Opaque clouds drifted overhead as the girl relaxed, letting the water carry her this way and that. She'd been relaxing in this calmer stretch of water for around an hour, letting the noon sun warm her body as she watched different shapes roll by in the cloudy skies overhead. She had been working on her fear of water for a very long time and was proud that she'd been able to make it this far, to allow herself to lay in the water and not fear it. The girl had been involved in a horrific accident near the ocean as a pup that had left her forever scarred, both mentally and physically. She'd wandered into a sea cave that had filled with water as the tide had come in, and had eventually been taken out to sea with the waves. Those rocky shorelines had beaten her unconscious and broken her leg before spitting her up onto the beach.
She lay on her back, her silver form moving back and forth as the current began to take hold of her a little more. This portion of the river was quite calm and she wasn't too worried about a little bit of current. She relaxed further, trying to calm herself even more as the water tugged on her body. Nothing was going to happen to her here. Wretch leaned back, moving her body to promote more buoyancy. Her sparrow companion had settled into a tree nearby, keeping guard for her as she floated on. His voice was what snapped her out of her reverie: the sparrow was screeching loudly, something she'd only heard him do a handful of times.
Wretch made to sit up a bit in the water, her hind feet scrambling for placement amongst the mud and muck that lay on the bottom of the river. She was in deeper than she'd thought. Suddenly, the threat that Tatuk had warned her about appeared - a luperci had spotted her bags by the side of the river and was making a beeline for them. She began to swim closer, growling beneath her breath. She was no good at fighting, but would do whatever she could to protect her belongings. Wretch reached for her knife, which she kept strapped to her thigh, and made her way toward the shore.
Get! Get away, you brute! She called angrily, trotting up the beach toward her pack. She had many valuable items in there, including her precious flint and steel. The black luperci looked up at her, then back down at the pack. He reached out to grab the bag as Wretch came nearer, beginning to run away in the opposite direction. The hybrid began to give chase, calling up to her companion. Follow me!! She hoped he would listen - the bird could not often understand what she meant when she spoke to him plainly. Just as she was beginning to catch up to the other loner, a dark, mixed-breed canine appeared from a nearby pocket of brush. Goin' somewhere, girl? The dark loner had led her straight toward another canine, likely an accomplice of his. Back off. My fight's not with you, Mutt She said, trying to find a way around him as he rushed toward her to attack.
.wretch-02 b {font-weight:bold; color:#82a75d; letter-spacing:1px; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #3a5a19; }
.wretch-02 p {text-indent:0px; padding:5px 16px; margin:0px;}
.wretch-02 {margin:0 auto; width:450px; background-color:#6e8755; background-image:url(http://i.imgur.com/PZAwW.png); background-position:top center; background-repeat:no-repeat; border:1px solid #0b052c; padding: 310px 0px 7px 0px; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size:12px; color:#000000; text-shadow: 0.1em 0.1em 0.2em #; letter-spacing:.6px; word-spacing:.9x; line-height:13.3px; text-align:justify;}
.wretch-02 p b:before { content: open-quote; }
.wretch-02 p b:after {content: close-quote; }
</style>
[/html]