The River Crossroads

"Kaliskia! Come back!"

     Kaliskia, on the contrary, was encouraged only to run faster at the sound of her mother's call. The wind whipping at her already tousled alabaster fur, she raced along through the woodland. She knew the direction without thinking, because she had been down this path so often before. The pure exhilaration of sprinting freely through the forest drew an echoing bought of laughter from her throat. Drawing in a rapid breath, she caught the crisp scent of an approaching rain in the air, mixed with the smell of the pines around her. Of course, there was the mouth-watering aroma of rabbit that floated around her.        Kaliskia's pace faltered for a moment, almost tempted to stop and search for said rabbit. Thinking better of it, she continued on down to her destination: The River Crossroads. Glancing behind her, to make sure her mother wasn't following, Kaliskia pelted on through the green wilderness. The trees around her became a blur, and she could no longer tell apart the Pine trees from the Birch, despite the obvious differences. Her amber eyes flitted about to determine when she was near the River Crossroads. Singling out the telltale detail that alerted her that she was closing in on the river bank, she slowed to a leisurely walk.        Her paws left the slightest of indents in the soft dirt as she neared the slope that led down to the water. She stood for a moment, drinking in the serene beauty of the slow moving water. It seemed like to placid of a place for tragedy to have taken place in its presence. Kaliskia had bore witness to the murderous violence. She had been only four months old when it had happened. However, it was that day, at this very spot, that Kaliskia's father was killed.        That was something that, unfortunately, she remembered with utmost clarity. Her mother's face had been completely devastated when she explained to Kaliskia what had happened. Her father, a large, burly timber wolf named Aiden, had fallen into the river during a violent outbreak between two opposing wolf packs. Shaking her head to clear it of the all too vivid memories, she stepped gingerly down the bank. Her pads didn't have much traction against the thick coating of mud that spread over the slope. Not opting to let this slow her down, Kaliskia decided to toss her luck and simply slide down the incline. Bracing her paws as much as she could in the sticky mud, she eased herself down.        Although she had expected the water to be a bit chilly, due to the recent rainfall, she received a slight jolt as her hindpaws slid into the low water. The crystaline river water rose up to her ankles, but went no farther. She was surprised that it was so shallow considering, again, how much rainfall the river had taken. She dropped all of her paws into the river, relishing the sturdy feel of the riverbed beneath her. She waded out deeper, into the midst of the flowing water. It was called the River Crossroads, because it was a water crossroad. Water flowed from all four directions, and met in this small portion of water. Almost a pond, or a small lake.        She tilted her head back, the undiluted white furs covering her figure waving in the slight breeze that flitted through the forest. She closed her eyes, and stood motionless in the center of the watery crossroads. The occaisional leaf daring to make a landing in the water sent a set of ripples plowing through the already flowing liquid, and she felt the resonating waves lapping at her heels. At the sharp sound of a branch snapping behind her, Kaliskia's eyelids snapped open, and she whirled about to face the intruder. Naturally, this sudden movement sent up a great amount of water into the air, soaking a good part of Kaliskia's pelt. Snorting crossly at her own actions, she briskly shook her frame about, flinging water droplets into the air.       The fur around her eyes was sodden, making her vision a bit blurry. She still recognized the figure standing in front of her. It was her younger sister, Kistra. Kistra was only six months old.

"You're going to be in trouble, Kiss," Kaliskia warned. Their mother Fenris would never have let Kistra out of her sight willingly. "You know how mad she gets when you sneak off".

       Kistra's muzzle wrinkled in distaste at this. She timidly dipped a single forepaw under the surface of the river. Quickly drawing back from the unexpected chill, Kistra stumbled and lost her footing on the muddy bank. Sliding down into the river, Kistra let out a startled yip. A smile creased Kaliskia's muzzle as she watched her little sister bob back up to the surface. Kistra allowed a soft wail to escape the depths of her chest, tactfully lowering her voice so that no nearby wolves would her her complaining.      

Author's Note

Sorry, I'm gonna go back and indent and all that jazz. Ignore it for now. ^^

Reviews

[0_o Abbie]

This is a really interesting piece. When the main character is an animal I always think of it as childish, but this wasn't I liked it alot. I liked especially the complete originality of the piece. Really cool. Although, there is a contradiction, 1st you say, "Kaliskia was too young to remember the violence that once occured here." then you say, "unfortunately, she remembered with utmost clarity.". You might want to change that. But other than that I loved it. Really nicely worded and original.