My caution is an instinctive thing and I had asked mother once if our siblings were like us. She told me that we were all different, that our sister was as fast as the wind but also vain (and mom had smiled at it) and that our brothers were fearless. That my brother Alistair was deaf and could not hear so I had to be careful when speaking so he could read my lips. That fascinated me - how could one read the lips of another? I had tried it on Thor but I had quickly become too confused and also too engrossed in what he was saying to actually pay any attention. It all seemed like a dream and I fantasized about it but that was all it was to me. Until I met them, they existed as a part of life but separate. Apparently we had cousins, multiples of them, and that mom had a brother who had lived here by the sea. I didn't understand that mother had not lived here forever - we were born here so naturally I assumed it was a permanent place and mother never told me otherwise.

While Thor could annoy me to a point of recklessness I was fast learning that he did so just to get that response from me. To me, he was fearless. A born leader and a strong boy, the kind that could protect me if I ever needed it, and I often stuck close to him. It put me on edge to be around him in such uncertain circumstances but it also relieved me, as if he took the option from my paws and I was set on a course whether I liked it or not. I can't help but smile sheepishly at his sly eyes, rolling my eyes in a silly manner before becoming distracted by the butterfly. No doubt brother was annoyed but he let me be for a moment. Only a moment, mind you, and before long the butterfly was leaving and I was setting out on an adventure that may or may not be against the rules set for us.

I giggle at his sarcastic words, knowing he is playing with me, and for a moment I perk up. I stretch my legs and lift my tail and head and strut as if I really was mother. Yet the further we travel PAST the mark set for us the more apprehensive I became. I decided not to bug him just yet about us breaking the rules because in honesty I was afraid he would leave me and maybe I was just a little bit curious as to what we would find. The rushing sound fills my ears and they perk - well, as much as my right ear can. Thor pauses in his excitement and I bump into his hips with an oomph and a startled look before he darts forward. My heart thud-thumps hard and I race after him, coming to a swift halt at the amazing sight of the river.

It is quick and it is violent. The noise is heightened here and the water beckons like a siren, trying to draw me in and drown me. Before I can protest even being here Thor comes up with the most preposterous idea and I gasp loudly. "NO! NO Thor, we can't. I won't go. We could go under and never come up." My tail immediately retreats under my hind end and I lower slightly, crouching as if the water is trying to drag me in. "Please, brother, no, lets just walk down the shore." I knew that if I said turn back he might get bull headed, so I tried to appease him by staying near this monstrosity. "See, look? There is something fun," I say in an almost desperate voice, my eyes turning downstream to a beaver dam at the edge of the water, not really knowing what it is but heading towards it in hopes he would follow.