A character by

The pteronura brasiliensis and the caiman yacare have always been at odds, the giant river otter and the crocodile. Down in the canyon, where the river weaves its path like a great tail between the jagged cliff sides, Brook's tribe thrives despite the twisted teeth that hide in the water.

Her people took great pride in sparring with their reptilian rivals in the wake of the river's undertow. It was a common sight to see, fur and scales writhing in the freshwater foam.

Brook was a force of nature.

She was everything a giant river otter strives to be: cunning, swift, and an unforgiving warrior. Her appearance was also highly coveted among her people, as a sign of great beauty among her kind is an enormous, limber tail that flows like the river itself.

Brook was a beloved fixture in her tribe and knew her place within it; she fought for her people and found herself surrounded by many admirers.

Until one, fateful misstep in the river cost the warrior her tail in one, dreadful snap.

Brook had not only been robbed of her lovely tail, but also of her reputation. She had never been bested before, and it was seen as disgraceful to be so; it was much more honorable to be vanquished altogether than to be the victim of an attack.

Furthermore, without her tail, no one found the otter to be beautiful anymore.

Her place in the tribe was no longer clear to Brook. Even the river seemed to abandon her, as the absence of her tail made traversing the currents nearly impossible.

She often wished the alligator had taken her life altogether, and frequently contemplated forfeiting her life.

Without her tribe and without the river, what was she? What was her worth?

She found the answer in the muddy banks of the river, where the water was still and warmed by the sun.

The river in the canyon ran deep and cold, and Brook always saw it as singular. She never regarded it as anything more, until she was trapped on its banks by her misfortune. The river was a fluid, winding behemoth made up of roaring, frothing twists and calming pools with sun-kissed stones.

The river was strong and weak, life-giving and treacherous all at once.

Brook decided she would be just the same.

She went on to learn how to swim without her tail, to become stronger than she was before. She was no longer a victim - she was a survivor.

And she took head of the caiman that took her tail, its skull now a sun-bleached memento on the stones of the river where a tribe of giant river otter celebrate Brook's story of rebirth and victory.