come hell or high water

Dime was really, really tired of this dust. It was making his fur all dirty, and then he had to stop every few steps to clean it. He'd started doing just little patches at a time. One paw, and then he'd try his best to keep moving for as long as possible until the distraction of the dust caught him off guard and pulled his brain off track. Fighting with one's own mind was tiring work, but the tan youth was accustomed to it at this point. He had to be, obviously. Who else's brain would he have?

Eventually, he came upon a ravine. Scanning it, he instantly saw the river at the bottom and was climbing down it, using vines and roots as footholds, almost before he caught up with his runaway mind. It wasn't a bad idea, though. He kept moving, carefully resisting the urge to sprint down at top speed. Whatever his brain thought, he would slip and fall and probably hurt himself if he tried that. He wanted to remain uninjured.

Once he was on the ravine floor, he took a few moments to take account of his surroundings. It was sunny out, making everything bright and easy to see. There was a swiftly running river in the middle of the floor. It was collected in a series of small pools, breaking the current down to a slight trickle. What may once have been mud was baked solid. Right now, the river was the most important thing to Dime. He stepped into a spot that wasn't rushing too powerfully and lowered himself into a crouch until the water was swishing midway up his shoulders.