mentioned. He had plans to wander another direction for now, but he imagined he would eventually find himself back here at some point.