mudcastles and sandcakes

Beorn looked up as Ulmaria declared Lorelai skinny and funny. His sister had a point. With her fur all slicked down she looked a bit like a couple crossed sticks balancing an acorn. He was on the verge of quietly agreeing when Ulmaria shoved him out of the blue. He yelped, startled, and was flung forward. Something happened to his eyes in that moment but everything happened so fast he couldn't tell what. A flailing Beorn disappeared into the water in a spray of blood.

He reappeared seconds later still flailing but blinded by water and blood. Everything was shapes and colors and he couldn't tell near from far. He dipped under with a sputter, bounced off the bottom, and bobbed back to the surface in a panic.

Before Beorn could swallow the whole river, the donkey who had been following him around grabbed him by the nape and threw him back onto land where he flopped around like a guppy. He rolled onto his back and fountained water before desperately gulping air. Okay, so, clearly he had been right to be nervous about the river. That thing was dangerous! It was a good thing Uncle Tyrian's donkey had escaped again otherwise he'd be cozying up to the fishes. "That's-" a wheeze - "not funny, Ulmaria!" Still kind of blind, Beorn rubbed at his eyes in the hopes of clearing them.

"Speech"