Fool's Gold Chasm No more snacks

late afternoon 8/11. For @Riven

It had been so hot lately, with the air hard to breath on some days. Enera hated it. It made playing absolutely miserable. Even worse, it made her tired. She didn't like being tired. She wanted to run and explore and see everything. She didn't have time to be tired!

So today, instead of bouncing around and trying to get @Marrah or @Aweho to play, Enera was walking around their home looking at things. It was something to do and she could observe to learn, instead of getting her nose stung by crazy bugs. Her tongue flicked out and up over the small bump that still throbbed when she thought too hard about it. Her other stings hurt too, but that one was the worst.

Enera found herself at the small pond. She hadn't spent a lot of time exploring it, and she was hot, so she decided to splash into it. Just near the edges, just enough to get wet.

Her pawsteps kicked up sand that swirled around in the water, following the ripples her movements maid and obscuring the bottom. Enera cocked her head, then with a squeaking growl jumped up out of the water and landed in clearer space. The splash she made was satisfying, and watching the cloud of sand poof up around her feet was fascinating. She wanted to do it again!

Riven had missed the heat - it was much preferred to the icy landscape he'd experienced when he first traveled up north. Being from so far down south, the healer hadn't ever really encountered the snow like he'd been forced to get used to, up here. In stark contrast to the poor little pup he was about to encounter, Riv was filled with energy, a little spring in his step that'd been lacking for a while now.

He paused at the splashing noise, tilting his head to the side. Was that a fish in the pond?

The healer headed over toward the noise, pausing briefly at the sight of the little pup splashing about in the shallows. He grinned, padding over to the water's edge and dipping his paws in. "What're you doing?" he asked amicably, a smile on his maw.

Enera liked the feel of mud between her toes. Well, she liked the feeling of mud between her toes when she was in the water. Mud when she was out of the water was not as much fun. Then she had to get clean, and that was an arduous task most days. Still, watching the sand poof around her feet was enough to push the future problem of cleaning up out of her mind, and she was just leaping into the air to disturb a new spot when she heard a familiar voice.

She'd been so focused on watching the hypnotizing swirl in the water she hadn't noticed him approach. Enera jerked in the air and as a result her feet slipped upon her landing, dunking her fully in the water. She popped back up with a splutter, shaking her fur out and glaring at Riven. "You scared me," she complained, shaking to get the worst of the wet from her fur. She looked back down; might as well see the clouded water since she'd disturbed it anyway.

"'M watching the sand clouds," she said, pawing at the space in front of her. "Watch this!" She spun in place, looking for the next clear spot, and hopped over there, grinning up at Riven in triumph when the anticipated plume of earth consumed her feet.

Riven had to fight to keep the amusement off of his face, eyes crinkling in a slight smile. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized, taking a few more steps until his underbelly brushed the water to see what she was looking at. To him, it just looked like cloudy water, but he supposed to the pup it might be something much more interesting.

There were probably some fish in there somewhere, but Riven wasn't an expert fisherman or anything, and Enera was clearly more in the mood to splash around than learn anyway.

Maybe this could be fun.

"Can I try?" he asked, tilting his head to the side and waiting for the go-ahead before he disturbed any sand beneath the water.

Rippling waves tugged at Enera's fur as Riven waded deeper, and the pup peered up at him. He was deeper than her, and she was considering wading out deeper. She just wasn't sure her paws would touch the bottom, and that was the whole point. She couldn't make the clouds if her paws weren't in the mud.

She surveyed the pond. There were a lot more opportunities for him to cloud the sand, since he could go deeper. She nodded and jerked her nose towards a mostly-clear space not far from him. "Try over there," she said, before taking several bounds through already clouded water so she could have a better vantage point to watch him poof up the sand. She was getting excited; he could get such a good cloud!