Firestone Hot Springs hotdog

With her gaze fixed upon the steaming craters, Kaihra failed to notice the yearling's initial movement away from the springs. The Theta remained rooted in place, staring in fearful curiosity at the array of vomiting ground mouths. Her packmate knew as much as she did about the nature of the craters and left her with little comfort as she watched the bubbling ground. "They are very strange." She murmured. When the craters lasted another second without an eruption, Kaihra dared to pry her eyes away to face her young packmate, only then realizing the yearling had already begun to distance herself from the patchwork of holes. Kaihra followed without hesitation, though she felt a prickle of apprehension as she turned her back on the spring.

Despite the distance they put between themselves and the spring, Kaihra felt a quiver in her legs. She stared at the place a heartbeat longer before her packmate interrupted her trance. Amelie. Kaihra had heard the yearling's name in passing, but never more than that. She took the introduction as reason to pull her eyes from the hot springs to focus on the tall dark figure of Amelie, already a formidable height for such a young wolf, though she stood with a gentle grace that left Kaihra unintimidated by her size. The Theta bobbed her head and gave a quick, "Kaihra," to return the greeting. She tested a wary smile to respond to her packmate's glowing face, but let the meager grin fall from her maw as a geyser hissed behind her, louder than the others. She whipped her head around and braced herself for another attack, but the ground only gurgled with laughter and the water stayed well in the ground. Kaihra forced her fur to lie flat and narrowed her eyes at the crater before turning back to face Amelie. She felt her fear subside as questions overrode her worries. "You got close to them. Did you see inside?"