Hot Springs — In Warm Waters

Larkspur released a deep, pleased breath as the water boiled around them, allowing their eyes to slip shut as the heat from the pools seeped into their muscles. In their initial search for Balthazar, the wolf had primarily taken their journey southward - riding the warm thermals as they hopped from forested area to forested area. They'd taken several days to rest once the hyena had been located, allowing the last of their lost feathers to grow back in (though from the way they itched, they wearily acknowledged a winter molt coming their way) before they returned to their determination of mapping out this new world. This time, they had elected to venture north - they'd already come across quite a few interesting places, from a massive sinkhole full of winding, twisting tunnels to a series of strangely stacked-looking rock formations with woodlands sitting atop them. They had followed the mountain-range, catching scent of a second one of those mega-pack scent boundaries when they tried to follow the forest. Not looking forward to having their wings ripped from their back for trespassing, they had opted to instead follow the rocky outline of mountains - and gods, were they glad they had or else they certainly would've missed the myriad of pools. An aggravated hiss drew their attention and they turned their head in time to see Folke vacating the shallow pool it had been resting in, the reticulated python quickly slithering across the ground to begin wrapping its way around their neck again. The snake had been carefully deposited in a much cooler pool than the one Larkspur had chosen to rest in, allowing the smaller creature to avoid potentially overheating and dying from it. The reptile had been rather pleased with the warm water, having spent most of their journey hidden in Larkspur's long, thick fur with how cold it could get above the cloud-line so for it to have retreated... Someone's here, the wolf deduced, cobalt eyes beginning to scan the area for whomever had spooked their companion. --- Text. Speech. Thoughts.