little rough rhinestone [C]

When Dayquill stepped out of camp, he hadn't had anywhere specific in mind.

Minnowfin hadn't assigned him to anymore patrols for the day, and he'd managed to find the lean time where there wasn't a patrol on their way out that he could wriggle his way in to. But his paws itched, and the fur along his spine prickled with a restless unease. He had to do something with himself, so he'd gone out alone. The season was warming up quickly, and between the thick foliage and their territory's dense canopy, everything felt hot and muggy, pressing in against his pelt. An idea struck him, but it was quickly soured; his jaunt had lead him to Sunningrocks, hopeful that he could avoid any passing patrols for a heartbeat and enjoy a few cooling moments stretched out on the stones, at the river's edge. When he'd arrived, though, the scent of fish and churned silt clinging to whatever cats had passed through was fresh enough to make his whiskers twitch.

Deterred from Sunningrocks, but undeterred from finding a cool place to relax outside the confines of camp, Dayquill padded further downstream. He kept close to the familiar stretches of territory, but wandered far enough that the Sunningrocks were out of sight, and he was left with the sound of churning water. His paws shuffled against the sand, and he leaned over the river's edge. The swift current kicked a spray off the larger rocks set into the riverbed, and the foam clung to his whiskers, the soft fur of his chest. Blue eyes squinted against it, until he was leaning over the river, tail trembling with the effort of keeping himself from falling in– and something else.

Catching sight of his reflection made his hackles rise, an instinctual bristle against the sight of a cat he wanted no association with. Dayquill lingered there for a moment, leering at river-spray and his own visage, before he eventually backed away, retreating from the sandy bank to settle against a cluster of heavy green ferns. The unease that had dragged him out of camp grew, refusing to feel settled, and the pulsing disturbance that beat through him distracted his thoughts from the sound of any approaching paws.