The Sunspire the nose knows

sounds good! this is actually right after fox met xi'nuata, too. she just refers to her as "fat idiot." <__<

Fox continued her ascent, though her path was anything but direct. No, she stopped to dig at things, sniff things, and pounce on the occasional dead leaf. It was on this wandering journey that she felt the presence of somebody watching her. Fox wasn't sure if she'd heard a sound, caught something out of the corner of her eye, or if some faint smell had alerted her to the presence of somebody else, but there definitely was somebody else nearby. The creek member's body stiffened, and her senses went into full-sensing mode. Her nostrils flared, her eyes widened, and her ears swiveled around on her head like tiny antennas.

It took her at least half a minute to finally catch on to what was watching her. Or rather, who. It was a big old black creature which Fox could have easily mistaken for a bear. It was built like a bear, but it had a long tail. What if bears were born with tails, though? Maybe they just fell off once they got to a certain age.

"Hey you!" she called, "Are you a bear?!" Fox paused, squinting her eyes at the big black beast. "Because if you are, this is when I need to scurry on home!" There was still plenty of distance between the two, and Fox was never afraid to make a break for it if it meant saving her own ass.