Pikeminnow Marina one is the lonliest number

outfit

---

Levka had not been out much since Flint had been injured. With the dog laid up until further notice--it was with frustration he noted he could not heal his dog like he could his bears--he had been home with him much of the time. Occasionally he had loaded the hound up and taken him down to the diner for food and a treat and some much needed love from regular patrons, but that wasn't quite enough for Levka.

So today he'd left his dog home to rest and come out here on his lonesome, feeling restless and unenthused. Spring was coming again and he regretted that he had not taken better advantage of the recent blizzard.

Standing in the water with his shoes off made him feel better. Just off shore with a fishing pole in hand, he was busy trying to satiate both bear and man needs. The water here did not really ice over often, but it was frigid. He probably looked fairly insane standing it in barefoot at this time of year, but he didn't care at the moment. For now he was focused on hauling in something on the line, his teeth grit. He hadn't been properly fishing in a while, and he was surprised he'd hooked something already.

One last heft and the fish pulled out of the water a little too fast. It swung in toward him and in a moment of slight surprise at the size of it, he swung the line around and just tossed the whole thing--fish, pole, and all--in towards dry land with a decent amount of force.

Graceful!

Outfit

---

Zelda was doing the responsible thing now, and whenever the urge of frolicking around of four legs hit her, she'd go out to the woods as Solomon wanted and away from the people, even when it was a total hassle to do so.

In the past couple weeks, she'd kept to the woods closer to Lauder, but that got boring after a while, and both Zelda and the wolf needing something new, something more enriching. She'd been out to Grapual a few times, but all of those had been when she'd had no human brain, so clearly, this was a special occasion. First trip to the mountains with her wolf memory intact.

She was actually pretty excited!

She'd just arrived to the lake when she noticed the man, first his scent that put the wolf on edge, and then the fact that he was standing in what had to be ice-cold water. What a crazy dude this was, already she wanted to talk to him, but he seemed to be struggling with something? A few steps closer, and she'd soon find herself in the path of a sailing pole and fish, jumping back with a soft 'eep' as everything flopped onto the ground in front of her.

Eat the fish! The wolf demanded, and Zelda would find herself diving to grab at the flopping creature before she could truly object, lifting it into the air with an excited wave. "Again! Again!" No biting yet, but her mouth was really watering for it.

He'd known there was a wolf around. That was not unusual for Graupel--until recently one had even lived here, far as he could tell--but he hadn't really anticipated her arriving at all, let alone when he was fixated on getting this blasted fish out of the water. He fluffed for a moment at having been caught in such a situation, but her enthusiasm was quick to wash that away. She cried AGAIN and for a moment all he could do was look at her and laugh.

And then, with a grin, he gestured, "Give me the pole there, and then I will see if I can make your wish true," he said, gesturing for the fishing rod still somewhat attached to the fish she'd picked up!

Who was this wolf? He did not think he had seen her before. Did she know...? and he squashed that thought.

Zelda was practically vibrating with excitement, her smile nearly stretching right of her face as her head gave a few quick and very hard nods.

"Okay!" A shout of confirmation even as her fingers reached to unhook the flapping fish, a very hard thing to do when the scales were so slick, and her hands were already shaking out of sheer excitement.

She decided almost immediately that this man would just have to unhook it himself as she gathered up the rest of the pole and trotted closer, hand stretched out dutifully as she waited for him to take control and start on her request.

The energy on this one was something. Reminded him somewhat of Varya, though where he had first met his progeny as she had spilled over with too much power, this one trembled to keep hers contained. She struggled to do a simple task and he shook his head without judgement as she offered the whole mess to him. He would show her how it was done.

Only he had not done this in a while, himself, and the fish was still very much alive and did not like this manhandling. It wriggled as he tucked it under an elbow and twisted his finger in the line to keep it steady. The hook had gone deep into the face meat and he made a slight face as he realized how sunk in it was. A few faulty attempts and he had to switch his grip, digging his fingers into gills to keep it firmly in hand and give himself the leverage to--

There. "Here," he said, extending the fish out to the girl now that the hook was free. "This is a tough fish, perhaps you hit him on the head with a rock before it gets lost," he suggested, then reached into his jacket pocket for one of the mealworms he was using as bait, kept in a little bag.

Zelda was almost certain that she had just come across the coolest guy on the planet, and she wasn't talking about the temperature either. She'd watched wide and yellow eyed as he worked that hook out of the floundering fish's mouth. Unfazed by the fact that he had to shove a finger in the icky looking gills, and rip the hook out of the equally icky mouth, and he was willing to do it all again just for her!

Just totally badass.

"Woah!" Hands clapping in delight for his accomplishment, Zelda would take the fish as requested. She hadn't ever thought about bashing in the head of a fish, or any animal for that matter, but she was pretty pumped to try it out, even as the wolf claimed that it would be easier to just bite into the fish's belly. You couldn't move very well when you had a chunk that large missing, but Zelda wanted to do this right.

She wanted to look cool to this guy, just as he appeared to her. No mistakes were allowed, and she'd even hold back quite a bit as she ducked down to the lakeshore and slammed a rock right into the flopping creature's head. A bit of blood, but not nearly as messy as it could have been, Zelda flashing a grin victorious grin as she returned to double fisting the fish. "Do you do this a lot?"

She was a wolf, he did not expect her to be squeamish and she did not disappoint him. He watched as he reset the line, the subtle amusement and overall approval keeping his face pleasant. The pup was worked up as well--he could see it in her eyes even more clearly than her body language--so he would need to try to be mindful lest he end up dealing with a wolf. This did not worry him as much as it should.

Now the fish was dead, and he had bait on his line and the reel reset.

"Not so often anymore. This is a first for a while." At one point he'd needed to do this sort of thing as a means of survival in places much more remote than this. That was well behind him, though. Now when he was hungry he had the diner.

"Aw why not?" She'd asked, assuming that this was a bad thing rather than anything circumstantial.

"You seem to be really good at it." She could hardly imagine herself catching anything, even in a lake this large. There were just too many required skills that she hadn't learned, and patience that she didn't have for it either.

This sort of stuff was better for the older folk, the ones who'd already raced through their younger years.

He laughed, short and placid. Flattered, as well. "I have not had the reason to. But perhaps now I will take it back up." He glanced to make sure she wasn't going to inadvertently be in the way, and cast the line. Not far. Plenty lurked just off shore, and he adjusted his footing on the cold rocky floor of the lake's shallows.

"Now it is a matter of waiting. That is the hardest part."

Maybe she hadn't come here to learn, but she was so enthused he might as well explain!

It was good for older people to have hobbies, and she was glad that she'd been able to convince this guy to keep up with his, especially when he'd be getting food out of the whole process!

"Ugh, yeah, waiting is the absolutely woooorst." A soft whine, as she glanced down towards the feet he was currently shifting, brows lifting as her earlier question sprang to mind, and immediately from her lips.

"Why are barefooted? Isn't that cold?" Like the sheer thought of sticking her feet into the water had her whole body crumbling in response.

He agreed. Being patient could be difficult. But it was easier to do if you chose to do it, and weren't doing it because someone had demanded it of him. Simply, if he got bored with it there was no consequence if he gave up. But now he did have his lupine audience, so...

Glancing back to her, Levka shrugged. "It is cold," he confirmed, "But I like the cold." He'd suffer for it a bit later when he inevitably had to get out and couldn't feel most of his feet, but cold water wasn't threatening to him. He knew his limits, though if he was very honest he could not exactly feel his toes here. "You could join me." The slightest narrowing of his eyes as he implied a dare.

It was cold but he liked the cold, so all was right in the world.

Or it would have been right, if he hadn't given her that look! The narrowing of eyes was all too familiar for the redhead, a look that she knew all too well. A look that she'd both received and given on multiple occasions.

He didn't think she'd do it. He thought that she'd chicken out from this little unspoken dare of his, but Zelda was no chicken, and she wasn't about to back down in front of this mysterious man that she suddenly idolized.

If he could be cool, then she could be cool too!!

"Maybe I will," she answered with a confident shimmy of her shoulders, and because she lacked the foresight to removed her socks and shoes, Zelda would be hopping straight into the water with everything intact.

Jumping in and right back out again as the sting of ice water pierced her skin almost immediately. "RAAGH!"

He was enamored. He did not even feel as though he had tricked her into the water--because he hadn't--but she came so willingly and with such confidence that Levka admired her promptly.

Still, the moment she leaped back from the cold lake with a shriek, he threw his head back in a laugh, hand mostly steady on the fishing rod. She's splashed him a little on her entry, and he would admit that the water was cold where it freshly touched him--he'd gotten used to it and/or gone numb more or less up to his mid-shin. "A good try," he praised. "But I suppose you are not a polar bear."

Which was, decidedly, a shame.

It was so cold that it literally stung, both Zelda and the wolf freaking out a bit as she immediately dropped the fish and began working away at her now soaked shoes and equally soaked socks. The dry ground would offer her more comfort, even when there was a chill to the air because at least it wasn't biting into her flesh like some hungry piranha.

How in the heck was this dude handling that?!

The statement sorta gave her some insight as to why though, "nope nope nope." She answered, head shaking with each nope as her feet started up a steady jog in place. "I'm one hundred percent wolf!" Well, actually, no that wasn't right. "And human too, but that's obvious." She didn't currently have a tail, thank you.

"Does that mean you're a polar bear?" His scent did offer some pretty big images, but nothing she was familiar with.

He figured she was more right the first time. Wolf, not human. But he did not correct her, too amused by her to be sharp with her and her reality.

Besides, he was busy looking smug and tugging lightly on the fishing rod as he watched her, admitting, "Yes. Since I was perhaps about your age." How old was she? Maybe still a teenager. Like he had been. He saw great things in her future because of it. She had a blessing that many did not--the chance to spend their entire adult life figuring out how to be the perfect were. She was a pup when it was the right time to still be a pup.

That was even older than her grandpa then!

Zelda hadn't even been sure that it was possible, and yet here she was meeting someone even more experienced. The awe was clearly shown upon her face as she looked to him in a different light, words leaving her mouth before she could even think them through. "So that means you're like an expert then!" A fact, not a question, because even when he was a different animal, it was clear he was on the same level as the awoo King.

He liked that look. It distracted him from his efforts to 'again, again' as she had so introduced herself to him.

"I am very good at being a bear, yes," he confirmed for her. "You... know that you are in a territory, yes? It is mine." With how young she was, he couldn't say what she did and did not know. She could be completely unaware of the meaning of the gentle pressure of another's den.

Zelda's gaze would shift at this sudden realization, eyes searching for something that might have made this clearer as if she might find a sign that read 'bear territory' or something similar. As if Starling Hills broadcasted to the world that the wolves settled there, which it definitely did not, but she had that sort of comfortable feeling there, so no signs were needed for this wolf to know.

But she didn't get that feeling here, maybe a bit of a strange pressure, but she'd always just assumed that it was the mountain air rather than anything supernatural.

"Oops," she grimaced, although her eyes hardly seemed worried as they pulled back to the bear. "Does that mean I can't come around here?"

That made him snort and he looked back to the water, finally, flicking the fishing rod to try and entice something into biting sooner rather than later. He shifted a space to the left to make sure he was not simply rooting in place as his feet froze. It prickled in an uncomfortable way that he didn't hate enough to retreat from. "Wolves are always welcome. So you are always welcome." He had yet to meet a wolf who broke that trust.

That bartered for another question, but he diverted to a different one instead. "You are with the pack that is in Rice Bluff?" The one he'd once known so much better than he did now.

Oh, this was really good news then! Zelda was very happy with the fact that she wouldn't have to sneak around here every time she wanted a good shift in the mountains, but more than that, she was pretty pumped that this wouldn't for sure be her last time fishing with a polar bear either.

"Yes, but also no." Zelda answered, "the packs actually moved away from Rice Bluff, so now we hang around Starling Hills."

That was news to him, and it surprised him. The wolves had always been in Rice Bluff, even before Levka had arrived in town several years ago. It earned his new friend a surprised look, brows up. "Really?" He supposed... perhaps without Alina there to tie them to the spot they had drifted. It was a shame, yet... they were still neighbors. He did need to reach out to his new King whose number he had been sitting on for a while. Perhaps he would see Natalie again if he did, or...

Hmm.

There was a slight nibble on the line, but nothing to get excited over.

"I was friendly with the pack before recent things. I have not had the chance to be so friendly again, but perhaps you are better than meeting your King. I am Levka."

A bobble of head nods would follow his exclamation, it was true, they had indeed moved though if he felt lonely for being out of the loop it was still fairly new so it was okay! There were probably a lot of other people out there who didn't know yet either! Heck, there were tons of people in Ridgefield that didn't even know there was a wolf pack.

As the bear king continued though, Zelda would find her own brows pulling together, head tilting as she narrowed in on a choice word. What did he mean 'before recent things'? What were those recent things? She wanted to know!!

"Zelda, and I'm loads better," she assured, shoulders wiggling playfully. "But Dakila is super great too, what's the reason you two aren't friends anymore?" Well, he said meet her King, so maybe it wasn't an issue between Levka and Dakila? Someone else then? Maybe the wolves who left? If that was the case then everything could be okay again!

He would believe her about being better than the King. The fact that he knew so little of the new lead wolf told him enough--powerful people could still be dull. Levka had pretty immediately preferred the presence of this Zelda who had taken such a shine to his ridiculous efforts at fishing instead.

The headshake that followed was firm but not brusque. "I have not met him yet. I knew the king before, but she and many others went away." He shrugged and refused to dwell because it hurt his feelings. "I have met your... Natalie, though?" He had to assume she was still with the pack, unless she was yet another who had slipped away.

Oh, there had been a leader before Dakila? She supposed she ought to have guessed that, but it just wasn't the sort of thing that popped into her head on its own, and it certainly hadn't ever mentioned before... If she left, maybe there was some blood there? Maybe that was why the other two wolves had left recently?

Argh, there just was no telling, and since they weren't a part of the pack anymore, she wouldn't bother with it any further. Strangers that would most likely always be strangers to her.

"Yeah!" She chirped for the familiar name, wiggling to her toes. "Natalie is super great, are you two friends?"

Levka had halfway stopped paying attention to the fishing line again, which was fine since there wasn't so much as a nibble anymore. Perhaps all the talking was scaring them away, but he these two couldn't be stopped.

"We are!" he confirmed without hesitation. "She turned up after one moon under a shed of mine and I helped her to get home. I like her very much." He hadn't spoken to or seen her in a while, but the first impression had been very solid, and that was what mattered most to him in the long run.

A friend of Natalie's was a friend of hers, not that Mr. Bearking here needed to be friends with Natalie to be cool with her. He'd already reached a high status with the initial capture of the fish, and his compliance in getting her a second one... Even if that second one was taking forever.

The wolf wasn't a patient girl, and neither was Zelda, the fish that was currently sitting on the ground next to them continuously calling out to her. Bite me, it called, eat me and swallow me whole!

Not now little fish, but hopefully soon.

"Me too," Zelda nodded, "she's REALLY nice." And she was Katya's special person!

"Nice of you to help her get home too."

Zelda was lovely. He hoped that she would go back to her pack and tell Natalie about all of this.

"I am happy to help a wolf," he assured, then... tugged on the line. Still nothing. His eyes narrowed a little in indignation at the lake's lack of generosity. "I'm afraid that it is much easier to fish as a bear than it is to fish with a line. I am disappointing us both."

Well, that was all the incentive Zelda needed to hop onto her next suggestion.

"Well why don't you do that then?" She breathed, back on her toes as clenched hands pulled up towards her chest. "Be a bear and get lots of fish!" How cool would it be to be face to face with a gigantic polar bear?!

The wolf was less amused with this idea, but it was fine.

Temptation straight into impulse.

"I could do this," he agreed, beginning to reel the line in as if it were a done decision. "I have the time. Do you have the time?" It was not really a question on if she was joining him, right. She clearly loved to be a wolf, she was like him, he was sure.

For a few brief seconds Zelda couldn't breath, pure excitement clogging up her lungs as those fisted hands turned together into a tight clasp. He was seriously going to shift, he was inviting her to shift. They were shifting together!!!

A bear and a wolf, and she'd actually remember this time!!!

Finally, the air would push its way past the excitement, Zelda falling back to the balls of her feet as her head gave a series of quick nods. "YEAH!" Said perhaps a bit loudly, so she lowered the volume as she continued.

"Plenty of time, it's actually why I came out here." Shift shift shift shift!!!

She looked like she was going to pop. Or maybe just shift right here. "Good, then," he said, and yanked the line in the rest of the way. Whatever, stupid fish, he didn't want to get you the boring way anyway. He stepped carefully back out of the water on feet he could barely feel at all and laughed at himself as he staggered just a little for it. "Go, that way, we can take our stuff to just inside the trees there and do it."

Keep them close to the water so they could fish as he'd so threatened, but not be out in the open so much as they metamorphosed.

"Right!" Zelda would take no time in gathering her wet socks and shoes, trotting off towards the designated area of the woods as the wolf dug and scratched around the rims of her mind. Now that shifting was apparent, there was hardly any patience left in either of them, muscles already beginning to ache before she'd even entered the shelter of the trees.

There was hardly concern for nudity here, so even if Levka had chosen to keep close, Zelda would waste no time in stripping out of what she'd chosen to wear for the day. First the bag would be released from her shoulder, and soon the clothing would find itself stuffed within, save for the wet items that she shoved underneath the closest bush.

The wolf enjoyed tearing things, so it was best to at least keep it semi out of sight.

Once everything was settled, Zelda welcomed the pain of the shift, knowing that when it was all over, she'd be stronger than she was before and a new bout of fun would begin.

He was just a little bit behind her having needed to gather up what he'd brought with him to at least some degree. The fishing supplies got piled next to a rock, the line only partly wound up properly, left for later-him to worry about, provided no one came along and stole it. Whatever, he didn't care, it was bear time, and he joined her just about the point where she was finishing stuffing her stuff into her bag.

Not wasting a single fraction of brain power on considering what it looked like--naked 20-something and himself out here--he was practiced in joining her, dropping everything he had on him into his jacket to zip it up and tie it off and then he--without his car to stash things in like was his preference--tucked the ball of cloth and boots and car keys into the branches of a nearby tree, just where he could reach them but where they were less likely to be sniffed out by actual wild forest creatures.

Anyway, she was shifting, and from the looks of it it was going to take her a bit. So he'd... beat her to the finish line in spite of his delayed start. Moving a bit away since he was about to gain over a thousand pounds, he leaned into the bear that hadn't been chewing at him but was always some sort of present. Prepared, always, for a debut when the time was right. And now it certainly was, as he had someone to impress.

By time she had four paws worth standing on, he'd already be looming over her, sniffing deeply at the unfamiliar, pretty wolf. Not the one he'd seen at the lake a few months back. He hadn't positively identified that one yet.

Shifting always felt like it took days until it was complete, her body a writhing mess on the ground as it twisted, and crumbled into its new shape. Luckily it didn't really last days and soon enough a liver-colored wolf would be taking the redhead's place. Blinking from her new position, Zelda would take a moment to take in her surroundings, ears cupping forward curiously, only to immediately flip backward as she noticed the towering bear.

A large nose sniffed down towards her and instantly both the wolf and Zelda would feel a sense of superiority sweep through them. This bear was bigger and stronger, but neither of these facts meant much to either of them. They knew that it was all about speed, and they were the fastest creature in Ridgefield, and so with an upward sweep of her tail, the wolf would double back onto her hind legs, offering herself some height as she made a move to nip and tug playfully at the bear's ear.

---

Miss though

He loved it. He really did. But he was not about to become a chew toy so easily. And as she moved to nip, he simply needed to lift his head up and out of reach, and then he lifted one of his big paws. Over her head, and then it came down, trying to gently push her back down and press her head--or really more like her upper body--to a soft pin on the ground while he rumbled at her.

Behave, puppy, or no fish.

---

him hit, but nicely

Why. Was. His. Paw. So. Big!!!!!!

There was little that Zelda could do as the paw pushed against her head, ears slapping against her skull as she did her very best to resist. Nothing she could do against a bear that was three or four times her size, and so her head would fall against the dirt despite her efforts.

This was unacceptable!!!

Whining, they wiggled and squirmed beneath the paw, reaching around so that their teeth could offer some offending nips to his oversized toes.

---

Hit on them toes boi

He was nothing if not a small bus. A bus with fur and teeth and a lot of amusement in his soul as she struggled.

And then she was biting his toes. >:[

Which, even when she was small, did not feel especially great. She managed to snag the sensitive webbing between his claws and he promptly yanked his paw away, releasing her with a huffy grumble as he stepped back, berating her with a look.

The look would be completely disregarded as she gave a victory yip, tail flapping behind her as she hopped back to all four feet. If forcing a giant bear to release you didn't make you feel like the toughest girl in town, Zelda didn't know what would.

Either way, shifting took a TON of energy, and there was no way that she could continue this amount of play on an empty stomach! A glance back up to the bear, the wolf would give a demanding bark before dashing off towards the lake.

It was time for this bear to carry out his promise and gather those fish. >:(

Gutsy. Maybe he would have to be careful to introduce her to Varya someday. He didn't want to see his progeny eating this wolf in a contest of dominance.

She barked and dashed off, returning his attention to the shore. Ah yes, they were fishing. Well... he started out of the trees after her, having to take a slightly more winding route, and then paused when he got to the break in the trees. Didn't seem to be anyone immediately about, but he had to be careful lest they get spotted by prying human eyes. With a grunt of decision, he loped for the water. It was the best place to hide, and the only place to get fish when you were a bear.

The water was much more welcoming when he had fat and fur to protect him, and it tugged him in within seconds. He let himself push out to where he could dip below the surface, thinking of the last time he'd been in this lake like this and had found a wolf in a boat.

They would not be as eager to enter the water as the bear was, keeping close to the shore as they danced around the water's edge. Hardly enough fat or fur on them to keep them away from the icy chill of the water, better for drinking than playing right now.

She would offer a small whine for the distance between them, for the impatience that filled her as she waited for the promised meal. The earlier fish remained back into their previous spot, but with the promise of something fresher, she would not leave the bear's side just yet.

It was nice. His element, literally. The semi-aquatic bear was almost more at home here, swimming, than he was lumbering over land. Certainly more than he was in deep forests--he missed long stretches of snow and ice all the time. So he kicked out and down and peered around the not-so-murky water. Glimmers, shapes, shadows of fish, rocks, turtles...

But he'd promised the wolf a floppy meal, and she he swept in on a school of fish. Catching these was not as natural as catching something bigger or even slower. There was not much sneaking up on a fish when they could feel the water currents moving around them. But he was faster and smarter, and he feigned wide before sweeping his neck around to make a grab at the nearest one.

Caught it by the tail. A medium sized trout that wriggled ferociously in his grasp as he broke surface with a snort and began to head back to shore with long strokes of his webbed paws.

They'd watch as the bear went about his hunt, eyes trained on the white mass as he paddled about the water with more ease than either of them could have ever imagined from something so hulking. Ears strained atop their head as they continued to whine for the promised meal, tail still behind them as their paws did all of the moving for them.

Quick steps left and then even quicker steps right before coming to a complete halt as the bear resurfaced from the water with something tasty hidden away within his jaws. A sharp bark of excitement as her paws dug eagerly into the earth, nails kicking up rocks and sand as she waited for the meal to be brought to her.

She was lucky he did not eat it himself. It was certainly tempting. But he swam for shore and hauled up out of the water, water spilling quickly from his fur as he stood and walked to her, dropping the fish with a grunt.

Best pounce on it fast, pup, before it flopped its way back into the water. He hovered close, just in case.

Zelda would be quick with her capture, having paced closer and closer towards the bear as he made his way back to shore. If he had chosen to eat the fish himself, she might have completely died of mortification, and so as it was released her jaws would quickly find purchase, gathering the slimy mass into her jaws.

It flopped about uselessly, tail slapping at the side of her face as the wolf gave her head a shake. The same killing strike that she might have performed on a rabbit or possum, but the trick didn't work quite as well with fish. It would take a lot of gnashing of teeth until the creature finally settled, the wolf finally comfortable enough place the fish back on the ground to scarf up her prize.

Watching her, feeling good to have provided her something useful, he only lingered long enough to be sure the fish was being devoured before he pushed back out further into the water again. He had a trick... he wondered if he could perform it. And if she would be impressed.

This trick, of course, was just more food. But what better way to endear himself? Only instead of fish...

He went deep into the water. They weren't as prolific here as they were in other spots in the canyon, but he searched the silty lake floor for the rounded shape of a turtle anyway.

The wolf was so intent on her snack that she had hardly noticed that the bear had made his way back into the water, crunching down on a portion of the head as she glanced back up to nothing.

Where had the bear gone???

Ears pulling forward, she'd yip out towards the emptiness, blind to the ripples of water that appeared from the bears below the surface.

Bear come back!

He didn't hear her, and it would take a minute. But he had zeroed in on a sizable softshell turtle, and it didn't stand a chance. A swipe of paw to pull it up from the bottom of the lake, churning up silt and making the water murky. It was almost a blind bite, then, that closed around the hapless creature. He felt its legs kick, brushing against his face, but he bit down harder and it stopped.

Breaking surface, he came bearing a pancake shaped creature, olive green and grimy looking, but tastier than any fish in his opinion. He looked for the wolf to reorient his path and return to her.

Anxious as they were, neither Zelda nor the wolf would be waiting long before the bear made his return. Something solid could be seen held within his jaws, but they wouldn't really be given a clear look at it until the bear returned to them fully. Ears perched high atop their head, they would waste no time in their approach, nose jutted forward to offer curious sniffs as their tail sat stark still behind them.

It didn't smell nearly as delicious as the fish, and from the look of its body, it definitely wouldn't be as easy to eat.

Why had the bear brought this rather than fish? They were not impressed with this new snack. >:(

She might not have been very impressed, but he was mighty pleased with himself. Up near shore, with her doing the sniffing, he held it out. But he didn't offer it up quite so quickly as he had the fish. With his front paws in the shallow part and his back end still floating, he took this chance to bite down hard. The turtle cracked with an ugly, wet sound, and the insides wept into his mouth.

Then, a hard shake of his head and he dislodged a little more than half of it, keeping a solid bite for himself and depositing the rest near the wolf before he sank back a few feet to float more freely and enjoy his murky snack.

They eyed the remains wearily, nose reaching out towards the slimy remains as a single paw came to bap the sludge closer. It didn't exactly smell unappetizing, and now that it had been freed from the hard shell, there wouldn't exactly be much effort given on her part... The fish had also been devoured....

So it seemed that today would be the day to try new things.

A glance towards the bear before the wolf finally pulled herself all the way forward, tongue slinking out to slurp up the contents.

HOLY CRAP IT WAS BETTER THAN FISH!?!