Northstar Vale Astéria

As they walked further from their home, Zulema seemed to grow louder. She charged ahead with a fearless gleam in her eye. Antigone padded quietly after her, snout swinging from side to side as he scanned the trees and the looming shadows for movement.

At the stream, she leapt into the water and sent a splash to the other side. The boy watched her with a solemn expression on his face. He could almost tell when the stream had become too cold for her. There was a shift in her expression, a swift bouncing between her paws. She stepped out of the water muttering about the cold and then said that he should jump over it to avoid getting his paws wet.

Antigone’s hind leg slipped into the water, but he had made it to the other side with only a small grunt. He shook the wet foot, a motion that traveled up his body and shifted his weight. The croaking sounded from the spring.

I don’t want to touch the frogs, he explained quietly. You catch one for Zosime.