Firestone Hot Springs take the road less traveled by, tell yourself you can always stop

Sylvie had never seen anything like the hot springs before, so when she and @Ceridwen arrived, she looked around in silent awe. Although the scenery was picturesque, the smell of rotten eggs ruined it for her. No wonder you found a witch here, she remarked as she scrunched up her nose and looked over at her sister. This place reeks.

Still, despite the smell, she wanted a better look at the springs. I forgot—did you say you actually went in the springs? she asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Dwin feigned being insulted, when Sylvie indirectly claimed that witches were stinky. She added a shocked expression and even lifted one forepaw as if attempting to place it to her chest, but the canid anatomy did not allow her to do that. "I belong the to the proud tribe myself," she said. "You better watch your tongue, Miss Toadstool," she bumped her shoulder against Sylvie's playfully and then went ahead to see, if Towhee by any chance was here somewhere. In this stench scent capacities were useless.

"Nah - I did not, but that hag certainly went in for some cooking," Dwin explained, casting a brief glance in Sylvie's direction and then turning her attention back to a pool, filled with bright blue water and fumes coming up. "But - you have to admit - after that crappy weather we have had recently, getting warm here is quite a treat. Don't you think it would be nice, if we had something like this at home? Kind of like... camp-hot-water-spouting thingie."

Hey! she barked back playfully. This is news to me! You never told me! Now she'd really have to watch herself around Ceridwen; about a million things could happen with a witch about! Once they'd bumped shoulders, she followed after her sister and kept an eye out for the hag. It seemed like they were alone here, but she'd often scan the area to see if anybody showed up.

Their attention soon turned to the water, and Sylvie paused at Ceridwen's side to admire the crystal-clear pool. She watched as steam swirled about the surface and into the air; she could see the magic in this place. Yeah, that'd be awesome, she agreed. And more convenient for you to refuel your powers. This place is far!

Despite Sylvie being Dwin's senior age-wise, she still seemed like a bit of a child to the younger sibling. In a good way - really - and not just because she was her sister, but rather there was an inherent kindness about her that Dwin felt drawn to. Not for the first time she found that she loved seeing Sylvie's genuine smile and hearing her laughter. She felt both privileged to witness it, but also fiercely protective, because there were so many people in the world, who could destroy and not even realize that they had done any harm. She was also ashamed that during their first encounter, she too had been one of them. 

"Well, now that I have let you on that secret, I will have to sacrifice you to the pool gods. No way around it, the only thing I can offer you is that you can choose the pool of your liking and final words," Dwin replied with a toothy grin. "Yeah, but maybe it is good that this place is so far. This year's Blackthorn batch could scare a devil out of hell," here her mind turned to Frolic, who had willingly decided to try her odds with becoming food to the Big fish of the lake. "I think that pool gods here stand no chance either," she replied. 

"Mom told that long, long, long time ago, when even she was not born yet, our grandmother Osprey and grand-uncle Peregrine lived near here," she told. "At least that's, what I gather from the vague details of "a place with water that burns like fire and never freezes"," this - again - was a not a direct quote from Maia. Rather Dwin's interpretation from the bits of information she had collected, when she had cared to listen as a kid.

"Do you think - we could summon her ghost here?" she asked.

Her eyes were alight with mischief as Ceridwen mentioned sacrifices. She quickly dropped to a play bow and waved her tail. You'll have to catch me first! she challenged; it wouldn't be hard to catch Sylvie—she was a slow runner and more of a jogger. I won't go down without a fight! But such a thing seemed unnecessary as their younger sister was mentioned, and Sylvie nodded. I don't think that anybody could handle her! she admitted, knowing how wild their sibling was.

When their family was mentioned and their residence here at the springs was brought up, Sylvie looked around with a quirked brow. I'm glad we moved, she admitted, even if she wasn't particularly fond of a caldera, either; there were too many hills for her liking.

But summoning their grandparents? She could get behind this, even if it scared her a little. What do we have to do to call them? she asked with bated breath.

"Yeah, I do not want to fight you. I may have the skill, but you can always suffocate me in that fluffy coat of yours," Dwin replied. She had been about to say something along the lines of overpowering with mass, but she thought that it would unintentionally hurt Sylvie's feelings. If her sister's self-confidence was so low already, her body-image might be even worse. 

"Yeah, for the first few days with our Frolic-zilla let out in the world, I expected something apocalyptic to happen," Dwin agreed. "Like she would have upset the world order, or nibbled at the titan's feet - the one, who holds the weight of the sky on is shoulder. Or stolen something more valuable than fire from the gods. Or something of equal cataclysmic consequences," she spun the yarn, smiling. "But it seems that our little sister of ours has been behaving for now."

"Frankly speaking, I have not the slightest idea," Dwin shrugged. "Remember the stories about the Oracle of Delphi? The ones, who lived in caves, sat atop toxic fumes and could tell the future?" as per usual she could not remember the exact details. "Maybe, it works similarly. I do not really recall, whether mom told us anything about it?" she furrowed her brow, trying to remember. 

Had it been anybody else, Sylvie would've assumed that they were talking about her weight, and it would've brought her down. But, since it was Ceridwen, she took no offense. Yeah, she shot back in agreement, shaking out her coat to make it appear larger. You better watch out or the fur will get 'cha!

The news of their sister behaving was surprising, but Sylvie nodded sagely. We'll just have to hope for the sake of the planet that she continues to behave. After all, this was the fate of the world in their sibling's paws.

The Oracle of Delphi was something that rang a bell in her mind, but she quickly shook her head. I have no idea, she admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed by what she was about to admit, Mom tried to tell me that story, but I got too scared, and she told me something lighter instead.

"Did you get all scared from the intoxicated prophets screaming scary nonesenses?" Dwin asked genuinely curious. Mom had been good at telling the story and her siblings - she could not recall, which of the two brothers - had been even better with sound effects. "I could literally hear the screaming and screching voices in my dreams for days, until it turned out that it was Aiden, if I remember correctly, doing all this. When I found out, I almost ripped his head off," she told.

"The only thing that refrained me from doing was the chance of him returning as a vengeful ghost and haunting me for all eternity," she finished. "I am not breathing that stuff in," she told, pulling away from the fumes. "I have a feeling that I will be unable to smell anything but rotten eggs for days to come. That stench is over-powering!" Dwin scrunched her nose and sneezed twice. "Do you want to take a swim? That hag I told you about liked to cook herself in the water. She looked very comfy and relaxed there," she suggested, leaving out the fact that she had been very skeptical about Towhee's antics to begin with. 

They spent the rest of their time in friendly banter.