Today was a good day. Rio was almost comfortable leaving the cabin by herself, but only almost. The notion of being without her mother or father frightened her; she still felt very attached to both of them. The newness of solitude left her almost wary of it, for she had in her short time on the earth spent every moment with her parents and siblings. But her energetic mood had rendered her eager to go out and venture into the areas outside of her comfort zone. She moved awkwardly through the snow, distracted from worry but the swirling flakes. Always she puzzled after where they came from. She mused over ideas as she neared a place where strange smoke rose from the ground in twisting tendrils. Pausing, her face tilted quizzically, watching the smoke rise to meet the dancing snowflakes. Where was she?
The girl nervously pounced toward the strange sight, scrambling upon a mid-sized boulder to stare into the source of the smoke. There was water here. And it was warm! Didn't water become hard and cold when it was outside and there was snow falling? The strange combination of elements puzzled her to no end. Rio was startled by soft, feminine voices, and wheeled around to see where they came from. In the process of this, she lost her footing, and tumbled down off the boulder into the soft snow beside the steaming pool. "Ouf!" she exclaimed, righting herself and shaking herself uselessly. Of course, she remained covered in snow as she cautiously approached the two conversing females. She emitted a small yip in hopes of capturing their attention, her tail wagging slowly behind her. One of them had four legs, the other two; this she understood, because Mama had explained to her the concept of shifting. "Hiee!" she said in a gentle singsong voice. "Who a'you ladies?"