At some point that morning, Crystal had woken the yearling to inform her she was going out on patrol. Pip recalled groggily licking her friend's nose in acknowledgement before curling back into a ball to continue her sleeping. Her travels had exhausted the young one and she slept hard and dreamlessly throughout the night with the warmth of the tawny wolf at her side. Of course, in the first few moments of waking, Pip hadn't remembered that happening at all and bolted from the fox den to look around her in panic.

As the cold air hit her lungs and raced to her brain, the anxiety cleared and the memory dredged up from the sleepy, confused recesses of her mind. Pip let out a soft exhale of relief. She wasn't left alone again; at least not like last time. The youngling had faith that Crystal would return.

Stretching, the little wolf opened her mouth in a wide yawn before trotting toward the river she could smell nearby. Might as well start her morning off with a drink and then be useful to her new pack. Without any experience with hunting, Pip opted for the one thing she knew well. Despite the cold, the plunged into the river and danced on her toes a bit when the icy water sloshed against her belly.

This water is colder even than ocean water! Pip lowered her head and drank deeply, feeling the ice travel all the way down to her belly. Her lips curled up in amusement to herself before she took her fishing stance. The female's chin hovered just along the water's surface while her orange eyes remained peeled for silvery flashes of movement in the water around her.

While minnows were plentiful around her, the female knew to be patient and wait for a catch worth moving for. Half an hour had passed with not even a hint of trout, salmon, or bass. Annoyed, Pip huffed a breath against the water's surface. Was she in a poor place for fishing? Maybe she should try to get her new packmates to show her the best places to try instead of wasting her time in the cold water all day.

Just as she thought it, something heavy splashed into the water at her periphery, causing her to flinch. Still hoping not to lose her fishing pose and scare away any potential prey that came by, she let only her eyes track to the right where the splash originated. A rather ugly looking brown, furred creature had its head sticking out of the water as it swam towards her. Concerned, Pip lifted her head. What is that? It seemed like an otter that she'd seen playing in shoals of small fish back home in Bella Coola, but this one had a rather odd looking tail that was fat and flattened over the water's surface.

Despite straightening, it continued to swim towards her. Pip chirped at it, hoping to frighten it away. You're messing up my fishing! she wanted to complain to the creature. It didn't seem to care, steadily swimming towards the shallower water where she stood. Pip opened her mouth in annoyed threat, though no fierce snarl came to help send it on its way. Instead, the creature jumped towards her as soon as its clawed feet could touch the silty bottom of the river, large yellow teeth gnashing in her direction.

With all the bravery of a bird, Pip squeaked and chirped anxiously as she struggled to back away from the creature. Leave me alone, I didn't do anything to you! Her plaintive, frightful chirps continued as the water sloshed around her legs. Otters always left her alone before. Why was this fat-tailed one trying to attack her?!

Was this one of those sea creatures Uncle Kelp teased them about as pups? One that would worm its way into the shallows and taken unsuspecting fishers down, dragging them beneath the waves and offshore to devour them? Clearly this wasn't the ocean, but maybe rivers had similar beasts and guardians. The creature was relentless in its pursuit of her, hemming and hawing like nothing she'd heard before. Not an otter, not an otter! she determined anxiously.

Pip fiercely missed her siblings. Around them, nothing like this would ever have happened. At the first sound of stress, @Niq'x and @Blitz both would have come racing to her rescue with a protective ferocity that she didn't think she would ever be capable of showing.

But they weren't here. Nor was Crystal (@Yvly) or any of her other new packmates. She was on her own and she'd have to figure it out herself.

Again, the beaver launched at her face, frightening yellow incisors gnashing so hard together that they squeaked shrilly as it just missed her face. As the animal was gaining on her, Pip knew she couldn't keep backpedaling through the water. Forced to make a change, the yearling spun on her heels and made to flee fully with her tail tucked against her belly.

Unfortunately for her, the decision was made a moment too slow. Pip let out a strangled squeak befitting her Grizzly Hollow namesake as her hock was grabbed. Rather than with the fury befitting her siblings, the little female rounded on the creature in pure self-defense. She grabbed it once around the neck in a quick, sharp snap, hoping to startle the beast into letting go. Instead, it gnawed angrily on her leg, forcing her to snap again as she tried to pull away from the paws that now latched around her ankle.

The squeaks and chirps were no longer singular sounds, but one that coalesced into something akin to a hawk's scream. Even as Pip's jaws closed hard around the creature's neck as if she were trying to catch a large fish, the sound continued. Contorted as she was, the yearling knew she wouldn't be able to pry it off of her. Hoping it was more similar to her than it was a fish in terms of breathing, the little female tried to force the beast's face under the water as best she could, though her success was limited by how strongly it gripped her leg.

I'm going to get into so much trouble, she thought miserably.

So preoccupied with her attacker, Pip hadn't even heard the stranger approach and question her. Panic gripped her mind, holding it hostage and erasing all else save for the way the beaver's teeth crunched down on her leg. I don't want to be crippled! While she might not be a hunter, the yearling very much wanted four usable legs.

Her breath seized anxiously in her throat when she heard the large splash, fearing another beast had come to help its friend finish the job and take her leg right off. Instead, the painful bite relented as the beaver let go and tried to whirl to face the black wolf who had hold of its tail. Rather than trust her nose that warned this was not a wolf she knew, Pip let her thoughts run away with her. The black fur immediately made her think of her brother. She would have let go and returned to fleeing, but this was not an adversary she wanted @Blitz to handle alone.

Keeping her grip on the beaver's neck, she was able to get a more effective hold on it now and crunched down as hard as she could no matter what shrill, screeching noises it made so close to her ears. When its struggles slowed and the sounds it made became almost too quiet to hear, Pip leaped away from it as she wish she'd been able to when first it grabbed her.

Shaking terribly, the agouti female realized it was in fact still alive, albeit barely. Her burnt orange eyes flickered up to her brother only to realize it was not in fact her brother, but a complete stranger. With ears pinned flat against her head and eyes wide with shock and persistent fear, Pip lowered her body until her muzzle practically dragged in the water again. Her left hindlimb was held up despite the hunkered position, leaving her wobbling awkwardly for balance as her blood mingled with the river from the bite wound as well as scratches lower down along her ankle.

Was this male who'd helped her part of Grizzly Hollow? She regretted not taking the chance to get to know the rest of her packmates immediately upon joining. But he lacked the scent of cedar she thought she should expect. Was he a loner then? Looking for a pack? Even if he'd saved her, it didn't mean he was necessarily friendly.

As quietly as she could, Pip gave a soft chirp of both cautious greeting and extremely grateful thanks, though her posture spoke volumes of her uncertainty in his presence.

The ease with which he ended the nasty beast's life was impressive. Pip wasn't sure she'd ever seen such ferocity in a wolf's eyes before. Then again, she'd never been included in pack hunts before. Was that what it was like? Her role in Bella Coola had solely been as a fisher and she took that job quite seriously. Apparently seriously enough to not even notice the beaver before it was in her face.

But there had been no hesitation in her rescuer's actions. As soon as he was able, he'd gone right for the creature's spine. How had he known to go there? Was that a taught skill or was it supposed to be innate? And the way he'd tossed it! That beaver was a hefty piece of meat who weighed nearly half as much as Pip did herself and he made it look so easy to yank it around so viciously before shredding into its throat. He was awe-inspiring to the yearling to be sure, but understandably had fear licking along her spine as well. What could he do to her if he'd done that to the creature now laying with its face buried underwater while the shallows sluiced around its fatty body?

Pip flinched when the male bumped his muzzle to hers, eyes closing as if in preparation for a bite. When one didn't come, she opened her eyes warily and blinked with confusion at the compliment. Nice work? It could have killed her without his help! She didn't feel like she'd done nice work at all. Her leg certainly didn't agree, but the cold water was battling the worst of the pain for now.

With his questions came Pip's usual anxiety. Not every wolf took well to her attempts to communicate and felt disrespected, though she meant the complete opposite. Nervously, her eyes darted to his face and away several times with head still lowered submissively. Her nostrils flared wide with each panted breath and she briefly lifted her head to look towards the Grizzly Hollow territory not far from the river before resuming her submissive posture. Again, she offered a quiet yip in response, hoping he wouldn't take offense.

Well, he wasn't outright attacking her. Yet, her brain helpfully reminded her as if the possibility were inevitable. Regardless, she could read the frustration readily on his face. Pip's was internally directed. For once, it would be so nice to be able to just say something. To say thank you or apologize or even to just say once that she couldn't speak and then never utter another word after that. But life wasn't that simple.

Still struggling from the shock of it all, the little wolf trembled and made no real effort to straighten from her submissive posture. However, she did give a few wags of her tail, though sopping wet as it was, it slapped weakly against the water's surface. More insistently, Pip made the only sound she was capable of in the hopes that it would help him understand through repetition that no matter how sweetly he spoke, she wouldn't be able to say anything in return.

He is being nice though. Really nice. Stop being such a puppy, she chided herself.

Finally, Pip lifted herself a bit so she was only slightly hunched in posture. At the very least, it made it easier to stand on three legs. She chirped again before limping close enough to quickly swish her tongue across his chin in thanks before hobbling back.