Up a Cre-er, River, without a paddle

[Jasyn]

A small, child-like red squirrel hung in the branches of a tree hanging just above the River Moss. Alternately laughing and humming to himself, he lounged in a fork of the tree. "La-da-da...oh ha! Lookit that!" He had taken to carving, recently, and so had one of his knives set to a branch. He had been Idly scraping at it, but he noticed that he had set it to look like a flute. "Well. Must be my musical side coming out, eh?" He raised his head and looked at a leaf over his head. "What do you think? Should I continue? I probably should, shouldn't I? I'll make myself a flute!" He smiled at the leaf, and continued carving.
Now, most creatures would assume that he was going crazy, that wasn't the case. Darmani was simply using the leaf as a sound-board for his spoken thoughts.
Humming to him self again, the flute began to take shape more. Then he came to a dilemma. "Hmm. It seems I can't bore into here without something. Ah well..." Tucking the half-made flute into his belt, he grabbed a fallen piece of bark and began drawing on that, instead.

[Grath]

Carwyn waded into the river, here it flowed wide and slow, a thick ribbon of water through the forest. It had grassy banks that dropped off into the water. The humongous white badger had left her tunic and possessions on the bank. Into deep water, she sat down and began sluicing water over her head.

The silty river water soon became muddier as she scrubbed at her fur, dislodging great chunks of dried mud to float away in the current. She was determined that this would be her one and only time to visit the otters during a Hullaballoo.

[Jasyn]

Darmani finished with the piece of bark, and then looked at it. On it, he was carving an exaggerated sad-face. It had the look of a mask, in fact. All he needed to do was carve out the eyes and the mouth, and it would be pretty serviceable. Looking at the mask, however, he remembered the vermin troupe that had managed to give him a short stay with some manacles. He stopped smiling and brooded, as he held the piece of bark up. He didn't want to be reminded of that, so he grimaced and tossed the bark over his shoulder, and in the vague area of the river Moss.

He didn't stay moody for long though. Soon enough, he was humming again, one footpaw hanging on the branch, and tapping a non-existent beat. "Ooooh, my father was a sailor, and loved to fight a lot. His wife, he loved more dearly, and even her stew pot. Through thick and thin, he'd always win, just for the stew pot.

Oooooh, I'll come home my deary, now sit right here and sew. Our youngling needs some porridge and; I've got so long to go. The sea is mean, and thick and green; and I've got long to go..." He sang. Each lyric making itself up as he sang.

[Grath]

Splat

“Oy!” a hoarse, deep voice roared from the river as the silty river mud hit the tree trunk beside the squirrel’s head. “Knock off the noise, treemouse!” The towering badger stood in the middle of the river, paws on her hips.

But instead of being black with a white stripe, this badger was pure white. Her rosy eyes focused on the tree, trying to pick out the squirrel amongst the dense foliage. Shaking her great head, Carwyn waded out of the river, stepping out onto the bank. She grabbed a towel and dried off briskly before pulling her green tunic over her head.

[Jasyn]

Darmani almost fell out of the branch as the mud splattered on the tree trunk. He caught himself, however, and looked down at the river where the Badger was glaring at him. "Knock off the noise, sure marm. But could you not knock me off in the process? I rather like this spot." The red squirrel got back on his perch and looked Carwyn over. White, red eyes...interesting. Not like any badger he'd heard about. But he was friendly, and so his face was covered in a large smile as he looked at her. "Mighty fine day, isn't it marm? It makes you wanna sing doesn't it? But, maybe there's something else that tickles your fancy? A nice swim perhaps?" Well, she was in the river. That would make sense. "M'name's Darmani. What's yours?" Even though she had tried to knock him off the tree, he was still polite. In fact, he didn't even mind the mud tossing.

[Grath]

“Knock off the noise, sure marm. But could you not knock me off in the process? I rather like this spot."

Carwyn stood, paws on her hips, as she stared up at the squirrel. He was a tiny thing, adult proportioned, though not adult sized. And red, as most squirrels were. There wasn’t much distinctive about him other than the size, the constant chatter certainly fit.

"Mighty fine day, isn't it marm? It makes you wanna sing doesn't it? But, maybe there's something else that tickles your fancy? A nice swim perhaps?" Well, she was in the river. That would make sense. "M'name's Darmani. What's yours?"

“I do not feel like singing.” she said firmly in her hoarse voice. It was hard to resist the squirrel’s friendliness, though she had had about her share of cheer earlier with the otters. She replied politely nontheless. “They call me Carwyn the Pike.”

[pie4me]

Jekker coughed and spluttered as the River took him downstream faster than he had thought. Jek soon gained the upperhand however, and was swimming like a true otter... because of course, that was what he was. His leather bag thumped harmoniously against his side.

He soon spotted something else. A white flash of fur that soon took shape as a badger. Jekker was not exactly curious, at least not for reasons that someone else might be. He was wondering what a great story it would be, "Hey mates, I seen a white badger I tell ya!" Yes, that would be good indeed.

But Jekker was cautious when his mind was in the right place. He hid behind some reeds for a while, and soon he noticed that the badger was talking to something in the tree beside the river. He couldn't wait any longer. After all, the badger might LEAVE and then he couldn't tell anyone he had actually met the white badger.

So he climbed out. Jekker walked up behind the badger, but right as he was about to say something, one of the old stories he had dreamed up came back to him, and he began thinking about how he could improve it and all that other nonsense that no one but him would do... unless of course they were just like him.

[Jasyn]

Darmani grinned down at the badger. "Mighty fine name, mighty fine name to be sure, marm. The pike, you say? Wouldn't be like one of those fierce fishies, would it? I'd wager you could take one of those easily." He drapped his tail down and twitched it. "Any reason you're swimmin' around in the river, marm? Or is it just a passing fancy? A decision of the moment?" He continued grinning. "Wouldn't catch me dead in the river, though." He shuddered. "I don't like water."

As he was talking with Carwyn, an otter had come in to view. He looked eager, but then hesitant. Cheerily, Darmani waved at him. "Hello! Nice to see an otter in the river. Not that there is a reason that otters wouldn't be in the river. Otters, being otters, like rivers, right?" He let out a bright laughter. "But hey, don't let me steal the words from your mouth. Fancy a nice chat with me and Carrie the Pike here? She was just telling me how she got her name." He gave a nod.