Their opposite reactions reminded Naia of the difference that just a couple years could make; a wizened adult absquatulates to survey a strange scene and a curious yearling creeps boldly forward to investigate. Naia growled a warning to the boy, who might like to think that he was grown but clearly still needed help making decisions. He dropped to his belly but continued to creep toward the stinking pool, and Naia fell silent with a resigned shake of her head. Her golden eyes widened as Orren reached out to touch the pool, and she was on her feet before the yearling could even emit his yelp of pain. Naia closed the distance between herself and the boy dancing around in pain, whining with concern.

When Orren quieted down Naia moved in to sniff at the tip of his nose, licking Orren’s muzzle like a mother kissing her child’s boo-boo. The taste was absolutely horrid, and Nai wrinkled her own nose in disgust. “Definitely,” she agreed, turning her face toward the pool once more. She was standing much closer now and the intense heat against her face made her eyes water and her paws sweat. Water like that was certainly not palatable, and from the looks of the little trickles leading away from the pool it appeared that whatever contaminated this body of water might be adulterating surrounding water sources too. The pack would not be able to settle anywhere near here, which was disappointing.. but at least they had a “cool” discovery to report, as Orren pointed out. ” What should we call it? The Eye or something like that.. The Cat Eye..? Hmm..”

Naia raised a questioning brow at her young companion, wondering just exactly how he was so familiar with precisely how bad ass a lynx was. She hated to think about it, but she knew that @Orren was exactly the kind of brash yearling that would roam around looking for trouble, certain that he was invincible. The wolf was arguably the baddest creature in Relic when in a pack, but if the wolf was alone even a wimpy lynx might get a good shot in. Orren’s father was proof enough of this, and Naia hoped her pupil hadn’t forgotten the few weeks his father was laid up in the den after a hunting accident.  If a prey animal could get the best of their powerhouse of a King, anything was possible.  

“The Cougar Eye then,” she said with a chuckle, grin widening as she watched Orren emerge from his lassitude. She inhaled deeply, realizing that the stench of the pool had weakened, but so had the rest of the scents around them as well. Were the fumes emanating from the Eye clouding her sense of smell? The scout nodded her head back in the direction of their family. The parade of River wolves was probably wondering about them by now. “Let’s get out of here, I think it’s messing with my nose,” Naia suggested, wrinkling her delicate nose as she spoke. She knew that Orren would be dying to report their incredible find.

“Now..  tell me exactly how you know so much about lynxes..” she inquired as the pair trotted away from their discovery. They chatted as they traveled, and the sulfuric pool disappeared from sight and eventually, blessedly, from smell. At least it would be easy to find again, should there ever be a reason to return to the Cougar Eye.