Naaghai Lowlands a pretty girl with bouffont hair

Unfortunately, it was virility that really attracted Journey. Bushtit's value to her now was in this: the petty urge to pick on someone who seemed just a little too big for their britches. Even if that someone was pleasant enough company, thus far.

She grit her teeth against a laugh, indulging in a mischievous smile instead, and answered:

"Yes."

Perhaps he did not know what a mountain lion smelled like, or perhaps she did not carry Balarina strongly enough on her coat. Whatever the case, she was enjoying the sport of teasing a silly young man, just as she always had. This one, at least, seemed unlikely to get her into "trouble".

"Her name is Balarina," she said instead, withdrawing from Bushtit's space to splash into the water. "She's off in that direction — " a vague gesture to the south — "scouting a different route for our band. There are plenty of us — and some are panthers."