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P** art Two: "The Perfect Gift"**

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It was true. Otters were more impressive whenever traveling by water than by land. Nevertheless, whether swimming or running, the water dogs of Felldew were swift either way. And where she'd shown her speed for making her way through water several minutes ago when having dived off of her family's raft's deck back in the Seidon River, Nyrina now displayed her agility while quietly running northward through the lush forestland all around her.

Maintaining a decent jog, traveling as quiet as a shadow through the shade of the trees some moments and being momentarily illuminated other moments in the dawn light due to the open holes in the forest canopy of leaves above, the Urchinhide daughter was confident with every one of her footsteps. Not only that, even though when out in the wilderness on her own when she knew she shouldn't be, she became bolder with each passing moment.

With the storms having just stopped last night, what in Felldew was there for her to be scared of today in such a beautiful place as this? No one but her could possibly be out and about this early. She was only going to be on her own for no less than an hour, after all. Plus, it wasn't like she was being like her little brother who had the knack of running off for no reason because he was at that rebellious age of twelve; the age where he was half-pup, half-grownup.

No, Nyrina was off on her own at the moment with the best intentions. She was alone because she was intent to get the perfect birthday gift for her mom. Not because she was looking for trouble.

And being twenty-one, having been a mature otter maid for several years now, despite her father's constant worrying over her - his "Little Itty Bitty Water Lily" - Nyrina did not doubt her capabilities of looking out for herself. For if she did get into some kind of trouble during her current solo adventure, she was surely old enough to take care of the issue, wasn't she? She hadn't been trained by her father in the ways of the sling and melee without reason, right? Right.

"Honestly, in the eyes of Goddess Gaia, I'm all grown up, aren't I? Yes. Thus, like how I can handle everything that occurs back on Dynamic day in and day out, I can handle anything that happens out here." The Urchinhide daughter said to herself, feeling bright with determination and gleeful whenever she passed under the sunlight pouring down from the forest roof, "Besides, It's not like I'm out here looking for trouble. I'm not daring it to come find me. I'm just on my way to get what mother will no doubt love to see me give to her on her birthday. Truly, it's not every day an otter maid like me gets the chance to present her absolutely perfect mother with fresh water pearls. I can't miss this chance. I have to do this."

And without thinking more on the subject of her disobeying her parents' rules by being alone, Nyrina went on jogging her way north through the quiet, still, emerald forest. As she did so, she hesitated every so often to pick up an occasional rock, examine it while on the run, then she'd place her favorites into her full waist pouch of pebbles which would be ammo for her sling if trouble somehow arose in any form against her during her traveling.

At different intervals, the random whistle, chirp as well as call of an early bird would sing out with a most gracious, high, melodious tune that would catch the ears of Nyrina. In turn, feeling heartened by the silent yet gentle atmosphere of Dryan Forest, delighted to hear that the first wakeful birds of the day seemed to be cheering her on, the lone otter maid began to softly hum under her breath a familiar song her mother had sung to her when she had been only an otterling still in the cradle.

"It's time we were bound for faraway lands

Where you and I will go everywhere hand in hand

Through forests, valleys, prairies and fields

Over mountains, rivers, oceans and hills

No matter the distance, we will conquer it all

No matter the trials, we will never slow

No matter the enemies, we will not stop

For by the goddess Gaia's command, we shant lose heart

So come with me, pack your bags and gather what memories of this place you will

For you and I are out and bound for faraway lands

And we will not be back home 'til next spring"

Attracted by her attractive singing in a whisper, a white-black sparrow with a very puffy chest landed upon the branch just in front of Nyrina. The otter maid paused for a moment to examine the bird who had just made a show of stopping right before her eyes and while she did so, the sparrow seemed to raise his voice to the leafy canopy in earnest. In turn, many other early birds answered the sparrow's calling, their musical voices echoing blissfully from the still corners of the forest until they drowned out every worried thought that Nyrina had had moments ago.

No longer was the Urchinhide daughter uncertain about anything she was doing currently. Not when she was traveling through such a peaceful, tranquil realm like this green forest all around her. There was no danger for the Urchinhide daughter to possibly run into here. If there was anything to be afraid of then the birds most certainly wouldn't have been so very happy. Especially at hearing her sing her song of traveling to faraway lands a bit louder than before.

And as she sang out in a soft voice that enticed the birds she passed by, Nyrina found it cute when the sparrow from before followed closely behind her. Hopping from one branch to the next, puffing out his chest each time the otter maid saw him, the sparrow trailed after the forest's lone visitor heading happily north with nature's songs in her ears and the sun's warmth energizing her body.

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The place of interest that Nyrina was keen in finding soon became visible to her. Being the river dog that she was, she first heard the desired body of water before seeing it. Following her ears eastward back towards Seidon River, she wandered through many brambles along with shrubs before stepping into a clear patch of shoreline where everything was brilliantly golden underneath the summer sunlight.

Truly, during her last fifteen minutes of traveling on foot, the forestland had been enticing to the Urchinhide daughter's every sense. Yet, as soon as she appeared out of the forest's calming atmosphere onto the open area of shore she'd wanted to find, as soon as her eyes settled onto the sparkling, flowing diamonds that were literally the flowing surface of the Seidon River reflecting the sun's light in many different directions with great gusto, Nyrina nearly lost her mind. For thanks to the right amount of openings in the forest roof nearby, the sunlight shined perfectly down onto her as well as the surrounding area.

Nyrina could not thank goddess Gaia enough for allowing her to see so wonderful a sight as the Seidon River at the moment. Its passing waters were almost actually alive and shining with the light from Father Sun. It was as if the previous stars of night had fallen from the heavens to be swallowed up by the river itself. Either way, it was a shame that the daughter of the Urchinhide family would have no choice but to keep the beautiful sight to herself.

Unless, she wanted to get in trouble for saying she'd been off on her own this morning without permission from either of her parents, anyway.

Moving along with her intentions, trying her best to not be blinded too badly by the sun lit surface of the Seidon River before her, Nyrina sprang into action while her newest sparrow companion curiously watched from a nearby willow branch. In a nearby collection of weeds, the she-otter set aside her sling, her ammo of pebbles along with unneeded items for the diving to the river's bottom she was about to perform. For that said job of diving, she held onto her iron tipped spear, her sharpened rock knife along with her waist pouch which she would be placing the freshwater pearls in.

Yet, just as she was about to get to work, just as she was going to go pearl searching, a rather new thought occurred out of the blue to the Urchinhide daughter. It was a sudden thought that made her second guess herself, that made her awkwardly if not shrewdly look around at her surroundings as if in trouble. Then after several moments of thinking over something, she seemed to decide on an answer over whatever. It was an answer that made her spot her sparrow observer next, smugly smile at him along with say in a teasing voice.

"Could you turn around for a second? I'm going to need a moment of privacy until I get into the water. Thank you, sir, you're such a gentleman."

All too gladly, smitten with her charming personality already, the white-black colored sparrow shifted his position on his branch so that he could no longer see her. Nor did he see her tunic along with underclothing fly his way until last second when they hung from the branches all around him. Well, he didn't avoid all of Nyrina's clothing, mind. Her kelp made bra landed on top of him and with much indignant chirping, he poked his head out to look around.

Neck deep in the shimmering river, now without any of her clothing on her body but deviously nude under the water, Nyrina giggled when her sparrow companion seemed to make a big fuss over the fact that he was surrounded by her clothes. In his own way, the small bird almost sounded like what her father would if he were present at the scene and saw what she was up to.

"My little water lily, what in Gaia's good name do you think you're up to going off on your own into unknown land?!" Nyrina playfully imagined her softy father lecturing on shore, tugging on his very thick set of whiskers like he always did when upset or unsure, "Not only that, what do you think you're up to going skinny dipping in that water? That ain't proper she-otter behavior. Bah, you're just like your mother. You've got all of her rebellious spirit, you know. You're always doing stuff before you think. Now come out of there before I have to get in and, er, drag you out for all of the world to see."

Yet, with the sun shining proud, with the morning beautiful, no one was present at the moment to do any sort of telling Nyrina what she ought to do or that she would be dragged out for having the nerve to go pearl diving when naked. Truly, she was on her own. And seeing as she was alone, what harm was there for her to partake in the activity of swimming nude for the first time since, well, forever?

"Mr. Sparrow, sir, I'm sorry for having nearly knocked you off of your perch there on that branch of yours with my clothes." Nyrina said next, trying not to giggle aloud at seeing how indignant her little sparrow friend in question looked at having been buried underneath her bra a second ago, "Listen, I'm going to be underwater collecting beauties for my mother for her upcoming birthday. Until I come back, could you look after all of the stuff I'm leaving here?"

When the sparrow gave a solitary whistle from his branch and didn't fly off, the otter maid began to back-paddle her way outwards from the shore as she said, "Thank you, Mr. Sparrow. I won't be long. I'll be ten minutes max. See you soon."

With that said, with a rushing sound in her ears, with a torrent of bubbles dancing around her splendid, unclothed body, Nyrina took a deep breath before plunging headfirst down into the depths of the Seidon River. Here, thankfully, the water was not nearly as muddied as it was back under the Dynamic downstream. Here, the sunlight actually lanced downwards through the gloom every so often, casting aside the murkiness of the watery realm and brightening up the green, brown surroundings with shades of yellow, gold, bronze along with copper of color.

What was most gorgeous about the Seidon River, though, wasn't suddenly just about the sunlight pouring down upon its face from the heavens. No, now that her green eyes had adjusted to the calm, quiet world around her, the Urchinhide daughter's heart did a skip in her chest as she came to realize that she was surrounded not by local fish but by exotic beauties whose scales gleamed blue, violet, crimson along with many more shades of grand color.

What were these exotic breeds of fish around her, one would ask? If not local to the Seidon River, where had they perhaps come from then?

Well, as she could guess at the moment, Nyrina knew that the unique fish around her had more than likely been washed south from Onyx Bay during the three days of summer storms. Indeed, this was not the first time the otter maid had seen such beautiful, unfamiliar fish in the inland rivers far from the sea. In the past like now, after the finish of the most fearsome of bad weather, she had watched them return north to Onyx Bay from whence they'd came.

Yet, even though gorgeous to behold, the Urchanhide daughter could no longer be distracted by the many natural wonders of the river around her. She was running out of precious time. Thus, with a spurt of speed, whirling herself around with her tail following her every movement like an entranced snake, she sped off into the watery realm in search of the prizes known as freshwater pearls.

As it had been said for her beforehand, Nyrina was a beautiful otter. With her clothing on, anyway. Without clothing, though... she was what any male otter would have described as the pearl of all pearls. And because of that, with her full breasts plain as day in the sunlight, with her womanhood revealed, every male otter - if present - would not have been able to resist trying to gain her attention as she went about pearl searching.

For she was a perfect she-otter specimen. She was the specimen that had made even humans stop in their travels and consider her kind in the past from time to time.

Still, thoughts of being courted by males of any species was the last thing on swimming Nyrina's mind at the moment. Knowing she was coming close to the halfway point of her available work time, she went about diving through the river with impressive skill. Where she had the beauty of her mother, she now showed the strength of her father as she held her breath, shot through the sun illuminated waters with unmatched speed, opened up freshwater clams, collected gleaming pearl after gleaming pearl, nibbled a bit on clam meat along with overall succeeded at gathering the birthday gift that would be for her mother.

And what a birthday gift the freshwater pearls - twelve in total - would look for the Urchinhide mother in the near future when her proud daughter got around to presenting them to her. The thought of giving such a gift to her mom made Nyrina's heart soar. It made her, having finished collecting what pearls she needed, swim to the river's surface, shoot up into the air with an explosion of sparkling water, do a majestic backflip along with fall back into the river laughing a most attractive laugh that would have won the heart of any male.

Clutching her pouch of pearls to her bare chest, Nyrina was alive with joy, with glee, with happiness. She now had the materials to fashion a perfect present for her perfect mother. Now all she had to do was get back to the Dynamic with her prizes before anyone knew she'd been off on her own in the first place. So first off, simply, she had to get out of the water. Second, she would have to put her clothes back on like the naught otter she was. Third and lastly, she would have to mostly run back south back to her home raft so as to not be found out by any of her family.

That sounded easy enough for any she-otter to manage to do within a half hour, didn't it? Of course it did. However, unknowingly, the plan suddenly became quite a bit more difficult for Nyrina. For where many a fish had been blown down south from Onyx Bay into northern River Country, several dangers had also been forced to come along.

And one such danger had taken notice of Nyrina during her pearl hunting. It had stayed out of her sight for the longest time. Yet now, as she sought to swim back to shore with her pearls in hand, the danger - even faster than the she-otter, as hard as that was to believe - shot forth after her through the water with a flurry of movement.

One moment, the Urchinhide daughter felt nothing but joyous as she swam along without a care in the world. The next moment, having dropped her spear into the depths below due to shock, she was half dazed as well as aching with pain as an unseen predator had slammed into her right side before shooting back out of sight into the background.

By the goddess, what had hit Nyrina with the force of a boulder launched from a catapult? How had it been so fast as to hit her then streak away before being seen?

Disregarding the sudden storm of questions storming into her hurt mind, the she-otter suddenly comprehended she'd not only had her side slammed into but what air she'd had held had been lost to her in the process. She needed another gulp of fresh air! NOW!

Thus, with another spurt of speed, wincing at the aching in her bruised as well as scarred right side, Nyrina swam for the surface while not realizing she was still being hunted. Yet, for whatever reason, her predator did not act against her as she finally broke the river's surface as well as took in deep, coughing gulps of much needed air.

At once, with a sense of dread, Nyrina realized she was nowhere near a shore on either side of the Seidon River. She was right out in the middle of the flowing river with something perhaps ready to strike at her again at any given time!

As for what had struck her moments ago and left her with such a bruise, what in Gaia's name had that thing been?

With a jolt, something rough brushed against the sides of the frightened Urchinhide daughter's paws. Out of instinct, she kicked out, landing a good blow or two on something firm which swam away from her within a heartbeat. In turn, trying to keep her senses under control, Nyrina dipped her head underwater to look around for what had taken a sudden, sinister interest in her.

For certain now, there was something else in the Seidon River with the Urchinhide daughter. For some eerie reason, all of the crowds of fish had vanished from sight. Off in the distance, she could just barely see it - the massive, eight foot long shape of an aqua predator - swimming through the river's gloom. It was as the unnerved she-otter looked back above the river surface that she learned the answer as to what was hunting her. For sticking up from the water several feet away was a most intimidating dorsal fin, coolly making its way along.

Truth be told, not only exotic fish had been washed down into the River Country from Onyx Bay. Predators of the sea, unwilling or not, had been swept along too. And with merciless eyes, slowly opening along with shutting its maw full of rows of sharp teeth, it was a Bull Shark that had rammed into unknowing Nyrina moments ago and was presently swimming almost smugly around her in a wide, ominous circle.