Jade Fern Grove did the stars whisper on the day you were made?

The coywolf worked to smother his grin while the Very Serious young lady seemed to dissect him with her narrowed gaze. Her boldness was duly noted, and while Dusty Rose wasn't afraid of some kid, he kept his large ears scanning for sounds of another's approach. He couldn't think why anyone would want to attack him, never mind put the effort of flanking him into it — but stranger things had happened.

"Sure enough," he agreed when she called him a stranger. And then, "Pleased to meet you, Esma. That's a pretty name. You know what it means?"

Of course, she had another question for him as well.

"Far from here," he replied, wondering if she was the sort of kid who could be won over with fanciful tales. "A place called the Red Desert. The specific wellspring I was born to, we called sunset over red sage."

He fired back another question before she could: "What's Riverclan like?"