Sunbeam Lair In the mirror, you're brushing over

It was the scent of greenery that'd attracted Dusty Rose to this place. His black nose twitched ceaselessly as he trotted along the outskirts of the hidden wonderland. Melting snow covered sunlit patches, but in the shadows around it, vegetation still thrived.

Dusty Rose didn't know all that much about plants. Mahler had managed to teach him a precious little during his stay in the hollow, but Dusty had found himself R U N N O F T before his education had truly begun. He was wary now as he drew nearer to that old stomping ground, just in case the pair of badgers were still around, and were still of a mind to take exceptional issue with his presence.

Instead, he saw a wolf. He wheeled, swinging around as if he'd been yanked by a leash in the other's direction. No thoughts crossed his mind as he high-stepped it through the plants, making a beeline for this perfect stranger as if they'd known each other their whole lives. But, contrary to what it may look like, it was his survival instincts that drove him toward the stranger at such a fast clip. Whether those instincts were helpful or not remained to be seen — but his buzzing little brain told him there was safety in numbers, and most especially in numbers where the others were larger than him.

And, drawing closer, he saw that this wasn't the case, here. Still, though. A friend was a friend.

"Did you see that eagle out there?" he asked, bright and cheerful. "I bet she could've picked me up and carted me off, just about!"

His instincts did, at least, stop him before he barreled straight into the stranger. He hovered outside of the wolf's personal bubble, an extra skip in his step as he circled — like a very determined (or very stupid) bumblebee bouncing off a forcefield that kept it from an exceedingly furry flower.