the prince and the scavenger

Sneaking away was beginning to become his strongest skill, and he couldn't help himself from wandering away from the familiar territories of the barn and the knolls. There was a big wide world out there, and he wanted to see it all. Well.. experience it all. Navigating the immense world that seemed to stretch for ages wasn't that much more difficult without sight, as he tended to rely more on his hearing and smell to guide his path. By the time he'd been able to hear the sound of rushing water, it still wouldn't have been in sight for most wolves. He simply followed the sound of the massive river cutting through the landscape, until the heady stink of fish finally found its way into his nose. The midday sun beat down on his back, turning his slate and ebony fur iridescent as an oil slick. He was warm and happy, and surrounded by the sounds of teeming life.

The steady rush of vast volumes of water rose to a near deafening crescendo, and his dainty paws began to squelch loudly in the sucking mud along the inner bank of the river. A delighted, high pitched giggle escaped his jaws. Gleefully stomping about in the muck, he didn't have a care in the world about his surroundings. When one paw slipped into the chilly waters, he paused for only a second. Oh, the mud was even thinner under the water. Dropping into a play bow, his chest landed firmly in the thick mud. The boy busied himself with slapping at the tide that lapped at the edge of the banks. The brackish water smelled like fish and plants and decay, and he was loving every second of splashing about in the muddy, silty water.

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