FSE

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Reya loved to fish. She loved lots of things. Everything around her was wonderful: the beautiful birds, the lush green reeds, and the crystal clear water - especially the water. She adored the cool soaked feeling of her wet outer fur as she remained dry and toasty warm from the short insulating layer of fur underneath. She often darted aimlessly around the river to feel the wonderful sensation of water being pulled around her in a current. It was like a soft massage from Mother Nature.

It wasn't surprising when Reya found herself at the river, once again avoiding her brother Gither. He was assuredly close on her tail, since he had always had a good nose for tracking, but she relished every minute of escape she got. She knew how the conversation would go when he found her. It would be exactly the same as every single other time. A bubbly underwater sigh escaped her muzzle and her naturally buoyant body floated up to the surface. She rolled onto her back and waited.

Before long, she heard the expected clomps of light otter pawpads on the shore behind her. "Jeez Gith, am I not allowed to have alone time?" She called out.

She expected to hear the casual, time-tested reply, "Just get your rambunctious furry ass back to the den." The voice never came, however. Silence pierced the air like needles. Reya had no idea what Gith's problem was this time, but she knew it couldn't be good. She pulled herself up to face the shore as Gith let out a loud grunt.

The otter wasn't Gither.

He was a big otter. She'd seen larger, but he seemed massive compared to Reya and her Brother. He was slightly longer than any of the otters she had known in passing, but his weight was absolutely intimidating. Just by looking at him she could tell that he had at least five pounds on her in pure muscle.

His coloration was unlike any otter that Reya had ever known. Dark brown fur covered his body head to toe. More unusual was his neck. Whereas most of her species had a large white patch of fur running down their chest from their muzzle, he only had a few small spots of white dotting the underside of his neck. A pattern of red fur was visible on his front left paw. No, she realized, that's blood.

Reya, however, was not scared. She firmly believed that otters were good animals. Gither always told stories about otter heroes. She couldn't remember a single otter villain. Besides, she was certain that she could, considering his bloody leg, outrun him if he tried anything malicious.

"Hey!" she called.

The other otter looked up, narrowed his eyes, and then slowly began to place his wounded paw in the water.

If there was anything that upset Reya, it was being ignored.

"Do you need some help? I can bind that up really quick! I'm pretty good at medicine. I mean, I'm okay... my brother taught me everything I know, but he's the best healer you'll find from here to Fenbury! He's really good! He once completely fixed up a raccoon who sliced his paw nearly half off chopping up some celery. I... uh - I helped too! I'll heal that paw of yours in no time!" The male twitched his ears.

Reya took that as a sign of encouragement. She swiftly paddled back over to the shore where the water had begun to take a slightly crimson hue.

"C'mon, you can't hope to get that clean with just one paw!" She enthusiastically yipped.

This scenario had played out in Reya's mind many times before. A dashing stranger stumbles out from the forest, mortally wounded. He looks around in desperation only to find Reya, the stunningly beautiful otter maiden. Catching a whiff of blood from far away she would know that she was needed. She'd rush over, and the male would swoon at the sight of her - and also his lack of blood - as she begins to help. He would wince in pain as she treated him, but the entire time, his eyes would be looking straight into hers and...

The male bared his teeth as she reached over to help, his glare daring her to go any farther. He didn't expect her to. She didn't expect to. Yet, she refused to let her fantasy go unfulfilled, her wounded prince unaided. She pushed right through with her nose and started to clean the wound out with her dexterous paws.

The expression that flooded the stranger's face was a mix of shock and pain, as her fingers gently poked and prodded at his wound. He initially jerked the paw back, but slowly let it back out for her to clean. He wasn't stupid. If he didn't want the wound to fester, it would have to be washed and bandaged. Otters were notoriously terrible at giving themselves first-aid because of their short limbs. She knew that he needed her help whether he liked it or not.

"How did this happen?"

No response.

"Okay then, where are you from?" Reya asked through gritted teeth.

No response.

"Can you at least tell me your name?"

No response.

She was angry. "If I'm going to help you, you've got to talk to me!" Her voice was almost at a shout.

Reya wasn't the only angry otter on the shore. The stranger glared at her, eyes narrowing. He opened his mouth.

Reya's lunch left her and joined the crimson water.

The stranger had no tongue. In its place, at the back of his maw, was a large festering scab. It covered what she could only assume had been the path of a long and - judging by the festering - at least week old gash along the inner left side of his jaw. In all of Reya's time treating friendly creatures of the forest, she had never once encountered a wound that had looked so vile.

"Oh gods..." she muttered.

Her brother would know what to do. Gither always knew what to do, although she rarely agreed with his plans of action. She didn't want Gith chasing the poor mute away, he never liked having strangers around. But the mute hadn't tried to hurt her or anything, and his mouth was in desperate need of attention.

"I'm going to find some leaves to bind your paw." She spoke fast, not looking at the stranger.

Her legs trembling slightly, Reya set to the forests edge, keeping her eye on the mute, now lying down with his paw resting in the water. The blood and vomit had not taken long to disperse in the light current. It wasn't long until she had plucked some big heart shaped leaves from a nearby tree. She knew from previous experience that they would hold together well.

She turned back to the shore. The male had moved. He was backing away from his location slowly. Something was obviously there. There were not many feral predators in the area, but snakes were always a concern. She crept closer, staying as hidden as she could behind the shrubbery that lined the forest edge as she tried to get a better look at what the bigger otter was looking at.

It wasn't a predator, it was her brother. He was hissing, creeping forward at the retreating otter. Gither, about to jump the stranger, paused as he smelled a familiar scent.

"Gither, what do you think you're doing?" Reya shouted, the leaves falling from her muzzle. "Get away from him right now! Look at the poor thing, he's wounded! "

"Get back Reya, he's dangerous," Gither glared. He wasn't the only one ready for battle. The mute had his haunches drawn back, ready to jump in an instant if Gither made a move.

"Dangerous? He's hurt! It's always like this with you! You see some poor hurt person and just go for the throat!"

"He is dangerous," Gither repeated. He tilted his head slightly, revealing a bloody set of claw-marks running behind his ear.

"Oh! So he scratched you! I'm sure you're in a lot of pain! Are you the one who did this to the poor guy's leg? Don't even try to lie to me Gith, you know I can see right through you!"

Gither stood stoic for a moment before turning his attention to Reya. He stepped forward and stopped. The mute had repositioned himself between Gither and his sister, baring his teeth at Gither. He was tense. Gither was tense. Reya was flailing, shouting, and trying to calm them both down.

"Sir... Uh... Stranger - Mute - dude! Its ok! He's my brother!" Reya made her move. She quickly ran up next to the mute, who only offered her a cursory glance before resuming his stare-down with Gither.

"Gither, calm down. You hit him first - and don't you dare lie to me. He's completely innocent! What would you have done if some crazy otter jumped you and tore up your leg? You'd beat the crap out of him! He barely even touched you! Look at the size of him - he could have wrecked you if he fought back!"

"He would not have beaten me!" Gither growled.

"Are you serious? Is something wrong with my ears? You just ravaged this guy's leg and all you can think about is your pride? He's just a wounded mute, Gith, get a freaking grip! Shut up, go over to that pond right there, and get some algae to bind the mess that you made of his paw!"

Gither stood in place, stunned. Reya was breathing heavily. She had been growing less and less patient with her brother in the last few years, but not like this. He had always been the boss. He told her what to do and, albeit after grumbling and arguing, she'd do it.

"Gither," Reya snapped, "now!"

Gither did what he was told. He looked curiously at the mute as walked to the stream, still cautious. Reya guessed that she hadn't realized that the spotted otter was a mute. He dove down into the river to grab a mouthful of algae. Meanwhile, Reya collected the leaves that she had dropped, bringing them over to the mute, who was more than slightly confused.

"You aren't also deaf, right?" The mute nodded.

"Alright, this is going to sting again."

Reya leaned over and began cleaning out the wound once again. Specs of dirt and grime had collected in the gash during the confrontation. There wasn't much, however, so Reya finished quickly.

"I'm going to need you on your side," Reya said, nudging the larger otter. He obediently laid down.

She grabbed the first leaf and gingerly pressed it against the open wound. She had parted the wet fur around the wound to the best of her abilities, but some fur still got in her way. She balanced two more leaves over top. They wouldn't stick, but Reya knew the importance of a thick bandage. Gither wordlessly dropped the algae next to her as she worked. She look he gave her could have killed a lesser otter.

While holding the leaves down with a paw, she reached over and grabbed the end of a first strand of algae in her mouth. She pressed it against the side of his leg, and then slowly wrapped it around the bandage, the wet weed sticking to itself effectively. She repeated the process with several more strands of algae before tying it off and stepping back to admire her work.

"Now sit here until the algae dries off." She said in her best soft endearing voice. The male grunted in acceptance.

"Gither, I think that now would be a good time to apologize to our guest. You put him through a lot, and if I wasn't here to save him, who knows what would have happened! You know how_incredibly_ dangerous these woods are. You owe me one Gith!" She spoke down to him like a mother to her pups, in as condescending and demeaning of a tone as she could muster.

"Don't be an idiot - these woods are perfectly sa -"

Reya cut him off, "Gither, right now! Go apologize right now!"

Reya felt empowered. She hadn't been in charge of anyone ever. She had always taken orders from Gither, albeit begrudgingly. She couldn't help it most of the time. When he got angry, she just did what he said.

Gither sat next to the mute, who stiffened at his approach.

"My sister is right, I should apologize. You looked like a threat, so I did what I had to do. Next time make it obvious that you can't speak or you'll probably get killed."

"What the heck is your problem?! I asked for an apology! That was nothing! I - How dare you hurt this poor guy and then act so callous about it!"

Reya was going to continue, but she stopped, startled, when she felt the mute's good paw give her a little shove. She turned her head around curiously. The wounded male looked at her thankfully and then nodded at her brother.

"Gither, I... I think that you should look at his mouth." Reya gulped; she didn't have any food left to retch up. Even after seeing it twice, she still wasn't quite sure of her resolve to look a third time.

The mute was stiff as a log as Gither prodded his jaw with his paw. He opened it with a nod from Reya, though. She immediately looked away. Even Gither, with his extensive medical experience, turned his head at the sight.

"How long has it been since this happened?" Gither asked.

The mute leaned down and drew a symbol into the ground with his good paw. Gither's eyes narrowed.

"Where the hell did you learn the old runes?" he hissed. Reya pushed up next to the spotted otter and glared at her brother.

"Save the interrogation for later," Reya growled. Her brother looked conflicted in a way that she had never seen him before. Finally, however, he relented.

"Fine. It's definitely infected, but you probably knew that. Get me some aloe vera. You know where it is."

"No way! I'm not going to leave him with you in this awful mood. I can deal with whatever he needs until you get back."

"What he needs is for someone to pick off that scab. So unless you're up for the job, get moving."

Reya didn't need any more encouragement.

The small otter rushed to the den like a wolf was on her tail. She ducked into the small otter-sized door and bolted for the herbal pantry. She returned as fast as she could, aloe vera and other minor herbs to help with open wounds clutched in her maw. Aside from a putrid smell in the air around Gither, who was busy poking away inside the mute's mouth, everything seemed to be as she left it. The stranger's eyes were watering in silent agony, he twitched in pain with every movement of Gither's claws. She sat still as Gither finished the first stage of his work, staying far enough away for the pungent odor to be at least somewhat bearable.

"Are you finished yet?" Reya began to grow impatient soon.

"Shut up Reya."

She quietly continued to wait uncomfortably for her brother to finish. Fortunately for Reya's patience, or lack thereof, he didn't take long. Gither held the wounded otter's mouth open as he called over his sister.

"Reya, I need you to hold his jaw still while I apply the aloe. It'll sting like a bitch for him and I don't want to lose a paw."

Reya didn't dare open her mouth, not for fear of Gither's condescension, but because of the vile taste hanging in the sickly air. She closed her eyes and gripped the mute's mouth, precariously balancing on her back feet.

She didn't want to watch, but she forced herself to. The small otter had seen plenty of gruesome wounds while helping her brother, but this one was on a completely different scale. Without the scabs it was even worse. Reya thought that she'd lose her grip several times as the aloe touched new parts of the reopened wound.

She almost began to doubt the commitment that she had to learning her brother's profession. It was easy to treat scrapes and bruises, she could deal with blood without a problem. However, when she saw the awful mutilation of the mute's mouth, she couldn't handle it. She wanted to help her new friend so badly, but she couldn't bear his looks of agony. It hurt her to see a living creature so similar to her in such pain and it hurt her to know that without her brother she wouldn't be able to help, and not for a lack of knowledge.

It seemed like she stood there forever, arms sore from holding the wounded otter's jaws open. With a nod from her brother, she slowly pulled her paws away. They were covered in a disgusting mixture of blood and pus.

"I know it'll feel horrible, but you have to hold these herbs in your mouth until the wound begins to scab over again," Reya shakily said, taking over for her brother. Gither had gone to wash his fur in the river. She couldn't blame him. She felt disgusting herself.

The mute stood up and took a tentative step downstream.

"Hey, our den is the other way," Reya invited. He nodded but gestured with his head downstream.

"I think he wants us to follow him," Reya spoke to her brother.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"I was being facetious."

"Well maybe you should shut up and come with us. I think it's important!"

"All he did was nod! How does that make you think it's important!? And what do you mean by us? You're not going with him!" Gither shouted.

"Gither, I'm going whether you like it or not. You should come too, I'll need help redressing his mouth." The mute winced at the thought of paws invading his mouth again.

"Fine, but if he so much as looks at me wrong, that mouth will be the least of his problems," Gither threatened.

Reya rolled her eyes at her brother as she walked alongside her new mute friend.