Firestone Hot Springs hanging in my infant air, waiting

set for morning of July 5

when he had gotten lost among the fireflies, he'd followed the river home. that had worked for him. and now, he followed the river. . .but it looked different. he'd taken a wrong turn, somewhere along the way. somewhere in the space between meeting the dark-headed wolf and now, he had lost all grip on the world around him.

and he ought to be terrified. or at least excited. really, though, cam felt empty. the grief from before had left him and left him with nothing in its place; any kind of joy or fear or anger or sorrow was gone. replaced with nothingness.

at least the steam rising in the distance was interesting and different enough to catch his attention, otherwise he might have followed the bigger river to the ends of the earth. he peeled off, heading toward the shimmer on the horizon, the rising sun glimmering among the fog. it grew warmer with each step, and the air filled with the most foul stench—his nose wrinkled—

and, not looking where he was headed, he plunged forepaws-first into a hot pool of water, everything going suddenly dark and muffled.

pfft! he sputtered his way to the surface, gasping and mewling and churning his legs. it ended up not being so deep, though, and he was able to paddle back to the edge, where he scrabbled up and over and onto the earth, sides heaving with effort. panting, cam felt his heart slow over several minutes from a quick tattoo to something more normal, more stable.

where was he? what kind of place was this, where water (and so hot!) just came out of nowhere like that?

She wanted to be an explorer. It came to her overnight, maybe in a dream (it wasn't clear come morning if the feeling had rooted itself because of some fantastic event she'd made up, or what), but it was clear to her now. Scouting had been fun, being a messenger more so, and the adventure to hunt down Mal with Okeanos had thrilled her more than anything she'd ever done - but she didn't feel content now, satisfied. They'd found him, and his forest. It was a beautiful forest within which she could really build a home, study some of the plants, maybe become more like her mothers in that way — but the itch in her paws hadn't ceased.

She wouldn't leave Okeanos. They'd finally reconnected and there was no way she could ever leave him now, or go on her own adventure without protection. The most Ibis could handle were day trips and that was precisely the thing she needed to clear her head - some sort of mini adventure. Maybe along the way she'd come to a conclusion for herself.

The girl headed east at first, then north, following the good weather. It looked clear and bright further north from the forest, so that urged her to explore that way; as she went, Ibis noticed the growing mist that thinned across the grassland. The closer she got the more foul the air became, blanketed by a white fog that smelled strongly like rotten eggs. She scrunched her nose and paused in her stride, considering that she might've made a mistake - then, she heard a splash.

Curious of this - and naive enough not to fall victim to the instinct of a fear-based self preservation - Ibis pranced through the haze and came upon a myriad of little pools. One of them had a dark shape on the edge, and it looked like it was alive -- as the fog shifted, she got a clearer view; it was a child. Hello? the girl called as she drifted closer, Are you -- oh, you're all wet! And very smelly! But she couldn't say that.

he was smelly. very smelly. the odor was so powerful that cam didn't notice her at first, being so preoccupied with the warm water that had saturated his fur with this stench. he rose clumsily to his paws, frowning, and turned his eyes upward, only to hop like a startled cartoon rabbit upon seeing the girl so close.

w-wha'? he demanded unintelligibly, teeth chattering. he shook the moisture from his head, ears flapping, droplets flying, sniffling as he tried to steady himself once more. he gave her a gimlet stare, wary. she looked familiar. . .like he had seen her before. not her, exactly, but someone similar.

someone that made him feel a little more at ease, even dripping wet in this unfamiliar place.

who're you? cam asked, a little less forcefully now that he was beginning to relax again.

She smiled even though the moment didn't seem worthy of it, and blinked when the child shook the water from their body; ears flopping about, spraying her with flecks of water that was almost warm. Ibis cautiously sniffed at the boy's coat but couldn't tell much about them due to the strong scent of the water, although she felt a dull warmth emanating off of him.

My name is Ibis, she introduced swiftly, what is your name? Do you live around here..? It occurred to her that the child was very young, so they likely lived nearby or - as a worst case scenario - maybe they were lost?

eye-biss. kind of a strange name. then again, who was he to judge? in fact, she had gotten lucky with that name. it was pretty, like lah-nah. zig-gee. kall-ee. lill-ee—

his lower lip wobbled suddenly as he thought of his mother, and he bit it with tiny sharp teeth, hard enough for it to sting but not so much that it punctured through. cam, he responded after a moment, swiping his tongue over jowls that still quivered. at her second question, he gave a noncommital shrug, glancing around.

no, the boy answered cryptically, eyes wandering before returning to her face. so familiar. . . i dunno. not here. i live under trees. on second thought, he realized that the trees of his home didn't resemble at all those he'd passed by along the way here. but how to describe that difference? that, he didn't know.

did he even want to go back, with mummy gone?

Cam. It wasn't familiar to her, but maybe Okeanos had run in to someone and could help clarify things? Ibis' first thought was to take the boy home with her to the woods, at least there the kid could sleep and get some food in his belly, and after some recuperation they could figure this out. At the very least she'd be able to breathe without inhaling rotten egg smell.

No, okay, hmm, she murmured as he explained, vaguely, aspects of his home. She could see how sad he was, how forlorn, and it broke her heart. How about we go back home to my forest, get you dry and warm and fed? My big brother Okeanos could help us after that. He's been places! Maybe he knows where you live? She was hopeful, watching him and smiling as warmly as she could despite the sadness she could feel coming off of him in waves.

What do you think? It is up to you, Cam. I promise you'll be safe.

cam followed a very specific social code—that of 'wwld': what would lily do? or, rather, in this case, what would lily say? that was silly in itself; lily would know exactly what to do and say here. in fact, she'd be the one taking the girl home with her, not the other way around! still. . .cam reached back into his mind, trying to find. . .the perfect. . .

all right! her chipper voice floated through his mind, as if she were suddenly there by his side, and he brightened a bit. cam lifted his chin, giving ibis the ghost of a smile, and chirped, all right! in a near perfect imitation of his mother's tone.

it was hollow, and it made him feel weird. but he didn't know what else to do, otherwise. he had never been in this situation before and only grasping onto mummy's wisdom, even if it was far away now, was helpful. he stared at the girl expectantly, the intense look of his gaze at odds with the pleasantly placid set of his mouth.

He erupted with an affirmative; more importantly, and surprisingly, the little voice made Ibis feel intensely nostalgic for a split-second and it stunned her for a moment beyond that. The boy was foreign to her, but there was something nagging at her about his familiarity - perhaps she was just lonely for the company of the children she used to visit back in the Hollow. That made sense to her, at least enough sense to satisfy her for now, so she let the feeling pass and smiled down at the boy.

Okay Cam, lets get you dry first. Come over this way -- as she spoke she drifted with a few strides away from the pools of water, carefully navigating so that she wouldn't fall in (and keeping an eye on his own path on the off-chance he was as bumbling with directions as she had been as a cherub). The fog thinned the further they went from the hot pools, and so did the smell. Cam was unfortunately quite pungent regardless since he'd taken a swim in the water, but, at least he was safely removed from the pool's edge.

Although she wasn't super damp from the pools, Ibis took a second and shook the fur of her scruff - all the way down to her hips, and her tail, and then with a light laugh she asked, --like that! Once you're dry you'll warm up in no time, summer is good for that. Then, provided all things went well, Ibis would have a moment to make sure everything was just right before bringing the child home to the woods. The last thing she wanted to see was Mal refusing to let little Cam stay with them for some inane reason; so she'd do her best to tidy him up, and vouch for him when the time came.

it would be nice to get dry. the water had been warm, but now it was beginning to cool, and cam was getting the chills with it. he shivered as he watched ibis shake herself, though the scene was kind of funny to him; his lips curved in a crooked smile. he gave it a try, awkwardly flailing himself around, water flying everywhere.

warmer, cam remarked, nodding as he shook each individual leg, trying not to smell himself. he really did reek. where's your forest?

he wondered if it was closer to elysium or if the journey would take him farther away. truthfully, he didn't know what he wanted. once upon a time, he'd want to get home as soon as possible. . .but that was when lily had been around. now, without mummy, it felt like there was nothing to go home to. even olive and seebee had been wrapped up in their own things lately.

She felt a little better knowing the child was coming home with her, and she knew that in the coming days he'd feel right at home in the forest; although it would be a good idea to scout out the neighboring areas and try to figure out where he came from. Ibis would ask Okeanos as soon as possible if he knew anything.

Its this way... She motioned west, and for once in her life Ibis actually knew which direction she was heading in — egads! All of those adventures in the valley had paid off after all. It wouldn't take long for them to find the outskirts of the forest and after that, begin to figure things out.