define('WP_CACHE', true); Chapter 6: The Hot Spring – Crossed Paths – Logs

Mar 10

Chapter 6: The Hot Spring

Chapter 6: The Hot Spring

In Which the Companions Find a Hot Spring In Their Travels.

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Arrin says: He walks beside her, hefting his pack slightly.  “The air’s getting wetter, it’s going to snow…”

Catamount says: The ferret nods. “Looks like clouds building up near the summit, too.”

Arrin says: He shrugs. “It’ll probably just be a foot or so. How’re those clothes holding up for you? Are you warm enough? I doubt that your fur is as thick as ours up here.”

Catamount says: Jozra grins. “Holding up great! And don’t worry; it’s plenty warm right now.”

Arrin says: He nods. “Okay… How close are we?”

Catamount says: “Well, the ridge you told me about is not too far now.  Maybe another half an hour of walking and we’ll be there.”

Arrin says: He nods yet again. “Okay. If I recall, there’s a hot spring somewhere near, we can camp out on the heated flat rocks, if you want.”

Catamount says: The ferret gazes ahead, looking for telltale steam. “I’ll keep my eye out for it.”

Arrin says: He grins. “Alright then.” He stumbles a bit over a rock, grabbing his companion briefly for support.

Catamount says: The ferret grabs the otter’s arm and steadies him before continuing.

Arrin says: He flashes her a broad smile. “Thanks.”

Catamount says: She grins. “No problem.”

Arrin says: They walk for a bit longer before he turns to her. “See anything yet? I think I feel the heat of it in the air.”

Catamount says: The ferret nods. “Yep. We’re almost there. I was just about to mention it.”

Arrin says: He grins. “Good, I can’t wait to take a dip.”

Catamount says: Jozra smiles. “Here we are. Careful, it looks a bit slippery.”

Arrin says: He nods and strips off his backpack and tunic, leaping into the water. “Woo-hoo!”

Catamount says: The ferret laughs and follows suit, though a little more slowly.

Arrin says: He chuckles and swims towards her. “Can you swim alright?”

Catamount says: She nods. “Yep. Just don’t want to get my new clothes all wet.”

Arrin says: He grins devilishly. “Oh sure, make up excuses, strip down if you feel like it, it’s not like I’ll see anything right?” He laughs.

Catamount says: Jozra laughs. “It’s all fur anyway, right?  I just don’t want to worry about my new clothes that fit so perfectly shrinking.”

Arrin says: He chuckles. “All right then, what are you waiting for? The water’s fine.”

Catamount says: The ferret grins and sloshes into the pool. “Ah, feels good on the old walking legs!”

Arrin says: He grins. “Of course.” He floats on his back.

Catamount says: Jozra splashes some water in the otter’s general direction.

Arrin says: He splutters. “Hey!”

Catamount says: The ferret grins broadly before completely submerging and then popping back up.

Arrin says: He launches himself out of the water towards where her heard her come up. He dunks her with a laugh.

Catamount says: “Ack!” She splutters and then swims to the other side of the pool, splashing the otter again.

Arrin says: He submerges himself, swimming towards her again. He grabs her legs and pulls her under.

Catamount says: The ferret splashes to the top and laughs. “Whoo! You otters tire us poor non-otters out when you’re in the water!”

Arrin says: He grins broadly. “What else would you expect?”

Yazeth: The ferret splashes the water about her a little and grins at the otter. “Perhaps you cutting us non-water beasts a little slack?”

Arrin Woodgreen: He thinks for a moment. “Hmmm… nah!” He splashes at her.

Yazeth: Jozra chuckles.

Arrin Woodgreen: He goes to dunk her again. “This’ll teach you…”

Yazeth: Erp. She hastily dives and retreats to the other end of the pool. Wiping the water out of her eyes, she settles herself mostly submerged in the warm water. “I think you’ve tired me out for swimming, Soq.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He grins. “C’mon, I promise I’ll play nice…”

Yazeth: The ferret chuckles. “Mind, I can swim, but I’m not exactly a strong swimmer.  It tires me easily.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He grins. “If you get too tired, I can always swim you to shore.”

Yazeth: She chuckles and leans back against the rocks. Casually she views the scenery. “Hrm. Those clouds around the summit are bigger than they were before.”

Arrin Woodgreen: He frowns. “We should look for shelter then.” He slips out of the water and drops onto all fours, shaking the water from his fur.

Yazeth: The ferret follows suit, sleeking the water from her fur now and then with her paws.

Jozra

3 comments

  1. Hm, something I’m curious about…Is Yazeth the same person as Catamount? It threw me off a little bit to have it switch in the middle of a chapter.

    1. Hi Orion/Lam! Sorry about your comments not showing up immediately. The news blog has had spammer problems so all comments go through a moderation queue… and I totally slacked off on approving things. Oops. But to answer your question, yes Yazeth is Catamount (me!) The difference comes from when we switched IMs. Yazeth is my username on AIM, Catamount on MSN (and Cataderivatives are what I used in StalinChat and the current RFF chat).

      Thanks for reading! (And commenting! Yay I’m glad it works!)

  2. Oh, it’s no big deal, although I suppose I was wondering where my comments had gone.

    Thanks for reading? Thanks for putting it up somewhere so I can read it! ^_^

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