As the lightning illuminates the sky, growing ever closer, it casts a most peculiar shadow across his face. Almost as if half of his façade was dark and mysterious – dangerous – while the other glowed and highlighted the scars of his past, some story I might someday be privy to. It would seem that as the sky began to darken with the coming storm we each looked upon the other in a state of evaluation, and I considered the differences between us. There was no purpose to it really, other than mere curiosity on my part. I was well intrigued by his character. He was prone to moments of vacillation, but then also subject to slips of the tongue. When his gaze returned to my own he seemed almost surprised to find me staring back at him, but I took no offense by his sizing me up. I had done much the same, perhaps from afar at first when he hadn’t even seen me looking in the first place. I wasn’t sure what it was about him, but I felt almost drawn to him – perhaps the mystery of him.

So I moved closer. My eyes never left his, and I do not miss how they widened. Part of me tells me to step back, to give him his space. Maybe I was making him uncomfortable. Once more a flashing doubt that he was only here because I had persuaded him to do so swept through my mind, and I nearly felt the need to tell him he was free to go if he did not want to be here. But then his banner wags, signifying his pleasure in the moment that I introduced myself and I hoped that I was simply over analyzing the situation. Surely one so marred by battle would not subject themselves to a situation they did not wish to be in. He echoes my name, and my own tail waves back and forth, catching a bit of water by accident and flinging it in an arc. When he says it again I like the way his soft tenors articulate each syllable. I feel a slight warmth creep up into my cheeks, and I’m suddenly thankful for the fur that conceals my blush. Why was I blushing?

Our eyes remain locked upon one another as his own body shifts to align with mine, and as another flash of lightning illuminates the sky it feels like my hair is standing on end – though its my undercoat and does nothing to change my appearance. I attribute it to the electricity in the air – that created by the storm, certainly. “The power of a river – its ability to change the earth with its natural force – I come here, maybe in hopes of soaking up a bit of that power,” I said with a small smile. Another bolt of lightning lights up the sky, and this time the rumble of thunder is not far behind. “As for the storm, well that’s a whole other level of authority, isn’t it?” I know we should probably remove ourselves from this dangerous spot as the sky continues to darken, clouding over as the storm creeps closer and closer to the mainland. But for some reason I didn’t want to leave this moment.

But it is his next words that almost seem to break the trance. Though an embarrassed look takes over his features and he finally breaks our eye contact, my small smile lingers and I simply lean sideways, closing the gap between us and pressing my shoulder into his. “So are you,” I whisper to him, before stepping forward and crossing in front of him. The first droplets of rain began to fall from the sky as I moved towards the bank which he had first sat upon, and I glanced over my shoulder at him as I reached the edge, hoping to catch his eye, hoping to ensure he would follow. I emerged from the river, not bothering to shake the water from my fur. I took only a few steps before turning back to wait for him, and suddenly the storm was upon us. The rain escalated quickly, torrential in volume though hardly any wind accompanied it. The lightning lit up the stormy sky, thunder clapping overhead, and I suddenly threw my nose to the sky, eyes closing and simply enjoying the feel of the rain on my face.