Kettle Pot Pond It's Easy to Explain 'Cause This World's Not Tame

For lil miss @Lenae who gets a soggy Cottongrass~

Cottongrass wasn't afraid to admit that he wasn't the smartest. That there were a whole lot of different things he didn't fully understand and probably never would. But he was pretty sure nobody understood fish. Because what did they even do? They just spent their entire lives swimming around in water and he didn't even know how they survived the winter like that. He played in a stream once when it was winter. It was something he would never do again because he felt like he was going to get frostbite on his legs. And seeing how he already lost the edges of one of his ears from frostbite—he could only shiver when he imagined losing an entire paw or leg.

So yeah, fish were an enigma and Cottongrass refused to understand them.

He guessed they were cool to look at. The little pond before him was full of misshapen blobs that darted one direction and then another without any pattern of thought. And without thinking he shuffled to get a closer look. He rearranged himself until his paws were bunched up beneath his body and he balanced precariously on the ground's edge. Somewhere behind him his tail dragged along overgrown grasses and his ears twitched at the sound. But otherwise he was completely entranced in his moment of fish-watching. Wild Rye Fields could wait for one more day and he couldn't help but lean over for a better view. He wondered what it would be like to reach under the water and bite at one of the silver darts.

His stance shuffled and he was probably pushing his luck or something—

And all it took was one unexpected brush of wind against his back and Cottongrass found himself losing balance as he tipped forward. The scene played out in slow motion just before his very eyes and he wondered how many times bad things would happen to him before the universe got bored of bothering him. But today apparently wasn't that day and he toppled forward with a panicked yelp dying on his lips just as water flooded his system. And he was fine. More than fine because the water was shallow and it wasn't like he couldn't swim to save his life. It was just unpleasant and startling.

But otherwise? He would live.

With a gasping breath Cottongrass reemerged from shallow depths. He hauled himself onto his paws with shaking legs and wasted no time in wading back to the very perch of land that had betrayed him moments ago. His patchy coat dripped and he was pretty sure he felt something awfully slimy against his back. But he would deal with that problem when he had to. Right now he was focused on making it out of the pond and drying off. Each slow step he took had flashes of silver darting off in every directions, the water's surface rippling and distorting the image of the fish down below.

He ignored them like the very idea of the little creatures mocked him.

Lenae had been out this way once before and it hadn't gone so well, so she couldn't help but hope it would better this time. That she'd be able to enjoy the pond in peace, or at the very least come across someone who wasn't so bad or scary. What was it with this land? Why did it harbour so many giants? Large wolves were rare in the Selwyn homelands, or at least they had been until Savion and his lackeys barged back in.

And then everything was awful.

But that was aside the point, she wasn't going to think about that again. She was going to try and have another good day, a sunny day where she could just enjoy the tattered remains of her life. With a spring in her step, she hurried towards the pond, eager to have another dip, since the last time she'd tried she had been interrupted. Lenae, unlike her baby brother, liked the warmer months. She adored the sunshine, the longer days and the abundance of greenery and life. This was how the world was supposed to be, bright and vibrant

Sure enough, Lenae arrived at the little pond. And to her dismay she quickly realised that she wasn't alone, someone had already claimed it for their own, for a little while. Her lips curved down and her tail curved between her legs. She'd wanted to badly to have a paddle, to have some fun,but perhaps it would be best if she just cut her losses and went back to the monadnock.

She stood there for a moment, weighing up her options. The stranger didn't seem to big, just a white puffball, like a fluffy cloud on a clear day. She used to be so social, like a butterfly flitting from one person to the next. It hurt to go without, to be a recluse, to deny her nature, but Lenae saw no way out. In her eyes, it was this or get hurt again. And that wasn't something she could stand, the mere thought was enough to-

She was going to take a leap of faith, she was going to try for once and if it didn't work out...Well, she would deal with it later.

Creeping closer, Leane waited till she was at a conversational distance before her singsong voice broke the relative silence of the pond.

"What are you doing?"

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

There was definitely something slimy on his back. He could feel it soaking into his skin as the sun above dried out his fur but the mysterious wet spot remained. And usually Cottongrass didn't care too much about how he looked. As long as nobody screamed when they saw him he was more than happy enough to wander around looking  messy. But today he wasn't having it. Not when yesterday he got swarmed by magpies and today he was falling in ponds.

His body felt heavy as he pulled himself out of the water and onto dry land. Overgrown grass clung to his wet legs and he shook each paw to get rid of the gritty feeling between his toes. And with that over with—he twisted on the spot as he awkwardly chased after his own body. Because he wasn't always that flexible and it wasn't easy to throw his head over his own back. But eventually he managed and his teeth snagged against something squishy. Whatever it was tasted bitter and he wasted no time in spitting out whatever it was. Probably some kind of underwater plant.

Oh well.

And he was more than ready to continue on his impromptu grooming session. He was probably overdue for one anyway. But a voice interrupted his thoughts and he jumped at the sudden noise. "Huh?" He blurted out ever so intelligently, head swinging while his yellow eyes landed on the form of a girl. What was he doing? "Oh. I was uh—" His first instinct was to lie. Say that he was fishing and man, you should've seen the whales he caught. But then he realized that she might have saw his whole falling-into-the-pond-headfirst routine and maybe the truth was better.

"I was looking at the fish." He said instead. And somewhere behind him his tail wagged away while he looked down to survey himself. His white paws were muddy and grass stuck to his legs. He probably looked like some kind of soggy mess. "Think they, uh, outsmarted me." Cottongrass admitted with a sheepish smile while his ears rolled back in embarrassment.

(This post was last modified: Jul 11, 2017, 10:39 PM by Cottongrass.)

Outsmarted by fish? It was silly and maybe a little mean, but she couldn't help but giggle at his words. She didn't mean to mock him, if anything her laughter was ladened with affection but all the same she felt as though she should apologise. She wasn't the sort who had the habit of bullying others, if anything she believed it was best to treat those with kindness so they would do so in return.

It was just a shame not everyone saw things that way. To some kindness was weakness, a fault line to exploit.

"I'm sorry." She said with an equally sheepish smile."It just sounds like a fable. Don't judge things at first appearance, or something like that. Don't be too bold or the fish will make a fool of you.." She laughed again at the realisation of how silly she sounded. That this stranger, as unlikely as it seemed, would think she was an idiot. An airhead, like everyone else used to say.

"But maybe you could get your own back, show the fish who is boss?"

That's not something she could ever do, she would never be the boss of anyone, but pride was an important thing. Or at least that's what every man she had met seemed to believe.

Carefully she crept a little closer and then a little more. She was small and fast, if she needed to get away in a hurry she could but...She didn't want to run the risk of being too close. Even if he did seem nice.

"Sounds pretty smart to me." He mumbled, a confused smile playing across his features while his tail continued to wag in the air behind him. What she said had sounded like good advice. The kind he could have really used only a few moments ago. Maybe then he wouldn't have been so soggy with slimy fur drying in the unrelenting sun...

But those were only different scenarios out of thousands of possibilities for something that already happened.

His head cocked and his mind wandered back to the stranger. It admittedly took a few seconds for her words to register behind his eyes. Because showing the fish who was boss. To him it sounded like a joke. Something that would be snapped at him like a whip if he acted too loudly or childishly around the wrong wolf. But when his eyes glanced from her to the pond just over his shoulder he saw nothing but a harmless suggestion.

"Mmm." He hummed, weighing his options carefully while swaying in thought. The pond was still gleaming with traitorous dancing lights that moved just out of reach from under the water's surface. The she-wolf seemed really nice if he were to be honest. "Only if you help me." He decided, jaws parted in a goofy smile with his tongue lolled out from between a mouthful of pointed teeth. His tail gave an excited wag and he wondered if she actually had a plan in mind.

If she didn't, he was fully prepared to flail around in the water until she laughed. He didn't have much in the matter of pride of self-respect when it came down to it.

If he thought it sounded smart then maybe it was. Lenae always assumed she was being stupid and naive because....She wasn't sure why really, she just did. Like a kneejerk reaction, something that she did without even realising. She didn't want to think about it too much, not here and not now. Not when she was supposed to be having fun, when she was talking to such a nice seeming stranger.

"Maybe."She eventually said, not wanting to argue but not being able to agree either.

Lenae wasn't sure how much help she would really be. Fishing wasn't a forte many Selwyns had but... It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. She'd picked at the slimy remains of a fish before and it had tasted really really good! So couldn't really describe the flavour aside from different and yummy, but that was more than enough to seal the deal. She would try her paw at fishing with her new fluffy friend!

"Yeah, let's do it." She agreed as she finally waded into the water and stood-almost- at his side. Nice or not, she was still cautious. It was ingrained into her being at this point. Another habit she couldn't quit. "I've never actually done this before but...How hard can it be?"

Squinting in concentrating, Lenae stared at the wriggly fish as she tried to narrow down her choices. What about that one? No, it looked to long. That one then? Mmm, it was sort of fat, she wasn't sure whether she could get her jaws around it. Then what about this one? Sleek and silver but not to long or fat. She licked her lips and glanced over at the fluff ball.

"I'm gonna do it. Wish me luck."

Without further ado she bent down and snapped her jaws, ready and eager to catch a fish- but instead got nothing but a mouth of water. Coughing and spluttering she looked over at the stranger, a sheepish expression on her face.

"It's a lot harder than it looks, really."

Sorry for the wait! @Lenae <3

It admittedly took him more than a few seconds before he realized that she was talking about catching the fish. He just assumed they were going to—

Well.

He didn't really know what he assumed. Maybe they were going to fight the fish? Or just be really obnoxious and splash around in the water a whole bunch just to show the fish that they wouldn't be messed with? He didn't understand what might have been going through his own mind just then. His tail dragged along the surface of the water and he offered her one of his brightest smiles. Because he knew from experience that people wouldn't get too upset with him if he just smiled and nodded along to whatever they were saying.

It seemed to work.

But then she decided to shove her face under the water all while her jaws hung open. He couldn't help but flinch when she emerged coughing and spluttering. Did she mean to do that? What the heck was a lot harder than it looked? The ground when you were falling out of a tree? His stance was alert and more than a little bewildered. But then it clicked.

"Oh!" He barked while his tail restarted its usual excited wag. "Yeah, no! That's okay! It's definitely a lot harder than it looks!" She was talking about the fish! She was trying to catch the fish! It suddenly made so much sense and he was happy to realize that he wasn't losing his mind.

"I'm terrible at fishing, too." He chirped with a goofy smile all while his rear end gave a pleased wiggle. Like he was never so relieved to meet a fellow wolf that didn't know how to fish.

Her face was sopping wet and yet Lenae still managed to smile. It was a goofy thing, tongue lolling out to the side as she squinted her eyes closed. If he'd laughed at her, called her names, her feelings would have no doubt gotten hurt. But he didn't, disgust didn't even register on his face. His smile was just as big as hers and his tail swished just as fast!

"I think my Mother tried to teach me once...but she made it look so easy! Just like...Yoink! Then she had it wriggling in her mouth." In her defense it wasn't like any of her siblings were any good at it either. There just weren't a lot of fish to catch up in the mountains.

Oh no, she missed them. Just thinking about those once fond memories was enough to pry the hurt loose. Her expression dropped and she kicked at the water, her paw creating a little splosh in its wake.

Why was it so hard? She didn't care about fishing, it wasn't for her but...Couldn't she be happy for longer than a few moments? Why did she always have to ruin it for herself, like a sick, twisted sense of sadism. At time she felt like she deserved the pain and suffering and yet at times like this she loathed it almost as much as she did her uncle.

Clearing her throat, she turned to her new friend with an overly cheery smile that didn't meet her eyes. Not by a long shot.

"My name is Everly! I'm from Whitestone Monny...The big rock!

Fishing was overrated. He didn't understand it. And when he actually thought about it—he was pretty sure nobody else did either. How could they? Fishing was a matter of pure luck and sheer coincidence. No amount of practising could ever change that.

So he didn't really understand why the she-wolf seemed to get sad and quiet just then. Like maybe she was upset that she wasn't a good fisher or something. But he knew that she didn't deserve whatever might have been going through her mind. His smile softened and his tail slowed its excited pace to something less intense.

"It's okay." He chirped. And with the utmost care—he reached out and gave her a friendly nudge with the blunt end of his muzzle. He was bad at most things! She probably didn't know that but he understood how she felt. It wasn't easy being cursed with bad luck but he would live. And so would she! He was tempted to ramble all of that to her. But speeches weren't his strong suite and she was talking anyway.

The water splashed as he stepped back into his own personal space.

"Cool!" He barked when she mentioned her name and her pack. Whitestone Monny sounded like a pretty awesome place. Especially if it was that big rock that seemed to rise up from the middle of nowhere in the open tundra. "I'm Cottongrass." He offered her with a bright smile of his own. "I'm from Wild Rye Fields! It's the big golden field somewhere over there!" His muzzle pointed some vague direction to the west. Or what he assumed was the west.