Bramble Falls how otterly adorable

@Clover Casper, a curious otter wants to play.


Casper had wanted to give it a go of fishing, because it seemed like there were a few fish still splashing about in the rivers surprising enough. But most creeks or rivers he had so far come across either didn’t really have many fish in it or were too frozen over to try. Yet the rushing sound of water attracted his attention as he followed a small run off, in hopes to find something. And so the young wolf had stumbled across Bramble Falls, his stomach rumbling loudly at the thought that he’d finally found a chance to fish.

The falls were rushing down the stone walls, the shallow pool untouched by ice as the tumbling water kept it too agitated to form any sort of cap over it. Which made Casper feel overjoyed, cause he could see the fish freely moving in the water. He’d finally get to eat! He wasn’t a terrible fisher, not a good one but he was good enough to know the basics.

So he quietly stood by the water’s edge, attempting to hold as still as possible and concentrate, a happy chirp distracted him. Casper had thought he was alone so it startled him and his head jerked up to spot a small head with round eyes stared back at him from the water. It was an otter! Casper blinked at it and it blinked back at him before ducking under the water.

Huh, was he in its hunting grounds? Was this fall its ho-? His thoughts were interrupted by a cold splash of water hitting him in the face, leaving him spluttering as loud chirps filled the air, as if the otter was laughing at his reaction.

After looking for a suitable location to store her herbs and chatting with Viorel, Clover had decided to make her way back to the falls to the east, wanting to take some time and relax to the sound of the waterfall. The sun had just started setting in the sky as she got close, her paws taking her along the bank of the meandering creek. The sky was still as clear as ever, even though the sun itself did not shine down as warmly as she wanted it to, but maybe she could find a nice elevated spot to sun herself before the sun dipped below the horizon.

She came upon a curious sight when she got to the falls: a wolf standing by the water's edge while an otter was chirping happily at them. She laughed as it splashed water in the wolf's face, unable to hold it back despite her efforts. She moved closer to the wolf, ears perked forward curiously. They seemed familiar... Oh! She grinned widely, tail swinging happily behind her. "Casper!" It had been many days since they last crossed paths, and she was certainly happy to see a friendly face. "Hope you're not troubling the poor little otter now," she said in a teasing tone, eyes glancing between the ghostly male and the otter.

Distracted as he was in his confusion at the small otter playfully splashing water in his face, Casper failed to hear or see the other wolf coming up to him and leapt a good few inches into the air at Clover's teasing voice. it was enough that when his front paws hit the ground again, they slipped on the watery mud that made up the edge of shallows and sent him face first into the water before he was able to catch himself.

Choking as he sharply inhaled water up as he gasped in surprise at the sudden coldness, mostly in his nose, Casper flailed for a few moments on the slippery bottom before gaining purchase again and pulling himself away, thankfully with his face out of the water as he tried to catch his breath again.

She gasped in horror as Casper jumped into the air in surprise, lost his footing on the wet rocks, and fell face first into the water. Her paws carried her right next to him just as he broke above the surface, sputtering and gasping. "Oh no I'm so sorry!" She said with a whine, ears splaying to the side apologetically as she lowered her head. "I didn't mean to scare you." She thought he had heard her laugh as she came up, but it seemed he had been thoroughly taken up by the otter and not aware of his surroundings.

"Are you alright?" Her words were laced with concern, worried that he might have inhaled some water. She had no herbs that could help with that, but maybe getting out of the water and warming up would be good for him. Clover eyed the otter in the water just to make sure it did not try anything, but her attention was mostly focused on Casper.

Scrambling back towards shore, Casper managed to get back onto dry land just fine, albeit wetter then before. Sputtering up the last few bits of water that got caught when he took a nose dive into the water, Casper sneezed a few times for good measure as his eyes tears up a bit. His nose stung somewhat from water forcefully going up there but he didn't want Clover to feel any worse then she clearly did.

"no no, I'm okay." He rasped out, his throat feeling a little sore as he spoke. It wasn't her fault he wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings, no matter how cutely distracting an otter was. "you just surprised me. Well, you both did." Sniffing slightly, he glanced over at the otter that was a bit further away now, obviously having been spooked by his crash landing in the water. "Think it wanted to play but I was trying to fish so I didn't see it at first either." Casper chuckled before erupting into a coughing fit. His irritated throat did not like that at all, either the chuckle or the coughing so it protested.

(This post was last modified: Jan 22, 2021, 10:48 AM by Casper.)

She gave him a concerned look when he assured her he was okay. Yes, he was not currently dying, but she knew inhaling water was not a good thing, and felt bad that she had caused it. She knew of some herbs that could help with the irritation of his throat, but would be unable to grab some due to all the snow. In fact, she was not even sure where those herbs would grow around here. Come spring, she was determined to explore as much as possible to figure out exactly what herbs and plants were nearby, and what she would need to go searching for beyond her immediate surroundings.

Clover glanced at the otter which had swam back further into the water, not that she was surprised. Having a wolf splash into the water would be quite scary if she was a small creature like it. "Sorry for surprising you, I should've let you know I was behind you." She gently nosed his shoulder as he had a coughing it, her ears sadly drooping. "If I had access to some Goldenrod or Sweet Grass I could help soothe your throat, but nothing grows in winter so I don't have any to give." She then stepped back, motioning for him to follow her away from the water. Surely he was freezing by now, and she did not want him to catch a cold because his fur was soaking wet.

"I should have been paying better attention," Once his coughing fit settled down and he had his breath back, Casper shook his head because he did not want her to feel like it was entirely her fault that he got scared and landed in the water. "don't think I swallowed a lot of water and I think what I did, I cough back up."

Casper followed her motion for him to follow her, knowing he'd at least have to dry off so he didn't catch his death. But how? he thought, as he stood up and shook out his coat as best he could. It got rid of a great deal of water but his coat was still damp and while it was sunny, it still felt very cold to him. His eyes wandered as he felt like maybe trying to lay in the sun might be a good idea and while looking, his eyes fell on a large flat rock. And it was perfectly in the sun too!

"uh, I think I need to warm up a bit and that looks like the perfect place?" He murmured to Clover, motioning over to the sun warmed rock. It might be winter but it was sure to be warmer then him. Part of him wanted to ask her to cuddle up to him, to help the process but his brain sputtered to a stop before he could open his mouth and ask, much like he had previously.

She was not too worried if he swallowed any water, it was drinkable after all, but at least his coughing would get the remaining water out of his lungs before he got sick. She would feel terrible if that happened. Stepping back when Casper shook out his coat, her eyes closed momentarily as she felt some droplets land on her skin. They felt like small pinpricks where they fell, and she could only imagine how cold he felt after falling into the water if just the droplets were that cold.

Her gaze followed his and landed upon a nice smooth rock. It was an adequate sunning spot, and there was room for two on there, as there was no way she would leave him to warm up by himself. "Yes, that looks like a good spot," she said in agreement, walking over to the rock and daintily hopping up onto it. "The sun should begin to warm you up, and I'll lay next to you so my body heat can help too." Clover proceeded to lay down on the rock, folding her legs underneath her, tail curling around her hind paws as she looked at Casper, smiling to let him know he could join her.

A small flush over took Casper as soon as Clover mentioned the two could lay next to each other to keep him warm. He knew she was only doing it to make sure he didn't get sick but still. A small part of him was highly embarrassed at the thought of essentially cuddling up to his friend just because he'd be stupid enough to not keep an ear out.

But a great sneeze shook his body and reminded him he did in fact, need to warm up or else things could get much worse for him. So sheepishly, he followed Clover's suit and after clearing his head of his Great Sneeze, hopped up beside her even as his skin felt like it was about to burn from embarrassment.

He just hoped she didn't think he had some sort of fever because of it as he carefully leant his shoulder against hers.

"Thanks, for helping me with this." He muttered quietly, looking down at his paws as the stone beneath them slowly warmed him up. "And for not fretting an awful. My mother used to fret so much when I was a pup, for even having the slightest sneeze, if it was just due to pollen or whatever."

(This post was last modified: Feb 14, 2021, 11:11 AM by Casper.)

She grinned widely when Casper hopped up onto the rock next to her, glad he had agreed to share body warmth while the frail sun was still out and shining. They had to make the most of it before it dipped below the horizon and the real cold settled in. "It's no trouble at all! After all, it was my fault you fell in in the first place." She had already apologised twice for the incident, and so refrained from offering up a third apology.

Clover chuckled softly at his words as she settled in next to him, allowing their shoulders and flanks to brush up against one another. "That's how mothers are, they worry about their children, even if it seems a little unnecessary." It had not been quite the same with her own family given how majority of them knew just about as much knowledge of healing and herbs as she did, but the worry part was still the same. Worry whenever she went out on a hunt by herself, worry when she was gone out patrolling the borders, even worry when there was a storm about and they were not in visible range of each other. That was just what mothers did.