Somewhere near Namira's Mire
There were signs everywhere of the change in the season: the deepening of color in the leaves of some trees, the blanket of the forest floor by those that had already dried out and been discarded, and the shifting of the weather towards something more melancholy. Mou couldn't see the sky very well from deep within the woods, but he did not need to. He could see the graying of the light and feel the coming of the rain clouds in his very bones — this morning he woke to the sensation of his hips aching. That was a clear sign that there was a storm on its way.
He was groggy from sleep as he sat up, got his feet, and stretched. About five minutes later he paused in his morning routine because he realized something else — his hips hurt. Okay, yeah, we've gone over that already, but this was important. His hips hurt, and after flexing his legs and popping the joints, Mou was staring down at himself as if he'd just sprouted a new set of limbs. The pins-and-needles feelings in his lower back were gone; he could feel his hips. They hurt.
He was grinning like an idiot as he tested his weight on his slender legs, and while they still tired very quickly they did not quake nearly as much. Maybe he'd just had a really good sleep, and everything would be in shambles by that afternoon — but for now he was filled with an inexact amount of glee, and decided to scout out parts of the territory he hadn't visited before, heading due east through the shadows.
The boy spat dirt from between his teeth, and realized a moment later he wasn't alone. The scrambling, the sucking mud, and all the chaos of trying to get free had distracted him from her temporarily. She looked familiar - and as he returned to himself, gathered his wits and his breath, he recognized her from around the forest. She seemed genuinely concerned and to ease her worry, he nodded his head sharply, quickly. I'm alright, he was saying. But he was still so cold.
Gosh, he was such a skinny fellow. She had a slender figure, but her plush pelt kept Shisu warm through the more colder seasons. He did not share the same leisure, and so she naturally drew near in worry. It felt like the first time Shisu saw Mou, and he tucked against her. She once again wanted to offer her warm pelt to the ghostly, and skittish fellow. She was to focused on how he was that she didn't mind the mud that may track onto her as well.
She was larger than him, but maybe that was just her coat that was more dense; either way, she came closer to him and cushioned him with her pelt, shared her warmth as he shared his mess, and soon there was warmth where before there had only been wetness and chill. It was appreciated even if it felt a little awkward; she was like a mother bird trying to hunch over a pathetic, newly-hatched chick. But Mou welcomed the contact, and soon was feeling much better.
There was still the matter of getting out of the mire, of course. Crossing from root-to-root might've worked, but Mou wasn't the most nimble creature and he didn't want to waste the girl's efforts. If he fell in again, she would probably panic again. Or worse, dive in after him and fish him out, ruining her pretty coat. For the time being Mou basked in the attention she gave him and after a few deep breaths, felt quite content where he was roosting.