Whitewater Gorge Geronimo

He obliged her by both latching onto her tail and replying to her question. Wildfire chuckled at his muffled words, then quickly craned her neck downward to lap at the water. When she leaned forward, she felt the pressure of her new acquaintance's teeth tugging on her tail. If he let go for any reason, she would fall headfirst into the frigid waters. But she placed her trust in him as she quickly lapped at the surface of the ice, drawing the freezing liquid into her mouth to quench her thirst.

When she was done, she slowly slithered backward and motioned for Anwyl to let go. "Thanks," she said while licking cold water from her chops. "Tastes kind of metallic," she reported, glancing at their surroundings. "I bet there's lots of mineral deposits in the water because of the rocks." She was no longer a naturalist by trade, yet she still knew a thing or two about basic geology.

Looking at Anwyl again, she wondered, "You up for some exploration down here?" The rock shelf was narrow but they could stick to it, traveling with their flanks pressed against the stone wall. If they went right, they could even jump across. The river turned a corner up ahead, narrowing significantly so that they could rather easily leap to the other side. If they went left, she could see that the waterway widened. That's where the rapids seemed to pick up quite a bit.

After surveying their options, Wildfire leveled her gaze on her company once more. "Which way?" she asked, leaving the choice up to him, if he was game at all.