Firestone Hot Springs summer

Slight PP to add an ending!

Shiv half-turned and gazed at him with one judgemental eye as the wolf apologised, introducing himself afterwards as Theseus. Unusual as it was for an apex predator to be asking for forgiveness from a lowly scavenger, Shiv was delighted he had seen the error of his ways. Never one to really hold a grudge, the bird then fully turned, leaning forward as she gave him a short bow and a cheerful chirp. "Yes, yes, good," she said, accepting his apology.

Retracing her steps and bouncing back over to where she was standing before, Shiv looked up to the golden wolf once again, admiring his fur. "Theeeee-seus..." she began, stumbling on his foreign name. "...is made of sunlight?" Referring, of course, to his coat. Being a magpie, she was jealous of how shiny and colourful it was. The only streak of brilliance on her otherwise dull feathers were the glimmer of blue and green on her tail. "Can trade?" she added, ruffling her feathers in an attempt to entice the man, not really acknowledging the logistics of such a deal.

When he declined with another laugh, the bird's temper flared. For such a tiny creature, she had monstrous tantrums. With a shriek of annoyance, she spun on her heel, offended that he had the gall to laugh at her a second time. Not wanting to deal with such rude wolves (though to any other, more rational creature, it was obvious Theseus was just joking around), the magpie kicked off from the ground and took to the air, soaring into the thermals above the hot springs to get as far away from the brute as possible.