(Esktober 2022) Creek

“You're not gonna fit” Thistle growled, his voice softer than its usual aggressive tone, but just as loud, “You're too big!” 

Finnick knew that Thistle was probably right, but he still wanted to try.

While exploring around Thistle’s boundary, he had found the smallest little creek he had ever seen. Now, usually, he would just note the creek and carry on his way, but something was different about this creek. When he had stepped into it by accident, he noticed a flash of color as his nature feature seemed to fade in above his head.

Now, that got him intrigued. 

Could he potentially fit all his legs into the creek, and if so, would his entire nature feature fade in, or would they stay only vaguely present? 

Thistle, curious about whether or not Finnick would fit, decided to join his companion on his quest, though his hopes were not nearly as high as his friend’s were.

It was easy for Finnick to fit two of his front paws in, but he was struggling to stay upright with his paws so close. He was forced to forgo his usual wide stance in place of focusing on keeping his legs straight and his body still. The problem was though, he was still only halfway in, his back paws were not in the creek.

Finnick lifted one leg to put it in, but found his footing was too unstable. As he tried to find a good place to put his foto back down, his body shook left and right like a leaf in the wind and he found to keep his balance. He noticed, however, how vibrant his leaves were. They flashed from their vague lining to being almost completely there. Finnick only noticed it for a split second before having to quickly place his foot back down. After a bit of finagling, he managed to place his left foot safely back in the ground, but all that failed attempt did was fuel his desire.

Beside him, Thistle shook his head, “I don’t think you’ll fit Fin” the brown esk muttered, shuffling his body back a bit in case Finnick did indeed fall. 

Finnick bent his head down towards Thistle, a hopeful look in his eyes, “But look at how close I was! And did you see them flicker?” he purred, his voice soft but muddled, as if he was talking underwater. “I think I almost had it”

Finnick looked down at his paws, wondering if he should try again. Maybe if he went really fast, he could place them both at the same time…

Then an idea struck him, an idea he had to try. 

Finnick raised his head up for a better view as he slowly scooted his legs closer together, moving only one at a time, as he basically dragged his paws through the grass and mud in hopes of reuniting them in the creek. 

Thistle shuffled a bit farther back, but looked on in interest, wondering if his friend would succeed in his endeavors. 

The closer his paws got, the more opaque his nature features got. But soon, his body became unstable once more, and Finnick found himself unable to scoot his body any more in risk of falling over. He tried to lift his legs, but found even the attempt to lift them would cause him to shake once more, so he decided to just think of something else.

Maybe he should just go for it..but what if he fell, he’d lose all his progress. 

Should he just go for it?

Before he could actually make a decision however, Thistle chimed in with his own idea.

“What if you moved one leg back” the smaller esk muttered, lowering his head to better gauge if his plan would work. 

Finnick turned back to Thistle slowly, trying his best not to wobble too much.

Thistle looked up at Finnick, his expression anxious but confident, “If you move your foot back then they won’t be so close. You’ll still shake, but it may be lessened since your legs won’t be so close.”

Finnick’s eyes glimmered at the idea. He was so glad Thistle was so much smarter than him. He would have never been able to come up with such an idea!

With a new wave of confidence surging through him, Finnick slowly shuffled one of his back paws forward, and the other back. Then he would shuffle his paws ever so slightly closer towards the creek

Of course, he shook from the movement, but he soon saw the shaking lessen in veracity till he was almost there. Excited, Finnick turned to Thistle, giving him the biggest smile he could muster with no mouth.

“It’s working!” he mewed, his voice full of excitement and joy.

His idea was coming together. 

Slowly, before his eyes, Finnick and Thistle watched as, after several long minutes, Finnick’s back paws finally were in the creek.

In an instant, his nature feature seemed to finalize itself. His leaves puffed up as if they had just sprouted out of thin air, while his rock shone brightly in the light. 

Finnick raised his head, eyes full of joy.

He had done it. He had succeeded in his quest to fit.