Storm Watch Butte Sundust.

After spending most of the day at the cenote with Meerkat, her daughter needed to return to the mount. Towhee waved goodbye, planning to trail after her later that evening or perhaps the next morning. In the meantime, she headed south, keen to see what else she could find out here in the lowlands.

She pointed herself at a butte in the distance, deciding upon closer inspection that it wasn’t worth the climb. Towhee did slip into the shadow on its eastern face to rest a while, eyeballing what looked like great piles of sand in the distance.

As the sun continued setting, she noticed what she initially took to be small birds flitting overhead every now and then. But as their numbers grew and Towhee bothered to pay closer attention, she realized they were bats flying the roost, feeding on the smorgasbord the midsummer dusk offered.

Everyone else was talking about this new spot and as official ambassador to Paleo, Tierra knew it was absolutely positively her job to check that shit out! She needed to go do other shit too, obviously… like check in with whoever gramps had assigned to her. But she could do that as soon as she got back, and with that resolve, Tierra took off for a short jaunt into the lowlands.

The last face she expected to run into was a familiar one. It had been long enough that Towhee was subjected to a couple hollered Mom!? No frickin way!! before Tierra realized and smacked her forehead. Duh.

-Mom!! What the heck are you doing here?!- The signs were rapid as soon as she got into eyeshot, though they’d turn into a hug as soon as Towhee noticed her. Didn’t matter why, honestly. She was just thrilled to see her!

She watched them for a while as the sky gradually darkened, the air cooling. A great yawn stole over Towhee, prying apart her jaws and sending a wracking shudder through her body. She took that as her cue to get back on her feet and start making her way to the glen. It wasn’t home, per se, but Towhee would camp there until Sialuk gave birth.

No sooner had she turned to make the journey back north when a familiar face materialized like a desert mirage. Towhee blinked, her face falling slack in surprise as Tierra closed the distance. Within seconds, the two of them were embracing, though Towhee quickly released Tierra to take a step back and see her face.

-“I’m exploring. It’s what I do now,”- she belatedly replied to the question. -“But what about you? It’s been a minute. I’ve been wondering about you and your first season. So? How’d it go? Did you go crazy? Get knocked up?”- Towhee teased.