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Reya's stomach growled. She hadn't eaten for the entire day yesterday. Aris and Torren had probably eaten some kind of meal while she had still been asleep in the lodge, but - at her request - they only brought food for her if she asked.

And then, when she had been ready for dinner as Walaski was chomping away at his grains, she'd been completely distracted by his mistake. Reya cursed herself silently. She let herself get distracted too easily... but it was so very comfy snuggled up on the blanket with her friend.

Shaking the thought out of her head, Reya poked at the still sleeping otter's face with her good paw. He groaned and half-opened his eyes.

'Are we going already...?' He signed sloppily.

"I'm hungry," Reya whispered.

'Reya... It's the middle of the night. Can't you wait?'

"I can't sleep. My stomach won't let me."

'Ok... I'll see if I can root something out for us.'

"Us? I'm the hungry one here!"

'Hey! I didn't have dinner either,' Torren protested.

"Well you can take care of that yourself." Reya smirked.

'I'm also taking care of you myself."

"Well hurry up and get on it, then!"

Torren pulled himself away from Reya and stood up. He yawned and stretched himself out as much as he could in the limited space that the otters shared. He climbed up over a piece of tanned hide that protected trade goods from the elements and began to nose his way through the supplies.

He shuffled through the different goods, but suddenly stopped cold. Reya watched his fur suddenly stand on end. He quickly readjusted himself, however, and continued to search.

"W-what was that?" Reya asked.

Torren quickly dropped back down with Reya and nosed a salted trout at her. 'Here you go.'

"What did you see back there?"

'Talip.'

"Oh."

'He's bound and gagged in a small cage. Don't worry, there's no way he'd get out.' Torren must have seen the concern on her face.

"But you could do it! You could burn it all away! How do we know he can't?"

'Um... Aris said that power like that is really rare. I don't think that I can really do anything else, and I bet he can't either.'

"How could you know that?" Reya demanded.

'I've only really done... it... four times, but the first time was a long time ago. I think that I'd know if I could do more. I don't think Talip can either."

"So... What happened that first time?" she asked curiously, "If magic is connected to emotion, it must have been something big. Am I right?" This was a rare opportunity for Reya since the larger otter talked so little about himself. However, as soon as the last words came out of her maw, she knew that she'd made a mistake.

'I'm sorry, I really don't want to talk about it.' If Torren's paws could mumble, that's what they would've been doing. His eyes dropped to the blanket they were on, looking straight through it as if it weren't even there.

"I'm sorry, Torren! I just thought it would have been something cool, you know? Like fighting off that cat in the forest! I mean, you said it was caused by anger, right? Well, you know..."

Reya shut herself up. Torren wasn't even paying attention to her. Or if he was, he was trying his best to pretend not to. His head was between his paws, now stationary and non-verbal. Reya took the hint. Her friend was done talking.

"I'm sorry again... I guess I keep bringing whatever it was up. Oh! Sorry! I- I'll be quiet, I promise!" With no further response from the bigger otter, she began to nibble at the trout. It wasn't very good. Food needed a lot of salt to keep from going bad over trips, especially meat. If this was for three to four days, she shuddered to think of what they'd be eating on the half-month trip to Fenbury.

Torren was still motionless when she'd eaten halfway through her meal of preserved fish. He was still completely still when she picked the bones clean and tossed them out onto the road.

"This is getting ridiculous. Just tell me if you don't want to talk to me, ok? It looks like you're going into a coma right there."

Torren lifted up his right paw and sloppily signed, 'I don't want to talk to you right now.'

"Oh." His response sent what felt like an ice cold knife into her gut. He'd playfully told her to shut up before, but he'd never meant it like this. He'd never meant it like Gither always did. And this time she could hear Gither coldly telling her that _no one cared_what she was saying right now as Torren's paws outlined the words.

"Okay..." She lay her head down next to his. She wouldn't talk since she knew she'd only make him more upset, but she wanted to show her support if she could. Even if what he'd said had hurt, she trusted that he had his reasons. The little otter had known him for quite some time now and she didn't feel like he'd brush her off like that without a reason.

The cart jerked up suddenly and Reya bounced along with it. She looked around, her eyes quickly adjusting to the bright sunlight. The sun was near the middle of the sky. It was almost noon. She had absolutely no clue how she'd managed to sleep through that much of the day with the cart moving over such a bumpy path.

"Sorry about that!" Walaski called, "wheel went in a bit of a hole there."

Torren wasn't next to her. It was for the better, though. If he spent as long in the cart as she did, he'd lose his muscles even faster than she'd wear out his ears.

"Its fine!" Reya called back, "are we close to a watering hole, by any chance?"

"There should be enough in the flasks in the cart to last you to Lenwick."

"They should be near the top right? Which side?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," Aris interjected.

"I'm fine! Where are they?"

"They should be in the crate to your right."

Reya stifled a groan as she pushed herself to her feet. She pulled back the treated hide covering the crate without too much trouble. The gauze made it difficult to grip with her paws, but her teeth were perfectly fine. Inside the crate were several pouches that looked like they were made out of the same material as the hide she had just pulled aside.

She reached in and pulled one out with her teeth. There was a small wooden stopper in the top which she popped out, trying to balance the spout upright. If she spilled the water, it would set back the bit of physical independence that she had been desperately trying to uphold.

She drank the water in big gulps; she was very thirsty. The sky was cloudy with no sun and the fall air was cool and crisp, but she had still gone a fairly long time without drinking anything. Now that she had food and water in her stomach, she was feeling a lot better. A lot less irritable too.

After slipping the empty pouch back into the box, she tried to put the covering back on top of the crate. Covering it back over was a lot harder with wrapped paws than uncovering it had been. After a moment of fumbling, she gave up. Torren would take care of it for her later. As much as she tried not to let her crippling burns hinder her completely, she begrudgingly accepted that she wouldn't be able to do some simple tasks.

An hour later rain began to fall. Reya normally liked rain, but this was different. It was usually comforting and now it felt caging. It was normally calming, but now she couldn't think past the pounding on her head.

Her paws and tail felt as heavy as rocks with the wet gauze absorbing the water and weighing her down. She wanted to sleep, but she couldn't. The small otter had slept enough in the last day that she wasn't remotely tired. Instead, she rested on the soaked blanket with her eyes open, watching as the same landscape passed her by again and again. The gravel path was lined with tall deciduous trees. The saturated hues of the leaves, the brilliant oranges, reds, and golds, were diluted with the heavy rainstorm. Thunder crackled off in the distance. She definitely wasn't getting any sleep.

Aris and Walaski were being just as quiet as she was. The mood was somber all around. It didn't get much better either. The rain continued into the night and they stopped to rest without a word. Torren signed with Reya for a few minutes before they went to sleep, but even her drive for conversation was suppressed.

The next day was just as miserable. It stayed cloudy, and even at the end of the day both Reya's wrappings and fur were still damp. It wouldn't normally bother her, but she hadn't groomed herself in a while. Without grooming, otter fur quickly lost its waterproof quality. She wondered how Torren was doing.

"How's your fur holding up?" She asked as they stopped for lunch.

'Pretty wet,' he signed back tersely as he chomped down a mouthful of fish. Reya translated, laughing as she did so.

"What's so funny with that?" Walaski asked, "We're all pretty soaked, honestly."

"At least I have an excuse to not be grooming! This guy has every single one of his paws!" The beagle and the horse were confused until she quickly explained that grooming kept an otter's fur relatively waterproof.

Aris looked at his feet, not laughing.

"Oh my gosh! You aren't grooming either? Walaski? Jeez! We're gonna smell worse than sheep in a desert."

'Should I tell them how often you groomed before you got hurt?' Torren teased.

"Sure! I just hope they don't have too much trouble understanding you," Reya said sweetly.

Torren rolled his eyes, but he went on anyway. 'The last time you groomed yourself was... what? Half a moon before the fire? A full moon? And that was just because you were annoyed having to dry out after swimming!"

Reya translated for him out of courtesy, although she didn't use the same cheerful tones that big otter's paws emulated. Walaski guffawed and Aris tried to hide his laughter. Reya just stood red in the face.

'You didn't have to say that, you know,' Torren said, obviously laughing himself.

"It wouldn't be fair if I didn't," she snapped back tartly.

Torren went back to the cart with her. He rested alongside the little otter for the rest of the afternoon while they continued their journey. The path had finally come down and bits of the crystal river were visible through the trees and down the harsh slope to the side of the path.

The road angled downwards, however, and every hour drew them closer to the flowing water. Reya _really_wanted to refresh herself in the river. She'd never even been this far from her home as long as she could remember. She'd heard stories, though. The water of the crystal river was supposed to be so clear and clean that it shone like crystal. She could see from up on the path that that had been a severe exaggeration.

Maybe if it was in the right light it would look more like what she envisioned, but the water still looked very clean and refreshing, even from a distance. Reya couldn't wait to get down there.

She wondered how many other otters were down there fervently trying to get their last hauls of fish before the winter hit. Reya always imagined that it had to be the most fun job ever. If she weren't so invested in her job as a healer, she would love to go into fishing. Every day she'd get to swim all through her territory checking her nets and putting up new ones.

Of course, she loved healing people too. There was nothing like the expression on a mother's face when she tended to their child's wounds and eased its pain. Reya smiled. She wondered if Aris had felt her appreciation for everything he'd done for her. She'd have to thank him again sometime soon.

It barely seemed like any time at all before the crystal river was level with the road. More signs of life also started to become visible. She could spot the carved symbols warning intelligent animals of traps set in the woods. Small huts and dens were set up by the river where some people would stay on their trip out or back from Fenwick as they commuted back and forth. Some of the huts were probably inhabited right now. It was time for the last harvests of the season and people would be carting goods to and from the city.

Reya didn't spot anyone, though. It was becoming dark and people were probably getting ready for a night of sleep or finishing their evening meal.

It felt so different.

She lived right near a river herself, but she and Gither were really the closest to the river of any civilized people in her town. The riverside was natural and nearly untouched. It wasn't quite as clear - there was a lot of mud and plenty of aquatic life to stir the mud up.

"We're five hours away," Walaski stated, "do we want to stay the night or keep going?"

"Let's stay the night," Reya said. She looked longingly at the river. She wanted to get to the town, but the prospect of swimming was too enticing. Torren must have seen the look on her face as she stared out at the flowing water.

'Will you be okay with your broken arm?'

Reya nodded. "I think it's strapped in good enough!"

"What?" asked Aris.

"I'm going swimming!" Reya called back, "wanna join me?"

The beagle just groaned. "I think I'm wet enough."

"Yeah, on second thought, you dogs tend to stink when you're wet."

"Hey!"

"Its true, isn't it!"

"No! Not true!"

"Well, prove me wrong!"

Aris was silent for a moment. "Fine. You win."

Reya's face brightened in happiness. "Walaski! Can we stop here?"

"Yeah, guess this's as good a place as any. Go ahead."

"You're invited too, ya know!"

The horse chortled. "I ain't quite as stable in the water. Think I'll sit this one out."

"You sure? It's not all that deep."

"Yeah. I'm sure."

"Okay," Reya agreed. "But if Torren doesn't get his butt in the water I'm throwing a fit."

Torren laughed a silent laugh and began to pull himself up from her side. He pulled the box with the water flasks down from the cart and let it land on the ground with a thump.

'I thought you'd need something to help you get down.'

"I was fine!" Reya offered a token of protest, but she let him know that she appreciated his gesture with a quick brush of her fur against his.

She stepped down onto the box, wobbling on at the unstable hide-covered top, and then quickly stepped down onto the ground.

It was actually a lot easier than two days prior. Even though she hadn't used her legs at all on the trip, the light bouncing of the cart must have given her muscles some stimulation. Her broken arm wasn't any better for the bouncing, however. It had been aching more than usual for the past day.

She didn't tell anyone, she didn't want to worry her friends, but the pain in her broken limb had been getting worse as they kept moving. It definitely wasn't good for her to keep her arm bouncing as it tried to set itself. She knew, however, that most of the major bone healing was done in the first week of a break and she was confident that she was past that. The movement may delay its full recovery, but it wouldn't cause any real issues as far as she was aware.

She walked next to Torren again. He supported her as much as she would let him. She was walking better now. It hurt. It would hurt for a long time. But it was definitely bearable. She could go for decent walks like this; she just needed to be careful about agitating her wounds.

However, her shoulder's pushed against his more often than not. Even if her feet were able to take the pain, her legs were weary and weak. In the short walk over to the river what slowed her the most were her atrophied muscles.

"So this is why they call it the crystal river," Reya commented, more to herself than anyone else. Torren agreed with a nod.

It was wide and clear. The sun was setting to the west and the surface shone with brilliant red and purple hues splayed across the clear surface. The colors seemed to shimmer off the surface, sparkling as if it were hiding thousands of tiny crystals.

Reya nearly couldn't believe her eyes. It was perhaps the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Something as brilliant like this existed so close to her home, her dull unremarkable home, and she had never even taken the three days it took to see it.

As the sun slowly descended into its slumber, the colors danced across the surface, playing with each other and shifting the sparkling illusory gems. Reya didn't want to miss it. Ignoring Torren, who looked as fascinated as she was, she waded ahead into the moving river.

In a split second she was underwater and speeding around like a feral boar was on her tail. Her mobility didn't come so much from her paws as it did from her long lithe body and rudder tail. She launched herself through a small school of fish and back to the surface.

Color exploded around her. She had thought that everything would seem less dazzling when she was in its midst, as if the brilliant reflections were just a trick of her eyes visible just from shore. Yet when she surfaced, everything shone around her. Everything was sparkling in the twilight.

She felt vibrations in the water behind her and braced herself as the big spotted otter burst out and playfully let himself fall down on top of her. She wiggled around and then popped back up into the air.

"Can't even keep down a cripple!" Reya taunted.

'Like anyone could ever call you a cripple!' She splashed him with her good forepaw. The bandaging made it hard to scoop the water, but she managed a small splash. They both stood still in the water, as still as they could be in the gentle current.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

'Yeah. It's pretty amazing.'