Fish. They were everywhere. He had never seen an instance of this many fish ever before in his life. Not that he was some sort of fish expert or anything, but he had spent many an afternoon by the rivers that ran through Boreas. Fish was typically his main source of protein. They were easier to catch and they rarely fought back. Actually, as long as the fish was smaller than him, they never fought back. Which really made it the choice food for most of his meals. He did enjoy an occasional rabbit or mouse, but they were fast, pesky, and pretty dang loud when caught. Annoying it was if he had anything to say about it. But right here, right now, he could see all the fish he ever wanted to see. Now, this feline preferred the lands of Boreas. While the tropical, balmy conditions of Auster suited his lineage better, he wasn't a fan of the deserted or dangerous lands. Unlike Boreas, Auster felt dangerous - especially with how close all of the packs were. Ugh. So he typically stayed in Boreas until now. Winter had come in at a blustery force, driving him south, past the Bifrost as it slowly began to flood. Nearly swept away in the current as he crossed the Bifrost, Irving picked up his pace. Skirting the beach around the stinky wolf grove until he saw the mouth of a river just on the other side. There he sees the group of fish attempting to swim up river. The mouth of the river was actually almost gone itself. Water levels had risen to the point that the beaches were flooding as well. Irving's brow scrunches as he moves to the higher bank and stops for a moment. What was going on here? He'd heard of Auster being plentiful with prey, but fish didn't normally act like this. Well, one shouldn't deny a gift when presented, right? Moving into the aspen forest, Irving began looking for sticks to use for a trap. If he could find some that were pliable enough, he could bend them into a fish basket. He wasn't the best at making this sort of trap, but good enough that it typically worked.

wc: 372/1500

Birna's original plan had been to hit the beach and see what she could dig up in terms of clams and eggs but it seemed she'd mistimed her trip. The high tide was in and it was far higher than she'd expected. This would've put a damper on her day if not for the glimmering and splashing of numerous fish. The tip of her tail twitched as she watched them. Were they spawning? Feeding perhaps on the new shore offered to them by the higher waters?

She slunk closer, eyeing a number of sea birds who had also been attracted to the commotion. Birna typically avoided most of Auster in the summer but she'd left a few items in the land that she wished to retrieve. It wasn't easy being constantly on the move. While she didn't mind being a nomad it would be nice to have a more settled location, maybe moving once a season.

Her ice blue eyes fixated on familiar silver forms swimming from the ocean upriver. Salmon! Those were some sort of salmon. Did they migrate this time of year? She supposed some did. They were a delicacy well worth the effort, if she could get to a better place upstream to catch one. Hopefully, the bears hadn't noticed yet. Birna turned from the flooded beaches and bounded along the edge of the river bank, keeping an eye on the progress of the fish as she scouted out a place to settle by the edge. Birna had no particular strategy other than to wait by the edge and base one with her mutated paws. The electric shock she could deliver was usually enough to stun them and allow her to drag the fish to shore.

She was just about to set up near a rockier descent when she spied a familiar form. "Ah! Irving! A pleasure to meet you again and at such a bountiful feast! I have never seen so many fish gathering in my life. I hope it doesn't mean bad weather."


Speech

710/1500

Irving gathered up his sticks in a hurried fashion. Every so often, whenever the breeze would brush by him, he would get a faint scent of bear. That was one predator he definitely did not want to run into. But he wanted some fish. Having enough food to feed himself for the next few days made the risk big enough to stick around a little longer. Plus, every time he looked over at the rushing water, though the waterline seemed higher than the last, the fish were still trudging their way. Splashing and swimming, doing whatever they could to make their way inland. Glancing around, he noticed it was warmer here than in Boreas, but was it really time for them to be spawning? Deciding not to dwell on why the fish did what the fish did, he continued to gather his slim pieces of branches until he had enough to make a small basket. Dragging his bundle of sticks over to a tree that he noticed leaked with sap, he began his process. Holding down the main branch with a rock, he bent the branch into a circular shape. Though the maneuver was tricky without thumbs, he used a paw and his teeth to hold the circle together while he stretched his other arm out to swipe at the sap with his paw. Quickly, since his jaw was already getting sore, he stuck the glob of sap over the two ends of the branches, sticking them together and then somewhat clumsily wrapping a few leaves around the sap so that it wouldn't snap open. Irving continued to do this a few more times until he had enough circular-like shapes to hold the basket's outer branches onto it without it collapsing in the water. As he began to snap the branches into smaller pieces so he could configure them into the large opening hole of the main basket, he heard a rustling nearby. The paw steps were gently, practically silent, and he passed it off as squirrel or rabbit. Wolves and bears made much louder noises than that. Continuing about his business, he was soon startled by a familiar voice. His tail begins to twitch nervously as some of his hair stands on end. "Birna, didn' notice ya there," Irving comments as he turns to the snow leopard with a friendly smile, trying to play it off like she hadn't just scared the crap out of him. "If it does mean bad weather, I sure hope I can catch some before it comes," he comments, slightly amused, but also sharing her concern over the strange phenomenon.

wc: 1146/1500

Birna nodded as Irving explained that he hoped to catch some fish before the weather turned worse. "That was my thinking exactly. I wonder what is driving them to collect along the coast. Not only that but a large number seem to be pushing inland. It's not the time of year I'd expect such a migration." She shook her head with a sigh. She really wanted to know the cause but hunger was driving her to get her fill. She'd just have to keep her senses peeled for if the weather turned suddenly sour.

"What are you working on there?" She gestured with a paw toward Irving's basket before settling down along the banks of the inlet where water and fish were rushing from the ocean into the river. She kept a close eye on the fish as they swam, a number shifting to try and avoid the rocks that pressed in on the river's shore, creating a narrow passage for them to pass through. It wasn't long before one leapt from the water to try and bypass the crowd only for Birna to strike out with her lightning fast paws. The electroshock paralyzed the fish while her claws pierced it, enabling her to swipe it onto shore with little resistance. In a moment she was on it, her fangs ripping out the gills as she pulled it further from shore.

"I sure hope we can get our fill before the bears show up. I'm sure you've noticed the scent." Birna placed a paw on the fish and looked up, glancing around for a moment just to make sure they were free of larger competition. She then set to eating. Birna would sate her hunger first before gathering more fish to preserve. She'd been practicing smoking and drying meat over a fire and found it a useful method to keep food with her on a journey. The one trick was not attracting other predators by carrying food with her. That she was still working on. Smoking the fish seemed to cut down on this as most animals were deterred by the smell of smoke and fire but in the spring when bears emerged ravenous she found she needed something better to hide the scent.


Speech

1520/1500