Otter Creek Falling to pieces

"Sure," she agreed with an equal smile. It felt like forever since the pair'd discovered the hidden grotto beneath the plateau. With all that had happened, she hardly remember what it looked like down there. She was pleased they wouldn't be taking their original route; she remembered most clearly the stomach-curdling fall they'd both taken to get there.

"I'm actually not sure," she answered, glancing sidelong at Junior as they followed the creek toward the foothills, "but I started out going west and then south, I think. There were a lot of flowers and this really trippy canyon way out there, but not really much else. Prairie, from what I saw." She paused.

"You know, I've been having really weird dreams lately. My mom's in them, and this weird bird thingy. 'Member that thing we tried to attack once? It's sort of like that." She frowned, exchanged a glance with her sister-cousin, then nodded toward the mountains as though to spur them on their way. She had no plans to return home just yet, and she'd missed Junior. "It keeps saying it's me. It's... really strange, but I always feel stronger when I wake up after those, like it did something to me. But... that's ridiculous, right?"