Swiftcurrent Creek pipestone

muskrat's daily exercise and work had kept her limber. she tested a few steps on her leg, jaw tensing with the effort, and then rocked her weight back onto the other three limbs.

more time was necessary, though each passing moment had begun to feel like an eon to her. the creek did not feel imprisoning; it was only that muskrat's current inabilities had severely curtailed her access to the furthest reaches of the land she had dwelt in for several weeks.

as such, the creekworld remained unfamiliar. this hour she hunted frogs far from the center of the water camp, removed from voice and sound.

and here her mind found cloud singer, and her heart spoke loudly in the sudden silence.

The past few weeks had found her acquainting herself with both the territory and its inhabitants. Ever the social butterfly – and, if she had to be honest, fiending a little for some low stakes gossip – Pukei had the goal of meeting every single member of the pack, though some where harder than others to catch a spare moment with.

One such member was a woman she thought she had caught glimpses of, but had yet to meet directly. Her scent wasn't as ingrained within the territory as Akavir's or the Betas, so Pukei assumed she was of similar rank or newness to herself.

She followed a lone trail to the outskirts of the Creek, away from the river that cut through its middle. There she finally found the owner of the scent; a small, scrappy looking thing seeming to be lost in thought. Pukei observed the other from a few paces away, wondering if she should interrupt or leave her in peace, before a frog suddenly leapt out of a nearby bush and decided for her.

With a loud yelp of surprise, the girl stumbled back as the critter landed in front of her.

grandmother gorseberry had been as bitter as the sourfruit sound of her name implied. her mouth was always twisted in judgement of some sort. even when she was not with cloud singer had muskrat enjoyed evading her grandmother, making it a personal challenge.

all that had ended the day that gorseberry had ordered cloud singer killed. muskrat had not known the true power of her family's matriarch until it was too late.

strangely, tears threatened. muskrat found them unfamiliar. she hadn't shed a single one yet for him, and bit them back now. he would not have wanted it.

the creekwolf who found her was unknown, young with slender-reed legs. muskrat let out a single bark of laughter as frog confronted girl, then hobbled forward to seize and dispatch what amounted to her fourth amphibian.

her narrow yellow eyes surveyed the other. "scared of frog?" the omega teased a little. "taste, first. will not be scared again. hungry forever when you hear frog voice."

she knocked the limp creature toward the stranger in an encouraging gesture.

If she had known of the sombre memories the other woman had been reminiscing on, she would have respectfully left to seek her out another time, unfortunately the silence had been broken and Pukei's presence had been given away. Damn. Read the room, frog.

It wasn't long for the world, however as – despite her uneven lurch forward – the other was quick to turn and bring the small, slimy interloper to justice through a sudden snap of her teeth.

Pukei avoided her sharp yellow look, ears splaying sheepishly to the side. Scared of frog? "No," she retorted in a tone meaner than she had anticipated. "I mean...well, it did give me a fright but that's because it came outta nowhere!"

She looked to the creature now as it was pushed towards her with a word of advice. "Wait, you eat them?" she queried, gaze flicking between it and the woman as she leaned forward and hesitantly lifted a paw to prod at the critter. Pukei, of course, knew about the denizens of the swamps but never thought of making a snack out of one of them. Gross. She much preferred berries and sweet things.

"you do not?" muskrat thrust back, enjoying the friendly parry. quick work with fangtips pulled back the slimy green to reveal the flaky white flesh beneath. "has taste like field grouse," the warrior opined, encouraging the other with another glance.

"swamp have bigger things than this to eat," muskrat went on, thinking of tender young caiman with a watering to her mouth. "frog easier to catch than deer or rabbit. only need more than one to fill belly."

it was good to speak of what she knew, good to keep her mind from the things she remembered.

The woman's friendly retort was acknowledged with a flick of her ear, but Pukei didn't respond, instead opting to watch in both fascination and mild disgust as the other peeled back the green flesh. She was surprised to see white meat underneath, believing for some reason the animals were green the whole way through.

Her pack mate's encouragement urged the girl to lean forward and give it a test nibble, realising she was right. It did taste like grouse! She didn't have to pick through feathers, either, which was a plus. However, Pukei would need far more convincing if she were to make frogs a regular part of her diet.

"What bigger things?" she queried, finally looking back up to the woman. She was sharp in appearance, pointed in the way a coyote was with a scar slashed across her features. Pukei stared at it for a beat before tilting her head. "Did you used to live in a swamp or something?"

a bray of mirth greeted the other's words. "ha! yes! born in swamp, raised in swamp, did first war-walk on other swamp people. hm!" and muskrat was flushed with a deep pride that her origins should be so recognizable this far from the green waters.

the warrior grinned between the girl and the frog. "have ... charapa," she hummed, faltering for a moment before she used her claw to dig a roundish shape. "crawl slow? then swim?" she tried, attempting to communicate that there were also turtles in the swamp. "but these ones, my charapa, very big. very fast in water. have sharp, sharp mouth. can bite off wolf paw. must hunt with more than one warrior."

muskrat shrugged. "we eat them during the Inti Raymi. festival to sun."

"and there is yakari. but ... no way to show you. nothing here like it. like a long snake in the water, but have big teeth. legs with sharp claws. swim so fast. not able to see in swamp water. eat us too."